EPISODES & TRANSCRIPTIONS

ORDER MY NEW BOOK (AVAILABLE NOW)!!! — https://bit.ly/49CZ5A0⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠I bombed a comedy show in New Orleans this weekend, and Gerry and I are unpacking every chaotic detail on this week's How to Survive the Classroom, from the venue surprise-merging me with another show, to the broken mic, t…

ORDER MY NEW BOOK (AVAILABLE NOW)!!! — https://bit.ly/49CZ5A0⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Are these new teacher red flags or green flags? This week we play a back-to-school hallway game ranking the behaviors that tell you exactly what kind of colleague you're dealing with, from Bitmoji classrooms to teachers wh…

ORDER MY NEW BOOK (AVAILABLE NOW)!!! — https://bit.ly/49CZ5A0⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Have you ever booking a show in New York City only to realize there are so many comedy giants there that you can barely sell a dozen tickets ? Because that is exactly the humbling moment I’m bonding over with today's guest…

ORDER MY NEW BOOK (AVAILABLE NOW)!!! — https://bit.ly/49CZ5A0⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠I’m wrapping up my semester and Gerry is surviving quarter four, but honestly, we’re both just exhausted from a weekend of comedy. Gerry has been out here opening for Joe Dombrowski and doing guest spots with Josh Johnson …

ORDER MY NEW BOOK (AVAILABLE NOW)!!! — https://bit.ly/49CZ5A0⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠We are back with part two of our Mother's Day special, and this time the spotlight is on Gerry’s mom, Melanie Potoka! Not only is she the woman who raised Gerry, but she’s also a fellow educator who’s been in the game for …

ORDER MY NEW BOOK (AVAILABLE NOW)!!! — https://bit.ly/49CZ5A0⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠I have a very special guest today, the woman, the myth, the legend: my mom, Candi Neal (aka Mama Neal).Mama Neal is here to spill all the tea on what I was really like before the PhD and let's just say, eighth grade wa…

PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK (OUT MAY 5, 2026)!!! — ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/43BquPd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The box finally arrived. My book is officially here! I’ve worked on it for years, but now that I’m holding it, I’m having a total crisis. I can’t even look at the pages without feeling nauseous.. Gerr…

PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK (OUT MAY 5, 2026)!!! — ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/43BquPd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Have you heard the news? Apparently, the First Lady thinks we might need robots in the classroom. Today, Gerry and I are breaking down the "AI humanoid robot" pitch and why we’re a little skeptical that…

PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK (OUT MAY 5, 2026)!!! — ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/43BquPd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Have you ever booked a hotel so sketchy that even the Uber driver took one look and canceled the ride? Because that was my weekend in Essington, Pennsylvania. I’m joined by Chicago-based interventionist a…

PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK (OUT MAY 5, 2026)!!! — ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/43BquPd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠I have a confession to make: I am officially eating my words from last week. My husband, who actually went to Yale for medicine, informed me that basically everything Ms. Dugan and I said about male anato…

PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK (OUT MAY 5, 2026)!!! — ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/43BquPd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Today, we're joined by my fellow high school English teacher and total girl’s girl, Miss Molly Dugan. We’re diving into the absolute chaos of being a teacher on the internet, from people trying to pit us ag…

PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK (OUT MAY 5, 2026)!!! — ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/43BquPd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠My kids were sick. My husband was sick. My babysitter got sick. Somehow I was the only one left standing, which honestly felt suspicious.Meanwhile, I was traveling for shows in Washington, DC and Philadel…

PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK (OUT MAY 5, 2026)!!! — ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/43BquPd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Gerry came to my house for the Indianapolis show, insulted my daughter’s dental hygiene via the Tooth Fairy, may or may not have been exposed to Flu B, and then drove 11 hours home fueled almost entirely by mar…

PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK (OUT MAY 5, 2026)!!! — ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/43BquPd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Teacher besties… I turned 39. Which means, naturally, I decided to spiral publicly and create “52 Weeks Until 40” as content instead of processing my feelings privately like a normal person.This episode has e…

PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK (OUT MAY 5, 2026)!!! — ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/43BquPd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Matt Eicheldinger is back and somehow since the last time he was on, he’s casually signed over a dozen book contracts, written across multiple age ranges, and is now launching a dystopian trilogy. Meanwhile, I’m …

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 be…

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 dangero…

PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK (OUT MAY 5, 2026)!!! — ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/43BquPd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Teacher besties… this episode is a little heavier than usual, but it’s one I felt I needed to record exactly as it is.Lately, the news cycle has been overwhelming, and as teachers, we don’t get the luxury of tuning…

PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK (OUT MAY 5, 2026)!!! — ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/43BquPd⁠⁠⁠⁠I’m fresh off Teacher’s Lounge shows in Seattle and Portland (cities I was told to fear, but absolutely adored), and Gerry is coming back to work after a winter break so long it fully erased his sense of time, purpose, a…

PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK (OUT MAY 5, 2026)!!! — ⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/43BquPd⁠⁠⁠Teacher besties… this episode is what happens when you let me and Gerry talk long enough to uncover each other’s secret side quests.I found out Gerry is casually coaching middle school basketball, we unpack why coachin…

Teacher besties… this episode officially marks a new era, and honestly? It’s already unhinged. I’m joined by Gerry (yes, that Gerry), and we immediately get into important topics like whether Terre Haute feels like witness protection, why Florida keeps rewarding me while Jerry watches from afar, an…

Teacher besties… I am recording this episode with teeth that feel like exposed electrical wiring, so if I sound unwell, it’s because I am unwell. I decided to get my teeth professionally whitened, and let’s just say the pain level was somewhere between “natural childbirth with a broken epidural” an…

PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK (OUT MAY 5, 2026)!!! — https://bit.ly/43BquPdTeacher besties… this episode I’m talking about hosting nearly 30 people for Thanksgiving (including a self-appointed “Director of Thanksgiving”), discovering my husband’s family may have some intense World War II memorabilia, a…

PRE-ORDER MY NEW BOOK (OUT MAY 5, 2026)!!! - https://bit.ly/43BquPdTeacher besties… this week I brought on one of my favorite chaotic humans: the hilarious Gerry Potoka, comedian, teacher, and man of mysteriously undefined licensure.In this episode, Gerry and I try to pinpoint what he actu…