PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK (OUT MAY 5, 2026)!!! — ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/43BquPd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Teacher besties… this episode has everything: licensure panic, conspiracy theories about teacher testing companies, medical dramas I probably shouldn’t have described in detail, and one first-year teacher who is being absolutely swarmed during passing period.Gerry is in his final form of teacher paperwork chaos, grinding through the edTPA like it personally offended him, and I may or may not have gone on a small rant about why some of these hoops exist in the first place.We also debate whether PE teachers really need a Praxis (Gerry has thoughts), spiral into television recommendations that absolutely should not be watched with children nearby, and answer a classroom management question that I know so many of you are living right now: how do you survive those first five minutes of class without losing your mind?Plus, we share irrational classroom pet peeves, discuss why students absolutely cannot “just do it at home,” and Gerry unveils what might be his final, grand Potoka.

PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK (OUT MAY 5, 2026)!!! — ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/43BquPd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Gerry is back after what can only be described as the Ice Age: Wake County Edition, we compare notes on barely meeting our students, and I realize, once again, that trusting Facebook teacher groups might be a dangerous choice.We also talk about something huge in my life: my husband decided to try stand-up comedy for the very first time… during my show… with zero warning to anyone. Watching him crush five minutes on stage somehow made me more nervous than any set I’ve ever done myself, and Gerry’s reaction alone was worth it.From there, we spiral (naturally) into comedy venues that feel like side quests, students who refuse to pay to see their professors perform, the deeply unserious idea of giving extra credit for attending comedy shows, and the absolute audacity of calling planning time a “gift.”And yes, I climb onto a hill I’m fully prepared to die on, this time involving taxes, reading levels, and why being educated shouldn’t feel like a trap.