Girls' Night: Fangirling, Laptop-in-Rice Trick, & Bed Bugs

Molly: [00:00:00] What do they call you? Professor Forcum, Dr. Forcum. So- 

Andrea: At Indiana State, it's a lot less formal, so they just call me Andrea Okay That's always been the way. 

Molly: Girl, you don't make them call you doctor. If I had a PhD, the people at the grocery store better be calling me Doctor

Andrea: Hey, teacher 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 right now

Molly: Hey, teacher besties. 

Andrea: [00:01:00] Welcome to How to Survive the Classroom. I'm Andrea Forkham. 

Molly: And I'm Molly Dugan. 

Andrea: And Gerry's not here today, guys. RIP. I mean, not RIP. He's not dead. I- But- 

Molly: I almost said RIP as well. 

Andrea: He's only... He's just doing a show tonight, I think, is what he texted us. So, it's just, it's girls' night tonight.

Molly: And you know what? We needed a little girls' night. 

Andrea: That's right. We don't need no man to, to be, uh, to be in here. I hated saying that. 

Molly: S- so we don't need no m- we're independent women. 

Andrea: That's right. Exactly. 

Molly: This is getting worse and worse. We need to move on. 

Andrea: Here's the thing, is I, I don't know about you, but, like, we...

I just started back to work. I am delusionally tired right now, as one is- Was 

Molly: today your first day? 

Andrea: Yeah. But not with students even. It was just... But here's the thing, my best teacher friend retired at the end of last year. And so I ha- I was, like, sitting in [00:02:00] my car as soon as I got to work, and the reality that I was gonna go in and she wasn't gonna be there, and it was just gonna be, like, everybody else who she and I would sit next to each other and, like, like, be like, "Psst, psst, psst," about everybody else that we work with.

And now it's just the everybody else and I'm like, like, I can't- You're 

Molly: all alone. 

Andrea: I'm so alone. It was, it, it was so clear to everyone that I wouldn't be okay, that, like, people were coming out into the halls when they saw me come in and were like, "How are you? Are you okay- 

Molly: Stop ... 

Andrea: without her?" And I'm like, "No, I'm not okay.

I, I don't wanna talk about it." 

Molly: You're like, "It's not the same." 

Andrea: Yeah. Um, she worked at Indiana State for 43 years. So yeah, she, like, outlasted everyone else. So Indiana State used to have a K12 school that they ran out of the building that we're in, and then over the years they transitioned and they basically offered jobs to a few people that were just regular K12 teachers at that school, and [00:03:00] she was one of those teachers who then became faculty and ran the secondary education department for decades.

Like- Oh my gosh ... decades and 

Molly: decades. Good for her. 

Andrea: She, I mean, she's just incredible. Like, anyone who went through secondary education at Indiana State knows Della Thacker and is obsessed with her because she's just incredible. And then she very selfishly retired. 

Molly: So Indiana State lost a legend is what I'm hearing 

Andrea: Absolute legend.

And everyone's like, "Are you okay?" And I'm like, "No, of course not. Why would I be okay to talk?" 

Molly: But it sounds like you're kind of like you're supposed to fill the, that role now. Like, you're her 

Andrea: protege. I, yeah. What, what a horrifying- I- ... thing to recognize. Like, I am so serious because everyone's like, "Andrea, but like, you shouldn't feel insecure."

And I'm like, "It's not my insecurity. It is the acknowledgement of, of the legend that I..." Like, I, I just, like, imagine like Michael Jordan retires and you're the next- Mm-hmm ... person who has [00:04:00] to, like- Take the spot ... take over that position. Yeah. Like, I- it's not gonna happen. And- 

Molly: Okay, but also, no, hear me out on this.

Hear me out on this, Andrea. Listen, I'm about to go full motivational mode. Okay, I'm ready. Listen, it was the first day of school, and I was like, "Yeah." Yeah. So maybe I've still got that in me. Um- 

Andrea: Great. I'm so ready. 

Molly: But also, like, I'm lights on no one's home, too. Mm-hmm. So, like, I don't, I don't know what this is about to be.

Think about it, though, okay. If we're gonna go Michael Jordan. 

Andrea: Mm-hmm. 

Molly: Let's say Michael Jordan had a bestie. Mm-hmm. Okay? That bestie's never gonna be Michael Jordan, but that bestie was around Michael Jordan, so it, like, has the aura of that essence. 

Andrea: I, I see, I see what you're trying to do. Unfortunately, that energy I don't think is gonna translate into the dis- like, I just know o- like, so I don't see my students for another few days.

Theme: Mm-hmm. 

Andrea: And I know when I show up on Wednesday, and I'm like, "Hey, guys," [00:05:00] because I would say 95% of them had no idea until they got their course, like, their Canvas course notification that I was the professor. They thought it was still gonna be her. She did not tell anyone. Wait, so you 

Molly: actually took her classes?

Andrea: Yes. Oh. That's what I'm saying. I am ta- I didn't know 

Molly: that ... 

Andrea: not her full roster of classes, but, like, the one that is for secondary ed, I was teaching middle school instructional strategies. Now I'm teaching high school instructional strategies, and all of these students have already had me. They just had me last semester for middle school instructional strategies, and they were all really excited about having the course with Della because she's a legend, and she's incredible, and she just is the best And then she told a select few students on the last day of the semester, last semester, that she was retiring.

Not all of them knew until that moment. And so even if I'm great- 

Molly: Which you are ... 

Andrea: which obviously I am- 

Molly: Obviously ... 

Andrea: I'm, I'm still not her. Mm-hmm. She also is one of those [00:06:00] people, you know how, like, I've heard of this being a real thing, but there are people out there that can actually just go off of, like, three hours of sleep a night.

Molly: Is she one of those? Like, 

Andrea: regular- That's 

Molly: me, actually. Yes. I do that. 

Andrea: Yes. Can you do that? 

Molly: Yeah. I mean, I'm, like, not, like I, I'm a flustered human being from it, but yeah, I can do it. I've been doing that since high school. 

Andrea: That's good for you. I'm very jealous. I might die early. I wish. Well, I, if, if Della is any indication, I don't think so.

She just gets so much done. Like she has- Yeah ... so many more hours in her day, and also her kids are grown and all of that, and my kids are younger. And so I just, I'm, I'm halfway trying, like, I gotta figure out how I'm gonna start the class. Um, because number one, she is begrudgingly retired. Like, she retired, but also she loves what she does and so she's like, "You let me know what you need from me."

And I was like, "I need you to be there on the first day of school with me so that everyone knows that we're working together." I lit- Mm-hmm ... she copied her Canvas course over for me. 

Molly: Incredible. 

Andrea: And then [00:07:00] gave me my course calendar for this year. Love. Um, because she's incredible. Yes. And so I'm like, "I need you to be there with me, to stand next to me when we're talking to the students, and let them know, like, you're not gone from their lives completely."

Um, and she's like, "Absolutely, I will be there." Um, but then the other piece of it is I ha- like, I need to tamper their, um, expectations of, like, I'm not ... Like, she would respond to emails at, like, 1:00 in the morning. She would- Wow ... and, and that was her choice, and she did great with that, and she loved it and all of that, and I'm like, "I will not."

Molly: No. 

Andrea: My, I've got little kids at home. I sleep at night. Like, it will unfortunately not be the case, and as upset as all of them are that she has retired, there's no way they're more upset than me. Like, I'm like, I am deeply grieving. So I had to deal with that today as I came back to work. Um, but yeah. How was your, uh, first...

Now, h- do you have [00:08:00] students yet? Are you back, like, with students? 

Molly: Dude, yeah. Well, okay, first of all, it sounds like you lost a legend, but I really think that, give it a few years, I think you're gonna become the legend. 'Cause right now it's like, yeah, they're grieving it, but it's like that's just this group of students that knew her.

Andrea: Yeah. 

Molly: After that, it's gonna be like, "Oh." What do they call you? Professor Forcum? Dr. Forcum? So- 

Andrea: At Indiana State, it's a lot less formal- Okay ... so they just call me Andrea. That's always been- Girl ... the way 

Molly: You don't make them call you doctor. If I had a PhD, my grocer, the people at the grocery store better be calling me doctor.

Andrea: You know what's funny, is I thought I was gonna feel that way, but then if everybody else that you work with goes by their first name and you're the only person that's like, "No, actually it's Dr. Forcum," like that's a weird vibe. And also- You're right, 

Molly: it is, but I'm petty. I'd be inside, I'd be pissed that everyone did that.

Andrea: So I think if I taught high school still- Mm ... I would be Dr. Forcum. Yeah. But I teach adults, and so the vibe is just kinda different. It's more collaborative [00:09:00] and a little bit more, I don't know, like a little bit more peer-oriented. And so I'm fine with them calling-- Usually people start off calling me, like, Professor or like a f- uh...

Also, Dr. Forcum is a lot of syllables. People hate that many syllables. Like, people prefer three syllables, that's it. Like, three or fewer. So even when I was teaching, they w- I'm Mrs. Forcum, and that was too much, and so they'd call me- That's a lot ... Miss Forcum. Yeah. Like, a- Mm ... and so Dr. Forcum, that was too many.

Four syllables is too many. It had to be three or fewer, and so I'd get Miss Forcum, and I didn't care. I wasn't just like, "Excuse me, there's an R in there." 

Molly: We can shorten your last name 

Andrea: Fork or Come Mm-hmm. 

Molly: Mm-hmm. 

Andrea: Is that better? Yeah. Dr. Come. I don't know. I do feel like people would be more comfortable saying Dr.

Come than Dr. Forcome, because it's just too many syllables. 

Molly: There's gotta be s- there's gotta be a teacher out there that has that last name. There has to be. 

Andrea: There was a [00:10:00] teacher in my K12 school whose name was Bader. His, his name was Bader, and so his name was Mr. Bader. Mr. Bader. 

Molly: Oh, it took me 

Andrea: a minute. Mr.

Bader. 

Molly: No. 

Andrea: Oh, yeah. And we enjoyed it a lot, honestly. 

Molly: And he didn't just, like, go by Mr. B? 

Andrea: Nope. Nope. It was Mr. Bader. And, um, I love that for us. 

Molly: I- That's, that's confidence, actually, to be like, "No, I hear it, and you're gonna say my name." 

Andrea: And I'm gonna do it anyways. Yeah, normally people would be like, "Oh, you know, just, uh, just the letter," right?

Theme: Yeah. 

Andrea: No. Unfortunately, um, he just went for it. 

Molly: Dang. So. That's crazy. That's crazy. Yeah. Well, I think I have confidence. I can't wait to hear updates. Um, I just thought of this. Yeah, I do wanna tell you about my first day, but before we get there, I'm getting out of order on us. I'm so sorry, but, like- It's 

Andrea: okay

Molly: I, I actually, you didn't answer. Do you have lice? I, we need a lice update. It's heavy on my mind. I can't even think about my first day of school. Like- Did you just do the mustard head, you know, with the Saran Wrap? Mustard 

Andrea: head? 

Molly: Isn't that a thing? 

Andrea: Isn't it mayo? [00:11:00] It's not mustard. 

Molly: Eh. 

Andrea: No, it's not. It's mu- it's mayo.

You guys, because on- I'm 

Molly: Googling it ... 

Andrea: listen, on The Office, they put mayo. Hold on. 

Molly: Girl, I swear it was mustard. 

Andrea: No. You're probably right. No way. Those- Does 

Molly: mustard kill lice? Uh, 

Andrea: no. 

Molly: Oh. 

Andrea: No. 

Molly: It's not mustard? 

Andrea: What about, is it mayo though? 

Molly: Does 

Andrea: mayo- I think it suffocates it. No. Neither do. 

Molly: No. 

Andrea: We're just putting condiments on our head for no reason.

Molly: I've got to stop making assumptions on here so boldly. 

Andrea: I- 

Molly: Ee. I've got to stop that. This is gonna be b- I'm gonna like somehow get sued by something. 

Andrea: Is, it, I don't... Was, is mustard a thing though? Do people do that? I've never heard of mustard. I've heard of mayo, where you just put mayo on, uh, the, mostly from The Office.

Molly: Well, you know what I might be making up is that, um, what do they say? In every movie as a kid, people would get gum in their hair and put peanut butter on it to get it out. Yes. Which has got to be BS. 

Andrea: It just seems [00:12:00] almost worse than the gum, to have peanut butter- Like how- ... in your hair. 

Molly: Yeah. I don't know.

But do you have lice? 

Andrea: No, I don't. Um, and my, let me tell you, my sister is my number one hater because she was texting me so much and was like, "I don't believe you. Did you go through with a comb? Did you go through with an nit comb? Did you go through when your hair was wet? Did you go through when your hair was dry?"

She couldn't believe that my kids and I didn't get lice because everyone else, my mother, all of my nieces, of which there are so, there's six nieces, all with very long hair, they all got lice. My kids and I did not. I will say that like a few, like early July, when we went to Michigan for a family thing, that was when we all, I think, initially were exposed because we found out as soon as we left Michigan, my sister's kids had lice.

And um, I immediately treated even though I didn't see anything. And then again, when I got back from California, I treated even [00:13:00] after like going through with the nit comb, looking and stuff like that. So it is possible that we got it and I caught it so early and killed it that we didn't actually, like it was so few that we didn't see any.

Yeah. So we did not see any bugs. We did not see any nits. Um, so I'm happy to report we are still lice free. 

Molly: Praise be. 

Andrea: I know. We are still, I think it's been a week and a half since we got back from California so I'm gonna again still do the, like two weeks later you're supposed to treat again, and we're gonna do that again.

So I'm treating it like we did just in case because lice are disgusting. 

Molly: I've never had a bigger fear. Actually that's false. I love to be dramatic. But my gosh, the thought of it makes me just like- No. So 

Andrea: I don't remember a time where I've had lice, but we've had lice in our home before. We've had fleas in our home before too- Ew

with our previous dogs. 

Molly: Crazy. Okay, luckily we haven't had fleas either, but okay, knock on, actually knock on two woods at once. No one in my family has ever had lice, and [00:14:00] we have three girls growing up. 

Andrea: Wow. 

Molly: I know. And that's just, like, beating the odds. Like- Yeah ... I don't know. We've never had it in our family, and so I'm like, guys, it's like the, the shoe's gotta drop at some point.

Andrea: Right? 

Molly: It's spooky. 

Andrea: It's gonna be 

Molly: one of you guys- And I was- ... all have kids ... like a camp counselor. My little sister was a camp counselor. Nothing. Yeah. We'd go to camp. Nothing ever. I don't know. 

Andrea: That is actually kind of insane, especially with three girls, because- Yeah ... that's the situation for both of my, my sister and my sister-in-law.

They both have three girls. Um, and I always lived in fear that I would catch it at school because- 

Molly: Yes ... 

Andrea: kids are gross You could get 

Molly: everything else at school. 

Andrea: Could ge- literally everything else. Um, but honestly, in this area, that's not as much of a concern, but there is an, a outbreak of bedbugs in my community.

Theme: No. 

Andrea: Yeah. So much so that when I took my kids to their pediatric appointment, um, they did the normal questions about, "Hey, have [00:15:00] you been exposed to COVID? Any, like, flu-like symptoms?" I'm like, "No, no, no." And they're like, "How about bedbugs?" And I'm like, "Why are you asking that?" Like, hold on. That's 

Molly: sick. 

Andrea: Why is that even a question coming out of your face at this moment?

And they're like, "Oh, there's been, like, a lot of bedbugs in this area." And I'm like, "Oh, ugh, so gross," because bedbugs are apparently so hard to get rid of. Um, and also I live in fear of that because I'm in hotels all the time when I'm touring for comedy. At least once a month, I am in a hotel bed. Um, now I have a question for you.

This is so important. Um, when you go to hotels, do you pull back the sheets and check the mattress? For like bedbug droppings. Like it looks like little spots on the bottom of the mattresses 

Molly: No, because I'm so scared about other things that I will find. 

Andrea: Okay. 

Molly: That I don't think I'll be able to get myself to crawl into the bed.

Andrea: Mm-hmm. Yeah, [00:16:00] so I can't remember who I was talking to that, but they were like, "I check every time." And I was like, "I'm gonna be really honest. If I checked and I saw there were bedbugs, I don't think I have the self-respect to leave." I'm gonna be like, "It's 11-" 

Molly: I'm, I'm sorry. Well, okay, that's not where I thought this was going.

Back, back the heck up. I'm sorry. 

Andrea: I don't know. I... Can you imagine the inconvenience of that? Like I'm gonna leave that hotel? 

Molly: No, 

Andrea: I- And go to another hotel? 

Molly: I'm sleeping in my car. I'm camping under the stars. Huh? 

Andrea: I'm gonna just roll the dice, I think. 

Molly: What do you think Gerry would say? 

Andrea: I don't know. See, this is why we need our angel boy here is to share with us his thoughts.

Molly: Why do I just feel like he's had an experience of something? 

Andrea: Probably. Guys, tune 

Molly: in next week. I feel like that man's lived, I feel like he's lived nine lives. 

Andrea: He really has. 

Molly: I'm so 

Andrea: excited to hear. He really has. Well, and the crazy thing is, is I have a friend who said that when she goes over to friends' houses, she also checks for [00:17:00] bedbugs.

Molly: Valid, you know? Some people are gross. Is it 

Andrea: con- But like, 

Molly: I- Not for bedbugs, 

Andrea: but- That's so... What are you looking for? 

Molly: Okay, I don't know. I don't check the beds because I get... Here's what's happened to me. Here's what's happened to me. I hit an age And it's like, it's like a fairy comes each birthday and sprinkles a new little thing onto you, right?

Mm-hmm. Yeah. And it's either gonna be physical pain- ... it's gonna be a new phobia. Yeah. It's going to be, uh, something that your mom says. And lately, my sprinkles from the age fairy has been- Uh-huh ... um, like weird cleanliness things that never- Oh ... bothered me before. I was like kind of a gross kid, right? Like, I just didn't, it, nothing bothered me.

I'm to the point now that like when I'm getting into a bed that's not my own, even if it's clean, I'm imagining the worst case scenario of what's under those sheets, that I'm gonna feel a loosey hair. 

Andrea: Oh, no. 

Molly: That, like stupid things like that. When I lay on a pillow- Mm-hmm ... that someone [00:18:00] else has laid on, I could gag at the thought of that.

What, like there are way grosser things in life, and so I don't know. Yeah. Listen, my birthday's next week. I, I'm scared about what's gonna get sprinkled onto me then, 'cause- 

Andrea: Yeah ... 

Molly: I'm headed down a bad path. 

Andrea: Yeah. That is fair. I do feel like also like the, when, when you stay in hotels enough, you, you simply cannot continue if you spend that much time thinking about this stuff because it will break you.

And so I'm like, I, I mean, there has been a re- I've talked about on the podcast, there was a fairly recent hotel stay where I got there and we left and we went to another hotel. Oh, no. It was in Philadelphia, and it was in an area of Philadelphia that when I mentioned it at the show that I was performing at in Pottstown, the entire crowd reacted very big.

Um, because I was like, I was trying to find a cheaper ho- ho- hotels in Philadelphia are like $400 a night, and that is not an exaggeration. Like, that, it, it was $470 for the hotel that we ended up staying at. The hotel [00:19:00] that I had booked was like $290 a night. And I'm thinking- 

Molly: And it was bad enough ... 

Andrea: it was so bad.

It took 45 minutes for an Uber to pick us up because they kept on almost getting there and turning around and leaving because they were afraid. It was so bad. I ca- we came downstairs, we're standing in the lobby. The guy who checked us in saw us standing there, was like, "What's going on, guys?" And we're like, "We're not staying here."

And he's like, "That's fair." 

Molly: Shut up. 

Andrea: I disputed the credit card charge because they did not offer the services that they had promised of a clean room. It was that bad. It was disgusting. Hair. 

Molly: That's so scary. 

Andrea: So much hair. 

Molly: No. Oh my God, 

Andrea: stop. So much hair. 

Molly: No. No. 

Andrea: Yeah, it was... It wasn't great. I'm gonna be honest, it was not great.

But- I 

Molly: don't even like my own hair. 

Andrea: I know. I know. Um, okay, so I wanna hear about, like, before school started, you had professional development, I'm assuming. Yeah. How did all of that go? 

Molly: Okay, everything's been great this year, especially this is my third year at the school that [00:20:00] I'm at, so I feel like I'm actually settled in now.

Uh, you know, my classroom, everything. I, I gave my classroom a little facelift, so I'm feeling better in my space. It's, like, a little bit refreshed. I got my stuff organized. And what's so funny, so today was... First of all, PD was great. I would like to give a big shout-out. We talked about PDs a few episodes ago.

Andrea: Yeah. 

Molly: Like, what do you want, what do you not want? The PDs at my school are done so well because they give us so much time in our classroom. We love it. I mean, truly so much time. And they do... And I also think it's kind of a high school thing, where they just are like, "Listen, we know what our high school teachers want.

Let's..." You know? Yeah. They, they don't have a whole lot of the hoo-rah stuff. But today was the first day officially with kids, and it was lovely. Aw. It was really good. I feel really good about the groups. Um- I will say, dude, I think I kind of suck at the first day of school. That's just self-awareness. [00:21:00] I kind of suck at the first day of school, and here's why.

I do okay activities. It's nothing like that. They're low-key awkward. Oh, yeah. They're low-key awkward because the kids don't know you. Yeah. So I'm up there being normal. I'm, like, kind of self-deprecating a little. I'm kind of having these little things. They don't know when to laugh along yet because they don't know me.

Right. 

Andrea: Yeah. 

Molly: So then it's like, I'm kind of like, oh, like making a joke about myself, and they're like... And then they kind of- ... do that thing where they look at each other, like- Yeah ... I don't know 

Andrea: the vibe. I'm like- They're trying to get the vibe, yeah. 

Molly: There's a lot of awkward silences, and that doesn't feel great, but it's not because of the kid.

I think it's just who I am as a person. 

Andrea: No, I get that. Um, so. Yeah, yeah. I do have some ideas for that, but, um, we do need to take a very quick break, and when we get back, um, we are gonna talk about, uh, some fun things you can do. I have a couple of recommendations of super fun things for first day stuff. Um- Love it

and then, uh, I also have a fun story. We just have lots of stories, guys, [00:22:00] so it's just that kind of episode. So we will be right back.

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I love it for some quick review or as a fun way to gauge my students' knowledge. KnowWord [00:23:00] is an online tool for creating fun vocab games. Visit knowword.com to see how it fits into your classroom. Again, that's K-N-O-W-O-R-D dot com. Have you ever wondered what I would say if my mother and my administrators weren't watching every single thing I do on social media?

Well, that's exactly what my stand-up show is, and I'm gonna be coming to a town near you super 

Molly: soon. You can get tickets at educatorandrea.com/tickets

Andrea: Welcome back, teacher besties. Um, so first day activities, there was one activity, and I actually learned this at a professional development that- Mm-hmm ... was one of the best I've ever done. It was so fun. Um, and it was very low stakes, and I actually used it when I did my interview to work at the university.

They have you do a sample class. And so I have used this every semester. It's a really fun activity. Um, but basically what you do is you have a slide deck set [00:24:00] up And you tell the students everyone gets a marker and a giant poster board, and you put them in groups of, like, four to five. And then you put a pr- you tell them, like, "Okay, guys.

The entire time that this slide is up, you need to either be drawing or writing something on this poster board." And so it will be things like, "What is your favorite food?" And they will have to draw their favorite food or write the word of their favorite food. Um, and I give them, like, 30 seconds, and then they have to turn the paper, and then there's a different prompt that comes up, and they have to answer the prompt.

And so it can be specific to your class. It can be generic community-building stuff, like, what's a hot take that you have? Um, different things like that, so they're sharing about themselves, but they're doing it in a way that's pretty low pressure. Usually lasts about 15 minutes, and then we go into, "Okay, take a second.

Walk around the room, and I want you to get two takeaways of what this class [00:25:00] community has in common," or, "What are some themes that you see?" Mm. And then they come back together, and on the back of that poster board, they talk to the people in their group, and they write down some of the things that they found when they were walking around.

And it works really well because almost always, whenever you have, like, what do you think... Like, you'll have a question that's like, "What do you think is something that gets way too much hype?" And that always sparks conversation because there's never everyone agreeing, 'cause there's always someone who's like, "Taylor Swift sucks" or something like that.

And so it tends to be very low-key. I always warn my students that if they use this with a K-12 class and you introduce the drawing element to this, like, someone's gonna draw a penis. 

Theme: Mm-hmm. 

Andrea: Someone's always gonna draw a penis, um, especially because there's no way of knowing who wrote what on your poster.

Um, but it is a really fun intro activity that gets them yapping a little bit, and then I can walk around, and you can make it as short or long as you want. Um, and then I go through, like, all of the normal syllabus and all of that kind of stuff, but [00:26:00] that's- 

Molly: That's so fun ... 

Andrea: just a quick 

Molly: idea for 

Andrea: you. Wait. 

Molly: Um, I...

Wait. Question for this, though. Yeah. So there's, like, a group of, let's say, four and one poster board. Let's say that they're each on one side of the poster board, and they write their answer, and then they turn it, so they're writing on, like, another side of it kind of? 

Andrea: Exactly. It's just filling it up. So by the end, it's just, like, chaos and- Okay

a poster board of answers. Um, and it's kinda funny too because you've asked by the end, like, maybe 10 different questions, and so you don't know if their hot take is that, like, pineapple belongs on pizza or if that's their favorite food or, you know, stuff like that, so. I like that. It is interesting, though, because there does tend to be, like, a certain amount of agreement over specific things, like...

And there's always someone who has to be a smartass. Like, I always have someone that's like, "I don't like activities that require me to draw or talk to people- 

Molly: Mm-hmm ... 

Andrea: or engage." And I'm like, great. 

Molly: Kinda like when I say, like, "What's your least favorite part of this class?" Or- 

Andrea: Yeah ... 

Molly: or, "What's something that we can do different?"

They're like, "Read less." And I'm like 

Andrea: I [00:27:00] don't like the books in English class, so if you could just 

Molly: not do 

Andrea: that in this class I don't like reading or writing. 

Molly: No, literally. Right. 

Andrea: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Molly: No, that's a really good one. I actually have one that I haven't done, but my teacher partnered it and I was like, "That's genius.

I wanna do that next time." She does, it's, um, a list of great achievements in, like, human history, and it's just a big list of, of, like, the world's best achievements, and she gets them in, like, groups, and they have to work together to rank the best to worst human achievements and then, like, defend why that was their list.

Andrea: I love that. 

Molly: I was like, that is so... She's amazing. She has incredible ideas. Her AP scores are always unbelievable. Um, and I was like, "I wanna try that one year." Yeah. But then I don't wanna take it and kids, like, go to her and then have to do it, you know? 

Andrea: Oh, yeah. Is 

Molly: she- So I'm like, "

Andrea: Okay" ... is she, like, a grade above?

Molly: I could do, we're partners for juniors, so I could do it for juniors. Okay. But I couldn't do it for my freshmen. 

Andrea: Gotcha. Okay. So. Yeah. 

Molly: Yeah. 

Andrea: That makes sense. 

Molly: Yeah. [00:28:00] Dude, okay, so you asked me about what PD was like. I forgot to tell you this. Um, it was really, really great except, I'm not kidding, I was used as an example of what not to do 

Andrea: Like by name?

When we were there. 

Molly: Um, okay. Well, so, like, one thing about me is I'm, like, super unmedicated ADHD. Like- ... raging unmedicated. Right. Like, found out at 25 and was like, "How did my parents not clock this?" Right. Like, what is happening? Um, and like love myself, I just kind of freak up sometimes, you know? Correct, 

Andrea: yeah.

Molly: Mm-hmm. Like, kind of more than a lot of people. And, um, anyway, last year I went through two different computers at work. 

Andrea: Two different computers. How- 

Molly: Well- ... Molly? Okay. I literally did the things that they tell students not to do. Number one, I had... Okay, I didn't know that they told the kids, "Don't put papers in your MacBook."

Like, you know, you just put a paper in there and close your MacBook really quick. Okay. Like, if you have a [00:29:00] pile of papers, we all do it, and they were like, "Don't do it. It'll crack the screen." And I was like, "Yeah, guys, don't do it. Don't you dare." "You'll crack the screen." Well, then, like, you know, a quarter into the year I had literally two pieces of paper and I put them in my MacBook and closed it and I heard a pop.

It cracked my screen. 

Andrea: You know what? That's a quality issue. I'm sorry. Two pieces of paper should not crack- Two ... a laptop screen. 

Molly: I know, and there wasn't even a staple in it. I was like- Oh, right ... "Oh, my God. They weren't lying." Apple. So that happened. I had to go to our IT guy who I shall not name because he didn't ask to be named on here, but he's amazing.

He knows who he is. And I was like, "Hey." So he gave me a new one. Then I had my second one and it's second semester, and I opened my tote bag and my Owala water bottle betrayed me and it popped open. Yeah. And so I immediately put the computer in rice- ... as one does. 

Andrea: You... 

Molly: You know. Wait, what? [00:30:00] Isn't that what you're supposed to do?

You've never done that? 

Andrea: For phones once upon a time, but even that now, they're like, "Don't. The rice is gonna get embedded in the little ports. You can't do that." But you just stuck the whole computer... How much rice did it take to put a whole You 

Molly: did waste a whole bag of rice. I got my big casserole pan and I just poured...

I'll have to send you the picture. 

Andrea: Wait. W- I was gonna say, was this on social media? I vaguely remember this. 

Molly: Yeah. 

Andrea: Did it work? 

Molly: Okay, wait. Hear me out on this. Okay. It kind of works because at first I was like, "Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no." So I was like, "Okay." And what happened was, so I'm in grad school, and we had to do practice counseling sessions and record them and then transcribe them, and do all this stuff with them.

Theme: Uh-huh. 

Molly: I had just gotten back from that, so they were saved locally on my computer. Okay. Okay? The, the recordings. 

Theme: Okay. 

Molly: And so I was like, "Oh, no." So I had it in rice and I was, like, saying my prayers. I was literally, like, on my knees in my kitchen like, [00:31:00] "Please, please, please." And I open it and it works, and I was like, "Bless up."

Theme: Yeah. 

Molly: So I keep it in rice and I was like, "Okay, we're cooking." 

Theme: Oh, 

Molly: no. My dumb ass did not decide to save, while it was working, save those- Ugh ... to, like, Google Drive. I was like, "Sh, it's fine." 

Andrea: Clearly I fixed it. I am 

Molly: on the road- I fixed it ... to a healthy computer ... and it's like in fine. 

Andrea: Yeah. 

Molly: Right. No, literally. So then I'm like dee, dee, dee.

I, like, close my computer, let it stew all night, marinate in the rice. No. I go to work the next day and I open it, and, like, Shadi is dead. 

Andrea: No. 

Molly: And so I was like, "Oh, no." So I go to see him. I was like, "Hey. Hey. I'm back." And he's like, "Girl." That man worked magic for a whole day. He had, he has an entire massive high school to service for tech.

Right. He spent all day, all day. He somehow, Andrea, got those recordings back. 

Andrea: Wow. 

Molly: So it was literally by a miracle. He spent all day doing this for me, and I was like, [00:32:00] "Sh, sh, sh, 

Theme: thank 

Andrea: you." Now, was the computer usable, or he just- 

Molly: Oh, no. No. He somehow- That's a lovely thought ... the way, the way he, like, got it was because, so the keyboard was totally dead.

There was something in there that if he plugged it into something else he could access the stuff on here. Okay. Like, that part wasn't dead. 

Andrea: Got it. 

Molly: But we couldn't access it on the computer, and he somehow got it to work, but it took him all day to figure it out. He had to do all these little thingies, and then he somehow got it back and I cried in front of my class, and- 

Andrea: That's great

Molly: now I'm on my third computer. So anyway, at, we, they were talking it... He was giving, like, his little back to school, like, "Hey, remember the dos and don'ts." And he said something about, like, it'll break it, and I was like, I was like, "Yeah, kinda like me." And he's like, "Like Molly." And everyone in my department was like-

"Yeah, Molly." 

Andrea: So when he said that, did he have to say that twice since you broke your computer twice? Or was it just one [00:33:00] time that was like an all-encompassing, like, don't do these things because Molly did all of them? 

Molly: I will say he wasn't cruel. Like, he didn't say- Right ... "So learn from Molly." I, like, he said these things and I was like, "Yeah, kinda like, kinda like me."

And he was like, "Yeah." Like, I wasn't gonna say it, but like, yeah. He literally, but no, actually he didn't hesitate. He goes, I said, "Like me?" And he goes Yeah. Like, and everyone in my department was like, "Yeah, Molly, that was bad." 

Andrea: Oh, what? And I was like, "

Molly: Oh 

Andrea: my God!" Oh my gosh. Yeah. I, I mean, both honest mistakes. Uh, but also- Yeah

did you get a new Apple computer each time? A new Mac? 

Molly: So the first one all they had to do was change the screen. So I think they just sent it off to change the screen. Okay. But yeah, they just give me, they just, I think they are, they're constantly doing damage control. 

Andrea: Gotcha. 

Molly: And then, like, recycling them back to the schools.

Andrea: Okay. 

Molly: So I'm literally on my third physical computer with them. 

Andrea: Wow. Yeah. What a gift you are to your school community- 

Molly: Yeah ... 

Andrea: and your tech department. [00:34:00] I know. I just did a video, and it was supposed to be very tongue in cheek about, like, the first year teacher not respecting front office staff and, like, custodial staff properly.

Um, and so when I'm, like, embodying the first year teacher, I'm like, "Why would I need to know the name of a custodian, Molly?" The amount of heat I'm getting right now, because people are like, "What? How would you not respect and value every member of the school community?" And I'm like, "Bro- 

Molly: That's 

Andrea: the point of the 

Molly: joke"

Andrea: it's, that's the point. 

Molly: Like, 

Andrea: I'm- Like, that is the point I'm making, is that, like, as a first year teacher, you don't even sometimes think about it. Um, I'm getting lots of heat, but like, I think I also need to do one about the IT professionals at each school, because let me tell you, when things go awry, they are exactly the person that we need to 

Molly: come in.

If you're nice to them, they'll come running down to your room when the projector's- Yeah ... not working. 

Andrea: Yeah. 

Molly: But if you're not, don't respect them- 

Andrea: Hold, please. [00:35:00] Okay. Remember, emergencies only. But it 

Molly: was an emergency. 

Andrea: He's watching a cartoon, and he just, there was a plot twist, and so he had to tell me. 

Theme: Duh. 

Andrea: I mean, to be fair- Duh

I, when I was reading Game of Thrones, and guys, spoiler, there's something called The Red Wedding in Game of Thrones, and I accidentally texted my mother instead of texting my best friend, and there was a lot of swears in that particular text. And she texted me back and was like- Oh, then I hear that 

Molly: your mom's not, you know, Mom's not about 

Andrea: that She's not a fan of the swears.

Yeah. She's not a fan of the swears. Um, she did come to my show, and I have a kind of dirty joke in my show. Um, if you've been to my show, it's the E. coli joke. Um, and when I told that joke, I then got a case of the giggles because my parents were there, and I even said like, "I'm so sorry, guys. I'm gonna get it together, but my parents are here, and I just need to take a second" And my mom was like, "Good."[00:36:00] 

Molly: I love. Your heckler. 

Andrea: She was. I didn't hear it 'cause I told, I told the staff, I was like, "Hey, I'm gonna have a, a table of family, a table of friends. Put them where I cannot see them, please." 

Molly: Right. 

Andrea: Um, and yeah, it absolutely sent me. So I guess my son did inherit it from me, that it's like, if there's something, if there's a plot twist, we need to- Let the people know about said plot twist And we don't talk about it.

Um, also, can I talk about my, what I experienced this past week? So I just today, we had, like, our professional development, all of that kind of stuff. Um, welcome back, blah, blah, blah. Um, but a couple of days ago, so those of you guys who have been listening to the podcast for a long time know that I had Jarrett Reddick on the pod, who is the lead singer of Bowling for Soup.

I had him on the podcast, like- He's so cool ... a year ago. It was one of those moments where I was just like, wow 

Molly: I've made it. 

Andrea: 16-year-old Andrea would lose her mind. And if I had only known then what I know now, because [00:37:00] I had hi- like, I, I gave tickets to, um, Jarrett, the lead singer of Bowling for Soup, when we came through Dallas for the Teachers Lounge, and he came through.

He was so sweet. Like, he came with his wife and watched the show, said hi after real quick, and then he had to leave. And then he's like, "Hey, if I am ever coming through Indianapolis, you just let me know, and I'll get you tickets." And I was like, "Incredible." So he, this week, was going through Indianapolis with Simple Plan and a band called 3OH!3.

I wasn't familiar with 3OH!3, but they were great. 

Molly: Oh, yeah. Do you know 

Andrea: 3OH!3? 

Molly: No, I know 3OH!3. Do you? Is it... Are the ones that go, "My first kiss went a little like this. Uh" Is that it? "And twist. Uh" Yeah, they came to the Jingle Ball in Wichita, and I had to go in my cheer practice outfit. Jingle Ball. I did cheer one year.

Andrea: Incredible. 

Molly: I lo- Yeah, Bruno Mars was there, Natasha Bedingfield was there Wow Yeah. 

Andrea: Amazing. I love that. Yeah, so I, I wasn't super familiar with them, but obviously Simple Plan and Bowling for Soup, like, iconic [00:38:00] millennial pop rock, like, singers, right? So he texts me, he gets me tickets. I show up with my husband.

We're waiting. Like, we're headed to the back of the security line, and I see one of my favorite comedians of all time, Drew Lynch. Um, he is so funny. Some of you guys might know him. He is just so, so good. He's got, like, almost 2 million followers online. He's phenomenal. Um, and I see him waiting in line, and the line is sup- like, it is so long.

Um, but... And we're, like, heading to the back of the line. I was like, "Hold on, I gotta say hi real quick." And Steven's like, "Andrea, we don't have time." And I was like, "I'm gonna be cool." And so I went up to him. I was like, "Hey, I'm a super big fan. I love your stuff." He's like, "Oh, thank you so much." And then that's it, and we just go, right?

And so then we get in. We watch the first set. We see Bowling for Soup. They were up first. They were incredible. Just so much fun, so much nostalgia, and it was just a delight. And then Jarrett texts me, and his tour manager texts me and says, like, "Hey, do you wanna come backstage after our set or at the [00:39:00] end?"

And I was like, "Well, after, after your set for sure, so that way we can, like, chat a little bit." So he's like, "Okay, great. Meet us by the little side gate thing." So we go over there, and we're waiting. And as I'm standing there, Drew Lynch is also standing there. And I'm like, now it's weird because he knows I am a fangirl for his content.

Like, I was like, "This is actually a little embarrassing," but I was pretending I didn't see him standing there. Mm-hmm. So I'm, like, talking with Steven. yapping. And then they drew, the, the, um, tour manager comes over and grabs Drew Lynch and his couple of friends and family, and then comes over to us right after and is like, "Hey, guys," like, "Let's go back and see Jarett."

And Drew kind of looks at me, and he's like, "I guess I should say, um, what's your name now?" And I was like, I, I was like, "Hey, so it, uh, we're gonna act like I didn't fan girl already, and we're gonna act like that didn't happen, and it's gonna be fine." And he's like, "Cool. Great." I was, "Okay." And then I was like, [00:40:00] "I'm a comedian as well," and like gave that little context, which is horrifying to say.

Your bio. Yeah. But I want, I wanted to give context for, like, I'm professionally also a fan of you, is the words that came out of my mouth, and I wanted to die. Like, I 

Molly: heard it- Is that what you s- what you said it? 

Andrea: Yeah. Oh, no, it came out. Oh. Molly, I need you to know. 

Molly: It's... I'm professionally a fan of you- I- ... is the best thing.

I'm gonna tell people that. Oh, imagine that. Andrea, love you, girl. That is the number one thing to not say when you meet- ... when you meet your heroes. 

Andrea: I was trying to say 

Molly: I am also 

Andrea: a 

Molly: comedian. I'm not just a fan, I'm professionally a fan. I didn't mean it like that. I 

Andrea: meant, like, as a, like, as a peer kind of- Yes

but, like, I'm not a peer because he's so much more... Like, he's been doing comedy for, like, 14 years, right? So he's been doing it forever. He's incredible. 

Molly: You're saying, like, I look up to you in this field. 

Andrea: Professionally. In, like a p- Unfortunately ... in like a, in, like, an academic sense I'm also, but I said I'm professionally.

Molly: No, not even an academic sense. It sounds like you're [00:41:00] studying him. It sounds like you're, like, reading Tiger Beat and, like... Girl. 

Andrea: I- That's awesome ... 

Molly: but, 

Andrea: like, I 

Molly: was 

Andrea: committed. 

Molly: I was- That's the best interaction I've ever heard, I've ever heard ... girl. 

Andrea: The thing is, is, like, we go back to the green room, right? And I'm expecting it to look like a pop star or a rock star, like, green room, right?

When you think of going to go backstage at a rock concert, what do you think is gonna be back there? 

Molly: Drugs. 

Andrea: Drugs. Drugs. Let's just say 

Molly: drugs, 

Andrea: right? Yeah. I'm expecting bimbos, right? Mm. I'm expecting- 

Molly: Yeah, like the party scene ... 

Andrea: like a party scene. Like, people are doing cocaine off a table. 

Molly: Like- I'm thinking, like, leather.

Andrea: Probably, right? No. So we had to wait a really long time because every single one of the members of Bowling for Soup, after they perform, all take a shower. 

Molly: Um- Oh, okay. 

Andrea: Because they don't wanna s- 'cause they sweat a lot when they're on stage. They're 

Molly: bros, yeah. 

Andrea: We go back there. It's me, Drew Lynch, who I'm professionally a fan of, Steven, and then, like, all, like, the band, right?

So we go, we go back. They're all sitting there. They are the [00:42:00] kindest, sweetest humans. They're all j- every single member, there's the three guys that are in the band. They're all so kind and courteous to us. And And so I'm, like, standing there yapping. I end up talking quite a bit to Drew. He was very, very gracious.

And, like, we talked about comedy. He's performed at the place in New Orleans that I performed at that was, like, an actual nightmare for me. And so we, we, like, bonded over that. He even was, like, so ... Like, he was just so super, super nice, right? Even though I said I was a professional fan of his. 

Molly: Incredible.

Incredible. 

Andrea: Um, so we're yapping and stuff, and then the, like, the guys who are in Bowling for Soup are, like, leaving one at a time. And I'm like, "Where are they going? Like, what is happening back there?" And one of the guys comes in and tries to get Jarrett. He's like, "Jarrett, you've gotta go. The guy's here."

And I'm like, "It's drugs." Mm. And again- 

Molly: Their guy ... I, 

Andrea: it's ... Here's the thing. Jarrett did nothing, said nothing that would make me think he uses drugs other than the fact, like, it's a rock concert. And so I [00:43:00] just assumed- No, we just 

Molly: have watched movies 

Andrea: We've seen movies. That's what it 

Molly: is. Yes. 

Andrea: Correct. And he goes, "I'm just gonna..."

Um, and they're like, "The chiropractor's here." And I was like, "What?" 

Molly: Chiropractor. 

Andrea: And he's like, "Yeah, no, um, the chiropractor's here. Do you need to get adjusted?" And they're like, "I don't know. What does he do?" He's like, "Well, they do dry needling, and then they do chiropractic adjustment." 

Molly: I'm so scared. Did you ask to get- 

Andrea: No.

God, no. But, like- 

Molly: I'm like, "Can I?" ... 

Andrea: listen, the, that would've been smart. But they're like, "No, when we tour with Simple Plan, they have a chiropractor that comes and adjusts us after the shows." And I was like, "I'm gonna be honest, guys." This is not what I had in mind when I thought about going backstage. I thought there were gonna be drugs.

And they were like, "Really?" And I was like, "I don't wanna do drugs, I just assumed there was gonna be drugs." And one of the guys goes, "Oh no, we have drugs." And he opens a little cabinet and pulls out a box of Tums. And he's like, "Did you, 

Molly: you want a little hit? You, you want a little, you want a little hit of these antacids?"[00:44:00] 

Andrea: I was like, oh my gosh, this is not what I was expecting. That's incredible. Because, you know, you figure these guys, like I'm 39, and they were already well into their, like, 20s when I was 19. So they, like they're probably close to 50. And I'm sure there are rock stars out there that are still, like, doing all the things backstage.

Mm-hmm. Not when we were there, I can tell you that for sure. They were very courteous, very sweet. They had Tums. I don't know if you've seen on TikTok- ... they have that little towel dispenser that, like, magically dispenses hot towels. Have you seen this? 

Molly: I have not seen this. 

Andrea: Okay, like- They 

Molly: have one of 

Theme: those?

Andrea: you, you press a button and it, like, puts a little disc out, and it, like, produces a hot towel. They had that, too, and they gave me one. And I was like, "Great, thank you so much." 

Molly: They're like, "But you know what we do have? 

Andrea: Hot towels." 

Molly: We have a chiropractor. And a lavender-scented warm towel 

Andrea: for you. They, it was lavender scented.

It was a 

Molly: spa. It 

Andrea: was- It was 

Molly: a spa at a rock 

Andrea: concert ... it kind of was. They had a chiropractor dry needling, um, Tums. It was, it, for someone of my advanced age- Okay ... it was a dream. It was a [00:45:00] dream. Um, so in case you're wondering what happens backstage at Simple Plan and Bowling For Soup, a lot of comfort. A lot of comfort and, um, kindness.

And it was just genuinely so nice because I talked to the tour manager, who has been doing tour management for bands and stuff for, like, over 20 years. And I was like, "I bet you have some stories." He's like, "Oh, yeah." He's like, "I've actually been with bands that came to play at Guantanamo Bay." Guantanamo Bay.

And I was like, "For the prisoners?" And he's like, "No, for the guys who are working there." I was like, "Oh, that makes more sense." 

Molly: Okay, but that too. I didn't know 

Andrea: that was a 

Molly: thing. Also- Like- 

Andrea: It is because they, like the military pays for, like- Oh ... entertainment for, like, our soldiers and, um, all of that. 

Molly: I guess I wasn't processing that that's who the guys that are, like, working there.

Yeah. I was just thinking, like, people hired just for that building. Correct. So I was like, so military I understand. Yeah. That's, I, I knew that that's a thing. 

Andrea: Right, yeah. So it was just, it was one of those moments that I kept [00:46:00] thinking, it is so weird that I took a tripod outside in my backyard five years ago and created a video about teaching And that decision then led to me standing with someone I used to watch on MTV, and one of my favorite comedians- 

Molly: And someone you're professionally a fan 

Andrea: of

I'm professionally a fan of, holding a heated towel. Um, what a journey. And also, by the way, guys, if you haven't been ... I hadn't been ... Steven and I talked about this. The last time we had been to a concert, like, the past three concerts we went to were classical orchestras. 

Molly: I won't yuck your yum. 

Andrea: Yeah. It's not- You 

Molly: know what?

Range, baby ... it 

Andrea: wa- it wasn't even, like, that we made the choice that we're, like, such fans of orchestras. It was just the Marine Corps Band came through town. Okay. We went and saw that. There was, like, a couple of college assignments that we went to. Um, and concert tickets are expensive, and so it had been a very long time since we'd been to, like, a concert for fun.

And it was a treat. If you guys [00:47:00] see Simple Plan and Bowling for Soup and 3OH!3! come through town, absolutely get tickets. It was just nostalgia personified. They make a lot of jokes about the fact that, like, we all used to, you know, be wearing, like, all sorts of really cool shoes, and now everyone's in Hokas and Brooks, and, uh, it just

It was great. Um, so yeah. I just had to shout out also, like, Jarrett and their whole group, um, because it was so fun. Thank you for the heated towel. And Drew Lynch, thank you for not running away when I said I was professionally a fan of you. 

Molly: You know what? What if you just gave him the best content? You might've given him the best content.

Here's another thing. Actually, sorry, hot take. Not a hot take, an opinion. People that feel like they never have anything to talk about- 

Andrea: Yeah ... 

Molly: and they're like, "Ah, it's just, like, awkward or this or that or whatever," it's because they don't have enough lore. Yeah. You have wonderful lore. Think about that. [00:48:00] You just made the best story to tell people at dinner parties.

And it's all because you embar- being embarrassed makes you the funniest person in the room. Ugh. 

Andrea: You know what? That's what 

Molly: I think. 

Andrea: I think what is actually a little bit insane, though, is that until I said it out loud here, I didn't realize how bad it was. I was like, "That went well." 

Molly: Okay, I 

Andrea: have a question.

Then I said it out loud here 

Molly: and I was like, "Oh, no." I bet it went better than you think, but hearing the words I'm profess- I'm a comedian as well. I'm professionally a fan, is actually, like, should be in a sitcom. Like, that is so funny. I'm gonna start telling people that. I think that's the funny... I trademark that.

Andrea: Oh, it makes 

Molly: me- You know what? ... 

Andrea: wanna 

Molly: disappear. You could sell merch. You could sell merch for people and be like, "

Andrea: I'm professionally a fan." Hey, 

Molly: professionally a fan. 

Andrea: I just, I simply, uh, I was trying to, like, say, like, in an academic sense, like his joke writing is really good. 

Theme: Yes. 

Andrea: His crowd work is good. Like, [00:49:00] professionally, I am a fan, not like I'm...

Molly: No, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's getting better. It's getting better the more you say it. 

Andrea: The more I say it, the- ... the more I just wanna die, so that's fun- ... for all of us. Um, we did have a whole other segment that we were gonna do today, but I think it's actually better that we just save it for Gerry. 

Molly: Yeah. 

Andrea: Um, because it 

Molly: is- Surprise everyone.

Andrea: I know. I know. I hope you guys miss Gerry. I missed, I missed G- Gerry today- I miss him too ... because I feel like, I feel like he'd have a lot to say about me being a professionally a fan. 

Molly: We can get his... You know what? He'll, he'll text us all about it in the group chat after a show. 

Andrea: Yeah. 

Molly: Also, I need people to know and for context from our previous episodes that we now officially have a group chat since I have joined the crew, which is super exciting, and after our first episode, that was so feces heavy, um, Gerry did name our group chat the Doo Doo Crew.

Andrea: With the worst, he then created a graphic that I hate so [00:50:00] much. It's intestines, I 

Molly: think. 

Andrea: It's a colon. It's a colon. Guys, he cre- like, he named it the Doo Doo Crew, and then also put a colon AI created graphic. 

Molly: It's like a cartoon colon. 

Andrea: I hate it. 

Molly: I- I think it's kinda cute. 

Andrea: I know you do, and I hate it. It grosses me out every time I see it.

Um, and they both stay up later than me, so every time I wake up, there's just all this lore that has been dropped onto my phone, and I get to just scroll through and catch up on everything. So guys, just really brace yourselves, because Gerry's gonna be back next week, and I'm sure he's gonna have stories.

A lot to catch up on. Mm-hmm. So much to catch up on. Um, and if you guys have feedback. 

Molly: If you guys are professional fans and you wanna give us feedback We'd love to hear your insight. Um, we actually are starting a new fan page, and so you only have to subscribe, and you get the official title of professional fan.

Dude, that actually would low-key be a good marketing 

Andrea: thing. That would be amazing, yeah. Yeah. So [00:51:00] we're not- You could be professionally a fan if you just follow our Instagram page, which we're gonna create at some point, 'cause I do think I actually created one for this pod, and then I've posted nothing, so I need to work on that.

Um, and you could be a professionally a fan if you wanted to follow that once it's there. But 

Molly: only if you follow it. 

Andrea: On- unfortunately, you have to follow it. Um, this is gonna keep me up at night. I want everyone to know. Um, so if you wanna contact us, you can email me, andrea@human-content.com, and you can contact me at educatorandrea on Instagram and TikTok.

And for Molly, you can contact her. 

Molly: You can find me at miss.dugan1 on Instagram and TikTok. 

Andrea: Yeah, and you should go back and try and find the video where she puts her laptop in rice and just comment, "Found it," so that everyone knows. It is out there. Yeah. 

Molly: Yeah, it's out 

Andrea: there. If you wanted... Like, if you wanted to be professionally a fan, that would be something.

Molly: Only professional fans would go find that lore. 

Andrea: Only, right. 

Molly: Yeah. 

Andrea: Um, and thank you so much to all of you amazing listeners leaving wonderful feedback and awesome reviews. If you haven't [00:52:00] done that yet, you should be a professional fan and do that. Um, thank you so much for listening. I'm your host, Andrea Forkham.

Molly: And I'm Molly Dugan. 

Andrea: 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 listening terms, you can go to podcasterandrea.com.

How to Survive the Classroom is a Human Content production.

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 if you haven't yet, please subscribe. Okay, [00:53:00] bye.​