When you take an exam at school, it’s meant to test what you know, so what would you do if a teacher kept changing the rules about how you were supposed to do that?

This teenage girl loved adding creativity and personal thoughts to her answers on school exams, but her science teacher told her to only use textbook definitions.

When complying with her teacher’s rule didn’t work, she confronted the teacher again.

Check out the full story below for more details.

Teacher told me to only use textbook definitions so I did, and suddenly that wasn’t enough

Back in high school, I had a science teacher.

She hated when students explained things in their own words.

I loved writing creative, real-world examples in my answers. It made things easier to remember and showed I understood the concept.

This teenage girl took note of what her science teacher said.

But after a test where I got marked down for not quoting the textbook exactly, she said:

“From now on, stick to the definitions from the book. Word for word. No paraphrasing.”

Okay, fair enough.

She followed the instructions exactly as told, but still got a low score.

So for the next test, I followed her instructions to the letter.

Every answer was verbatim from the textbook.

Even the questions that clearly needed some explanation or thought, I just dropped in the definition and moved on.

I ended up getting a lower grade than usual. She marked a few answers incomplete or not fully explained.

So, she reminded her teacher about her previous lecture.

I politely reminded her that she told us to use only textbook definitions, nothing extra.

I showed her the note I wrote down from class.

Her response? Well, I meant stick to the definition, but also explain your understanding.

Oh. So, now it’s both?

Eventually, the rule disappeared.

After that, the rule quietly disappeared, and we were encouraged to use both the textbook and our own understanding.

Sometimes, doing exactly what you’re told is the best way to prove a point.

That sounds like a horrible teacher. At least she finally relaxed the rules.

Let’s check out how others reacted to this story on Reddit.

This user shares their personal thoughts.

This person makes a valid point.

Here’s a similar story from this person.

This user agrees.

And finally, this person thinks some teachers create rules based on their mood.

It’s unfair how you just can’t win with some teachers!

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