A professor asked students to send pics of their dogs doing classwork — and it quickly got out of hand

Dr. Marie-Amélie George, a teacher who goes by @profmageorge on X, loves Henry, her dog, beyond words. In fact, the Schnauzer-Poodle mix is so important that Marie often features him in her class presentations. So, at the beginning of a new semester, she introduces the course to her students with a bit of self-introduction. "Since I'm standing in front of them, they don't really need a photograph of me on the side deck, so I put pictures of my really adorable dog," Maria told Good Morning America. 

Once, a student sent Maria pictures of her dog completing the task she had been assigned, and the teacher decided to include them in her presentation. When she noticed her students' overwhelming reaction to her presentation, Maria asked them to send her photos of their dogs doing class work — something she described as "an under-appreciated photography genre." Moreover, the simple activity helps the professor remember her students' names without putting much effort. 

"I probably now have a collection of maybe 60 dogs. Some are at the computer. Some are reading... I do see — slightly fewer — but some cats, and I have a great picture of a hermit crab who is studying hard as well," she added. In 2020, her collection grew substantially when Maria shared about her assignment on Twitter. As soon as she posted about it online, almost everyone with a pet jumped on what looked like a trend, sharing adorable pictures of pets studying like a legend in the making.

1. An Absolute Nerd in the Making

2. The one who always sleeps in class

3. The one who is always serious

4. The one studying French

5. The one studying canine anatomy

6. Video games >>>> Assignments

7. The one who is too intellectual

8. The hardworking guy

9. The one who loves history

10. The online tutor

11. The one interested in engineering

12. The aspiring lawyer

13. The one who's always attentive

14. The one who loves a good book

15. The econometrics pup

16. The one working from home

17. The one revising old lessons

18. The one who easily gets annoyed

These adorable images make us want to dash to the nearby animal shelter, hoping to find our soulmate animal. Teachers like Dr. Marie-Amélie George break the monotony of a classroom, actively generating curiosity and interest among students by leveraging a common pleasure point.