Is “6-7” the New “Deez Nuts”?

Voicemail: [00:00:00] On Thursday, we made slime. On Friday, we were discussing our results and talking about all the different things we learned. At one point, we were talking about the consistency and the texture of the slime and said, student said, it feels just like my jizz

Theme: I,

Andrea: have you ever wondered what I would say if my mother. My administrators weren't watching every single thing I do on social media. Well, that's exactly what my standup show is, and I'm gonna be coming to a town near you super soon. You can get tickets@educatorandrea.com slash tickets.

Hey, teacher besties. Welcome to How to Survive the Classroom. I have to tell you guys, this past weekend, I went to Chicago for my solo show and I was back at the Schaumburg Improv. It was so much fun to be back there, and there's a couple of reasons for that. Number one, [00:01:00] I, okay, I, maybe it's just living where I have lived.

I feel like it's a very rare sighting to see a busy mall like. A mall, like what we experienced when we were in like the nineties and the early two thousands where you go to the mall and it's massive and packed and all the shops are actually full of customers. And the Schaumburg Mall, is that still? So that's very disorienting.

It feels like you go through a time warp when you go to the Schaumburg Mall. Um, but then furthering this, I was walking around and there was a line of people snaking through like 90% of the like first floor of the mall because there was a popup shop for Tamagotchis, which was the most baffling thing. I have wandered onto because I saw this huge sign that said Tamagotchis, and I was like, not the ones from back in the day, but no, it was, and then I saw the line and I was like, surely not.

Surely this is [00:02:00] not the line for the Tamagotchi popup shop. It was. It was, and it was just like the traditional Tamagotchi thing. But I guess that like at the popup shop, you can also purchase like special cases for your tamagotchi and all of that. I'm just. Really genuinely surprised that Tamagotchis haven't gone by the wayside and they're not just in an app now.

It probably is, right? Like there probably is a Tamagotchi app. Um, but yeah, so apparently that's a thing that's happening right now. So check it out. I guess like, because it sounds like it's a national pop-up shop tour that the Tamagotchi company is doing right now. Um. Also while I was in the mall, we had like an hour before I had to go and check in for the show.

And I was sitting in, uh, the little cafe area and this woman came up to me and she was so excited to see me. And she's like, are you Andrea? Um, do you have, are you on TikTok? And I was like, yeah, I am. She's like, oh my gosh, I follow you. And she was so excited. She was so, so sweet. And I was like, oh, are you gonna be able to come to the show?

She's like, no, my kids got [00:03:00] a hockey game. I was like, ah. And I was like, do you wanna take a picture? And she's like, sure. And so she grabbed her son. Who was a 12-year-old, and she's like, Hey, um, can you take our picture? And the look of disgust on his face was profound. And she's like, he's like, okay, I guess why?

And she's like, she's famous on TikTok and I'm thinking at this point like, he's gonna think this is cool, right? Because he is a 12-year-old boy and TikTok is cool. And I was like, yep. It's so nice to meet you. And he looks at me with the withering stare and just kinda looked me up and down and she's like, so can you take the picture?

And he is like, I guess. And I was just cracking up because it's such a funny thing that like high schoolers and middle schoolers, there is nothing that your parents can be excited about that does not repulse you on like a core level in your soul. The second that your parents are [00:04:00] into something, even if it's something that you're like.

Think it could potentially be cool as long as it wasn't your family that was involved in it, the disdain this kid had. 'cause if I were like some sort of toker that like he had seen or followed, he would totally be excited about meeting me. But like, I'm a mom toker and I'm old, and so he just looked at me like.

Gross. And he did take the picture and she was so sweet and so lovely. Um, but it did make me laugh because that's such a typical middle schooler response of like disdain for your parents' enthusiasm. I just know I did the exact same thing when I, when my parents would try and do anything and I would just be like, Ew, why are you excited right now?

Stop. Like, you're embarrassing me with your enthusiasm. Like middle schoolers are the worst people. Um, and I'm, I'm actually so excited because I've got two back-to-back show weekends, which is a lot sometimes. But this upcoming weekend I'm [00:05:00] particularly excited about number one, Richmond. We're gonna be, the teacher's lounge is gonna be out there and we sold out the Richmond Funny Bone.

Which is already really exciting. But at this particular show, I am gonna have a bunch of former students and my former assistant principal, and so I've been trying to figure out things I can do to mess with them. So one of the things for sure I'm gonna do is tell at least one story. From one of the kids that's, that's gonna be kids.

He's 28 years old now. Um, from one of the former students of mine. Um, because you, you gotta, and then I've talked about the Shrek kid who like played. Like a, a really disturbing Shrek movie and then has like continued to troll me with Shrek things ever since he's gonna be at this one. And so I think what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna have like a grasshopper shot sent to him and I'm gonna ask them be like, call it like Shrek juice and be like, just send him a shot of Shrek juice and stuff like that.

And probably, um. I think I've also talked about Raisin Man on here. [00:06:00] Uh, and if not, you need to come to a show because I'm gonna be sharing about Raisin Man at my shows, um, and I'm gonna have a little box of raisins for him at his seat. So I'm very excited. It is very funny because my current students, I was telling them about my show in Indianapolis in October and I was like, yeah, it's gonna be really fun.

Like I'd love it if you guys came, but. I have, I haven't had any of my current students want to come because they currently see me three times a week. And it kind of is a big ask to be like, Hey, I know you're paying tuition and you see me three times a week, but do you also wanna spend your very limited money and hang out with your teachers some more?

Maybe so. I told them, I was like, you will be my favorite if you come to my show in Indianapolis. Um, but I also understand if maybe you wanna do something else that day. Um, but yeah, so the shows have been so, so fun. I've been working really, really hard on all of my sets, um, and I think that, uh, it's a lot of fun.

I'm getting a lot of really good feedback as well. So if [00:07:00] you have not yet checked, you should check out where my shows are gonna be. Educator andrea.com. Slash tickets because it is a really good time. Um, alright. Without further ado, I'm so excited to hear the stories that were sent in this week. So let's go ahead and jump to the first one.

So I teach eighth 

Voicemail: grade civics, um, middle school, 13, 14 year olds. And of course they all love to say six, seven. And all the teachers, like, we're all tired of it already, of course. Um, but our Spanish teacher. Got tired of it. So he taught them how to say it in Spanish. So now my eighth graders go around school, go and say,

and making all the motions. And it is hilarious, like way funnier than sixth, seventh. So. Don't mind hearing it now, but it's pretty good. 

Andrea: It's so funny to me because that's something that like, I haven't had much interaction with. Like my kids are not at the [00:08:00] age where they're doing any of that. Um, but when I did run into that woman and her middle school son, she was like, yeah, he's in middle school.

And I was like, oh, so you're like in that six, seven thing and the, again, just disgusted. By me even mentioning that, like I hope I ruined it for him. Honestly. I hope, and you're welcome to his teachers, he's from Minnesota originally, so that's where he goes to school. So if you have a kid that UN like was ashamed that he met me in Chicago over the weekend.

Hopefully he is not saying six seven as much anymore because the random mom influencer ruined it for him, honestly. Um, I, I have had so many people get really annoyed by it, and I think yes, it is like, it's like a vocal tick almost for a lot of these kids where they can't stop themselves. And I keep on trying to remember all of the different things that we would say when we were in middle school and high school.

I remember in particular [00:09:00] there was like this very long period of time when YouTube was new, right? Like early YouTube days where we would watch some of. Maybe the weirdest cartoons and animations and stuff like that. Um, there was like salad fingers, which if you are too young to understand, salad, fingers, count yourself.

Lucky. Um, it was kind of a disturbing dark cartoon. And this guy just talked about rusty spoons. I remember my friends and I talked about rusty spoons a lot for some reason after that. Um, and then there was, um, strong, bad, the ator. Which was a character in a cartoon that was also very strange. There was just like this very niche world of YouTube cartoons and I feel like it is very much in keeping with like the, the six, seven and all of that stuff that's going on where like I, I feel, I understand why we're annoyed by it, but let's be so for real.

I [00:10:00] also think that we are so guilty of. Doing the exact same thing when we were their age. It's like something catches in our brains and we can't help but do it. Um, and I feel like now even the adults are kind of hopping on it, and that is the way to ruin it for them, is you just lean further into it than they are and they won't like it anymore.

You know, you just, you make every single assignment related to six, seven in some way. So that rather than thinking it's funny and cool. Antagonistic to their teacher. Their teacher now has made it theirs. We now own six seven. I'm so sorry. And also, isn't it better than six nine? Because I know 69 was like a thing forever, which by the way, I think this episode is number 69.

So. You're welcome for that. I was actually a little sad that it wasn't 67 when I saw that it was number 69. I was like, oh, hey, 69. Nice. Um, so yeah, I, I understand our irritation, but I kind of love that they found the [00:11:00] opportunity to be like. Si. See it, they, I enjoy that a lot. And also I am on day like 98 of Duolingo, so I'm essentially bilingual now.

So that's also why I appreciate it. So I said that to one of my students who's learning to become a Spanish teacher. I was like, well, I'm on, I do do lingo. So I'm, you know, I get it. And he's like, oh yeah. I was like, yeah, I basically speak Spanish. And then from that point on, my YouTube ads have all been in Spanish, and I'm like, wait, no, just kidding.

Take it back. I take it back. I'm not, I'm not bilingual yet, but maybe one day maybe I'll get there. But I have, I guys, I have a good streak going on Duolingo, so, you know. Small victories. Alright, um, let's go ahead and jump in to the second voice memo sent today, 

Voicemail: eighth grade science teacher on Thursday, we made slime on Friday.

We were discussing our results and talking about all the different things we learned. At one point, we were talking about the consistency [00:12:00] and the texture of the slime and said, student said, it feels just like my jizz. Uh, 

Andrea: my friend. I'm not saying that you were asking for it because we don't, we don't do that.

But you had to have seen that coming, like the second you said we were making slime. I'm like, oh, no. Like immediately. Oh, no. Because slime already, like you can see they're not, you could see how they're not wrong, right? Like you could probably see how that's not completely inaccurate. But also, I applaud you for your boldness in creating slime in a classroom.

I have always been baffled by a teacher's desire to make their lives so much harder. Because the thought of like including slime or anything like that, it just sounds like a fresh, hot nightmare. My son loves slime so much [00:13:00] and I am pretty cool when it comes to like getting them toys that I know are gonna end up being a pain for me.

But slime is the line in the sand that I cannot bring myself to cross, like I guys. I Have you seen what happens to slime when it sits long enough on a carpet? Have you seen, once that happens, it really removes any joy that you could potentially have from allowing your children to use slime. Like there was one time I got my kid, well, actually, no I didn't because self-preservation.

My son's grandmother, my husband's mom. She buys slime and she buys kits where you can like take them and turn it into some kind of like science experiment and all of that. And so she bought one of those for him and he was having the best time and I really was like, okay, I can be cool about this, right?

Like, I don't wanna be the mom that like, I'm so concerned about the mess that I don't let them enjoy. Their [00:14:00] lives, right? So I'm like, no, it's fine. It's fine. Um, you can play with the slime, but you gotta do it like on the tile, right? And so he's like, okay, great. And he did until bedtime and then he took it into his room.

And on the floor of his room, he had been playing with it, and then it, he just left it there. And when you leave it there, like at first, if you just drop slime on the ground, usually it'll, like, you can pull it up and it won't do anything. He left it there for such a long time. It like. Absorbed into the carpet.

And when we moved from that house to our new one, I had to try and get the stain out you guys, the amount of time I spent with a steam cleaner trying to get this freaking slime stain out of the carpet. It, it's, it's just there now, like it is a permanent fixture in that house because it like congeals and it's so heavily dyed and it's just, ugh.

Yeah. I'm so sorry. [00:15:00] I could, I could never. And also the fact that I, I'm very curious as to how you handled that when the student used the word jizz. 'cause that is one of those things that like a conversation needs to be had about the appropriateness of certain conversations in the classroom. And this is something that I think that a lot of people who are not in a classroom.

Don't understand is that number one, sometimes when kids say stuff, say stuff like that, they are also surprised they've said stuff like that. So it depends on the kid, right? Because some kids are saying it and they know they're being outrageous and inappropriate. But then other times we'll have kids that will say something, it'll pop out of their mouth and they'll be like, Ooh, I wish that had not just.

Instead, I wish I could take that one back. So I feel like how you handle it is also gonna be related to that. And I think the third thing is that people a lot of times are [00:16:00] like, well, how did you handle that situation? Sometimes we're so surprised that we're buffering for a second. I've had that happen where I have something that a student says, something outrageous like that, and I have to buffer for a couple minutes before I can fully be like, oh, okay.

Yeah, you can't, like, that's an insane thing to say out loud. I can't believe you said that. Like. What are you doing? And for the longest time, especially my first year teaching, what I would always do is I would just say hallway. Like if someone said something insane and outrageous, I'd be like, hallway, just go hallway.

And I, I overused it because it did get to the point at some, at some stage where I would just say, hallway. And before I could get to it, my students would jump in if a kid said anything and they'd be like, hallway, nope. Mm-hmm Hallway, you gotta get in the hallway. Sorry, we can't do that in here. And so it kind of removed a little bit of the seriousness of having a hallway chat because they were sent out there, not by me, but by their classmates.

[00:17:00] It was kinda like the douche bag jar in, um. Oh, what is the show? Uh, in New Girl where they've got a, if you've never seen New Girl, they have a jar and there's this character Schmidt who says really douchey things sometimes, and so he has to put a dollar in the jar or different amounts of money in the jar every time he says something douchey.

Um, it was kind of like that, except for Hallway was like the douche bag jar of my classroom where it's like, okay, well if you're gonna say something insane, hallway, goodbye. I can't. I can't. And sometimes that was because I didn't know how to handle it yet, and sometimes it was because they would say something so funny and I knew.

As the adult in the scenario. I can't laugh at that. Um, and that's part of what I'm gonna be talking about in my Richmond show is that I was dumb enough in my first year teaching to be like, Hey guys, like I don't think it's right for me to write a referral if I laugh at whatever it is you did. And I said that out loud 'cause I'm dumb.

And they immediately were like, cool. I [00:18:00] bet. Anytime we do something that's bad enough, we could probably escalate to the point where she'll laugh at it and then we won't get in trouble. Um, and so they, they did some stuff that first year that was outrageous and it was primarily, um, not written up because I had made that rule and because I was like, well, integrity, like my word is my bond.

I can't possibly change it now. Now I, number one would never say that I would, I can laugh and write a referral at the same time, but. You also have to learn to have a really good poker face when kids say stuff that are like really shocking and also very funny. Um, so good on you. I'm glad that you survived that moment because that sounds a little bit traumatizing, honestly.

Um, to have a student make that comment, especially depending, because that's one of those things too that like. Depending on who heard it, depending on what kind of a kid it was, how they act, how they treat girls in the class, who they were saying it [00:19:00] to, like that could end very, very poorly, both for that student and for you.

And so it is really hard to be like, oh, you immediately should do X, Y, and Z. Um, because so much depends on that kid's like. Maturity, their vibe, all of that. And those are the things that like, it's really, really hard to prepare for before you're actually in the classroom and dealing with that specific student.

So I am very curious though. So email me and tell me what you, how you handled that, because I wanna know, um, alright. And I have some very exciting resources for you. So we will take a look at those when we get back right after this.

All right. Welcome back, teacher Besties. So this is a resource that most of us are pretty well aware of, but I do wanna hit it just in case somebody is unaware of it. Um, so Khan Academy, KHAN Academy, um, is a resource [00:20:00] that I know so many people. Have had their grades honestly saved by Khan Academy. And what I love about it is that it does kind of go up much further and in a lot more detail than some of the other online courses.

Um, so they've got, like, the math ones, I think are the ones that I, I think I would've benefited from the most, especially in middle school and high school because. I think that the lack of pressure when a student is allowed to work on their own through some of these assignments and the ability to go back and rewatch the instructions without any kind of shame or embarrassment is incredibly powerful.

Um, so the way I would use Khan Academy would be to offered as a resource for remediation. So if I have a student. That is really, really struggling with something. Um, and they, and their parent is like, Hey, I don't know what to do. We can't afford a tutor. You know, how, how should we, you know, approach this [00:21:00] Khan Academy would be a way that I think I would recommend for them to access and be able to use, um, on a regular basis.

And, and again, like it's very low pressure. It's very low stress and it allows. Students to have access to a bunch of different kinds of resources. And it's much, much cheaper than an actual tutor because actual, like actual tutors, you're gonna be paying like 20, $30 an hour for someone to sit and work with your kid.

Um, and they've got. Free, like free options on Khan Academy and all of these different things for you to use as a parent or as a student? So Khan Academy is one I absolutely recommend, um, especially if you have a kid that's like in middle or high school and can be kind of self-directed. Um, I think that's incredibly helpful for them to be able to learn to advocate for themselves.

That's one of the things that, um. I think is most evident in learners that are really successful [00:22:00] versus learners that decide that they're fine with, you know, a C minus is self-efficacy. Um, you know, when I was a high school student, I had zero self-efficacy, and so it always felt better to choose to fail.

Then to try and fail, um, because I knew then I would have control of it, right? Like, well, I didn't really try, so I'm not dumb. I just didn't try as opposed to really trying and feeling like I was falling short. Um, and so building self-efficacy in ways that are really low pressure, like with online learning resources like Khan Academy can be incredibly powerful.

So that way when your kid gets to class, they don't feel stupid just 'cause they don't understand something right away. Maybe they just need. To revisit it again or have access to something where they can watch it over and over again because everyone's a different learner and not every teacher sinks super well with the learning style of every single student.

And that's okay because now we have really cool resources out there available for us. [00:23:00] Um, okay. This next hill I will die on, I would say is not. I, I don't think that this hill I'm gonna die on is one that many people would disagree with. It's more how we could actually make this happen and make it feasible.

And the hill I'll die on is that we need to pay student teachers. It is outrageous that we are sending former or future teachers into the classroom, and we are not supporting them as they work full time in the classroom. We need to pay student teachers. When I was first transitioning from working a tech writer job into becoming a teacher, I had to jump into the classroom much, much quicker, and I had to work at a school that would hire me on an emergency license.

And this is becoming more and more common as schools get more and more desperate for teachers is that they are willing to hire unlicensed teachers sooner and help like have them basically already teaching while they get their license. [00:24:00] Because many people like me had bills to pay and could not afford to work for free for six months, four to six months, which is how long student teaching is.

Um. It is, I think, deeply unfair. And it's a crazy financial burden to put on teachers to expect them to work for free while paying tuition. And then have the audacity to tell them, you shouldn't be working during student teaching to pay your bills in what freaking world do you live in? That we can just all afford to live on sunshine and dreams.

That's insane. And then on top of it, once you start teaching, you're gonna be making, depending on the state, $40,000 a year. And that's, that's a lot of places. That's like 40,000, $45,000 a year. And oh, how much is tuition that you just finished taking out loans for? Uh, probably on the cheap end. You're leaving with $50,000 of student debt.

So how on earth are we expecting these teachers to want to stay in a profession that is already incredibly demanding, [00:25:00] incredibly hard, and low paying? And then you're gonna also on top of it, basically require them to take out large student loans to afford to live for the last six months of their education, and then have the audacity to pay them barely more than minimum wage.

Like almost every teacher, if they left and worked at Chick-fil-A. They'd be making more if they were full-time employees, if they got into management. Definitely. Right? Like we, we need to treat teachers like they're a valuable resource because they are. And the fact that we have still not gotten to the place where we are paying student teachers to do their job is insane.

And I'm not even saying you necessarily have to pay them a full rate, just pay them something. Right. Because it's a full-time job. They have to work for the entire time that their student teaching lasts and. It's an insane amount of work that we are just asking them to pay to do. And I understand that there are other professions that do this same thing, [00:26:00] but it's very difficult to find another profession that asks you to work for free for a long time, and then after you've done, that continues to pay crap.

So we need to pay teachers more, but we also need to start paying our student teachers because they deserve it and they're earning their wage every single moment of the day. So that is the hill I'm gonna die on. And I really enjoy doing these, you guys. It's just like my little soapbox for the day. So if you have something, um, that you think that I need to be sharing with the rest of the world, please let me know.

Um, maybe I'll have the same hill as you that I'm willing to die on. Um, because there's a lot of 'em. It turns out I didn't think I had this many, but as we're doing this, I'm like, no. You know what else pisses me off? So let me know, and if you have anything else, um, you wanna share with me, send me some voice memos about the crazy stuff that's happening in your class.

You can hit us up, andrea@humancontent.com, or you can contact me at Educator Andrea, [00:27:00] or you can contact the whole Human Content Podcast family on Instagram or TikTok at Human Content Pod. Um, and thank you so much to those of you guys who have left reviews. Please do leave a review if you have not yet done so.

I would greatly appreciate it. Um, and if you wanna catch the full video episodes, they're up every week on YouTube. We have not had, um, a sound tile fall on me this week yet. There's still another 30 seconds or so. Um, but if you wanna, uh, be keeping an eye on that and also look at my face. While I'm talking to you, uh, you can catch it.

It's up on YouTube every week at educator. Andrea, thank you so much for listening. I am your host, Andrea Forche. Our executive producers are Andrea Forche, Aaron Corny, Rob Goldman, and Shahnti Brooke. Our editor is Andrew Sims. Our engineer is Jason Pizzo. Our music is by Omer Ben-Zvi. Our recording location is Indiana State by College of Education to learn more about how to survive the classroom's program, disclaimer and ethics policy and submission verification and licensing terms.

You can go to podcaster andrea.com. How to [00:28:00] 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.