I Accidentally Pressed Play on WHAT?!

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Andrea: [00:00:00] I've talked about it on here before where like I showed a video that I was, I did not prescreen, and, and there were naked pens right off the bat, just flailing in the wind.

Hey, you guys, welcome to How to Survive the Classroom, and you are not in the wrong place. That is in fact the new name of the podcast. We did a little switch, a little switcheroo on our season break. And the reason that we did that is because we wanted to make sure that the people who were trying to survive the classroom would in fact be able to find this podcast.

Um, and although I still hold to the fact that I think those who can't do is a h tongue in cheek name for a podcast, um, it, it's not actually that great for people who love teachers. To be able to find, because generally that's used as like, you know, like if [00:01:00] you're, if you're making fun of a teacher or something like that.

So we did a little, a little rebrand on the break, but you're not in the wrong place. I'm so glad that you're here. Um, and we are also going to be adjusting a little bit based on your feedback, the kinds of things we are doing. The podcast and I'm so freaking excited about it. So the first thing is that I had a bunch of you guys send in some really incredible voice memos and I will be responding, reacting, providing feedback and advice as needed, um, and sometimes just sitting and empathizing with you about.

The, the way, the way that life be, my friends, the way that life be. So I'm really excited to jump into that. Um, and occasionally we will still have guests, um, but it's gonna kind of depend on the week and the vibes. Um, so I'm, I'm gonna keep it, I'm gonna keep it a little bit of a mystery for you. Sometimes we'll have some guests and sometimes it'll just be me hanging out with you and talking through some of the.

Wild things that you [00:02:00] guys submitted to me. So if you follow me on Instagram, which if you're here, you probably do, um, you know that every Friday I have those, what are those kids doing? And so sometimes I'll bring in some pieces from that. But something else is, that's where I'm collecting along with on my website.

Um, it's where I'm collecting all of the stories is the voice memos of. What you guys are going through and there's some crazy stuff and a lot of it's funny, some of it's very serious because as we all know, there's some really, really hard stuff that we deal with in the classroom. Um. But my goal always with this podcast is to encourage you and to make you laugh and to make you feel seen and heard.

And to say the quiet parts out loud about the teaching profession in a way that uplifts it and doesn't make it seem like teaching is a horrible profession. Because I was, I was literally just talking to some of my students this week who were getting ready to go into their field experience and so nervous, and I.

I, I think what you're forgetting [00:03:00] is this is super fun. Like every single time I stand in front of a class, I'm like, oh, this is such a vibe. Like, I love it. I love the experience of getting to see these students and hang out with them, and it's honestly one of the most fun things for me to do. Like I remember my first day teaching.

I was like, heck yes. No wonder, no wonder I hated those other jobs. I wasn't doing this. And I think that's a really special thing that makes teaching so rewarding that we don't really talk about is that there is that feeling and we don't get that feeling every day. Right. But there are definitely days where I'm like, dang, this is, this, is this is it?

Like this is a really cool job. Um, and so that's really the vibe of what I want this podcast to be for you. I'm also gonna be providing at the, like towards the end, I'm gonna either kind of get on my soapbox a little bit or offer some resources or just share like what's. On my mind, my heart, my head, all of that stuff.

Um, and just hopefully encourage you and help make teaching a little bit more fun [00:04:00] for you. So, um, the first thing that we're gonna talk about today though, I have to tell you guys, all right? So my son, my son, my sweet, sweet 4-year-old son, who I have talked about a lot. On Instagram, I, I don't say his name, um, or either of my kids' names anywhere, because I, I'm really trying to protect their privacy and all this angel.

He came home from school the other day, and I, I love this about little kids, so I never taught elementary. I've only ever taught high school and college, and I feel like the biggest difference between teaching elementary and teaching like secondary middle school and high school is the level of malice.

Kids have when they say things that are mean, right? Because if you're talking to, and I mean, sure there's like some children of the corn kids out there that are gonna be absolute nightmare. Um, but for the most part, like kindergartners, like they're not trying to be mean when they're talking to you. For the most part.

They're just [00:05:00] calling it as they see it, like acknowledging things that they're like, yeah, this is. Literal facts. So he came home from school and he told me that at recess he told two of the teachers that they have the same bellies and the same nipples. And I was like, you, sorry, you, um, son, child, child of mine.

And my husband is sitting there with me and he like, we both, sometimes when my kid says stuff like this, have to like physically do one of. Turn aways, and then our shoulders just shake because we're like, oh my God, that conversation, imagine sitting there. And so we're like, you told them they have the same bellies, and he said, yeah, they both have really big bellies and really big nipples.

And I was like, 

when when you say nipples, what? What are you, what do you mean? What do you mean? He's like, well, they just, [00:06:00] they're so.

Do you wait? Okay. Do you think 

that somebody's chest goes.

Straight nipple. Um, and he said, yeah, well, and he like lifted his shirt and showed me, you know, for him, that's the only part that goes out. And I was like, oh. And my husband's sitting there going like, Andrea, that is not the point. And I was like, but he should know that's not how it works. But like, we're not a naked family.

I think I've talked about it before. We're not a naked family. Right. Um, and I was just like, but that's not, they're, they're, it's their breasts, first of all. And my husband was like, Andrea. And so we were like, okay, okay, okay, let's, let's, let's like keep the important thing, the important thing. Hey bud, let's not comment about people's bodies.

And he said, why? What's, what do you mean? And I was like, well, bud, okay. When you make comments like that about people's bodies, it could hurt their [00:07:00] feelings. And he's like, but it's true. They have the same bellies and I. This is not something that we need to remind them, you know, what, number one, they might know.

Number two, we just don't say things like that to people. Um, it might hurt their feelings, and he's like, why would it hurt? Like it was really hard for him to understand that like, bodies being similar is, is potentially something that someone might be upset about because to him, matter of fact. Mm. A lot my fault, because I always try and teach like a, a neutrality about stuff like that in our home is like, yeah, somebodies are bigger, some bodies are smaller and there's, it doesn't make one big like better than the other and like all of that.

But then the flip side of that coin of being like body neutrality, like everything's fine, is that now he's like, why would anyone be offended by that? Oh, I see now. There's, [00:08:00] there's unintended consequences here of like, wait, no, it's good for him to think that there's nothing wrong with it, but also just making comments on people's bodies.

Not a great choice. Um, and my son in general has. Let's say, um, a history of making comments about stuff like this. Um, we, again, I, and I've talked about this too, where I like, have been very open with him about like the, the way that bodies work. And he, like, we haven't had like a sex talk with him or anything like that.

He's four. Um, but I do tell him where babies come from and where they come outta and all of that. And so randomly he will make comments like that where he'll just be like, yep. And then I came right outta your vagina and I was like.

Out and about. And I'm like, but it's a factual story. But his teacher, who I am very much in frequent contact with now, she will tell me all the time. [00:09:00] She'll be like, Andrea, let me tell you what he said today. I'm like, great. Can't wait. Um, and so I, I feel like even though I haven't taught elementary, I do have a little bit of a foothold now into some of this stuff.

Um. Because I'm dealing with him. And it's so funny because between my son and my daughter, like my son is just like the typical second child full of shenanigans. And my daughter's very responsible, very stressed about his misbehavior every time because they go to the same school together. Um. I have one more thing, one more story about that.

'cause of course, little kids want the biggest birthday parties, right? Like, and his birthday is coming up and I was asking who should be invited? And he said his teacher and the aide that works in there and everyone in his class. And I asked him, um, about the principal. I was like, well, what about Miss D?

And he said, um, so it went, I was like, oh, are you gonna d to come? You [00:10:00] know, I, I hadn't thought about that, but no, I was like, dang, why not? Because I love his principal. It's a very small school. I love his principal, but he spent a lot of time with her this year. Um, and he said, well, I wanna have fun, and she is too principally.

And I was like. It's not very nice. But also I do, I do kind of get it. I feel like there's many of us that have experienced principals that are a little bit too principally, uh, to invite to our parties. I still might bring her anyways 'cause I love her and she puts in, she puts in the Lord's work with our boy.

Um, but yeah. So for you elementary teachers out there, I love you so much. Thank you for just being there and, um. Not judging too harshly when kids come in with stories, because my son, I'm sure that the way that things trickle into the classroom of what he says versus what is reality, I can, I can only imagine.

So, um, but [00:11:00] now. What I would really, really like is to get into some of the stuff that you guys sent me. So we are gonna listen to the first voice memo that you guys sent me. 

Voicemail: Okay. It's my first year teaching and I have a group of seniors and I'm teach English, and we were gonna watch a documentary. They had to rhetorically analyze a documentary and the class picked the documentary bully about bullying in school.

I had my husband download it for me, so because I couldn't find it streaming anywhere. And when I went to go play it for my class, um, it started off kind of weird. There was like Brad Renfro was in it. And so I went, I was looking at it more closely trying to figure out what was going on. And before I could, before my brain could make the connection, but what was happening, Brad Renfro character picks up the phone and says, I want you to suck my big fat dick.

And in that moment I [00:12:00] realized that my husband had accidentally downloaded the movie Bully, uh, about a, uh, high schooler who kills some of his friends or his friends, kill him. Um, and that's, that was the movie that I put on in front of everybody. And then later in the day, a kid came up to me and said, what happened in your class?

Some kid just tweeted about it. Everybody kinda knew me as, uh, as the teacher who let that happen. Oh my gosh. 

Andrea: So I, the, the levels on that one actually crack me up because number one, like we as teachers break so many copyright laws on the behest of our students, and technically, technically we are allowed.

There's like, it's like public use or something. This was what I. Definitely didn't do over the pandemic quiz. Um. There's a lot of [00:13:00] like copyright laws about different books and films and stuff like that where you can get, like, as an educator, you can use it as long as it's for educational purposes. Um, but then you have district policies that stop you from being able to access some of those.

And so I remember there were times where we would have to ask our students how to get around a firewall in order to access a documentary that we thought would be useful for the classroom. Um, and one that you watched. A choice. Maybe that's why it was a little bit hard to get access to. I've never heard of either of those.

Um, number one, thank God it was seniors because I'm sure had that been freshmen. You would have likely, um, the next three years would've been a lot more brutal for you, at least with it being seniors. Like they were, they were gone. And my first year teaching high school, I taught seniors. And so like, they were pretty much immediately gone other than I [00:14:00] taught journalism, which was also like high school, um, from freshman to, to seniors.

Um. But yeah, that situation, I've talked about it on here before where like I showed a video that I was, I did not prescreen and, and there were naked pens right off the bat, just flailing in the wind. Um, we watched much a do about nothing, which also was rated, I think PG 13, but it was the nineties PG 13, which is what gets teachers, I listen.

I think there needs to be something out there that establishes that. Like, Hey, teachers, because we know that you're probably gonna wanna show this rendition of. Fill in the blank. Adapted novel. Um, this is a nineties PG 13, so there's the nakeds are there and there's a lot of it. And so, um, we just wanna let you know that it's not a real PG 13.

Um, don't show this to your freshmen or your eighth graders, right? Because how many of us have gotten. Absolutely brutalized [00:15:00] by that. Um, I also watched, oh, what is it? There's the crucible version where like the entire movie is basically like PG rated, and then there is the scene in the first like two minutes where you have the girls that are like, the Crucible is the one about like the, the witch hunt, Salem Witch Hunt.

Film witch trials. And so at the very beginning, the premise is that like this guy finds all these girls dancing in the woods around a, a fire doing like witchcraft and wizardry, right? And um, so there's like this scene and at one part they say in the play that. There was one of the girls was naked. And so of course in the movie that's what they show.

Like there's no like real graphic sex scene in any part of the play. There's like some, some sexy talk with a couple of the characters, but that's it. And then so you think that the movie is gonna be on the up and up and it's not immediately. So you are not alone. How many of us. [00:16:00] Have, have unfortunately been victim to being like, this is fine.

I've seen this movie, or It's been a really long time since you've seen the movie. And then you watch it and you're like, oh, I had that happen when I was actually a kid. My parents showed me airplane. Um, and that is a movie. I don't know if you guys have seen it that like it was an, it was an older movie for me back in the day.

Um, and so now, like if you're a Gen Z. It is excellent cinema. Don't watch it with your kids. Um, I was like eight years old I think, when I watched it. And there is a scene in that movie where there's just a random topless woman who runs across the front of the screen for no reason. Like it's just, it's.

There're to be like, what an insane thing. Why is there a topless woman running across the screen? And my parents had completely forgotten about it. And my parents are very, very like conservative when it comes to their entertainment choices and stuff like that. And they hadn't seen it since they were like much younger.

So I feel like as like a parent, we experienced [00:17:00] stuff like that too, or we're like, Ooh, like, oh, I never forgot about that. Um, so I, I would love to have you guys submit different movies that you've accidentally shown your classes, because I think that would be. Absolutely incredible is just to hear about what different movies you guys have accidentally shown, um, or scenes that you thought you were gonna be able to skip through.

I know I've heard from so many people that were like, let me show this video real quick. And then they would try and fast forward, but instead they paused on like a really unfortunate. Spot of like, usually it's a woman who's topless or like a sex scene or like something else like that that you're trying to skip, and then it's just does not happen.

Um, so yeah, I, I feel you. I'm so sorry that happened and I really hope that you didn't get in major trouble for that. 'cause I'm sure that you like jumped on to the fast forward button or stop button as soon as that happened. Um, I had that actually, now that we're talking about this. Thought it would be really fun.

'cause my son likes movies that are a little bit spooky and so we're like, [00:18:00] well let's show you Independence Day. And I forgot that like Will Smith's character, the girl that he is like engaged to, like that, she's a dancer, an exotic dancer. And there is a scene that like, and it's so quick, it's like 15 seconds of her doing some exotic dancing.

But I didn't wanna have to explain to my four and six year olds like. Sometimes that's what ladies do, you know? So I was like, let's just maybe skip this part. But it was one of those where you, like you, you jump for the remote. So, um, we've all been there and I'm so sorry that happened, but what a gift it is to us, uh, that you had to go through that.

So, um, okay, let's listen to the second thing that has been sent in for us. 

Voicemail: Recently found out that two of my students that are in the same class both are, um, cutting hair as a business and they're doing it in, uh, one of 'em is doing it in the boys restrooms. So his clippers just got confiscated. Um, so one of them [00:19:00] has an Instagram page where he posts all his haircuts and he's sort of legit, I mean, as legit as a unlicensed barber can be.

Um. But the other one just wanted to be like the. Kid that posts all of his haircuts and so he was doing it in the bathroom. Um, and the, you know, clippers got taken first. And then when I found out that the other kid was, you know, doing hair on the side, I then started like a four between the two. And I've just been perpetuating that weeks.

Do any time we bring up anything? Oh, is it because Christian, uh, is trying to get your, your business, is that why you're upset with him? And just instigate as much as possible? 

Andrea: I absolutely love that. Number one, I love the entrepreneurship and as a parent, if my kid came home with a haircut, he paid for himself.

Amazing, amazing. I'm loving that. I had, um, a few students that were entrepreneurs like that, but I don't think I, haircutting was like one of the ones. I do wonder if. There's not that, [00:20:00] um, there's a couple of talkers that will like go and do haircuts for people that are like down on their luck or experiencing homelessness or something like that.

And so I wonder if that has kind of created a little bit of an interest in cutting hair in non-traditional settings. And I don't know if, um, this was the same for you guys, but like I, every haircut I got until. Probably I was like 17 or 18, was in my kitchen at home. My mom was not gonna pay for me to go and get my hair cut professionally.

I'm sure she'll email and be like, Andrea, we did when you were 16. I'm sure she's talking to me right now saying that, but I am like my memory. And even if she, we did go somewhere, it was like probably super cuts. Like my mom was not the one to be, because you know, you always have those friends, like those girls that were like in Hollister and they would like show up with their like freshly, like perfectly clothed hair and all of that.

And their mom spent like $300 on their teenager's hair and all that. Not, not, not over here. [00:21:00] Nope. Nope. It was either gonna be at the kitchen table or I was gonna pay for it. Um, or it was gonna be at like super cuts. And those people, um, bless, bless them, but they're, I feel like still in training. And so I was like, can you give me the Rachel haircut?

And it was not that. I'll have to take a look and see if I can stick up some old pictures of what my hair looked like. Um, but I, man, I'm trying to think how I would handle it if I found out a student was. I would probably try and stop it. Who con?

More clippers to replace those or did they get them back? I am dying to know. I would also love to hear what other businesses you guys have found your students getting into, because I absolutely love that. I love it when I find out a student has decided like, you know what? I'm gonna use these opportunities I have.

I have all of these people that I, that have to be near me every day. I'm gonna turn this into a financial opportunity because there is something to that. Like I know as [00:22:00] soon as there was like the healthy stuff. Immediately after that, I had students that were like acting like drug dealers, but with candy.

So they would be like the candy plug for everybody and they would like come with their giant backpack full of candy and they would sell it at a huge markup and they would make absolute bank and it wasn't. It literally wasn't, well, I guess it could have been, but I don't think it was drugs. It was like pretty much just candy and these kids were just raking in the money, but they had to be on the DL about it because you would get in trouble.

Like schools do not allow you to do that. I don't remember if there's like some sort of state or federal policy about that, but literally they will like the, the kids would get in trouble for selling. Like a bag of Takis or gum. Well, gum is like obviously a huge no-no, but, or whatever, like they would legitimately get in trouble.

So I would love to hear about the hustles that you guys saw. I'm trying to think if there was much, other than the candy hustle I [00:23:00] had, man, I feel like that was the main one. Or when I was teaching in California and there was, um. This thing that they would do every spring where I can't, there's like a special name for it, but they are eggs that are filled with confetti and it's a.

In like the, like in like that, that area and that culture and in the Mexican culture to have those eggs, I can't remember what they're called, but the students would, like, a kid would bring like a massive pack and he would sell them to kids for like two or three bucks a pop. Um, and I hated those confetti eggs because they made a huge mess.

But those kids were hustling, they were making money. So, um, yeah, it is kind of funny how kids will like find opportunities for entrepreneurship and I love that you. Instead of being like, don't do that, you just like make it worse. You're like, how can I, how can I instigate this? I feel like maybe I could make more drama, and sometimes that's just what we gotta do.

I feel like that's [00:24:00] part of the joy of teaching. I. I have said so many times online that like sometimes like, or I'll post something and be like, oh yeah, I put two students next to each other because I know that like one is like super into the other but is really shy. And people will be like, why would you do that?

And I'm like, we gotta live. Alright. Like I have taught Romeo and Juliet. 14 times now. Okay, if I'm sitting there and I'm trying to decide who to assign as Romeo and Juliet and I've got little sweet, shy boy over here and Kimberly over there and Kimberly's not looking at shy boy, I'm gonna make him Romeo, I'm gonna do that.

And I am going to lean into it and have them perform because sometimes they just need a little help. And I will say that there is at least one couple that can thank me for that kind of gentle, kind interference. And generally, like student, I know the student really well. So if the girl's like, [00:25:00] oh, I'd be like, okay, nevermind.

Like let's change it, like change it up today. Um, but I do know that there was, I was invited to a wedding a couple years ago because there was this couple in my class that was. I. So into her. And she was very hesitant because he was coming on real strong. Not in a creepy way, but was just very much like, I would like to be your boyfriend.

Kind of very intentional, like no games. And she was like, I don't know. I just don't know. And I remember being like, listen, do whatever you feel like in your gut and your heart is right. Um, but that boy is gonna treat you like a queen, like very clearly. And she's like. Yeah, I guess I'll it a shot. Married.

So just one more Beautiful, happy couple because of my gentle. Um, all right. We are going to take a very quick break and then I'm going to share some really cool resources with you. Welcome back you guys. So there have been a couple of resources that I have found that have been [00:26:00] super, super helpful, and I think I've mentioned some of them in the past, but in case I have not, I wanna make sure that I do get to share them with you because these are the types of resources that help us like.

Save so, so much time. And these are not right now sponsored at all. Um, but hit me up. Hey girl, if uh, you do in fact wanna sponsor me, Diffit, which is who I'm talking about right now, um, lemme know because Diffit is one of the AI programs that I think is the most helpful that I've used. It's pretty cool it.

Because of its open source type of platform. Um, which is one of the main concerns I've heard from a lot of teachers is that AI scares them because it is kind. It, it, it's getting everything right. Like the filter is real iffy right now. There's not a whole lot of clarity on where all of this stuff is coming from.

Um, D is a platform that. Sites where it is getting its information from. [00:27:00] Okay. So that is one of the biggest, I like hiccups that I've had when I've talked to teachers about whether or not they're comfortable with using ai. So d it will tell you it has citations of where it's getting its information from.

So that is one of the biggest hurdles that I think D it handles really, really well, um, is they cite their sources. Extent. You know, I'm no computer programmer, so I don't know if like it's everything but information and stuff.

As you log on, and it looks a lot like, um, other educational platforms like edu aid and Magic School and all of that, um, which are far more open, open source and don't tell you where they get their information. Um, and diff it, you log on and it'll tell you to basically either. Plug in a resource so you can put in your own resource or you can, um, put in a website, put in a YouTube video, or just type in a topic and then select the age.

It'll automatically create for you a bunch of worksheets and resources [00:28:00] that are paired to that information. Now, obviously if you are working on something like that and you have really specific things you wanna make sure you go over, you're copy and paste content.

It is a really good place to start, especially like I think about this of what it was like when I was a first year teacher and I would just be sitting on teachers, pay teachers and I would be searching up like, um, journalism. Week by week and I would like find something and be like, that's probably fine.

Send a printer and I'd print it all off and it would maybe be aligned. And you know, teachers pay teachers has also gotten more tailored where you can like pick the state standards and stuff like that, but. It has been so impressive to me seeing my students who, you know, were going through all of these different ways to study how to teach kids different things and different ways that we can appeal the different intelligences and all of that kind of stuff.

And the really cool thing with DFI is it's aligned to a lot of the research based [00:29:00] stuff, which is one of concerns people have. Don't really know if there's research backing.

Like talking about teachers pay teachers and why he had such issue with it was like, Hey, like there's no research saying that this is solid stuff. Um, Diffit uses teaching strategies and creates activities that are research based out of the data that you ask it to create. From, so you could be like, Hey, tell me about Romeo and Juliet.

All of my examples are gonna be English. I'm sorry. If I tried to do math, it would make math teachers upset 'cause I'd break it. And so we're just gonna go with English because that's where I'm, um, so it'd be like Romeo and Juliet create resources and then it would automatically create a bunch of different things.

Like I do protocols for those of you who are familiar with those, um, which are like just framework. All of these different things that normally if you were to do this on your own, would take hours easily. It would take hours them. [00:30:00] Put them into worksheets, all of that. This takes two minutes and it's free.

Um, I think they do have a paid version, but everything I've used it for has been free. So Diffit is the number one, um, one that I am loving right now. I still am a big fan of chat, GPT. I do acknowledge the, the concern of the open source stuff. Um, but I, it's something I'm still kind of wrestling with and trying to figure out how I feel about it.

But D is one that I do recommend to all of my college students who are working through all of their stuff. So. Definitely check that out. D-I-F-F-I-T com. Um, and again, this is not sponsored. Um, I am just sharing something that I have found to be really helpful and that not a lot of people know about yet, um, but was shared with me by one of my colleagues at the university.

Um, and I do wanna do a little brag about Indiana State where I work, uh, because I found out this week. So as we all know. Everybody knows that special education teachers, we need more of them. Um, [00:31:00] I recently was talking to one of my students who has decided to not continue on in the program. Um. How hard that job is like, and that wasn't, you know, that conversation came after the decision had been made that the student wasn't gonna continue.

But it is such a difficult job because you have all the teaching stuff and then you also have all the IEP paperwork meetings, all of that kinda stuff. And so much more parent interaction than you would in a standard classroom. And something really cool that Indiana State is doing right now that I. Was so hyped about was they are going, they're taking all the special education teachers and they have to go to a simulation lab where they have people that are actors that are acting out, being a parent at an IEP meeting, and combative parents.

Um. And so they have to navigate doing an IEP meeting with a person they don't know who's acting like a parent, going like, there's nothing wrong with my kid. What do you mean? And like kind of simulating what in reality some teachers will [00:32:00] have to deal with, right? And so I was really, really excited by that, that like there are programs out there that are really, really trying to meet the needs of what our classrooms really need right now.

Um, and I nerd it out so. When I found out about that. Um, but I have one more thing. I am going to absolutely beg you guys to share these with me because this summer, so one of the guys that I work with here at the university, he holds a superintendent seminar every summer and he came to me and he's like, Hey.

I need someone who's willing to come and talk to these superintendents and not pull any punches because people are afraid of superintendents because they're everybody's boss. Right? And I would love it if they could hear from you what no one else is willing to say to their face. And I was like, put me in coach.[00:33:00] 

I have to be a professional, right? I have to be a professional. But it is kind of funny given a lot of my recent videos where I'm just like making fun of those district people coming in and like basically ruining the vibes for everyone when they show up. And my own personal story that I've talked about several times, uh, about my superintendent experience early on in my career, um, I.

I'm very excited about this, but I want your guys' insight because I know what I feel like teachers need from superintendents in my personal experiences, but I also know that my personal experiences are not everyone's. And so what I was asked to present and I get to talk to them for about like an hour, hour and a half, um, is they need to know, number one, how.

It's just gonna be an hour of me bullying them, how they're [00:34:00] perceived. Um, like actionable things that they potentially could do for their teachers, um, in ways they could be supportive. Right? So I wanna hear from you guys all of that because. I, I have a list that I'm very excited to share with them. Um, but I do, I do kind of wonder if there are things that I'm missing and maybe some of you guys have had really incredible superintendents, um, and you could share what it was that those superintendents did that made them really incredible.

Um, because I don't, I guess I, I don't need to make them cry right off the bat like it.

Bonus for me if they cried at some point, but it doesn't need to be immediate. So if I also have nice things to say, that would be great too. Um, I just do feel like a lot of times a lot of the stress and pressure, um. Comes from the district and often the superintendent is the person leading a lot of those things.

And so, in my experience, [00:35:00] some of the most difficult, um, parts of my job that did not directly help students but caused me a lot of stress came from district stuff. Um, and so I would love to hear. What you guys have to say about that. So please let me know. Um, and also let me know how you guys feel about this new format if you are loving it.

And do not forget if you have a story of something that you have gone through in your teaching career or this week. I would love to hear about it. Um, you can always submit it on podcast or andrea.com. We have a little thing that I think it says like, leave a voicemail. Um, so you can hit that and leave a voicemail as you heard, like we don't have people's names associated with it or anything like that, so, um, I mean, I can't guarantee that no one's gonna recognize your voice, but.

It's probably fine. I dunno. Um, if you have suggestions about maybe a guest that I should bring on to listen to these stories with me, let me know. I would love to hear about it. Um, and [00:36:00] there's a lot of ways that you can reach out and let us know. You can email me andrea@humancontent.com or at educator Andrea on Instagram or TikTok or Facebook or YouTube.

Um, or you can contact the whole Human Content Podcast family on Instagram and TikTok at Human Content Pods. And thank you so much to those of you guys who have left amazing reviews. Obviously, since we are relaunching, we don't have any brand new ones on this 'cause you're, this is, you guys are, this is it.

This is your chance, this is your moment to talk about the new format and do it in a public forum that I will shout out publicly. Um, even, you know, hopefully because you're saying nice things. Maybe it'll just be 25 minutes of me crying 'cause you hurt my feelings. We'll have to see. I haven't seen your comment yet, so feel free to leave that comment.

But please say nice things and give us a five star review because that would be wonderful. Thank you. Um, and if you wanna watch these full video episodes and try and see how much this moves. Um, those of you who are just listening, there [00:37:00] is a tile, a sound tile that sits behind me that regularly falls off.

And if you're paying attention, you will notice it is either slightly higher, slightly lower, different color, slightly. Because what, like, I, I have to move it, it keeps falling off the wall. Only this one. This is it. And if you're not on YouTube, you're never gonna know. Okay. You're only gonna hear my voice.

You're not gonna know. Um, I do believe it fell on my head when we were doing our bonus Patreon episode like, or right before we did. It was a real danger. So if you're not on YouTube, you can't see that and that's just too bad. Also, speaking of Patreon, you should join the Patreon. We are reading Crescent City, or we're reading Crescent City because by the time this releases, we'll probably be done with that.

Um. But Denver and I are going through and having the best time talking about books with the patrons, so please join you get extra episodes of the two of us chit-chatting about books, and also the access to the patron feed with updates and all of that stuff. So definitely join the Patreon as well. Thank you so much for [00:38:00] listening.

I'm your host, Andrea Ham. Our executive producers are Andrea Ham, Aaron Corny, Rob Goldman, and Shahnti Brooke. Our editor is Andrew Sims. Our engineer is Jason Portizo. Our music is by Omer Ben-Zvi. Our recording location is Indiana State by College of Education. To learn more about our how to survive the classrooms, it's the first time we did that.

Felt good. Program disclaimer and ethics policy and submission verification and licensing terms. You can go to podcast andrew.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, bye

[00:39:00] You.