Teachers Deserve Hazard Pay For Moments Like These

Voicemail: [00:00:00] I said, Bobby, go put it in the trash can, please. I'm thinking he's gonna sweep it up in the pan, put it in the trash can. No, he bends it like Beckham. Kicks it to the trash can, it hits, it explodes water everywhere.

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. Um, I have to like so level with you guys. I feel like this is the time of year, like it's no longer, early in the school year. We are officially hitting that point where. Everyone is really [00:01:00] comfortable with each other. And so, and, and you also, like all of the aspirations you had for your new school year have kind of, kind of like gone by the wayside where you were like, I am gonna grade and give feedback so quickly.

I'm always gonna make sure that I submit attendance on time. And now we're like really in the comfortable months where it's starting to be a bit of a challenge. And I, I don't know if it's just me, you guys have to tell me if it's just me, but I feel like. In my life, I get to choose two to three of the following things.

Eating healthy, exercising laundry, done, clean house time with my kids. Any hobbies, grading, like I, I can pick two of those that I can get done and be on top of. And the rest of them cannot be done. And it's not like per day, it's like per week, you know what I'm saying? Like, so the past few weeks I was, well actually I am on week 10.

I think of going to CrossFit at least once over the course of the week, [00:02:00] right? I have not gone, I'm recording this on a Thursday. I have not gone this week. I'm going hopefully today. Um, but the previous, like last two weeks, I've only gone one day a week because I'm on top of my grading. And before that I was really behind on my grading, but I was working out three times a week.

What is that? Like? What isn't it, isn't exercise supposed to like energize you and make you on top of all of the things in your life? Like, no, couldn't be me. Could not be me. And then when I tried to do all of it last week, I immediately got sick and had a bit of an existential crisis. I was like three days into the week and was just crashing out severely.

Um, and then just literally sat on my couch for like eight hours and caught up on all my grading, caught up on all of my work and all of that. Um, but I don't know what that's about. Like why is it that we. There's just not enough hours in the day and it's driving me crazy. Um, so I just, I have to be selective with which part of my life is gonna fall to pieces.

So if you are living that life right now, please know you're not [00:03:00] alone because we're all just in here riding that struggle bus, trying to do the best we can with way too many things on our plate. Um. Which is why I'm bringing you guys a little video clip. I came across this on Instagram. It is so wholesome and so sweet and it actually, the comments in it were cracking me up because people were saying that, um, this video made them actually want to have children.

So let's just, let's just listen. What are you doing? 

TikTok: Let's just the chance to make the cross stitch. Oh, you're cross stitching coop. Do you have an 80-year-old soul? Can you tell me what your soul, like, what lives in your body like the movie soul? It in your body? I dunno, it's just an idea, but can you tell me how, what they need to live in there?

Faith. At home because they telling me about what so do in your body. Definitely.[00:04:00] 

I, 

Andrea: my. This video, you guys, this little 5-year-old sitting in the back of the car and his mom asks if he's an 80-year-old soul. And then he starts asking about what a soul is. And then he has this really beautiful cross stitch that is like a rainbow. And he's like, I'm just fixing my cross stitch. And the kid is five.

That's what the caption on there says. The mom is just like cracking up because he's, he clearly is such a little old soul. Um. And she did put a comment in there that he was not doing the cross stitch 'cause I was about to be blown away. 'cause that is some serious skill if he had actually done that cross stitch.

But they had purchased it at like a farmer's market. So that was not at all, um, like something he had made. But I just, I felt like you guys needed that little like, peace of wholesomeness of like this sweet little five-year-old. Um, because, you know, my son this week told me that, um, the nightmare King needs to stay in the sleeping world.

Like just unprompted, we were getting ready [00:05:00] for bed and he's like, mama the nightmare king. He can't come into the waking world. And I was like, oh gosh. Okay. Like then I remember he's been watching Lego Dreams, which has a nightmare king and has like these war like dream warriors and stuff like that. So it was slightly less creepy.

But then to follow it up, my son in his bath last night told me, mama, did you know that sometimes even if you're married. Um, the mom dies and I was like, oh yeah, that's true buddy sometimes. And he is like, yeah, and then the daddy can get remarried. And I was like, yes, that's also true. And he is like, and then daddy could have more kids and then I could have a brother.

And I was like, oh, okay. So, um, you know, just gonna. Kind of keep a weather eye on that child 'cause he says some of the craziest stuff. Um, but then I came across something else that is, [00:06:00] I, you know, this is a song from a rapper. Um, so I, I very much would like to hear your guys' take on that. Let's jump in to our first fan voicemail that was sent in this week.

So 

Voicemail: I am a music teacher in a small rural town, and this is my 16th year teaching, but low these many years ago when I was a little, uh, 23, 20 4-year-old teacher who had recently got engaged. Um, I was teaching middle school choir. And middle school choir is always like the weirdest part of my day. Um, sometimes it's great, sometimes it's terrifying.

It's a really mixed bag, and this was one of the terrifying days at the end of class, um, I had this girl come up to me, seventh grade girl, and she said to me in front of the entire class, so is it true that you're pregnant? Because that's what everyone is saying because you keep getting bigger. [00:07:00] And like hand motions included of my supposedly expanding waistline.

And I, I was pretty much floored at that point. I, I didn't know what to say. I think I just sort of looked at her in horror and then like, looked down at my stomach to see if I did in fact look pregnant. I was not pregnant, and I was deeply, deeply mortified. And then I, I think I said something like, no. I didn't even know what else to say.

And then she just like waltz out of the classroom and everybody else was horrified too. There was no passing time. My next class was coming in immediately after that, and so I had to like get through my next choir class going, oh my gosh, does everybody in town actually think I'm pregnant? Is there a rumor going around that I'm pregnant and I'm not?

And there was not a rumor going around. I don't know where this girl came up with that idea or why she thought she should. Asked me that in front of the entire class. Um, I later found out that all the other students were equally horrified and talked to their homeroom teacher about it, who later addressed it with the girl, which was good because I would've had no idea what to [00:08:00] say.

Um, yeah, so that's probably my most mortifying classroom experience. 

Andrea: I feel like for a lot of us female teachers, we've had that experience, like, god forbid. We gain a couple of pounds because they will let us know every time. I remember actually it was when I was an early career teacher as well. And um, my weight would fluctuate kind of a lot.

And I, I had the same question. I had students being like, are you pregnant though? You pregnant? And I, I mean, I like, and it was also a small town, um, but it wasn't a small town I was from. So even if the whole town. Thought I was pregnant, it probably wouldn't have meant much to like almost anybody, but I have been in that exact same boat.

And actually, so I did a tour this week with my students because we're touring around all of these different schools. Because they're about to go into the field, and so I have the administrator come out, talk to them, share advice, share like what their policies are at the specific school, all of that kind of stuff.

It's fantastic. It's [00:09:00] really nice. It's like a student teaching before student teaching, and we went this week and one of my students asked one of the administrators like, Hey. How do you handle it when students say something that is genuinely really funny? Because he had already kind of talked about like you, anything that you could possibly imagine a student could say to you will be said to you.

Like things that you didn't ask for, things that you did not try and jump into any of their business. And they will just volunteer information like very quickly. Um, and she followed up the question of like. What do you do if it's really, really funny? Um, and his answer was like, you gotta learn how to.

Kind of like lock it down. Like you can laugh about it later, but in the moment it's like if you have a toddler that swears you don't wanna encourage that behavior because that's not appropriate. And so you gotta teach them, even if the moment is really, really funny and really surprising, you have to find a way.[00:10:00] 

And so it, it like reminds me, there was a, a key and Peele skit I watched recently where, um. They were in prison and they had a bunch of extras and all of the prisoners were extras. And they, the prisoners were told, like the extras were told like, Hey, if you think you're gonna laugh in this scene, you need to just turn around and face the wall.

And there was like several parts in the scene where everyone turned around and faced the wall. And I feel like that's sometimes what we gotta do is like if somebody is saying something, either so outrageous. Or so funny that we can't handle it in the moment. We gotta turn around and face the wall. Like sometimes we've gotta find our shoes or the wall or the clock.

Incredibly fascinating because we have to be cognizant of how we react. Like that's number one. This I, I think the biggest thing that. I think about now is the ramifications of that story being told elsewhere. Right? So it's, it's less sometimes about how that student perceives the conversation. [00:11:00] Sometimes it's almost more about how everyone else sees you react to that conversation and how everyone else is gonna carry that story.

And number one, assume what is appropriate behavior in your classroom. And number two is gonna carry that conversation to another teacher, to the administrator, to like their parents, to all of those things, because kids will say. Some insane stuff. And the administrator I was working with, who I think is honestly one of the better administrators that I've gotten a chance to work with, I have so much respect for him.

He's fantastic. And he said, he's like, you know, if there's a situation and you're not sure in the moment how to handle it, whether it's a student being upset or a student, um, that is, um, saying something that is just really out of pocket, like send 'em into the hall. Then take a few minutes and then go over in, like practice in your brain how to respond and what's the worst it could go and what's the best it could go and do that in your brain first.

That way when you go out there to have the conversation, you [00:12:00] have some things to pull from, especially for people who. Tend to process a little bit slower and it's harder for them to control their emotions in the moment. Um, and his advice, I think is particularly valuable because he worked in an alternate education, um, situation for a very long time.

Like that was his, where he started with his teaching journey. And kids who are in alt ed a lot of times, you know, there's a lot of reasons why kids end up in alternate education in his specific situation. It was usually because of truancy. Um. Or these kids had been in juvie or something like that. And so his experience kind of started off on, on that track where these are kids who are not used to being told what to do and handling it very well.

Right. Um, and I, I thought that was such wise advice. Um, and he also shared that students would always rather seem like a badass than a dumbass. That also is such sage advice because, and, and I've talked to my students about that, where somebody will say something in [00:13:00] class, right? Like, okay, let's say I want my students to read and I want somebody to read aloud.

Um, a student isn't going to say, I can't read right now, that like, they're not gonna say that. They're gonna say, no, I won't. Right. Um. And a lot of students will, will attempt to read and then it's uncomfortable because you don't wanna embarrass 'em. Everyone can kind of hear that they're struggling, all of that kind of stuff.

But his point was like, kids are gonna, would rather be defiant than, and, and like seem like a badass, than be embarrassed that they have this knowledge gap in front of their peers. Which again, I think is such sage advice and helps you kind of think about, okay, if I were in that seat and I couldn't read, would I be more willing to go and get sent to the principal's office?

Or be embarrassed in front of all of my friends and potentially them even make fun of me. Right. Um, and so I think that that is also like, just really valuable, valuable advice. Is that like when somebody says like, are you pregnant [00:14:00] or anything else that's super out of pocket, um, taking a beat, sending 'em to the hall.

Then kind of processing how you can handle that. Um, because it sounds like that teacher also, like she didn't even end up having to deal with it. 'cause it sounds like the homeroom teacher was like, girl, you can't say that to people. That's rude. Um, and most of the time I feel like when kids said stuff like that, I'd be like, that's really rude.

You shouldn't comment on people's bodies. Um, but that came after time. Like there was definitely some times in my, my first year where people would make comments about. My body or, you know, make comments to each other about other people's bodies. And, um, it, it is something that you do have to kind of directly teach.

Like, we don't comment on people's bodies. That's not appropriate. Unfortunately. That is a lesson that even, you know, I pretty much every day on my, on my Instagram and TikTok feed, apparently there's been some, some very grown people that have not learned. We don't comment on other people's bodies. So, um, alright, let's go ahead and jump into the second voice memo that was sent in this week.[00:15:00] 

Voicemail: I teach high school, and this is one of my core memory stories. I had this kid, and we'll call him Bobby. He was kicking something into the room as he arrived late and I said, Bobby, whatcha kicking? He goes, I'm kicking a balloon. Well, you know, balloons float when you kick them, typically. So a kid very loudly announces Ms.

Woodrow, that ain't no balloon. I go to inspect. No Waterfield condom. Yep. You heard that right? I said, Bobby, go put it in the trash can please. I'm thinking he's gonna sweep it up in the pan, put it in the trash can. No, he bends it like Beckham kicks it to the trash can, it hits, it explodes water everywhere.

And I'm just holding my temples at this point. Like Bobby, just go clean it up. Just clean it up. He goes to clean it up. It seems like he does a diligent job later on in class. A girl, let's call her Lindsay, walks past the trash can. Slips and falls. Y'all slip and [00:16:00] falls. And I'm thinking, Bobby, you did not clean it up.

He's like, yes, I did Miss Woodrow, y'all, it was a lubricated condom. Oh, 

Andrea: no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. That is so like, and, and those are the kinds of things that happen in the classroom where everyone's like. You made that up. Like when I share stories like this, people are like, surely not, surely no kid is going to bring a lubricated condom filled with water and kick it around the classroom.

No, of course they do. And the funny thing is too, is a lot of times I'll get comments when I, I share some of the stuff and they're like, well, obviously you wrote them up, right? And it's like, is that really something we write up? I don't know. Would you guys write someone up if they, because it sounds like that kid.

Was being a silly goose and it sounds like he listened when she said clean it up and didn't do the best job. But I dunno, I feel like those are the situations where it's like not malice, it's [00:17:00] not defiance, it's not even, I guess it's kind of disrespect 'cause they're not respecting the classroom, but like.

I don't know. I, I kind of would love to hear from you guys. What is the threshold for you? Like what is the litus test that you use to write a student up and send them to the administrator? Um, because at the different schools I've worked at, I've had some schools where they will have you write up or want you to write up for almost everything.

And I have other schools I've worked at where they don't want you to write up for anything. Like you need to handle whatever's going on in your classroom on your own. Um. We don't really wanna hear from you is the vibe I would get from the administrators. So I'd love to hear from you guys, like what does it, what does it take in order for a student to get written up in your class?

Because for me it took a lot. Um, mainly because I had, where I started, the administrators basically said like. If you are sending students down all of the time, that shows us you can't manage your class. So I'm like, okay, message received. I need to handle it in house. And it [00:18:00] was, um, I think a very big learning curve for me on how to handle it when you don't really have anything you can do, like you could give 'em rewards, people have token systems, especially in elementary, I feel like people used to do like the clips, which now is like considered very bad because then you're.

Embarrassing the kid and they're having to move their clip and they're all doing, but like also if we are not gonna send them to the administrator, what are we doing for classroom management to incentivize when like silly goose behavior happens like that where it's like, okay, well that's not like you don't need to go to the administrator.

You didn't punch someone. You're not high, you're not doing crimes, you're. Being a kid whose brain isn't done cooking yet. So what, like, how do you handle those? Um, I can tell you, for me, what I think I probably would do is have a hallway chat with him at some point and be like, I'm, I'm gonna be emailing home and letting your mom know that you, you did this.

And I would like notify family or notify guardians. But I don't think I would write 'em [00:19:00] up. I don't think that there would be any serious consequence because I mean, it, it wasn't like. I intended. Does that make sense? I guess like for me, the motive for why the kid was doing whatever it was matters almost as much as the act.

Like if a kid was screwing around a roughhousing and broke a table versus like karate shopping and broke a table, that's a very different vibe to me. Um, so I would love to hear from you guys, like what is your litmus test for what gets written up and what doesn't? Because. There was probably some things in my day that probably should have gotten written up, but I was like, well, I don't want anyone to think, I dunno how to manage my classroom so I better not write anybody up.

Um, so on that note, I have a really exciting, um, resource that I wanna share with you guys and I am going to share it with you right after this quick break. So we will be right back. Welcome back, teacher besties. So I was looking at when this episode drops and it drops in early November and there is something called [00:20:00] International Education Week that takes place between November 17th through 21st.

Um, so if you go to british council.org, that's where the information is for it. And there's a bunch of different things that you can do. Um, they have, like, the part of it for sure is looking at different ways that you can. Practice foreign language. So if you are a foreign language teacher, you're teaching German, you're teaching Spanish, you're teaching Italian like French, any of those things, that I think is a really, really cool opportunity because they have a spot for schools to partner up.

And do projects together internationally, which I think is so freaking cool. I don't know if you guys remember back in like the nineties, those of you who were alive. Um, they, we would have like pen pal programs. Did any of you, did anybody else do that? Like, I remember I did a pen pal program with somebody, um, and wrote letters to like a kid who lived in Virginia for a few weeks because we were learning how to write a letter and we were tying like letter writing with, you know, [00:21:00] doing, um.

Like learning how to like do cursive I think, and stuff like that. And so it was such a fun way of practicing something like that. And we connected with another school and all it just like, I feel like there's a lot of potential. Like safety things that would be involved with something like this. But, um, the, you know, it's british council.org.

It's got a bunch of different options. It's got webinars, it's got, um, great languages, challenges, so it's got like classroom resources, international school awards, all of that kinda stuff. It has a Facebook page for those of you who are still on Facebook. So I highly recommend it just because helping kids see outside.

Of the world that they are currently in, I think is such a huge part of what we do as teachers. It was always so important to me that not only was I giving the kids whatever the state was requiring of me to give them. But also to let them know that the world was bigger than the zip code that they were [00:22:00] living in, you know, um, especially, you know, in schools and in areas where they maybe have never been out of the state that they grew up in or out of the county that they grew up in.

Um, and giving them an opportunity like this in the world that we live in, where. If, if we can't get them physically to visit another place, maybe we can do something else to orchestrate them seeing the world from another point of view. And I think that's really exciting. And it also has a lot of really cool cross-curricular things that you could do, some project-based learning type things that you could do.

Um, so I highly recommend, uh, you check it out. I think it's a really exciting thing to try and coordinate with, with different. Schools across the world, um, and all of that. So check that out. And there's a bunch of resources that are free on there. Um, it did say, there is a thing on here that says Survey of parent attitudes.

So I don't know if this was just like a Google form they sent out or what, but it said 70% of parents interviewed believe their child should have more access to international opportunities through their school. Um, I am also very curious [00:23:00] because I think that this is primarily something that happens in the uk, um, where international is.

A lot closer than for like somebody who's living in Iowa, for example. Um, but still I think it's a really cool thing that we potentially could have access to. And, you know, the world's becoming a lot smaller in a lot of ways. So, uh, check that out, see if it's something that is gonna fit for you. Okay, next I have the hill I'll die on.

And it's so funny because this morning I was prepping all of my notes for our episode today, and I came across this Instagram reel that I think has the energy, um, that I like to bring to all of the hills that I die on. 

Voicemail: Can I say something mean? Yes. Yes. Yes, yes, yes. I'm here. I'm listening. Tell me. 

Andrea: I just like, not that I'm mean, but I, so the episode just went live where I talked about vaping and people are getting real upset and getting in their vaping feelings about it.

Um, but that's not what today is about. Okay. The hill I'm gonna die on. [00:24:00] Okay. Is that education in particular? The university system across the board is wildly hypocritical, and here's why. They argue every single day that education is critical for. Whatever it is that someone's gonna do. Ev they, like, if you talk to university presidents, all of that, they're always going to say that, you know, whether you're getting a degree in basket weaving or you're pre-med, or you're in whatever stem, it's incredibly valuable, which is why we charge the same amount of tuition regardless of whether or not you're pre-med or you're going to study to become a teacher.

Right. Um, but when you look at the pay for professors. There is a very clear distinction in their mind on the value of a degree in medicine or in basket weaving or in teaching. And the hill I'm gonna die on is that if you are going to pay professors differently based on what [00:25:00] their expertise is in which I don't actually even have a problem with because if I screw up at my job still, nobody dies.

Versus my husband who's a pa and if he has a bad day, he has a really bad day. Um, sure. That's fine. Pay professors more if they have a degree in medicine, if they have something like that. Um, but then if you are not going to be, um, paying professors the exact same, you should stop charging students the exact same.

So if you are getting your degree in education and projected income when you graduate is $45,000 a year. You should not be charged the same amount because they certainly don't see it as the same value. 'cause they're not paying the professors the same across the board. So that is the hill I'm gonna die on.

And, um, I hopefully won't actually die on that hill. You know, I, I work at a very cost effective university, but working within the university system, I see these things. Um, and it drives me crazy because I have these students that are trying to like, pay their way through [00:26:00] student teaching and they are working really, really hard to do that.

And the university and a lot of other universities are working really hard to get grants and resources to help these. These people pay for their education. Um, but then I just see the very obvious like tuition and versus outcome discussion. And I think that maybe that should be part of the discussion that like, if we are telling you you're only gonna make 40 5K when you graduate, maybe our degree isn't exactly what worth what we say, it's so that's the hell I'm gonna die on and hopefully don't lose my job.

Don't fire me. Um, guys, if you have thoughts about the stuff we talked about today or if you have a story, if you have a story, if a student has said something out of pocket to you, which like, hello, all of us have had that happen, if we've been in the classroom for longer than five seconds, um, you can reach out, you can submit it on podcast or andrea.com.

Um, I also post links on my Instagram stories all the time for you to submit these [00:27:00] stories. So you can also keep an eye out there. Um, and if you have thoughts about what we talked about. Today you can email us, andrea@humancontent.com or at Educator Andrea, or you can contact the whole Human Content Podcast family at Human Content Pods.

Um, and real quick, if you have not yet seen me live, please do. It is so much fun. I'm having the absolute best time with Gasper Randazzo and Phil Lindsay, we are just. Cracking up every single time we do our shows together. It just keeps getting better and better, and it started great. So you can check out those shows@teachersloungelive.com.

You can also see my solo shows that I'm doing, educator andrea.com/tickets. Check 'em out. It's gonna be a really good time. We do free meet and greet for both my solo shows and the shows that I do with Gasper and Phil. We always take the time to thank people who come out individually. If you want to talk to us, we're not gonna make you.

It's not like. A forced situation, but if you wanna say hi, we will absolutely hang out and say hi. Um, and if you wanna check out the full video episode, they're up every single week [00:28:00] on YouTube at Educator Andrea. And thank you so much to those of you guys who have left a review, and if you haven't yet, please do and thank you for listening.

I am your host, Andrea Forche. Our executive producers are Andrea Forche, Aaron Corny Rob Goldman, and S 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 how to survive the classroom's program disclaimer and ethics policy and submission verification and licensing terms, you can go to podcast or andrea.com.

How to Survive the Classroom is a human content production.

Thank you so much for watching. Want more of how to Survive the classroom? You can watch more episodes right now. Just click on that little box over there. You see it, and if you haven't yet, please subscribe. Okay, [00:29:00] bye.