Are You a Good Teacher Just Because You Worried About It?

Molly: [00:00:00] The fact that you worry about being a good teacher means that you already are one. 

Andrea: Yeah. I came across that on Facebook, and it was like a quote from someone who wrote a book. I commented, and I, again, I never comment on these things, but I commented. I said, "Aw, that's very nice. Not true at all, but it's sweet thought anyways."

Theme: To survive the classroom Hey, teacher 

Andrea: besties. I am so excited to share with you that my book, They Never Taught Us That, is available right now. It is everything an experienced or first-year teacher needs to manage the chaos of a modern classroom, including some anecdotes to make you feel a little bit better, because if there is a way that you can screw up, I've probably done it.

It also has advice on how to build trust with families, how to manage grading and lesson plans and IEPs and everything else that they never went over in your teacher prep program. They Never Taught Us That is available everywhere [00:01:00] right now Hey, teacher besties. Welcome to How to Survive the Classroom.

I'm Andrea Forkham. 

Gerry: I'm Gerry Patoca. 

Molly: And I'm Molly Dugan. 

Andrea: And that was smooth. That, geez, that felt good. I felt like, I felt like we hit it that time. Um, guys, guys, guys, guys, uh, I feel like we first, we need to give the people what they want to start off our day, because last episode we talked about how Gerry sent me, um, he- well, he first tried to call me, I didn't answer, and so he left me a voicemail, and I did not delete it, which I think is a gift to all of us.

And, um, so I do have it for us to listen to as a community today. Um, and, and if you would remember, I do believe Gerry had kind of hinted at what the voicemail was, which is that he, um, once again pooped his pants. So- 

Gerry: You don't have to say once again like that ... I 

Andrea: mean- ... it's factual. So, um- Play it ... let's just, yeah, let's just, [00:02:00] let's just play the voicemail.

Gerry: Yo, you ain't never gonna believe what happened to me. I, I was Uber driving, right? And I'm Uber driving and I, I had stopped and I ate lunch, 'cause that's a thing people do, um, sometimes at lunchtime is they eat it. And, um, I go, I'm driving and my stomach just turns on me when I'm about to drop this passenger off.

And I'm like, all right, I'm gonna drop him off, I'm gonna run home, I'm gonna take a shit, um, probably maybe just go out and drive again tonight after my show. Well, I mean, it got to the point, I mean, it was like my stomach was, w- was kicking my ass. Like, I mean, it was wearing me out. I, I, I mean, I was beating on the center console of my car, like yelling, like not knowing what to do.

I was, "I'm not gonna make it home." And I got out and I had to run up into Jersey Mike's, and I, I about painted that damn Jersey Mike's, man. Like I, I mean, I ain't gonna front, I shit my pants a little bit, but I mean, I would've shit my pants a lot if it weren't for that Jersey [00:03:00] Mike's. And, um, I just felt like you needed to know that, that that was a thing that happened to me today.

Um, 'cause it's been a, it's been a while since I've had a close call and, um, it don't matter how much weight I lose, I'm gonna still be on, um, on shit alert I think for the rest of my life

Best pal. 

Andrea: Um, wow. Where was it that you stopped? You stopped- The Jersey Mike's. Jersey Mike's. Jersey Mike's. God bless. So Jersey Mike's, um, if you wanna sponsor the show, I feel like this is your opportunity. 

Gerry: It was a good bathroom too, man. 

Andrea: It was before you got in there. 

Gerry: It was a single seater. Did you say a single seater?

I took my shirt off and put, I put it on... Yeah, I like to go in, like, the handicap bathrooms, the family ones. Oh, like... 

Molly: Okay. 

Gerry: But theirs was just one toilet, 'cause I like to take my shirt off and put it on top of the, uh- 

Andrea: Stop. Stop ... 

Gerry: paper towels You're 

Andrea: lying. 

Gerry: I 

Andrea: like- 

Gerry: You're lying ... I, I, if I can help it, I will not poop with a shirt on.

Molly: Like a [00:04:00] toddler? 

Andrea: Gerry, what? No toddlers don't even do that. Gerry, why are you taking- Like you're gonna have a blowout? ... off your shirt to poop? 

Gerry: It feels nice. If I'm at home- Poop? ... I, fi- If I'm at home, I get butt naked. 

Molly: I knew 

Gerry: that was coming. I just strip down outside the bathroom, poop, come back, I put my clothes back on and go about my business.

Andrea: Gerry Why? 

Gerry: Uh, why not? Have you tried it? 

Molly: Okay, hear me out on this. It's freeing. I, I'm gonna hear you out on this, because I feel like that's a, that's pretty primal. You know? Like, you're just, like- Don't 

Andrea: support it. Don't support it. That's insane. Because Molly, you and I both know, when you and I have been out there in the wild, and we had the misfortune of wearing a romper, and had to go to the bathroom, and you have to fully, like, remove the romper, and it's around your ankles.

Yeah. That's the closest to Gerry's experience that I've had, and it feels bad. It feels- It 

Molly: feels bad ... 

Andrea: it feels really bad. And so I just, I don't [00:05:00] understand why you have to be nipples in the wind while you're pooping. 

Gerry: Um, then I- Boys like that 

Molly: stuff ... 

Gerry: then I, I got another one for you then. 

Andrea: Oh my God. 

Gerry: If I can, I don't have to do it, but if I can, I take my shirt off to pee too.

Andrea: What? 

Gerry: It feels cozy. 

Andrea: Gerry, I feel like this is diagnosable. I don't understand. I 

Gerry: like it. 

Molly: You're s- you're so exposed to air. Like- 

Gerry: Yeah. I'm one with the wind ... I 

Molly: d- I don't support that one. Also- That's 

Andrea: really hard to unpack, I'm gonna be 

Molly: honest ... if, in that voicemail, did you take your shirt off for this one? 

Gerry: I can't, I don't think so.

No 

Molly: way you had time. 

Gerry: Nah, 'cause as soon as I, as soon as the pants dropped, it was like, it was like, you ever see some, a, like a waiter walking with a glass of water- ... and it splashes over the side a little bit? That's what happened to my butt when I pulled my pants down in the Jersey Mike's to poop, is the water splashed over the side a little.

That's why I said I pooped my pants a little bit. The water splashed over the side. 

Molly: Ugh. 

Gerry: And, and then I, and I sat down, and it was like I dropped a [00:06:00] tray and the drinks went everywhere. 

Molly: Yeah, I regret asking questions. 

Gerry: Yeah. Okay. You shouldn't have done that. Yeah, it's 

Andrea: my bad. I have one more. Um, so if you start pooping and you're wearing your shirt, do you go like, will you take it off like halfway through?

Gerry: No, I kind, so, so sometimes I'll like just tuck it up under my neck. 'Cause I wear long shirts. Oh. I don't wanna sit on it or something. I'll tuck it up under here. And sometimes I've done before where I'll pull the belly over the back of my head. 

Andrea: God, Gerry. 

Molly: Yeah. 

Andrea: You contain multitudes, you really do. I, at no point- It makes it sound 

Molly: so aggressive

Andrea: I would have never, number one, known that anyone did that ever. I feel like you truly have a unique experience there. I, surely there's not other people that are doing this, right? No, I don't think so. Do you think other, other guys, I mean- 1,000% ... Molly thinks there are. 

Gerry: I'll stand up to it. 

Andrea: You're a stander?

Gerry: Yeah. I, well, in my- You're 

Molly: getting clean, man. 

Gerry: In my def- Hold on ... I th- I am now. 

Andrea: Say hi. 

Andrea's Kid: Hello. 

Gerry: Molly, is this your first interruption? Do 

Andrea: you... Yeah, it is. Do you, um, [00:07:00] wear- Mm-hmm ... your shirt when you go poop? 

Andrea's Kid: No. 

Andrea: Kind of. 

Andrea's Kid: I pull it up. 

Andrea: Wait, what? I 

Andrea's Kid: pull it up. 

Andrea: Say, say that again. When you poop, what do, what do you do when you poop?

Andrea's Kid: I pull my shirt up. 

Gerry: Yes, I was gonna ask him that. Hey, high 

Andrea: five. So your shirt doesn't... He wants to high five you. High five. Can you high five him right now? Yes. Yes. Do y- Yeah ... the front of your shirt- Yeah ... or the back of your shirt? Yeah. The f- he pulls the shirt up. We're betrayed. Yes. Okay, go. Go. Get out of here.

Go. My own flesh and blood betrayed me. No, 

Molly: you 

Andrea: can't. Go. He said, "I gotta stand 

Molly: up for my guy." 

Gerry: Yo, where, where's your husband? 

Andrea: He's not home right now. He's working, hopefully with his shirt on. I think he's a stander as well. Insane. What a, what a way to start the podcast today, guys. Um- 

Molly: Guys, I have so many questions and comments that I would like to make right now.

Gerry: Let's unpack it. 

Molly: You guys wanna know a new ick that I've gotten as an adult? This 

Andrea: conversation. Um, 

Gerry: I probably just gave you a few. Yeah. 

Molly: No, no. You know, like, I don't know if you guys have had this experience, but as an adult- Mm-hmm ... new [00:08:00] things are grossing me out more and more that used to not even, like, be in my awareness.

My new one is if I'm wearing, like, pants in a public bathroom, like long pants, and I pull them down to go to the bathroom, I don't want them touching the floor- Oh, no. Nah ... in any way. Yeah. It freaks me out. Like, I have some, like, loose trousers that I wear to school. 

Andrea: Yeah. 

Molly: And they're so loose that they just fall to the floor, and I'm like, "Oh."

Yeah. Like, I can't with 

Gerry: that. I think I've changed pants- And it's creeping me out ... before because of that 

Molly: Oh, like middle of the school day? 

Gerry: Yeah. I, I, I travel extras. 

Molly: Just in 

Andrea: case. As previously established. Yeah. I'm not always a 

Molly: Jersey Mike's. Yeah. 

Andrea: Um, I actually just discovered a bit of an ick that I have, because we were watching this, uh, Netflix documentary that was about, like, it w- s- something of Seville.

It was like Predator of Seville, and it's about these foreign exchange students who basically were assaulted on their study abroad trips. And in the whole, like, run up to all of this kind of s- [00:09:00] like, he was trying to seduce these women, and one of the things he did was he would, like, try and pick them up on a Vespa.

And immediately I was like, "Ew." Uh, red flag number one. 

Gerry: Nah, nah. Vespas are cool. 

Andrea: No, like you couldn't, you couldn't have- A man on a- ... a ma- you couldn't be 

Molly: me. Wouldn't, I 

Andrea: could, would not have gotten me Wait, wait, 

Gerry: wait. Wait. That'd be cool. 

Andrea: No. Did you hear the noise you just made? Aren't Vespas French? I, I don't know, man.

All I know is I see a man on a Vespa- Yeah ... and I think he probably takes all of his clothes off to poop, you know? That is so true. And that is so, such an ick for me. So yeah, there you go. So mine's like more of a personal 

Gerry: ick. You ain't never punked until you sit down naked with, with, in the, in the position like they have in Greek mythology where you got your fist under your chin and your elbow on your knee.

Andrea: Are you doing the Statue of David pose? No, that's not Statue of David. Yeah. The Thinker. The Thinking Man. No. The Statue of David- Yeah ... is, like, standing with, like, 

Gerry: his- Thinking M- yeah, dude. Thinking Man, but you on the Squatty Potty. I s- Mm. So I, when I was on vacation the other week, we stayed in the bathroom and the bathroom's so small the shower was right up in [00:10:00] front of the toilet, and I would just put my feet up on the side of the bathtub 

Andrea: Wow.

Gerry: You guys are learning 

Andrea: a lot 

Molly: And I have way too many visuals- 

Andrea: Yeah, there's a lot That 

Gerry: are- It was some good dukes ... great. 

Andrea: All right, 

Gerry: so- It was like I was vacuuming it out. 

Andrea: It was- We're gonna move on now from, from the poop talk, um, because Molly- I'm out here for 

Gerry: the boys 

Andrea: Oh my gosh. Yeah. I, I hope for your sake that there is like a conglomeration of men that are also like, "Finally, let's talk about this.

Let's really get this out in the open-" Yes ... that we all take our clothes off to poop. I think that's great for you to find community because community is- I'm gonna lead, 

Gerry: lead the, lead the charge 

Andrea: Yeah. Community's important 

Gerry: There's gonna be an uproar of shirtless poopers. Uh, uh-huh, uh-huh. 

Molly: I hope we never have to know.

Andrea: Never. I like things like that to stay secret. Just bury that down, down deep. Um, Molly- 

Gerry: See, 

Andrea: we have to talk about things I know that you are working on your master's degree right now. 

Molly: Ugh, yes. 

Andrea: How many papers have you written in the past, like, several weeks? [00:11:00] 

Molly: Okay. So I don't know. Well, for, it's an online program, so it's like, I'm pretty much paying thousands of dollars to read a textbook and write papers about what I'm reading, right?

Andrea: Swag. 

Molly: Right. Um, but I was out of town, so I got back, and it's finals season. I think I've written seven essays in the last week, and- That's 

Andrea: too many ... 

Molly: too many. And plus like four discussion posts, and each one has to have two responses. So you're like- Yeah ... saying the same, like, "I appreciate your perspective so much.

I per- like, appreciate..." Oh, God, I just need it to be done. I have two more essays left, and I'm done for the semester. Yeah. 

Andrea: All right. And so for the people who don't know, 'cause I don't know if we covered this when we had you on as a guest, but what are you getting your master's in? 

Molly: School counseling. Oh 

Andrea: my gosh.

Oh. 

Molly: Yeah, school counseling. Which actually, the program is, like, combined with clinical. So it's a 60 credit hour program. Like, you know, a lot of master's are, like, 33 credit hours, but since it's both- 

Andrea: Yeah ... 

Molly: it's [00:12:00] 60. So it's a lot longer. But I can sit for the LPC, which is the clinical, so, like, I guess you get some more bang for your buck, but oh my gosh.

Yeah. I'm just, like, a little over halfway through the program, so I'm hitting my, like, how much more of this can I do moment. But, like, I'll get through it. Yeah. You know, people do it. 

Andrea: That's fair. It makes sense that you've had, um, that kind of training based on the way that you respond to Gerry and- 

Molly: Wait, for real?

You think I'm doing good? My responses? I think you're doing 

Andrea: really good. 

Molly: I'm diagnosing- Yeah ... his shirtless pooping? 

Andrea: Yeah. I thought that was great. I 

Molly: don't like this. You know, you know, Gerry, I read something about that in my textbook, actually. No, I'm kidding. 

Andrea: It's linked 'cause I'm in written, yeah. Actually, I can tell you what that's called.

Molly: My next paper, The Shirtless Pooper. 

Andrea: Ugh, that sounds like a children's book, actually. Like a really silly, goofy children's book. The 

Gerry: next time y'all poop- Gerry ... you're gonna be thinking about this. 

Molly: No, 

Andrea: but that could be- I don't wanna think about you all pooping ... a children's 

Molly: book for you. 

Gerry: Does that make you uncomfortable to know that the next time you poop you're gonna be thinking [00:13:00] about Gerry?

You're not gonna be able to help it

Andrea: Ugh. I feel so gross. I really- I'm gonna have to go do some, like, meditation. You know what bums me out for all of our listeners? They all are. Is that all of our listeners now

are all gonna be thinking about you next time. They're gonna be like, "Should I take my shirt off?" 

Gerry: Also- Hey, listen, my DMs are open. When you poop next time- ... give it a whirl and DM me, @kindlybygp. DM me and let me know your thoughts on the shirtless pooping. It's goated. D- you 

Molly: should do a poll on your Instagram story.

Also- Yeah ... now the first two episodes that I've officially been on- 

Andrea: Mm-hmm ... real poop heavy. 

Molly: So since the poops- A lot of poop ... have been the very poop heavy. 

Andrea: Yeah. It's 

Gerry: very too much. Yeah, we only average, like, one poop episode a month, and we're kind of- 

Molly: We got off the topic- Yeah, we must be- ... and we made our way back.

This is really bad. I 

Andrea: know. Okay. I think this, this feels like the right moment to go ahead and take a break, and- I agree ... um, and, and then maybe we'll, we'll circle back, and we're gonna not talk [00:14:00] about poop anymore for today's episode. So guys, it's gonna get better, I promise. Um, we, uh, we're gonna take a break, so be right back.

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Well, that's exactly what my stand-up show is, and I'm gonna be coming to a town near you super soon. You can get tickets at educatorandrea.com/tickets.

Welcome back teacher besties. So, um, I have something. So this is part hill I want to die on, and also part just me wanting to rant because I came across this on Facebook, and I will s- sub rant. Facebook doesn't know what to do with me. It has [00:16:00] no idea how to, like, try and manipulate me because every post I get, they are very clearly trying to, like, rage bait me into getting upset about something in education or getting ups- Like, so many different things like that, and most of the time they're so far off the mark because they're either throwing super far left stuff at me or super far right stuff at me, and they, like, never have anything that's, like, in between, right?

And I just find that personally, Facebook, get, get your act together. Um, but I came across this post, um, and I sent it to you guys in the group chat, and- 

Molly: Did I not see it? It- I'm so sorry ... 

Andrea: it was a ... I, yeah, I- it was a quote that sa- no, because you responded. You said, "Oh, should we be getting hills we wanna die on all the time?"

Okay. You did respond. 

Molly: So I did respond. Okay. Oh, I see 

Andrea: it now. Yeah, 

Molly: yeah. I see it. Okay. 

Andrea: Yeah. Can you read? Because I can't remember the exact words. You want me to read it? Can you read what the, the picture was I sent you? "

Molly: The fact that you worry about being a good teacher means that you already are [00:17:00] one." 

Andrea: It

Yeah. I came across that on Facebook, and I'm like ... And it was, like, a quote from someone who wrote a book, and I was like, I commented, and a- again, I never comment on these things, but I commented. I said, "Aw, that's very nice. Not true at all, but it's sweet thought anyways." I, that's bull- that's bull. Come on.

The fact that you worry whether or not you're a good teacher makes you a good teacher? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. That is legitimately ignorant stupidity 

Gerry: to be like- I think it makes you aware of your shortcomings or makes you aware of the ability to do better ... 

Andrea: I mean, if you're lucky, right?

Because there are plenty of teachers who suck at their jobs who aren't worried about it, but there's also some teachers who are like, "I'm good at my job," and therefore they are not worried. But, like, some people should be worried because they're not doing a good job. They should feel the shame. 

Gerry: It's like stand up in a way, though.

Like, the, the worst ones be thinking they doing all right. Like, they don't be thinking. That's 

Andrea: true. 

Gerry: And if they're thinking, "Oh, [00:18:00] I should be doing better," then at least they are on the right track. Like ... 

Andrea: Yeah, but, like, do y- I, I guess that's my point, right? Is like, you're, but you're not a good standup because you feel like you bombed.

Like, y- sometimes you bombed, and therefore it wasn't a good night for you. That doesn't make you a good standup. No. In fact, it might just make you an accurate historian about your behavior. 

Molly: So I think that it depends on, like, your definition of a good teacher because if you're, if you think a good teacher is just someone who gives any general, like, shit about the job, like- Then yeah, that makes you a good teacher because you actually are reflecting.

But if you reflect on if you're a good teacher and then do nothing to better yourself, you're not becoming a better teacher. Is that what you're trying to say? Like, you have to actively try to be better. 

Andrea: I guess to me, even trying to be better, some people are still really bad at their jobs. 

Molly: Yeah, that's fair.

Andrea: Like, [00:19:00] I, now I, now I do, like, what I do where I'm, like, working with future teachers and all of that, and I alwa- I really always thought, I'm like, "Well, I could probably train just about anyone to get the skills." Some people should not be teachers because they are bad at it. 

Molly: I mean, fair. 

Andrea: Like, genuinely, they might really care and think that it's gonna be a right fit for them, but then they are just really bad because they can't pick up on intuitively how to do stuff in the classroom.

Intuition in the classroom is so incredibly important. Everything. And you can't teach it. Like, so sometimes somebody is sitting there thinking like, "Wow, I'm worried that I'm not a good teacher," because they're not a good teacher and they shouldn't be a teacher. Sometimes that's just, and that's sad, but, like, it's also the truth.

Like, if I have a doctor and the doctor is consistently misdiagnosing people and they're worried about the fact they're misdiagnosing people and they're studying to get better, but they're still misdiagnosing people, I don't want that doctor. 

Molly: You know what, girl? Fair enough. 

Andrea: I want, I want people to be competent at their jobs, and [00:20:00] accepting people's incompetence because it feels warm and fuzzy is stupid.

Gerry: I feel like people say the same thing about narcissists. Like, if you're aware that you might be a narcissist, you probably aren't one, 'cause narcissists- Yeah ... aren't thinking of themselves as narcissists. I don't think that's true either. Like, I think I got, I'm a narcissist a little bit. Like, I think I'm a healthy and healthy narcissist.

Andrea: I feel like comedians in general tend to lean that direction because you, by virtue of, like, having to sit down and write all of your thoughts, you do kind of have to ignore the social norms and caring that other people are gonna hear what your innermost thoughts are. So I feel like that's kind of a normal one.

But- 

Gerry: The worst comedians are more narcissists. The ones I was talking about, it's like they don't know that they're bad It's like, yeah, you think you're killing I feel like- Nah ... 

Andrea: are they the worst or are they just the worst to watch? Because you know they think they did great. Because that's painful when you're like- It's all about tomorrow

Gerry: ugh, 

Andrea: man. 

Molly: I actually totally disagree with you guys. 

Andrea: Let's hear it. 

Molly: Go. Like, completely. I [00:21:00] think- No, kick 

Gerry: her back out. 

Molly: Yeah, your guys' ideas are dumb. Yeah. No, I'm kidding. Yeah, okay. Well, 

Gerry: well you're wrong, 

Andrea: so Go, Molly. 

Molly: No, okay, the whole teach you what, the point about if you're worried about being a good teacher, then you're probably a good teacher or whatever.

Yeah, I totally agree with you on that. Like, be self-aware. But as far as, like, comedians go, I don't think so. I think that we think anyone that, like, I think people like to throw out narcissist. I think it depends on the comedian. Like, the comedians that are, like, up there self-deprecating and, like, can joke about themselves, I don't find them to be narcissists at all.

Just because you're like, all comedians are a little bit of like, ugh, I can't say this, um, attention you-know-what's. And, like, I, like of course, because you don't have stage fright, you're like, "Sure, I love all eyes on me," like, whatever. But I don't think that equates to being a, like, having narcissistic traits.

I think you have to think on a personal [00:22:00] scale you genuinely are better than other people because you're so deeply insecure. If you're able to stand up there and self-deprecate, your ego is not big enough to be a narcissist. I really don't think so. 

Gerry: So, so all right, so tell, so riddle me this. So let's say hypothetically I'm not good at standup.

I'm the best, but let's say hypothetically I'm not good at standup. And I go up there and I tell all these same little jokes about my kids calling me fat and all these self-deprecating jokes and all that, and I, I just bomb my whole existence away, and I come off thinking, "Yeah, they loved that. That wasn't that bad," and I think I can do no wrong even though I was, I'm, I have this, like- Big tough guy, I crushed idea of something where I was self-deprecating.

That's not, that's still narcissism in and of itself. It's like I wrote these jokes about myself deprecating myself, but in my mind I have this view that they loved it when they didn't. 

Molly: I don't think 

Gerry: that's the same. I think, I think, I think you [00:23:00] being, I think being detriment, like joking about some- 

Molly: Self-deprecating

Gerry: yourself, but like the reality, you can't even like acknowledge that something was bad. 'Cause it's, it's objective. I don't get how you can be bad at standup and not hear it. Like I, I've, I've come off stage before and had pretty good sets and been like, "Yeah, that didn't go well." I've also probably had sets where I was like, "Yeah, it went fine," and it didn't.

Molly: But Jerry, that's just the human experience. I've had, I've done things so many times. Like, okay, think about my videos, right? I'll think I made a great video. Like, I put effort in. People online couldn't give less of a crap about it, right? And then I'll post one that I'm like, "That's the one that you all like?"

Right? Yeah. That's just like the subjective human experience. The difference is like you don't walk around with this demeanor that you genuinely, like you're not grandiose about like everyth- like there's, there is a difference between narcissistic traits [00:24:00] and just like a lack of self-awareness or misjudging a situation or trying to figure out if you're good or bad at something.

Like, you know what I mean? 

Andrea: I think the reason that I associate comics with narcissism, um, and I do agree, people like to throw that word around, um, is 'cause I've met so many. And regardless- Ooh ... of what they say on stage, having been in green rooms with them and seeing how they respond when another comic does well, um, and seeing the way that they interact both with like whoever's headlining, whoever's opening, how they treat the staff, how they treat people who came and spent their money to see them.

Like, all of that is kind of what I'm also weighing into it, because there have been some comedians that like act really self-deprecating on stage, and then they come off stage and they're like, "Yeah, I'm not speaking to you. Like, you were the opener." Oh. "Like, why would I talk to you?" 

Molly: Interesting. See, then like- You 

Andrea: know?

[00:25:00] And 

Molly: I 

Andrea: don't necessarily even think that is like necessarily narcissistic personality disorder, like, but from a clinical standpoint, but there are definitely plenty. And it also, like, I do think that there is a little bit of a through line to a lot of the administrators that I have met. Um, and this is...

Okay, hear me out, guys. I just came across this video on Instagram where it was an administrator who posted that she said, um, it was like that trend where it's like preparing for my Netflix documentary And, um, she's like, "Preparing for the Netflix documentary about the real beef that I have with a certain TikTok principal."

Um, and immediately I knew it was Principal Lamb. Do you guys know Principal Lamb? Have you seen his videos? Yeah, 

Molly: he's so- He seems awesome. 

Andrea: The cart teacher. I know his name. He and I have chatted online. You've seen him 

Molly: online. 

Andrea: You've seen him online. Basically, he doesn't have a, a ... He's an administrator who does not have an office, and he, um, pushes his cart around, and he- that's how he s- supports his teachers.

And all of his content is about how he [00:26:00] is an administrator. And it's so interesting because I was recently in a room with a bunch of administrators And I said to them, "Have you guys seen Principal Lamb's stuff?" And the immediate audible ick that they gave about Principal Lamb. And I messaged Principal Lamb about it.

I was like, "You've got some haters." 

Theme: You told him? 

Andrea: Actu- absolutely. Because I would wanna know too, because the reason that they hate him is because he's doing something that they are not comfortable doing. And so on the Instagram post that I saw, I commented and was like, "I think it says more about the administrators who hate Principal Lamb than it does about Principal Lamb."

Like- 

Molly: 1000% ... w- 

Andrea: because he, all of his content is fully curated around the idea that an administrator's job is supporting teachers. That is the number one goal, helping them run their classrooms, doing all you can, and then he talks about ways that he does that. And the amount of administrators that hate him because, and I asked a little bit with that group that was like, [00:27:00] immediately got annoyed by me even bringing him up.

They're like, "Well, he works at a charter school." I was like, "Well, it's Louisiana. They're pretty much all charter schools now." Like, in case, like for those of you guys who don't, like after Katrina- Oh ... and all that, like- 

Andrea's Kid: Ah. 

Andrea: Yeah. 

Andrea's Kid: Mm-hmm. 

Andrea: Um, and I was like, "There's not really an alternative option," and they're like, "Well, you know, he just, he's presenting things as if it's all so easy."

And I'm like, "I don't think he is. I think that you're mad that it would be really, really uncomfortable d- for you to do what he does," especially because, you know, there's a lot more than just him that has to be on board for him to do that, right? There has to be supports in place that are allowing him to have the time to do what he does when he's checking in on teachers and he's doing the things he does.

Um, but I just, it, I think that going into administration also draws a certain narcissistic personality, in the same way that comedy tends to. Not that every single administrator is a narcissist, 'cause I've had some phenomenal ones, but I think that people, we've all, like, seen pretty quickly, like the, you know, one to two in 10 [00:28:00] admin that maybe are on that spectrum of narcissism, and it becomes very obvious very quickly.

Molly: That's so funny you say that because you're so right, and I think, I feel like it's, it is like that whole weird comparison that people get of just like, when you see someone doing something that is good and it's challenging you, it's like calling out your weaknesses- Yeah ... that you could grow in. People get so upset, and it's like, you don't have to do what he's doing, and he's also not getting mad at other administrators for not doing it, so why are you hating?

And like- Right ... his stuff is never, charter school or not, his content I've always loved because it, he owns like his past mistakes. He's like, "I used to do it this way and it wasn't working, so I tried this, and look, it's working for me. And it's- Yeah ... working great because of this." Or, um, "As an administrator, these are things I like to do to..."

It's no different than if I were like, "As a teacher, these are the things I do that support my kids, that really help them." Yeah. Other teachers can take that if they want or leave [00:29:00] it, you know? So I just don't understand why people get so... And it, you have to have- such a pessimistic personality. And you're right, it is that narcissistic thing of like you're so quick to dog on someone else even if they're not doing anything that's really hurting you, you know?

Yeah. And so you know what? Yeah. Okay, I support that, you guys. I'm, I'm following. You might have put me on your, on your team. You might have convinced me. 

Andrea: Amazing. 

Molly: Yeah. 

Andrea: Amazing. Um, do you guys- Yeah, she, she 

Gerry: knew I was always right 

Andrea: Do you guys have any hills that you wanna die on this week? 

Molly: I do. 

Andrea: Let's hear 

Molly: it.

Actually, uh, I just made a video about it, but, um, as the school year, you know, is getting started, I think that parents, all parents, especially parents of teenagers, because I really hope that younger kids don't have their own phone yet. I don't know what the trends are like right now. They need to be checking their child's screen time, and if their screen time is, I don't know, I don't know what a good screen time would be, but [00:30:00] anything larger than, like, X amount of hours, they should not be letting their kids have their phone after a certain time at night.

Yeah. Like, don't let your ki- I don't care if your kid is a senior in high school, they should not have their phone with them in, like, after bedtime because I've had so many high school students that are literally showing me that they have a screen time of, like, 9 or 10 hours on, like, a random Wednesday.

And I'm like, "When are you getting those hours in?" And they're telling me it's at night. It's while they're supposed to be sleeping. And they're- That's crazy ... literally staying up till 2:00 or 3:00 AM, and then they'll come to school and they... I'll be like, "I don't even know." I'm like, "How are you guys surviving right now?"

Like, th- first of all, this is why all you're doing is complaining in my class because I wouldn't wanna be here either if I'm running on three hours of sleep. Right. This is why you can't comprehend things to your best ability. Everything feels hard. This is why writing one paragraph feels impossible to you right now.

Yeah. And, like, you guys are wondering why you hate reading. It's because you can't pay [00:31:00] attention for more than a page because your brain is, like, shutting down. So then I'm like, "Do you guys drink coffee?" Like, "How are you surviving?" And they're like, "Oh, dog." Like, "I literally drink..." Like, "You have..." They're like, "Lis- listen to how much caffeine he drinks," as if it's something to be proud of.

And they're drinking... I had one kid say, "Oh, I wake up in the morning and I drink a Monster. And then at lunch, I go to QuikTrip and I get another Monster. And then sometimes I'll even, like, grab an Alani from the bookstore. And then I will go home and I'll drink some pre-workout and go to the gym." They're...

He's like, "Yeah, I usually average, like, 800 milligrams of caffeine a day," as, like, a junior in high school. These kids are gonna get 

Andrea: heart attacks. 

Molly: Heart attacks. That's 

Andrea: crazy. 

Molly: And I'm just like, "Listen," sorry, this hill is like s- I'm so passionate about it because I don't care if your kid is about to be in college, that is a literal health crisis, and that- you are feeding an a- that's like handing them cigarettes and saying- 

Andrea: Yeah

Molly: "Go ahead." Like, if they can't control their phone at night, they literally are addicted to the [00:32:00] scrolling, then as a parent you need to be stepping in and setting boundaries no matter how mad your kid gets at you because- 

Andrea: Yeah ... 

Molly: it's not helping them at school, it's not helping their teachers, it's not helping society.

Their brains are literally dying from it, and I think parents need to touch some grass when it comes to their kids' screen times. 

Andrea: Yeah. I, um, I 100% agree. I don't know if you've read The Anxious Generation. 

Molly: No, but I've heard 

Andrea: of 

Molly: it. Um, 

Andrea: you would love it. It talks a lot about that, and it also talks about the dangers of, like, sextortion for a lot of kids.

Because if they're having ... If they have their phones in the room with them at night, maybe they're taking pictures, getting in- Mm ... involved in stuff they shouldn't be. Um, and that's been, like, a, a rising crisis as well, where kids, because they have access to their phones at all times and no supervision whatsoever, they then are put in really horrifying situations.

So- Ugh ... I agree with that, Hal. Breaks, 

Molly: that literally breaks 

Andrea: my 

Molly: heart. 

Andrea: I, I know. 

Gerry: Ugh. 

Andrea: I know. Gerry, are you on your phone right now? Oh. 

Gerry: I was che- I, I checked my screen time- 

Andrea: Mine ... when y'all 

Gerry: were talking about it. I wanted to see what mine 

Molly: was. What 

Andrea: is [00:33:00] it? What is it? What does it say? Okay, here's a question for you.

Objectively, though, with the screen time thing, does it count when you're watching movies on it and listening to books or music? 

Gerry: Yeah, I think it does. I, I, I think it counts, like, when you're on, that you, like, if you have music in Spotify playing. 

Molly: I, I think your phone has to be, like, open and on. 

Andrea: I gotta Google that.

Gerry: Hold on. I think you guys can look at the apps. So my phone's got the always on display, so I don't know if that affects it. Oh. 'Cause I'm looking at one of mine, it, it, like, gives you for a week. One of my days, I'm like, "There's ... It's not humanly possible how long 

Andrea: it was." It's, like, 28 hours. 

Gerry: It was 17 hours.

It said 17 hours, eight minutes. I'm like, "Did I fall asleep with the phone open?" Like, how ... I, I whatnot. I don't even- I mean, 

Andrea: maybe ... 

Gerry: I don't even remember what I did on Sunday. 

Molly: Okay, but guys- Well- ... look, I'm looking ... No, it doesn't, because I'm looking at my apps on my screen time. I listen to audiobooks like nobody's business, and it's, Audible isn't even popping up on the apps that I've, like, used 

Andrea: Okay.

Molly: So it's not- 

Andrea: I gotta l- I, I [00:34:00] use my phone for the camera, so we'll have to check, but next week we should report what our highest screen time would be and it's ... You guys are ... It's gonna make me ashamed probably, but oh well. 

Gerry: What is, what is your s- average screen time, Molly? 

Andrea: I don't know. Okay. I can't, I can't look right now 'cause I'm using my phone as the c- for my camera so.

Molly's camera's out. 

Molly: Mine's pretty high, but I will say this week has been a content heavy week. Like, on Tuesday I spent the entire day filming and editing, okay? 

Andrea: Yeah. 

Molly: Um, right now it's an average of six hours. Uh, I would guess mine's 

Andrea: probably like 

Molly: that too. But like during the school year it's an average of four, which is still a lot for, like, how busy I am.

It's too high. 

Andrea: Yeah. So guys, check your screen time, um, so you can feel a- ashamed- Mm-hmm ... like we do. Um, good, shame is good sometimes. Sometimes we need to be shamed appropriately. 

Molly: Indeed. 

Andrea: Um, b- I do remember I checked my screen time once. I was in the green room with Gaspar and Phil, and we all checked our screen time, and mine was so much higher than theirs.

Um- What was it? ... and I can't remember what it was. I don't remember. It was, I wanna say it was, like, 10 or something like that. Mine's 10 right now. There you go. Yeah. Mine stays average of 10. 

Gerry: But I, I want- But I have that 17 pulling it up. I don't know[00:35:00] 

how I got 17 hours. Careful. Yeah. I must have left it unlocked and sitting somewhere or something. 

Molly: Yeah. And 

Andrea: it is, I feel like also it should be noted, it is really hard if you're a content creator, um, to not have it shoot up super high because it is legitimately, like, work that you're doing. Yeah. But then scrolling is not work, right?

And so- Yeah ... it is definitely something that's, that's a great hill to die on and it's something that I need to work on, so thanks for- 

Molly: You're welcome, guys. And, Alyssa, I'm shaming myself too. Perfect. But I just, like, man, I am learning the things I'm gonna do as a parent someday after- 

Andrea: Yeah ... 

Molly: being a teacher, 

Andrea: you know?

Yeah. My kids, the reason they're down 15,000 times when we're trying to record is 'cause they don't have tablets that they can just constantly s- be on. They don't have cell phones, they don't, like, none of that. I love that. The only thing my son ha- Both my kids have an Android tablet that they're allowed to use on road trips.

Andrea's Kid: Mm-hmm. 

Andrea: Um, or we do 30 minutes of Khan Academy a day, and that is com- I love that ... that is it. Yeah. Um, and that's largely [00:36:00] because I read so many studies about how it's, like, melting kids' brains to be doing constant gaming and constant, like, "Give me your phone," and all that kinda stuff, so. I think 

Gerry: my brain is fine.

Andrea: You seem great. 

Molly: But you also- Yeah ... were an iPad kid. Like, you're past that generation. You know, we weren't raised- Were you an 

Andrea: iPad kid 

Molly: with screens? Like me? 

Andrea: No, I was asking Gerry No 'cause, like, he would've been 

Molly: at 

Andrea: that age, right? I 

Molly: think I was... Gerry, how old are you? 

Gerry: 27. 

Molly: Okay, so we didn't have iPads growing up.

Gerry: How old 

Molly: are you? Uh, 28. Yeah. 

Andrea: You had to think really 

Molly: hard on that. I'm surprised you had to think about that. Yeah. I was like, "

Gerry: Oh, I think I'm 27." If we polled our listeners on who was older, me or Molly, it- 

Molly: Do it right now. Add another poll. 

Andrea: Well, everybody... Yeah, do it. I, we could do it on, well, yeah, I don't know.

I mean, we've already said it, but 

Molly: it would be- Andrea, why don't, why don't you do it? But no, because they're not gonna see it. Let's, you should do it before we record our next episode and reveal the answer- Okay ... on the next episode. 

Andrea: You guys gotta send pictures of yourself, though. Can 

Gerry: y'all remind me 

Molly: to do it?

Yeah. 

Andrea: Yeah. [00:37:00] And then we'll ask if I'm the youngest of all, obviously. 

Molly: Gerry. 

Gerry: Okay. It's not 

Andrea: like you give it away. As we know. You know what, Gerry? People probably do think I'm younger than you. And 

Gerry: probably 'cause that's 

Andrea: not 

Gerry: hard to 

Molly: do. You do look young. 

Andrea: It's the botulism toxin in my forehead. Thank you so much for noticing, so.

Molly: Botulism? 

Gerry: Yeah, mine's 

Molly: the hairline. 

Andrea: Yeah, it's Botox. 

Molly: I know. Is that what that's called, though? 

Andrea: Yeah, I mean, it's, it's, that's what it 

Gerry: is. I bet you we could convince people that I'm Steven's brother. 

Andrea: Probably. Yeah. 

Molly: Actually, you should just do that. J- just like, we should just start putting facts out there and see if people believe it.

Like- I don't 

Gerry: think I- ... we could just like- I would ... like the numbers of voting of who's older, me or Steven. 'Cause I feel like it should come back 100% Steven's older, and I don't think it would. 

Andrea: Yeah. Um, hey, guys, listeners, friends, uh, countrymen, if you guys have ideas of lore that we need to start about ourselves, you guys need to send us messages because we're down.

And, um, maybe we'll, we'll post some pictures of, uh, you and Steven together because there's several photos of you guys together. And we can just be like, "This, I don't [00:38:00] know if you guys know, Gerry's actually my brother-in-law." 

Molly: No. 

Andrea: I love that. It'd be great. 

Molly: Um, also- I love that ... Gerry, I don't know if you remember this, but the first time that we met, I think I guessed your age, and I think I was, like, right on the money.

So it's not that you look old, I just think you look like a man that could either be, like, this age or this age. It's like you just could fit a lot of categories. 

Theme: I'm a Renaissance man. He's a 

Molly: Renaissance man. Yes. Hey. Like, you just... So I had guessed that you were in your 20s, so it's not like you're giving off X age, you know- Yeah

besides your actual age. So don't, don't, don't sweat it. 

Andrea: That's right. Okay, guys. Um, if you have thoughts about Gerry's age or anything else that we talked about today, even what happened in the first half, you can hit us up, andrea@human-content.com, or you can contact me at educatorandrea, and you can contact Gerry at- 

Gerry: comedybygp 

Andrea: And Molly at- 

Molly: miss.dugan1 

Andrea: I [00:39:00] love that there's a one.

Molly: I know. 

Andrea: I love that. That like you, you're not the OG. You just had to like- It makes me 

Molly: look like I'm not the OG. 

Andrea: It really does. Yeah. It's bad. 

Molly: Um, 

Andrea: if you wanna catch the full video episodes, they're up every single week on YouTube at Educator Andrea. Thank you so much for listening. I'm your host, Andrea Forkham.

I'm 

Gerry: Jared Patoca. 

Andrea: And I'm Molly Dugan. And our executive producers are Andrea Forkham, Aron Korney, Rob Goldman, and Shahnti Brooke. Our editor is Andrew Sims. Our engineer is Jason Portizo. Our music is by Omer Ben-Zvi. To learn more about How to Survive the Classroom's program disclaimer and ethics policy and submission verification and licensing terms, you can go to podcastorandrea.com.

How to Survive the Classroom is a Human content production. 

Theme: How to Survive the Classroom

Andrea: Thank you so much for watching. Want more of How to Survive the Classroom? You can watch more episodes right now. Just click on that little box over there. You see it? And [00:40:00] if you haven't yet, please subscribe. Okay, bye.

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