My Husband Is Funnier Than Me

Andrea: [00:00:00] If I went by Dr. Ham, everyone would be like, what is her problem? Why is she demanding 

Gerry: this? You, you, you lost your whole argument with me. 

Andrea: No. 

Gerry: If I was a doc, Andrea, if I'm a doctor, you better believe they're calling me Dr. Patoka. I don't care. I'm going to the grocery store and if they say, sir, I'm going, it's Dr.

Patoka. Well, they know I'm making them. If I'm working at college and I didn't even remember your doc. I was before I even got that sense. And I'm thinking if I worked at a college, you're calling me Dr. Patoka. I don't care if I have a doctor. They're calling me doctor,

Theme: the classroom. 

Andrea: Hey, teacher besties. I am so excited to share with you that my book. They never taught us. That is available for pre-order right now. It is everything in experience first year teachers need to manage the chaos of the modern classroom, including some anecdotes to make you feel a little bit better because if there [00:01:00] is a way you can screw up, I have 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 in between that they never went over in your teacher prep program. They never taught us. That is available everywhere right now for pre-order. All right. Hey, teacher besties. Uh, welcome to How to Survive the Classroom.

I'm so delighted to be here back with Jerry again since we, sadly we missed out on our quality time last week, Jerry. We did. 

Gerry: We did. I, I, I hate that we were, I 

Andrea: know we were 

Gerry: under ice. We was the ice age here. 

Andrea: Yeah. Yeah. So how, how long has it been since you've been back at school? 

Gerry: So we had three work days.

Got iced out Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, last week. Thursday and Friday were two hour delays. We were off Monday, then we got more snow. I dodged. So Gasper had to cancel the shows in North Carolina. 

Andrea: Yeah. 'cause you were supposed to feature for him or Host 

Gerry: I was supposed to feature for him and the other shows I was supposed to be on, [00:02:00] I dropped out of, I was like, I'm not trying to get snowed in Charlotte.

Charlotte got like over a full of snow. Oh 

Andrea: my gosh. That is 

Gerry: insane. Yeah, I came back. We get snow Saturday night off. Monday off Tuesday. Hot off the press. We have a two hour delay tomorrow. Because they're calling for a wintry mix tomorrow night, so we might be out Thursday. A th already freezes. 

Andrea: Okay, so, ha have you met your students for this semester yet?

Gerry: I saw I have six classes, Uhhuh two for each grade level. Technically I don't have a second seventh grade class, but that doesn't matter. Um. I met one group on Thursday, one group on Friday, and we did rules and expectations. I'd never had these kids this year. 

Andrea: And you've seen them one time. 

Gerry: Yes. And when we're remote we can't give anything new.

So I was like, Hey guys, what were the rules and expectations? 

Andrea: I'm, wait that, because that's all 

Gerry: we had time to go over. 

Andrea: So wait, your, your school district makes you do e-learning, but [00:03:00] then tells you you can't give the students new material. 

Gerry: Okay. I'm not gonna lie, I saw that on Facebook. I just, I I, I heard that that was the thing on with the groups and they, we had just been like giving, getting to know you assignments.

And then I heard about the, uh, I seen some of know new material and I didn't really fact check it. I just said, that makes sense. 

Andrea: You're as bad as the students. You were like, I, but usually when, when you're thinking about stuff like that, you're not fact checking on the internet. 'cause I do this with, with my husband all the time about medical stuff is I'll be, I'll be like, did you know?

And he's like, where did you get that? And I'm like. Science and he is like, was it from TikTok? And I'm like, you know what? But the person said that they were a doctor at the beginning of the video, which means, but you just like saw on Facebook that, was it from your school district that they said that?

Yes. Or Oh, okay. So it wasn't just, 

Gerry: it was a school, well pause. It wasn't the district, it was in this Wake County teacher's group. 

Andrea: Okay. 

Gerry: I've been wreaking havoc in there. Amazing. I've had nothing else to do. So [00:04:00] anybody who says something kind of smart, I'm their Batman, I'm Fatman, I'm Wake County Teacher's Fatman, and I'm coming in and having smart Alec responses to all these people and it's, I'm not being mean.

I'm just like, Hey, you said something crazy. I'm just letting you know I was a little crazy. 

Andrea: I love that. But you're also just taking the things you're seeing in there as absolute fact. 

Theme: Yeah. 

Andrea: Great. Okay. 

Gerry: That's what it's there for. There's 9,000 people in that group. They can't all be wrong. 

Andrea: Yeah. I mean, well the Internet's a big place.

There's a lot of dumb people, you know, but um, yeah, I'm 

Gerry: one of them. 

Andrea: You're out there. I'm starting more rumors. Yeah. Seen 

Gerry: somebody. No, it's like a telepathy. When you see other dumb people on the internet, even like, hold on now, 

Andrea: is that telepathy? 

Gerry: I was with you all now. 

Andrea: Is that, 

Gerry: yeah. You know how like twins can do it?

Andrea: Yeah. 

Gerry: It's the same way with us. Stupids. We can do it. 

Andrea: Stupids can just do the Yeah, 

Gerry: yeah. 

Andrea: We 

Gerry: see each other and we give each other a look and usually we give each other a look. There's nothing behind the eyes 'cause we don't got much going on. 

Andrea: I got that. I got that. [00:05:00] Um, I, I think that we do need to talk about something because I, you know, I've been with my husband for 17 years and then, um, we met you, but, but just a few, a few months ago and.

You and my husband, um, are now best friends and the, the friendship there and I'm like, we're basically, um, a throuple, but it's like you and Steven and then me and I sent you a video of something that guys, let me tell you. My husband really, like, I have done a lot of side quests in in my life. Like I go out and I'm like, Hey, maybe I'll try this for a bit.

And my hus my, this poor man, he just gets dragged along for the ride with so much of this stuff. And this last weekend I was in Louisville for a show and he and I were talking. We've been talking about it for a long time because my husband makes me laugh all the time. He's very, very funny. But he has never done standup.

He doesn't, by the way, my husband doesn't like standup comedy as far like as a spectator. [00:06:00] He does not ever want to go to a, like if, if he had the perfect weekend for me, I would be like, I would love to go see some standup, maybe go see a movie, all of that. My husband doesn't enjoy standup comedy and he goes to every single one of my shows.

Um, all of my teacher's lounge shows. And helps me write my bits a lot of times, helps me punch stuff up, all of that. And so he was like, you know what, I kind of wanna know what it's like to be on the other side of this. And so he and I sat down and we wrote five minutes for him and we added him into my show in Louisville.

So we had the host come up, then Steven went up, um, and then the feature went up after that. And then I, I headlined and guys, he did so good. He got solid laughs, which let me just say, the first time that somebody stands up to do standup, it's really, really, really terrifying. And you don't know what's gonna get a laugh.

You get up there and all of a sudden it's like when you do a book report and you [00:07:00] only kind of remember the book sometimes and like, he did so well, I was so freaking proud and I sent you the video and you said you at first like had no idea. 'cause I, I gave zero. I told no one he was doing this. He told me not to tell anyone.

First of all, he told me not to tell anybody ahead of time because if it went poorly, he wanted me to delete the evidence and never tell anyone it happened. And so I didn't tell anyone he was gonna do this. And then with Zero Precursors, I sent that video and I sent it to you as well. 

Gerry: I woke up, I, I had slept in.

It was, we were snowed out. I had no idea what day or time it was I had slept at a friend's house. Just 'cause we got, it was when we got snowed down, I was hanging out and I wake up and I roll around. I pick up my phone and because you text it to me, it was blurry. I couldn't see who it was. I could hear it fine.

I couldn't see it. And I'm like, why is she sending me this video of her feature? And I'm thinking, [00:08:00] I'm thinking he just did one of my bits or he did a bit. That was like my, I I thought it was like the worst case scenario. 

Andrea: Oh 

Gerry: no, you thought that 

Andrea: someone was 

Gerry: stealing your car? My first, first thought, not that like he'd be stealing 'cause I don't know him.

He doesn't know me, but I was like, he's pro, is he running a bit that's like really close to mine or something? Then I hear, so my wife went into this biscuit place and I'm like, I'm like, oh my gosh, my bestie and, and I literally cut the video off and texted you. I said, Andrea, I'm too tired for this. I'm not awake.

I can't watch this right now. 'cause I can't pre I, I rolled over, play this arrow game on my phone, this little puzzle game. It's okay, I'm ready. And I laid the phone down and just listened. 

Andrea: Yeah. And you wrote, is that our husband, I think is actually what you messaged to me. And I was like, yes. Yes it is. Um, yeah.

And it was, it was so good. Hi. Highly recommend, um, having your best friend, um, like number one, marrying [00:09:00] your best friend and then having them do standup with you because It is, it is so interesting because I don't know of any, I don't know of anyone who has gotten into standup. Who has been married to somebody when they got into standup and neither were involved in standup and then the spouse like joins in on it.

Most of the time it's, it's only one person that wants to do it and it, it can cause like conflict and stuff 'cause it's a very weird way of making money and doing things. And I gotta tell you, when the shoe is on the other foot, watching your spouse do comedy, I was more nervous waiting for his punchlines.

To get, like to, to get a reaction than I ever am for mine because I like number one, like I feel like I've done it now enough that I'm like, okay, I can, I know what's gonna do well, what's not. And if it doesn't do well, it doesn't completely shake me. And so I was like just sitting there like really, really holding my breath the entire time.

It was crazy. It was absolutely crazy. 

Gerry: You know what's gonna be funny is you said he didn't like stand [00:10:00] up. Nothing like that. He's gonna be the horse boy of comedy. 

Andrea: I know. 

Gerry: He's gonna be the yoic. He's gonna be like, I know I don't care about this, but he is gonna go out and just shred for 30 minutes and then come off and be like, can we go home?

Andrea: No. Exactly. You guys. And that, that is so incredibly accurate because like he, there's a few comics he likes and he likes art. Like the, the teacher's lounge shows like he, he really likes your stuff. He thinks it's funny, but. Like he, he'd rather not, you know, like he'd rather not be at a comedy show nine times outta 10.

And so he went up there the first time, got really like, he got one of those rolling laughs where people clap a little and I was like, you ass. Like, how do you go up there your first time and get a laugh that big, like a little bit, a little bit unfair, honestly. But yeah, 

Gerry: it's, it is funny though sometimes the first time.

Is like [00:11:00] some people's best, or not even their best, but they do well and then there's a little drop. 

Andrea: Mm-hmm. 

Gerry: And this isn't gonna happen to Steven 'cause he's perfect, but 

Andrea: Correct. Yeah. 

Gerry: It happens to some people. Like it happened to me. Where I went up, I was like, huh, I'm, hmm, I'm, I'm a natural. I great at this.

And then, yeah. And then I, I'll start, I was like, oh, wait a minute. No, I'm, I'm bad. I'm not good at this. And it's weird how it happens, but it's not Adam Steven. 'cause he's perfectly, he's gonna be up there in that, in that blue yellow polo I love so much. 

Andrea: Oh my gosh, guys. Yeah. It, it is. Well, and my husband's whole bit is about being a guy from the Midwest.

And, you know, being married to a Californian and all of that. And so it's very fun. And so if you guys do come to any of the shows, you will likely see him because my end goal, especially with my, my solo shows, at least to start out, is that he's gonna host for me. Um, and then potentially, you know. As he gets more comfortable, he, he just wants to feel good about hosting.

He doesn't really wanna do headlining or featuring, [00:12:00] he's just like, it'd be cool if I could just like be there and like host and you know, like, at least, at least be a part of it in that way. And I'm like, amazing. Love it. Um, and we, he's gonna be doing five minutes, so he is not hosting or featuring, uh, for my Indianapolis show, but he is gonna come up and do five minutes, which means you guys, if you are coming to the February 21st or, Hmm, I don't know when this episode's coming out.

It might be too late, but, um, the February 21st, Jerry is going to be featuring for me. Oh. Oh. This episode comes out on my birthday. That's amazing. 

Gerry: Oh, happy birthday. 

Andrea: Oh, thank you so much. Um, how old do you think I am, Jerry? 

Gerry: Don't do that. 

Andrea: No, I'm gonna do it. Go ahead. Take a gas. 

Gerry: Andrew, an Andrew. We, we, we might be the same age 

Andrea: because I look so young and youthful.

Four, 

Gerry: four. Or I think we're meeting in the middle. 

Andrea: Um, anyways, back to what I was saying, uh, this episode comes out on [00:13:00] my birthday, happy birthday to me, uh, February 16th, which means that especially if you're in the Indiana area, you could come to the show. You could meet me and Jerry and my husband Steven, 'cause he's gonna do five minutes as well.

Um, and maybe, um, there might be a star that might be there as well because Jerry, you've been like. Boots on the ground, you've been DMing people asking people to come. Who did you reach out to to come to the show? 

Gerry: So, so about a week ago, I DMed Kaitlyn Clark of the Indiana Fever and I said, Hey, I'm gonna be featuring for educator Andrea at Helium Indianapolis.

If you come to the show, I will get your jersey number tattooed on me. 

Andrea: Guys, if that happens, I will record it. We will. It will. And 

Gerry: she And she said non plan. 

Andrea: No. Did she left it on red for sure. 

Gerry: No, she didn't re She seen that request. She didn't even click prove she even won. Aw. Leave me the decency of leaving me on red.

What I would've done to my ego just [00:14:00] to have. Had Kaitlyn Clark's eyes. 

Andrea: Yeah. On my message. Just on anything that you wrote. I know, I know. Well, maybe when you're in town, I don't know when the fever games are, but maybe when you're in town we can go to to a game or something. 'cause uh, guys, Jerry's gonna have a slumber party at my house.

He's gonna stay in our guest room. He's gonna meet my children. 

Gerry: Pete. Steven are gonna have a pillow fight, and we're gonna stay up all night gossiping. We're good. 

Andrea: I know. I'm gonna be, we're 

Gerry: gonna, we're gonna braid each other's hair. 

Andrea: Neither of you have any hair to braid. 

Gerry: Uh, so we're gonna be coloring on hair, 

Andrea: just like adding little with a sharpie.

I love, I love the thought of that. What a treat for all of us. Um, Jerry, I have a question for you because you've been doing. For a while now. Have you ever been at a venue where this, and probably not because you're a dude, but have you ever had it where security follows you around in like a protective type way at any of the shows?

Like were [00:15:00] there any, any of the crowds like kind of wild or anything like that? 

Gerry: No. The only time I've been in places where, um, the people were wild. There was no one there to protect me because we were in, well, like one time. We were in like a bowling alley and I wasn't worried, but the, one of the guys who was with us, he was like a little rou.

It was like a room next to a bowling alley. You couldn't hear it. We weren't like on lane. We weren't like on lane eight, but. 

Andrea: I, I think that's something that people don't understand about comedy is you, it will, it comedy will land you in some really strange venues at times. 

Gerry: It Yeah. Military towns. When you go anywhere that's not like a big city.

Yeah. You're always like, how's this gonna go? 

Andrea: Yeah. 

Gerry: And you kinda have to throw everything out. Yeah. That, uh, well, I, I, sometimes I don't even, I'm like, I'm not gonna get too worried if I don't get to do my material, if I'm doing it in. West Cherryville [00:16:00] or something like that. Someplace nobody's ever heard of.

Andrea: Yeah. Yeah. I, so the, I went to Louisville, like I said, and like Steven was with me and, but I, there was a security guard there in Louisville. Who, and I've never had this before and I, I had a, a great crowd, but there was only, it was only 60, so it wasn't, and that venue holds like 300 guys, just so we have a little context.

Uh, it was not a sellout crowd. Um, it was a great crowd and it was my first time playing there. So that's very, you know, normal for that. Um, but I only say that to give the context that the security guard followed me around, um, like, like a, like a personal security guard. The entire time I was on, like, on the property, he'd stand about 10 to 15 feet away and he would just be like, clocking my interactions.

I felt like Britney Spears. I was like, wow. I. I'm just over here and he, he like came over and was like, well, I'm a girl dad. You know, I like, I'm protective of, of everyone, but especially when we have ladies in here, you know, I make sure that everyone's [00:17:00] being respectful and I'm like, that's great. Uh, nobody actually cares that much about me.

So I think we're good. But I appreciate it. It made me feel very, very, very special. Especially, 

Gerry: I've never had that, 

Andrea: no. Well, maybe in Indianapolis 

Gerry: I'm six foot, 350 pounds 

Theme: playing. 

Andrea: That also might be something 

Gerry: about that. Sometimes people stand close to me. I'm like, do you want me to take a picture or something?

They're like, no, no, I'm all, no, but they No, no, but can you like walk me to the car? I'm like, oh, I don't work here. 

Andrea: Oh my gosh. Yeah, it is. It is really funny because then I go back to work and I have all of my students and I told them, I have a show in Indianapolis, and they're like, can we get in for free?

And I was like, no. And they were like, well, we're not gonna pay to go see you. I was like, that's students for you right there. I was like, you know what? That's honestly so fair. Like 

Gerry: you should make it a grade. 

Andrea: I, how embarrassing is that to be like, Hey, student, because I have people ask me all the time, Hey Andrea, like, are your students excited by [00:18:00] this?

They're excited for five minutes. And then I'm like, oh, you think I'm funny? You like my videos? Do you wanna come to a show? And they're like, Ew. No, why would I, no. Here you make jokes and 

Gerry: they're, they're paying more to see you right now. 

Andrea: Yeah. 

Gerry: Than 

Andrea: they would be than any of my shows. We did the math actually, um, one time because my students said, would it be cheaper to go to your show than to attend one of our classes if we broke it up by class period.

And, um, my show would be a little cheaper per hour than, uh, their college tuition. And so I was like, you know. That's fine. You guys don't have to come. Um, and they were like, well, we get, does the 

Gerry: required. 

Andrea: Oh 

my 

Gerry: gosh. The required text, 

Andrea: how it yeah. Is like just, Hey, come give me a review and tell me how nice and funny I am.

Um, no. They asked me, they were like, what if we got extra credit? And I was like, number one, I don't think that's ethical. Number two, how embarrassing to be like, Hey guys, welcome [00:19:00] Indianapolis. Also welcome to my students who are getting credit for being here. Like, I would rather die. That's so embarrassing.

Couldn't, couldn't be me. Oh my gosh. All right. We actually have some fan questions we're gonna get to, um, but we need to take a break, so be right back.

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 standup show is, and I'm gonna be coming to a town near you super soon. You can get tickets@educatorandrea.com slash tickets. Alright, welcome back, teacher besties.

Um, so guys, here's one of the questions that we have and I would love your take on this, uh, because I have immediately when I got this question, I had an answer in mind. Um, what is a phrase that administrators or district say that immediately makes you angry? [00:20:00] Like, it, it gets your hackles up. It makes you like.

Wanna fight. You can't, obviously, because we have to like behave ourselves. But is there like, especially at professional development, 

Gerry: I have one. 

Andrea: Okay. 

Gerry: That 

Andrea: don't be scared, just say it 

Gerry: backwards design. Start with the assessment and work back 

Andrea: Uhhuh that makes you angry. 

Gerry: Not, it's the thing, it doesn't make me angry.

There's not much that like, makes me angry Uhhuh, but I just am like, like I'm glad I don't have to prove it. Because I change gears sometimes. I'm like, Ooh, I'll get an idea and I have something that's better, so I'll do the better thing. 

Andrea: Okay. Yeah. 

Gerry: And sometimes I'll say, oh no, this was too much. Like, 'cause I'm, I'm, so, I either have to be the most planned out person or not at all.

Okay. And I usually know what I'm doing. And so it's like, if anybody work, if any of my bosses are listening to this, I'm not [00:21:00] winging it. I know what I'm doing. But I like to say, yo, yeah, this took longer than I thought. Here's another day. Oh, you need, this didn't take as long. Here's something else. Yeah. Oh, so this thing happened.

It looks cool. Let's put a fork in what we're doing to go do this. Like part of my class is sports marketing and we have the Olympics March madness. Um, opening day will be right after we track out the Super Bowl, and we aren't supposed to do sports marketing until next quarter, but I'm like, yo, we got four of the biggest sporting events of the year.

They're gonna happen in the next 12 weeks. We're probably gonna stop some things and talk about it. Yeah. So, so I don't wanna have to backwards design something if I think there's gonna be a whoop, I'm gonna drop little, drop little nuggets of the ACC tournament in there. Like 

Andrea: Yeah. You know, it's, so, it's really funny that that's the thing because, uh, I absolutely have been teaching that.

This last week to my undergrad 

Theme: doing, 

Andrea: yes, we well, okay. So I mean, because back, like for people who are not teachers, [00:22:00] backwards design basically says like, okay, this unit needs to end with our students knowing X, Y, Z. And so we're gonna backwards plan how we're gonna get there. Um, but I don't think that that precludes what you're describing, which is like differentiating and changing things along the way.

It's just to be like, okay, where do we want to get them? And then plan from there. Um. But I, so the thing that makes me infuriated, um, is when I'm at a district or professional development and it's, you know, it's scheduled by the district to last all day, and then we get to like one 30 or two o'clock and are, we're supposed to be there till three, and they're like, you know what, guys?

You know, we, we did a lot of good work, so we're gonna give you the gift of time. The phrase, the gift of time makes me so angry because you're not gifting me anything to let me go do my job. Like, that's, that's, [00:23:00] that's, it's not a gift. Like you're just allowing me the time to do what I need to do. Like that is.

Enraging to hear that. Not that I don't like to have the time to work in my classroom because I've, I feel like I've talked about this before and people are like, I love getting the gift of time. And I was like, don't call it that allotting time for me to work in my classroom and do my job. That's, that's not a gift.

That should be what is required of these administrators is like there should be a bare minimum amount of time that you leave me alone. 

Gerry: Yeah. We just call it time in the classroom. 

Andrea: Yeah, but, okay. But have you ever had, it's where you had an administrator that had scheduled training for you and then was like, actually, we're gonna give you the gift of time in your classrooms or anything like that?

Gerry: They never use that term. 

Andrea: Okay. See, and 

Gerry: I would've definitely made fun of it if they did. 

Andrea: I hate it. It makes, because I feel like number one, it's like. A planned [00:24:00] gift, right? Like they knew the training they were gonna do was only gonna take two hours, but they scheduled it for three. So that way they could act all like benevolent with us.

And I'm like, you're not being benevolent, like you're just letting us go do our job so we can actually try and do it within contract hours. Like it's, 

Gerry: does benevolent mean like nice? 

Andrea: Yes. Okay. Benevolent, like nice. Yeah. And 

Gerry: like context clues I got 

Andrea: Yeah. Like generous. Um, but I, I recently saw this TikTok from somebody who also said, she's like, teaching is one of those few jobs where you could lose your job because you got caught doing your job while you were supposed to be doing another part of your job, and there's too many different parts of your job.

And so you, and I'm like, no, that's true. Like if you're. During a class, supposed to be doing some sort of direct instruction, or you get a pop-in observation and you're sitting at your desk grading, which is part of your job, or planning, which is part of your job, you could get in trouble because you're [00:25:00] doing a different part of your job than you're supposed to be doing at that point.

It just like, it's such a catch 22, it feels like, because you're like, I'm just trying to survive a little bit, and it's frustrating, you know? 

Gerry: That's great. I, I'm definitely the kid. Any PD 

Andrea: teachers are the worst about that though. Like I don't feel like you're alone in that. 

Gerry: I'm the kid. Like when we had these snow days and we were openly talking about the ones last week and we had our last like PD before we left my principal's talking and uh, talking about like just stuff during, in the snow and like we lose power and I raised my hand and my question, I swear was gonna be if we get snow.

My power goes out. Can I come stay at your house?

And he doesn't even say anything to me. He goes, pot's gonna be staying at such and such's house. I'm like, ain't open my mouth and you, [00:26:00] me off.

And they know it. They, they know that I am, I'm, I'm the most chaotic person on our staff. 

Andrea: I am not surprised by this. And, and yet they put you in an administrative position. You're an administrator, you're an assistant athletic director. 

Gerry: Okay. No, I go to games sometimes. The, the most, uh, I had to pick up dog poop one time and, and, uh, I had words with somebody about.

I'm not, I'm, I'm doing next to, mm-hmm. Next to nothing if I can help it. 

Andrea: Your side quests are legendary. I just let, like, every time I talk to you, I find out some other responsibility that you sneakily have taken over. 

Gerry: I 

Andrea: think 

Gerry: you know 'em all now. 

Andrea: I don't know that I do every time because I thought I knew 'em all.

And then we got pictures sent to us of you out there coaching basketball. So 

Gerry: that was crazy. And that person did not come talk to me. I was mad. I'm like all these middle school [00:27:00] kids right here. Who think I'm a circus clown and put on makeup and you couldn't come over and gimme some clout. Like, come on now.

Andrea: I guys, I just want you all to know that if you see Jerry in the wild, I need you to submit photos to me about what his side quests are, because I am just fascinated by 

Gerry: maybe, maybe not all of them. No, I'm kidding. 

Andrea: No, all of them just, just send, send them my way because it's gonna be like a Yeti sighting.

We're just gonna have like a scrapbook of all of Jerry's side quests that he doesn't tell anybody about. 

Gerry: I know of one that you don't know. 

Andrea: Are you gonna tell me 

Gerry: I don't do it anymore? Yeah. I coached track and field. 

Andrea: What, when? 

Gerry: Like 2, 3, 2 or three years ago. They didn't have anybody. I was like, I'll do it.

And they did not bring me back. 

Andrea: Um, they were like, no, he's too busy with his assistant athletic director responsibilities at this stage. 

Gerry: You can't. No, they were, they, no, they were like, um, the kids aren't even buying that. He knows what he is doing. 

Andrea: Um, [00:28:00] okay. I have another question that was submitted. So the next one is, do you think students should be allowed to call their teachers by their first names?

Gerry: No. No. Yeah, I don't like call I, you can call me Mr. Patoka, coach Patoka or Coach P. That's it. I'm not allowing on nothing else. Yeah, they'll call up two block, they'll be like, Hey Gerald, and I'm, no, don't call me 

Gerald. 

Andrea: That's so funny. That's so, I call you Gerald frequently just to annoy you. So I love that your students are doing that.

I think that's hilarious and unsurprising. And if you as a teenager, were in your own class, you would absolutely be calling you Gerald without a question. 

Gerry: Yeah. Arms. 

Andrea: No, I agree. Yeah. Like I, I think that it is beyond suspicious when, especially middle and [00:29:00] high school teachers want to go by their first name with students.

I think that is so, so sketchy. Um, I feel like elementary school teachers, like you can kind of go by like the, I'm Miss Christie, or I'm miss whatever, but like once you get a little bit older. It just, it feels like you're trying so hard to be cool and to be liked and to be like, I'm just one of the group.

And it's like, ew, don't be. 

Gerry: No. 

Andrea: It's the, I hate it. I, and 

Gerry: I, I get why, yeah, why elementary? Sometimes like some people be having last names. I'll be like, yo, you do better. Like, like sometimes his last names is something, 

Andrea: Jerry, Jerry, Gerald, what is my last name? 

Gerry: I know what your last name is. 

Andrea: Yeah. 

Gerry: But at least that you can pronounce it.

Mm-hmm. 

Andrea: Yeah, but, but then you could do like, you could do like miss, miss F or whatever, like I 

Gerry: think you're, if anything, you at a high school level, your last [00:30:00] name, I could see you going by. Just call me Miss Andrea. 

Andrea: But see, that's the thing. That's why whenever somebody is like, oh, well my last name is really terrible, and I'm like, oh, is it like, I don't feel sorry for you, like girl, because they will care for five minutes and then, yeah.

As long as you're not their most hated teacher, in all likelihood, they're probably just gonna get over it. Um, because most of the time students wouldn't, because there's too many syllables in Mrs. For, so usually they would just call me Fork Gum. They, that's how I was like, like I would be, you know, walking around.

They'd be like, for what's up? You know, like, that is fine to me. You don't have to call me like Mrs. Or Dr. Ham. But usually it's just ham. And now I teach college, which I do think is different. I do allow my college students to call me Andrea, because everybody else in my department goes by their first name, like everybody in the College of Education.

And I'm teaching adults, some of whom are [00:31:00] older than I am. And so if I went by Dr. Ham, everyone would be like, what is her problem? Why? Is she demanding 

Gerry: this? You, you, you lost your whole argument with me. 

Andrea: No. 

Gerry: If what, if I was a doc, Andrea, if I'm a doctor, you better believe they're calling me Dr. Patoka. I don't care.

I'm going to the grocery store. And if they say, sir, I'm going, it's Dr. Patoka. Well, they never, I'm making them. If I'm working at a college and I didn't even remember your, I was before I even got that sense. And I'm thinking, if I worked at college, you're calling me Dr. Patoka. I don't care if I have a doctor, they're calling me Doctor.

Andrea: So. I, I, I'll get, I actually don't think I get professor very often, which doesn't surprise me 'cause I don't give off professor vibes even though my title is professor. I actually, I think I'm like an assistant professor of teaching and learning, but like, I don't go by Dr. Ham. I don't go by Professor Ham.

The, actually, the only place I think that I actually have it where it says, [00:32:00] Dr. Andrea Ham is at the place I get my Botox. 

Gerry: To make you feel better about what? 

Andrea: I don't know. I, so I, like, I had to do an intake thing today and they actually said like, um, she's like, oh, hi Dr. Fork. And I was like, oh, just so you and I are both clear.

I'm not a medical doctor. Like I can't do anything lifesaving or anything even remotely close to that. I can just like write a really long paper. That's it. And 

Gerry: like doesn't your, doesn't your books say Dr. Andrea Fork, come on. 

Andrea: Yes, it does. That is the only other, yeah, but it's not on like can you, what if I put it on like my comedy flyers?

What if I was like Dr. Andrea Fork and everyone's gonna be there like ho, hoping for a TED Talk. 

Gerry: And they go, they go Thank you. Like making Dr. Jokes. 

Andrea: Oh no, we don't want that. Well, and that's the thing is I don't want anyone to misunderstand and think I'm a medical doctor. It is funny because you 

Gerry: get it.

Andrea: Do you know how somebody gets a doctorate? 

Gerry: No. [00:33:00] I mean, kind of, but like if you, if you were worried about Andrea, if I ever get a doctorate, I want you to know, and you're hearing it. First World, write this down. If I ever get a doctorate, it's because Uhhuh, I want to be called doctor. 

Andrea: Okay. 

Gerry: Not because I wanna know more.

Yeah. It's because, Nope, I think that sounds cool. And I want me and my wife to be Doctor or Mrs. And not Mr. Or Mrs. Doctor 

Andrea: or Misses. 

Gerry: Yeah. 

Andrea: So that is the confusing thing with my husband and I. 'cause he's a pa, he's not an md, so he is not a doctor. I am a doctor, but he does medicine. And I do not do medicine.

And that does lead to some confusion because. We are doctor and Mr. For, but like, it, it's like, like there's been a few times where we've been like on an airplane and they've been like, is there a doctor here? And I'm like, Steven, it's my moment. And he's like, don't get up. And I'm like, they said they wanted a [00:34:00] doctor.

I could just sit there and like analyze how they're dying in front of me. You know, I wouldn't be able to help medically, but 

Gerry: I, I, my brain immediately went to. I'm a doctor, but he does medicine and I do standup comedy. 

Andrea: Yeah. Yeah. It's brutal. It's really brutal. Which is why like anytime I would have a bad show or a bad set or something, I'd be like, it was really horrible.

It was a bad day at work. And he's like, did anyone die? And I'm like. No. And he is like, my day was worse. I'm like, okay. Yep, you're right. You're right. You win. 

Gerry: I always, every, if I had, if I was a doctor and had bad stuff, I'd be like, at least I'm still a freaking doctor. 

Andrea: I mean, guys, here's the thing, 

Gerry: I'm still a 

doctor.

Andrea: I still a doctor, but a, a PhD, which is like, it's not, it's not a real, like it's, that's the 

Gerry: only doctor one I know. 

Andrea: The PhD? 

Gerry: Yeah. What are the other ones? 

Andrea: There's a lot. So lawyers, they're doctors, um, they have a [00:35:00] doctorate. I can't remember what it's called. It's something, but, um, and professors at most universities have to have their PhD.

There's also EDDs, which is an educ, a doctor of education, which is most of the, 

Gerry: it sounds like one of them things that keep you, it sounds like a defibrillator. 

Andrea: It's not. It's probably all of what your administrators have is an EDD. And then I have a PhD, which means, you know, I have a, I had to write a stupid dissertation and then, uh, medical doctors have MDs medical document.

Gerry: Okay. I've heard of 

Andrea: that one before. Yeah, that's the, that's the one most people are familiar with. So, and there's all sorts of other. To f further confuse it and go off on this random tangent. Uh, there's also people who can get a doctorate in medical science that are not medical doctors, that have gone to medical school in that way, but have written a dissertation about medicine based things, but are actually like a registered nurse or a nurse practitioner.

So that, that does make it very confusing. 'cause you could be [00:36:00] doctor so and so who's not a medical doctor, but does have their doctorate in like. Other things. So there go, 

Gerry: do you know Shaq was a doctor? 

Andrea: No, he's not. Is he? 

Gerry: I think they gave him one. 

Andrea: Oh, honorary doctorates are not the same. 

Gerry: Um, that's the one I'm hoping for.

Are you, I get to be a doctor. Are you? And not do any of the work? 

Andrea: I feel like that's fair. Like I, I I understand that, but also, yeah. The, the reason I got my doctorate was so that I could work at a university. And that's the only reason I got it. But then once I actually got my doctorate, I was like, well I'm not gonna actually probably make anybody call me that because it's too many syllables to go doctor for.

Um, it's just too much. You know 

Gerry: what a what? A doc 

Andrea: Doc. That just reminds me that, I'm sorry. Calling you Doc just reminds me. You can call me Doc. That's fine. You'd be the literal only person. 

Gerry: Alright, 

Andrea: perfect. Yes, I accept. 

Gerry: I would see your husband. I'd be like, what's up Mr. Doc? 

Andrea: Mr. Doc. Yeah. He'll love that.

Yeah. Yeah. Um, okay. Do you have a hill you're gonna die on? 'cause I have [00:37:00] one today. If you don't have one ready? 

Gerry: No. 

Andrea: Okay. Um, my hill that I'm gonna die on is that all taxes and legally mandated government processes should have to be understandable from the grade, like the average reading level of the average American, because I'm doing my taxes right now.

It's so complicated. It is so challenging, and I don't wanna go to jail and I'm having a really hard time figuring out the laws about like how to make sure that I'm doing my business taxes, how I make sure I'm doing my personal taxes, all of these other things. I'm trying to be a law abiding citizen with my whole heart.

And as previously established, my husband and I are both well-educated people. We should be able to figure this out. And we are both like scratching our heads trying to figure it out. And the average American citizen is like basically [00:38:00] mandated then to pay someone to prepare their taxes. So that's the hell I'm gonna die on.

We need to do better. 

Gerry: They 

Andrea: should make it easier. 

Gerry: You know how I, how I know that I agree with you. 

Andrea: How? 

Gerry: Because it's coming from a doctor and you're like, I don't get it. I 

Andrea: don't, I'm over 

Gerry: here. You got three words in, and I, I'm not gonna lie, Andrea, I kind of checked out because I, I don't even know what she's talking about, so I 

Andrea: don't feel like I 

Gerry: said it it 

Andrea: right though.

Gerry: I, I just heard people need to understand it, and I'm like, you know what? I don't know what you're talking about. I'm with her because I don't even know. 

Andrea: I, I didn't feel like I said don't the 

Gerry: explanation, 

Andrea: I, I feel like I said it in a weird way. Like basically we need to make taxes easier to do. Like if you're, because I think that the average American reading level is like a fifth grade reading level or something.

And if that's the case, then put taxes in front of a fifth grader or a FAFSA form in front of a fifth grader. And if they can't figure it out, rewrite it, redo it, because we're trying to make things accessible to people. So let's stop making it harder than it needs to be. It's pissing me off. You 

Gerry: can't put it in front of a [00:39:00] 27-year-old teacher in North Carolina, 

Andrea: or a 

Gerry: you need to fix.

Andrea: 27-year-old looking doctor in Indiana, who's definitely not in her latest 30. Um, as of when this episode airs, 

Gerry: well, you're 39. 

Andrea: I'm gonna be when this episode airs. Yep. Can you believe it? No, you can't. He's so surprised. I'm so youthful. Thanks. 

Gerry: I did have a number. I just wouldn't say it. 

Andrea: What was it, Jerry? 

Gerry: 36.

Andrea: I'll take it. That's fine. We, we knew that I was substantially older than you. Some of 

Theme: it's math though. 

Andrea: Some of it's not I, the math, some of it's because I'm obviously just very, very well established and accomplished, and so therefore I must be at least 36. 

Gerry: You've, you've taught, you're, you're now teaching grownups.

Andrea: Yeah. 

Gerry: You do. You're on your side quests of standup comedy. 

Andrea: That's true. So because you 

Gerry: have, you have other humans that exist from you. 

Andrea: I know. 

Gerry: Tiny ones, but still [00:40:00] humans, they breathe. That's true. On their own. So 

Andrea: that's a, that is a crazy way to describe elementary aged kids. 

Gerry: Kids. I don't even, I, if you hand me a baby right now, I'm gonna be what I do with this.

Andrea: I know. I get, I'm, you know what, it's I'll, I'll take it as a compliment. Um, that. 36 is still younger than what I actually am. So it works. 

Gerry: I have a, I have a joke. I'm not gonna tell you on here, but I do wanna tell it to you c about babies. 

Andrea: You don't wanna share it with the 

Gerry: No, no. 

Andrea: The commun Okay. Well, 

Gerry: no, I, I, it's not a well-formed thought yet, but I, I think you'll appreciate it.

Andrea: Maybe you guys will get to hear it if you come to the show in Indianapolis. That would be great. I would love that. I 

Gerry: don't think they'll, 

Andrea: you do. 

Gerry: They might. They might. They might. I think it's funny. 

Andrea: Great. I can't, I cannot wait to hear it. Um, alright guys. As, as I stated, we do have a show coming up in Indianapolis, [00:41:00] February 21st.

I'm super excited about it. Jerry, do you have any other shows coming up in the next month or so? 

Gerry: Um, the night before that I'll be featuring in Raleigh a good night's comedy club for Bo Johnson. Um, March 4th I will be at Waterline Brewing Company. With Mark Brady. That's Wednesday, March 4th, and then I've got some other stuff coming up, but it's all 

Andrea: awesome 

Gerry: scattered around.

Andrea: How can they find, uh, your tour dates and ticket links and all that good stuff? 

Gerry: I'm on Instagram and TikTok at com by gp. Um, there's a link tree link in my bio. Um, all the shows are usually posted and pinned on my page. If you have questions about a specific one, you can DM me and I'll send you all the info that I have for that show.

Andrea: Perfect. And I've got a bunch of shows coming up. I'm gonna be in Washington, DC and Philadelphia at the end of the month. And then in March I'm gonna be in Potstown, Pennsylvania, um, and New York [00:42:00] City, which is the first time I've done a show in New York City, which is very, very exciting. Um, so you guys can check those out.

Everything's on educator andrea.com/tickets. If you wanna get. Some tickets to those. And if you have thoughts about what we chatted about today, you can contact us, andrea@humancontent.com, or you can contact me at educator, Andrea or Jerry at. At Comedy. Comedy 

Gerry: by gp. 

Andrea: There it was. And you can contact the whole Human Content Podcast family on Instagram, TikTok at Human Content Pods.

Thank you so much. Those of you guys who have left awesome reviews, please do take a second. Give us a five star review. You can catch the whole YouTube at whole YouTube the, you can catch the whole YouTube, all of it. On youtube.com, but you can catch our full video episodes up every single week on YouTube at Educator.

Andrea, thank you so much for listening. I am your host, Andrea Comb. 

Gerry: I'm Jerry Patoka, 

Andrea: and our executive producers are Andrew Foram, Aron Korney, Rob Goldman and Shahnti Brook. Our editor is Andrew Sims. Our [00:43:00] engineer is Jason Portizo. Our music is by Omer Ben-Zvi. To learn more about how to survive the classrooms program disclaimer and ethics policy and submission verification and licensing terms, you can go to podcast or andrea.com.

How To Survive Classroom is a human content production. 

Theme: How?

Andrea: Thank you so much for watching. Want more of how to Survive the classroom? You can watch more episodes right now. Just click on that little box over there. If you see it and if you haven't yet, please subscribe. Okay, bye.