“Rest assured, I will not be taken in by your little act. In my classroom, all pupils are equal and if you think you can show off in this class or suck up to me, then you are sorely mistaken, young lady. Do I make myself clear?”
There was a long pause, as I stood reeling from what I had just heard. While it was true that I enjoyed my schoolwork and was always polite and respectful to my teachers, I was never what you would call a proper ‘teacher’s pet’. I would never grass on another kid, I would never belittle someone less academic and, while undeniably keen for their approval, I would still never ‘suck up’ to a teacher.