Usually, when memes go viral, it’s because they speak to something that many people can relate to. They’re something to unite us all, in their brutal honesty and often in their complete absurdity.
But when high school English teacher Angela Murphy shared some memes that were highly, highly specific to her students’ experience, she was shocked to discover they went viral all the same.
“I give students the option to submit memes about the school year or our class and we look at them on the last day of class,” she explained in a tweet on May 31. “They usually take this opportunity to roast me, which I don’t mind. They really outdid themselves this year so here’s a thread of our memes!”
She went on to share a bunch of memes edited by her class to be, again, highly, highly specific to their personal experiences at school, and they quickly and inexplicably went viral—with the first tweet alone receiving over 35,000 retweets and almost 173,000 likes as of this post.
https://twitter.com/magicalmsmurphy/status/1134509762358366209
https://twitter.com/magicalmsmurphy/status/1134510396725817345
The reimagined memes reference everything from classic memes like blank-faced Steve Carell from The Office to some new hits from this year, such as the “and I oop” meme. There are even some complete originals in the bunch, proving this English teacher’s students have learned the literary merits of both homage and creativity.
https://twitter.com/magicalmsmurphy/status/1134515123018719233
https://twitter.com/magicalmsmurphy/status/1134516038563840000
(Spoiler alert: It wasn’t the last one.)
The compliments for Murphy’s unique approach to an end-of-the-year roundup with her students rolled in.
I love so much that you teach HS and I can tell by their memes that they still embrace “kid” things like popsicle sticks, morning greetings, & silly names teachers make up like “do-nows”. 💞
— Hilary Rose (@msblackteach) June 1, 2019
https://twitter.com/kriola_fofa617/status/1134889055194402816
Great thread and FUNNY! @magicalmsmurphy has captured hearts and built rapport with her students…they respectfully “served” her but you can tell they’ll always remember their time with her! LOVE it!! https://t.co/fyqU7c3vMs
— Cherie Boyd (@CLB_Dr) June 1, 2019
And some teachers even found inspiration from Murphy’s idea and brought it to their own classroom.
Inspired by @magicalmsmurphy I had my students make memes of our class. I was not disappointed pic.twitter.com/yDBZsPS4Qz
— Petty Wap (@LEXual_Tension) June 4, 2019
I let my students create memes on their thoughts of the school year or about my class and can’t stop laughing lol thanks @lexi_valenciaa @magicalmsmurphy pic.twitter.com/xT3dyS4N1x
— Ms. Murphy (@MsMurphyAHS) June 3, 2019
And like any good teacher, Ms. Murphy also took the time to explain the origins of some of the memes, considering the vast majority of people on the internet definitely don’t have any inside knowledge of how her classroom operates.
https://twitter.com/magicalmsmurphy/status/1135195583180824580
And she had a helpful suggestion for any educators sharing this exercise with their own students…
https://twitter.com/magicalmsmurphy/status/1134964954233106432
While it’s unlikely Murphy’s tweets went viral for the relatability of the memes, they do give an impressive insight as to how teachers can go about making class fun and engaging for the newest online generation. And there’s one thing we can pretty much all agree on: we wish we had a teacher like Murphy when we were in high school.
This entire thread makes me wish I had an English teacher like you when I was in high school 2 years ago… pic.twitter.com/k3DDm9tYg1
— c i n d y 🌻🍉 (@lilicablossomxo) June 1, 2019
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