# Living Teacher Life: Perception: The Hidden Emotional Struggles of Teachers

An episode of [The Middle School Mary Poppins Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1769915228), 11 Feb 2025, 51 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/75813500/429946059_44100_1_d8c209b4663f6f7d.mp3

Ever thought about how traffic jams and middle school classrooms have more in common than you’d expect? In this episode, we dive deep into the power of perception—how it shapes our experiences, learning, emotions, and even society’s view of teachers. From navigating California freeways to the emotional chaos of adolescence, we explore why mental health and education must go hand in hand and why teachers are the unsung heroes battling burnout, low pay, and unrealistic expectations every day. Through personal stories, humor, and thought-provoking insights, we’ll unpack why teachers are often seen as both superheroes and scapegoats and how shifting our perception can change the way we value education. Plus, we’ll discuss why teachers deserve the Dumbledore treatment rather than being forgotten like Bing Bong. Tune in and discover what’s really happening behind the classroom doors—this is a conversation that will challenge what you thought you knew. Contact Suzanne Swain: Email: suzanneswain@gmail.com Facebook: Suzanne Swain Suzanne a Question or Comment:Support the show Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-middle-school-mary-poppins-podcast--7467210/support. ☂️ CONNECT WITH THE MIDDLE SCHOOL MARY POPPINS PODCAST™ Website • Episodes • Resources • More https://msmarypoppins.com 🎧 Listen and follow The Middle School Mary Poppins Podcast™ wherever you get your podcasts. 📺 YouTube https://youtube.com/@middleschoolmarypoppinspodcast 💌 CONTACT Media • Speaking • Sponsorships • Advertising • Brand Partnerships suzanneswain@gmail.com Listener correspondence & messages for Lieutenant Steve 🐾 dearstevemsmp@gmail.com The Middle School Mary Poppins Podcast™ is independently produced. Partnerships are considered based on mission alignment, relevance, and appropriateness for young people, families, educators, and schools. Stop. Regulate. Listen. ☂️ Helping adults understand the kids in the middle. © The Middle School Mary Poppins Podcast™

## Transcript

[0:12] Speaker 1: Morning class. It's so good to see you. I hope
[0:14] Speaker 1: you had a wonderful weekend. Now we are trucking all
[0:17] Speaker 1: along through our week and hope everything's going smoothly for you.
[0:19] Speaker 1: Everything's balanced. You're feeling good. You're in that wonderful soul
[0:24] Speaker 1: zone where things are just rolling. You're creating, you're exploring,
[0:29] Speaker 1: you're experimenting, you're doing all of those wonderful scientific processes
[0:32] Speaker 1: to explore any subject that is fascinating you right now.
[0:36] Speaker 1: Those rabbit holes are nice and clean. I hope that
[0:38] Speaker 1: you're traveling through the war in with a monorail right now.
[0:42] Speaker 1: So I hope all is going well in your world.
[0:44] Speaker 1: And I just want to take a minute to speak.
[0:47] Speaker 1: Our episode is about perception. Today we're going to talk
[0:50] Speaker 1: about the concept of perception and the power of perception.
[0:53] Speaker 1: And I need your help. I'm working on a project
[0:56] Speaker 1: and I thought maybe you all could start helping me
[0:59] Speaker 1: out a little bit. You know, I've been up here
[1:01] Speaker 1: pontificating for ages now and it's, you know, I do,
[1:04] Speaker 1: you do, we do. And that's a big thing. So
[1:08] Speaker 1: I want you to start pitching in now. Now that
[1:10] Speaker 1: we're starting to open you up to that more sensitive side,
[1:14] Speaker 1: that more creative, the more passionate, the more emotional side,
[1:17] Speaker 1: I thought maybe you could help me. So here's what happened.
[1:22] Speaker 1: I was living out in California for a while and
[1:25] Speaker 1: I realized that metaverse isn't quite for me. I enjoy
[1:29] Speaker 1: my hills of Tennessee. I enjoy my green and I
[1:32] Speaker 1: need that environment to thrive. So I was out there
[1:35] Speaker 1: for a while and I think it was very good
[1:36] Speaker 1: because my perception, change on a lot of things. For example,
[1:39] Speaker 1: I was able to work at a mostly Vietnamese high school,
[1:42] Speaker 1: which is fascinating because being in rural Tennessee, you can
[1:46] Speaker 1: imagine the diversity situation there, which changes their perception of
[1:51] Speaker 1: perhaps something like race, where they don't have a lot
[1:53] Speaker 1: of interaction with a lot of diversity. But now we
[1:56] Speaker 1: live in this interconnected world where we can do those
[1:59] Speaker 1: kinds of things. So the Vietnamese-based high school, really interesting.
[2:04] Speaker 1: I was a librarian there. and the food and the families.
[2:08] Speaker 1: And there's a thing called family systems. And there's a
[2:11] Speaker 1: guy named Jerry Wise who talks about family systems a lot,
[2:13] Speaker 1: but I learned about family systems theory and clinical social work.
[2:16] Speaker 1: I'm so glad that I had that program so I
[2:19] Speaker 1: could download the content that I needed to play. And
[2:23] Speaker 1: here's how I kind of perceived this whole thing. So
[2:26] Speaker 1: family systems theory extends to the idea of like a
[2:30] Speaker 1: family tree. Okay. Now, In the family, on the tree,
[2:35] Speaker 1: we need to take a look at scientifically using the
[2:38] Speaker 1: scientific method of research, which science teachers, you need to
[2:42] Speaker 1: help us here. The scientific method needs to be drilled
[2:45] Speaker 1: into us from the get-go because as a divergent kid
[2:49] Speaker 1: who had big thoughts and no way to figure them out,
[2:51] Speaker 1: the scientific method was the only thing that made me
[2:53] Speaker 1: feel safe. Science made sense. Like, I got it. Maths
[2:57] Speaker 1: didn't really, but science, you can prove it. It's visual.
[3:01] Speaker 1: So science teachers, I wanted to be a science teacher
[3:03] Speaker 1: because I wanted to study research. So me being a
[3:06] Speaker 1: science teacher and then getting my master's in library is
[3:09] Speaker 1: one in the same because it's all about breaking down
[3:11] Speaker 1: the scientific process to do research. Okay. Follow? Never. Perception.
[3:19] Speaker 1: So I see it as we have a problem of
[3:22] Speaker 1: where I feel like I'm in a traffic jam. I'm
[3:25] Speaker 1: driving down the road in my Honda Civic, of course.
[3:29] Speaker 1: And I've modified it in every way possible to have
[3:31] Speaker 1: the dog edition, the teacher edition, all these little modifications
[3:34] Speaker 1: in my car to make it the super teacher car.
[3:37] Speaker 1: And I'm carrying all this stuff home. And I live
[3:41] Speaker 1: quite a bit of a drive. And the thing is,
[3:43] Speaker 1: I'm on the 5 freeway. Now, I live in a
[3:46] Speaker 1: place that has highways. It makes me feel safer. Freeways,
[3:49] Speaker 1: oh boy. It's like a free-for-all, I think is how
[3:51] Speaker 1: I associate those words. But my word association might need
[3:55] Speaker 1: to change. The perception of words, not necessarily people. but
[3:59] Speaker 1: just the words we use to describe them. So this
[4:02] Speaker 1: is my example. So I'm going down the 5. And
[4:04] Speaker 1: I lived down near, in Orange County, down near like
[4:09] Speaker 1: the Mission Viejo, Irvine kind of area. Hi, y'all out there.
[4:13] Speaker 1: The 5 and the 405 meet, okay? You want to
[4:16] Speaker 1: talk about something that you see that will stir anxiety
[4:19] Speaker 1: in your heart, deep, deep rooted. So I'm sitting there
[4:22] Speaker 1: in my little Honda Civic with Charlie the dog. And
[4:25] Speaker 1: I'm like, oh gosh, it's already in like seven lanes.
[4:29] Speaker 1: just on the 5, and then when 405 connects to it,
[4:32] Speaker 1: it's like 15 or some ridiculousness, and there's cars everywhere.
[4:37] Speaker 1: It felt like a giant coming out of a concert,
[4:40] Speaker 1: like out of a Taylor Swift concert, and trying to
[4:42] Speaker 1: figure out how to get to your car. You have
[4:43] Speaker 1: that same level of confusion, where you're like, what? So
[4:47] Speaker 1: my perception of this is absolute terror. Fear is driving now,
[4:52] Speaker 1: and that is not a good thing. But over time,
[4:54] Speaker 1: of course, I got used to driving it, And I
[4:57] Speaker 1: just knew that it wasn't that great. But that exposure
[4:59] Speaker 1: therapy of going through it every single day until I
[5:03] Speaker 1: just wasn't scared anymore was important. So exposure therapy is important.
[5:08] Speaker 1: So in family systems, you take a look at the
[5:11] Speaker 1: family as a whole concept. So Jerry Wise taught me this. And,
[5:15] Speaker 1: of course, my training as well. But the YouTubes, which
[5:19] Speaker 1: is wonderful. His YouTube channel is great. There are so
[5:22] Speaker 1: many wonderful YouTube channels. We're going to talk about that
[5:24] Speaker 1: in our next episode. I'm going to give you some tools.
[5:27] Speaker 1: Now you can apply that. I think now you might appreciate,
[5:30] Speaker 1: hopefully after this episode, for its value. And whatever value
[5:34] Speaker 1: you find in it, run with it. So I get home.
[5:38] Speaker 1: I'm able to relax and my day is done, right? Well,
[5:42] Speaker 1: I was thinking about grandpas. And on the way home,
[5:48] Speaker 1: you know, just thinking about my two grandpas. And my
[5:51] Speaker 1: mom's side grandpa was in World War II. And I
[5:55] Speaker 1: used to like to look at his medals and things.
[5:57] Speaker 1: And he got a beautiful heart. And we, you know,
[5:59] Speaker 1: we thank our veterans for their service so much. So
[6:01] Speaker 1: I always had a really deep-rooted appreciation for veterans because
[6:06] Speaker 1: he would tell me his stories and things and would
[6:08] Speaker 1: always take me for donuts at Dunkin' Donuts. So, hey, thanks, Grandpa.
[6:12] Speaker 1: Thanks for the donut addiction, maybe. But in any case,
[6:17] Speaker 1: I just was thinking about family systems and the role
[6:19] Speaker 1: that a grandpa can play. And I've been seeing some
[6:23] Speaker 1: people out there, little shining stars in the media, where
[6:25] Speaker 1: they have the grandpa vibe and, you know, Umi vibe
[6:29] Speaker 1: type of thing. And I just really get excited about
[6:33] Speaker 1: that because I like at the root of the family
[6:37] Speaker 1: system is my perception of masculinity. My perception of masculinity
[6:44] Speaker 1: is that men provide such an important role in the
[6:47] Speaker 1: sense of stability and grace under fire. and how to
[6:53] Speaker 1: conduct yourself appropriately in public, and you still be a
[6:57] Speaker 1: fighter and make good decisions. That's what I see masculinity. Now, unfortunately,
[7:03] Speaker 1: we're starting to see that emotions are creeping up. So 5-4-0-5.
[7:08] Speaker 1: The reason why I mention that is because my perception
[7:12] Speaker 1: of what I'm looking at, my graphic organizer in reality
[7:15] Speaker 1: in front of me with all this traffic, is that
[7:18] Speaker 1: I'm seeing... two very big concepts coming together and what happens.
[7:23] Speaker 1: It's like a social experiment in my brain. Here's what's happening.
[7:27] Speaker 1: I am thinking of learning as the five. Okay? So
[7:31] Speaker 1: I'm driving down the five in my Civic. I would
[7:34] Speaker 1: much rather be in a better car. But for now,
[7:37] Speaker 1: I'm totally content with what I've gotten. It's doing just fine. Right?
[7:41] Speaker 1: It works. It could be improved. Always can be improved.
[7:43] Speaker 1: Anything can be improved. But I'm starting a little on
[7:47] Speaker 1: the low side. But I'll give it a shot. And
[7:50] Speaker 1: you feel like you're in offensive driving, not in defensive driving.
[7:53] Speaker 1: Like we need that class as well, because I feel
[7:56] Speaker 1: like I'm playing a video game at this point. And like,
[7:58] Speaker 1: please don't let me die to the 80s. Always going
[8:00] Speaker 1: to die. So certain deaths. OK, so I'm on the
[8:04] Speaker 1: road of learning on the fives, for example. But the
[8:09] Speaker 1: thing that I think we forget about sometimes is that
[8:12] Speaker 1: there's a whole other highway merging. And at certain times
[8:16] Speaker 1: of life, that highway starts to merge again. like adolescence,
[8:19] Speaker 1: for example, like middle school. We are right there. Let
[8:24] Speaker 1: me make this parallel allegory for you, which is important
[8:27] Speaker 1: in teaching. We are really good at doing that, teachers,
[8:29] Speaker 1: so way to go. But this allegorical teaching of family
[8:33] Speaker 1: systems is right here. Now, the family is at home.
[8:37] Speaker 1: We want to get to home where the family is,
[8:39] Speaker 1: where safety is, right? Safety is everybody's most important thing.
[8:43] Speaker 1: From minute one on planet Earth, safety is right there.
[8:46] Speaker 1: Somewhere between an inside out when the little, you know,
[8:50] Speaker 1: ball is there, little glow ball, to when the baby
[8:53] Speaker 1: opens their eyes. In that space, I think, is where
[8:57] Speaker 1: safety lives. It's not really an emotion. It's more of
[9:00] Speaker 1: a concept. So I think it's like the house to
[9:02] Speaker 1: which the emotions live is the safety. But at its root,
[9:07] Speaker 1: Maslow's hierarchy of needs, safety is most important. So I
[9:09] Speaker 1: need to get home to safety to go maybe see
[9:12] Speaker 1: my grandpa. Okay? Okay. We forget about the other highway merging.
[9:19] Speaker 1: But what is the highway? What do I know about
[9:22] Speaker 1: the other highway, and where does it go? I soon
[9:25] Speaker 1: learned pretty quickly living out there that I needed to
[9:27] Speaker 1: know very, very clearly which one went where, because I
[9:31] Speaker 1: cannot tell you how many multiple highways, freeways, whatever you
[9:35] Speaker 1: want to call them, I went on to get places,
[9:38] Speaker 1: and I was always late. That was before GPS. But
[9:41] Speaker 1: the other highway, what do I know about it? Well,
[9:43] Speaker 1: what I know about that highway is that it can
[9:45] Speaker 1: take me to Disneyland. Well, both ways can, but this
[9:49] Speaker 1: way might be better. So, my perception of highways are decisions,
[9:57] Speaker 1: but my perception of highways even more... importantly, emotions. You see,
[10:03] Speaker 1: I think of emotions and learning as two converging giant highways,
[10:08] Speaker 1: freeways actually. And in adolescence, they become freeways. I think
[10:13] Speaker 1: they were kind of highways before, but in adolescence with
[10:17] Speaker 1: hormones and all this stuff happening, It's like everything becomes congested.
[10:22] Speaker 1: You know, cards are sort of like thoughts. But in
[10:25] Speaker 1: middle school, you have two major converging highways where you
[10:28] Speaker 1: have emotions now interconverge so much more again with learning.
[10:36] Speaker 1: But before, they sort of ran parallel for a while,
[10:39] Speaker 1: elementary school, where emotions, of course, I mean, we're all
[10:43] Speaker 1: emotionally based first. But I think that our perception of
[10:46] Speaker 1: people is that we forget that emotions go first. Inside
[10:50] Speaker 1: Out 2 was one of the highest grossing films this summer.
[10:54] Speaker 1: We all were perfectly well aware, based on box office,
[10:58] Speaker 1: that emotions are the ones that determine how we perceive things.
[11:03] Speaker 1: Wasn't that kind of a big takeaway from the movie?
[11:06] Speaker 1: So we know this. Nobody is, hey, I was stupid
[11:09] Speaker 1: enough to do that. Yeah, you did. Sure you did.
[11:12] Speaker 1: Think of all the learning you know that you just
[11:13] Speaker 1: kind of learn by experience. You know, what you learn
[11:17] Speaker 1: from dogs doesn't have any words, but you learn lots
[11:19] Speaker 1: of values. So the core value of that, and they
[11:22] Speaker 1: talk about core values all the time in the movie.
[11:24] Speaker 1: But unfortunately, I just want to get home and see
[11:26] Speaker 1: my grandpa, but I can't do that in my family
[11:29] Speaker 1: system because right now I'm at the convergence of learning
[11:32] Speaker 1: and emotion. And unfortunately, when you have 16 lanes of
[11:36] Speaker 1: traffic with all these thoughts and emotions and all kinds
[11:40] Speaker 1: of things happening in a giant traffic jam, what happens
[11:43] Speaker 1: when you sit in a traffic jam too long? Anger, right?
[11:48] Speaker 1: But what's the other emotion that happens when you're in
[11:50] Speaker 1: a traffic jam and you've got some road rage? Confusion, right? Irritation.
[11:57] Speaker 1: It's not fair. All those things. The concept of fairness.
[12:01] Speaker 1: I thought it was because I'm a Libra that I'm like,
[12:02] Speaker 1: it's not fair. I was born full Libra where pro
[12:05] Speaker 1: cons are the same. But that's not it. You know,
[12:09] Speaker 1: it may not be because of my neurodivergence that I
[12:11] Speaker 1: have a sense of injustice that just won't quit. But
[12:15] Speaker 1: I want to ask why. and challenge that. And that's
[12:18] Speaker 1: what gets me thrown out of doctor's offices when ego
[12:21] Speaker 1: gets involved. Because I point out something really obvious and
[12:24] Speaker 1: clear that it's like a glaring tantrum of death here
[12:28] Speaker 1: from someone who can't handle the challenge, a Bowser. So
[12:33] Speaker 1: one of my challenges is to make sure that I
[12:36] Speaker 1: don't get taken advantage of and to have learned that
[12:38] Speaker 1: skill in school would be helpful. So we cannot deny
[12:43] Speaker 1: the fact that emotions drive our perception and learning. Please
[12:50] Speaker 1: make this connection. They are in tandem. They are equally valid.
[12:55] Speaker 1: But learning, we value it so, so, so, so much.
[12:59] Speaker 1: But mental health is now finally starting the wave of
[13:04] Speaker 1: being recognized as equally as important as learning. We have
[13:10] Speaker 1: to control the perception of the emotion that it triggers
[13:14] Speaker 1: when we bring up a concept. Make sure that they
[13:17] Speaker 1: have the right emotional connection to the topic that would
[13:22] Speaker 1: be appropriate for their learning. Kind of like the broccoli thing.
[13:28] Speaker 1: Perception of broccoli to little kids. I didn't want that.
[13:30] Speaker 1: It's green. It's in the movie. And discuss, right? Well,
[13:36] Speaker 1: change the perception. It's kind of like all these awesome
[13:38] Speaker 1: families out there and moms. There's a mom cookbook about
[13:41] Speaker 1: where you can, like, remix food to make it look
[13:44] Speaker 1: like other things and like veggie burgers and all that
[13:46] Speaker 1: kind of stuff it's like the veggie burger method where
[13:50] Speaker 1: you just kind of remix things and present it a
[13:52] Speaker 1: different way so they have to develop a totally new
[13:54] Speaker 1: perception so if you present broccoli to a little little
[13:57] Speaker 1: kid as a tree and then we're going to dip
[13:59] Speaker 1: it in a cheese moat to water it or something
[14:02] Speaker 1: kind of like turn it into a science lesson but
[14:04] Speaker 1: use cheddar cheese as water or something to make it
[14:07] Speaker 1: taste good And then when they eat it, they associate
[14:10] Speaker 1: a positive story with the broccoli. Ergo, I don't hate
[14:13] Speaker 1: broccoli anymore. But the word isn't needed so much. You
[14:17] Speaker 1: don't have to say the word broccoli. You can just
[14:19] Speaker 1: say it's a treat. So it's perception. It's not deception.
[14:23] Speaker 1: But I think we've become so content in being deceived
[14:26] Speaker 1: by other people and allowing them to drive our car
[14:30] Speaker 1: of emotion that we have to just kind of wake up.
[14:34] Speaker 1: So I'm checking you. Remember we talked about being checked?
[14:37] Speaker 1: Sometimes it needs to be checked. You know, people need
[14:39] Speaker 1: to be checked. Well, I'm checking. See, it's not that painful.
[14:42] Speaker 1: It's just that it's not punishing you. It should never
[14:45] Speaker 1: be about that. The perception is that getting checked is
[14:49] Speaker 1: that you're being punished. No, you're not. A coach is
[14:51] Speaker 1: checking you. You don't feel like when you're playing a
[14:53] Speaker 1: sport that if a coach checks you that that's a punishment.
[14:55] Speaker 1: It's just like, oh, okay, thanks. But in school, we've
[14:58] Speaker 1: gotten so kind of traumatized and our perception through our
[15:02] Speaker 1: emotions is that we're being beaten up that we don't
[15:05] Speaker 1: want to talk anymore. We don't want to offer anything
[15:08] Speaker 1: kind of out of the norm because it's not safe anymore.
[15:12] Speaker 1: And teachers, gosh, teachers. Talk about someone who needs to
[15:17] Speaker 1: be rebranded. Folks, Maslow's hierarchy of needs is screaming for
[15:24] Speaker 1: help here. These poor people don't have the mask on
[15:27] Speaker 1: and the plane has been crashing for a while. So,
[15:33] Speaker 1: as a teacher, I'm sitting there in this traffic jam
[15:35] Speaker 1: trying to get to my grandpa. And I realized that
[15:39] Speaker 1: as a teacher, where do I fit into the story?
[15:44] Speaker 1: What is the perception of the populace as to what
[15:48] Speaker 1: I do? And that confusion is where I live a lot.
[15:52] Speaker 1: So confusion may also be an emotion. It definitely is.
[15:57] Speaker 1: It's a more complex emotion. But it's the scrambled eggs effect.
[16:02] Speaker 1: I want to get home to have scrambled eggs with
[16:03] Speaker 1: my grandpa, but unfortunately... You know, in my family system,
[16:07] Speaker 1: I value him and I can learn from him. So
[16:10] Speaker 1: in a family system, people's perception and mental health play
[16:16] Speaker 1: a significant role in the next generation's perception of what
[16:20] Speaker 1: to do about it. The next generation is a reaction
[16:24] Speaker 1: to one's perception. We know this because we want to
[16:29] Speaker 1: instill good morals in kids so we may have them
[16:32] Speaker 1: go to a religious organization, let's say. So we try
[16:38] Speaker 1: to put them on the Jedi path, not the Sith path.
[16:41] Speaker 1: But somewhere along the line, my confusion comes in the
[16:45] Speaker 1: fact that why don't we remember that Inside Out is
[16:49] Speaker 1: making the choices? They are in tandem. So the fact
[16:54] Speaker 1: that we are not teaching in middle school where we
[16:58] Speaker 1: finally open up our emotions and use critical thinking like,
[17:00] Speaker 1: right there, we're right there. Why don't We have mental
[17:06] Speaker 1: health and systems theory and sociology and some of these
[17:09] Speaker 1: things be a critical part of the curriculum. Kids have
[17:15] Speaker 1: to understand their brain in order to do something about it.
[17:19] Speaker 1: That was what was confusing to me as a kid
[17:22] Speaker 1: all the time. I was like, what? Like, I was
[17:27] Speaker 1: so confused constantly because it seemed like the world was
[17:30] Speaker 1: filled with nothing but hypocrisy. So I called her Chrissy.
[17:33] Speaker 1: She was my emotion. Hypocrisy was totally an emotion. Go
[17:37] Speaker 1: deep on the word Chrissy and what you know about
[17:39] Speaker 1: that in pop culture knowledge. And apply that in whatever
[17:43] Speaker 1: way you want, but interesting noodle to go down. So, teachers.
[17:49] Speaker 1: The perception of teachers. Why they need to be rebranded. Y'all,
[17:53] Speaker 1: here's a traffic jam like crazy. Think about the perception socially, personally,
[17:59] Speaker 1: and your family's perception of what teachers do. Let me
[18:03] Speaker 1: point out a few things. When we sit and focus
[18:05] Speaker 1: on one thing and just noodle all the way through it,
[18:08] Speaker 1: it's pretty amazing what you can learn. So perhaps with
[18:11] Speaker 1: our kiddos, teaching them conceptually based allows them the freedom
[18:16] Speaker 1: of the creativity to work through the problem scientifically in
[18:20] Speaker 1: whatever way they want. We don't squelch kids in science
[18:23] Speaker 1: class and say, we're going to experiment, but you can't
[18:25] Speaker 1: do this and you can't do that and you can't
[18:27] Speaker 1: do this. And if you're interested in it, sorry, but
[18:30] Speaker 1: we're doing this about this instead. Who cares what it's about?
[18:33] Speaker 1: It's about the concept. So in my writing class, I
[18:37] Speaker 1: didn't really care what the prompt was. You know, we
[18:39] Speaker 1: invent prompts. And next season, we're going to talk about
[18:41] Speaker 1: all the tools you can use, like how to get
[18:43] Speaker 1: prompts out of kids using mental health. But you can
[18:46] Speaker 1: bring it in and weave it into the school. It
[18:49] Speaker 1: just says, teachers, we didn't have the content knowledge to
[18:52] Speaker 1: back up some of these big thoughts that we were
[18:54] Speaker 1: questioning this whole time. Because we are sociologists. We see this.
[18:58] Speaker 1: We understand the sociology of kids, of schools, middle school.
[19:02] Speaker 1: And that's where I had to do this podcast. Like,
[19:05] Speaker 1: I absolutely had to do it because it was about
[19:08] Speaker 1: passion and anger. Because I'm like, this is wrong. No.
[19:14] Speaker 1: You know, this podcast may just be my public temper
[19:16] Speaker 1: tantrum and say that the perception of teachers must change.
[19:20] Speaker 1: That's the change I want. I want perception to change.
[19:24] Speaker 1: And then everything else will change. That's the big deal.
[19:27] Speaker 1: Because teachers are seen as what? Okay, let's go to
[19:31] Speaker 1: the good. pro-con list. To the pro, teachers are seen
[19:35] Speaker 1: as Mary Poppins. Teachers are seen as the bringer of
[19:39] Speaker 1: light and joy and learning and excitement and color and wonder. Awesome.
[19:45] Speaker 1: Bing bong. Great. Mrs. Fink. Perfect. Noun. it's even hard
[19:52] Speaker 1: to talk about, to go here, to go to the
[19:54] Speaker 1: dark side. It makes me feel very, very uneasy. But
[19:58] Speaker 1: you have to do some things called body scanning, where
[20:00] Speaker 1: you check your body, check yourself. You check your body
[20:03] Speaker 1: to see what fuels you have at the moment. My
[20:07] Speaker 1: stomach is a little bit nauseous right now, kind of
[20:09] Speaker 1: trying to talk about this. Because the pro list, I
[20:12] Speaker 1: felt fine. And as soon as I said the word con,
[20:13] Speaker 1: I'm like, ugh. So think about the associative properties of
[20:17] Speaker 1: emotions and words. Okay, so teachers to the con. Here
[20:21] Speaker 1: we go. I'm going to do it. I'm going to
[20:23] Speaker 1: do it. Be brave, Suze. Be brave. Okay. Ouch. Talk
[20:28] Speaker 1: about swords. Here we go. Okay, so teachers, one, they
[20:32] Speaker 1: go to teacher ed school. And I hope I made
[20:34] Speaker 1: a good point in this. When they go to teacher ed,
[20:38] Speaker 1: People don't actually even give them the consideration to think
[20:41] Speaker 1: about what they even learn and that it has value.
[20:46] Speaker 1: They seriously think, I've heard this from so many people,
[20:49] Speaker 1: that people really think that it's some like Hogwarts where
[20:52] Speaker 1: maybe you just learn about bulletin boards and how to
[20:55] Speaker 1: make kids happy. Do you think there's an art or
[20:59] Speaker 1: a methodology to teaching? Like, is there a certain way
[21:03] Speaker 1: to do it? And they, one, a lot of them
[21:06] Speaker 1: never even thought about it. And two, once they did
[21:08] Speaker 1: and had a minute there, well, I guess there should be. Teachers,
[21:14] Speaker 1: if you're really having a cringy moment right now, thank you.
[21:19] Speaker 1: Other folks, you've taught in your life. I mean, you've
[21:23] Speaker 1: had people learn from you, right? You had that transactional
[21:26] Speaker 1: exchange of learning with someone in your life. Everybody does.
[21:30] Speaker 1: We're all teachers. That's the point. Everybody's a teacher. I
[21:34] Speaker 1: have to just pony up my teacher buddies to make
[21:36] Speaker 1: an example. But it's time that they be the example.
[21:42] Speaker 1: So in a family system, if you think of a
[21:45] Speaker 1: school as a system, okay, there's the grammar teacher and
[21:50] Speaker 1: she's so busy talking about what to do with grammar
[21:54] Speaker 1: and like, let's eat grandpa, let's eat grandpa, or let's
[21:57] Speaker 1: just eat grandpa. They're trying to explain that concept going
[22:02] Speaker 1: on before I brought up the grandpa thing. It's about
[22:05] Speaker 1: the perception and the punctuation. I associate punctuation with tone
[22:11] Speaker 1: of voice. You can say it in two different ways.
[22:14] Speaker 1: It means two totally different things, kind of like an
[22:16] Speaker 1: inside out with the sarcasm thing. And sarcasm is fueled
[22:20] Speaker 1: by emotion. So if you can calm the emotion down,
[22:23] Speaker 1: there's less sarcasm. So you want people to be nicer
[22:26] Speaker 1: to you, then calm them down first and not be
[22:28] Speaker 1: that way. It's that perception. But teachers, if we do
[22:31] Speaker 1: the family systems wheel, let's look at that negative for ACM.
[22:37] Speaker 1: I'm dodging it because it makes me really uncomfortable. So
[22:39] Speaker 1: we're just going to, we're going to fight. You're going
[22:41] Speaker 1: to watch me fight right now. So here we go.
[22:44] Speaker 1: Let's do this. Roll on. Okay. So teacher ed, we
[22:50] Speaker 1: don't learn anything apparently because, but to me, I saw
[22:53] Speaker 1: it as going to medical school. Like I wanted to
[22:55] Speaker 1: be the surgeon of teachers. Like I wanted to know
[22:58] Speaker 1: every detail about what is going on in this kid's brain. Exactly.
[23:02] Speaker 1: I wanted to be like the neurosurgeon of teachers. I
[23:05] Speaker 1: wanted to know everything about why to why about a kid.
[23:10] Speaker 1: That was my, you know, that was my modus. So
[23:13] Speaker 1: their schooling is pretty much not valued. Then equity for
[23:18] Speaker 1: their lives. We see them as kind of a celebrity
[23:22] Speaker 1: in our local area. You see them at Walmart and
[23:24] Speaker 1: you're like, oh, hi, I'm this whatever, or Mr. Whatever, coach, whatever, pastor,
[23:29] Speaker 1: you know, whatever. But the teacher plays a role of
[23:32] Speaker 1: a role model. But in doing so, you're a public figure.
[23:34] Speaker 1: So you get a little taste of that just by
[23:37] Speaker 1: going to Walmart when people want to come up to
[23:39] Speaker 1: you and talk to you, which is awesome. People that
[23:41] Speaker 1: are kind of squishy, weird, squishy. So a lot of
[23:46] Speaker 1: times they're looking in your cart and seeing what you're buying.
[23:50] Speaker 1: And sometimes weird, a little weird, creepy. But I see
[23:55] Speaker 1: that they're scanning my cart and judging me and making
[23:59] Speaker 1: a perception about who I really am. You know, I've
[24:03] Speaker 1: been to a restaurant having a margarita and I'm just,
[24:06] Speaker 1: I don't even drink. Like I was just like, okay,
[24:08] Speaker 1: we'll do it. So we were all doing that. So
[24:10] Speaker 1: I had a sip of margarita and a parent came
[24:12] Speaker 1: up to me and railed me up one side and
[24:15] Speaker 1: the other and was like, how dare you be a
[24:17] Speaker 1: drunk around as a teacher, you know, in public, you know,
[24:20] Speaker 1: you shouldn't have people see you drinking like that. Are
[24:24] Speaker 1: you waking up now? Is this some coffee for you? Yeah.
[24:28] Speaker 1: I can't even have a margarita on a weekend with
[24:30] Speaker 1: some friends. Because I am still the role. I'm still
[24:33] Speaker 1: working at Disneyland when I just want to be off
[24:35] Speaker 1: for a little while. Can I be Suzanne in Omnislane
[24:38] Speaker 1: for five seconds? Please, that's really tiring to play that
[24:41] Speaker 1: role all the time. You know, I'm not all that
[24:43] Speaker 1: I play in the theater production. I'm also a person.
[24:48] Speaker 1: Please remember that side. So it's like my emotions get forgotten.
[24:53] Speaker 1: That the public perception is so much more of value
[24:56] Speaker 1: than what I actually do in my friendships and all
[24:59] Speaker 1: these other things. So I'm held to this ridiculous standard
[25:03] Speaker 1: of propriety that even a doctor or a surgeon is
[25:07] Speaker 1: held to. If you see a doctor or surgeon, you know,
[25:10] Speaker 1: worked on you or whatever, out in public, at a restaurant,
[25:14] Speaker 1: having a margarita, you'd be like, you know, good for you.
[25:17] Speaker 1: Half that drink, holy cow, wizard. Because you see them
[25:20] Speaker 1: as like a wizard. But in this game, what are
[25:23] Speaker 1: the teachers? What character are they? It's like little hobbits.
[25:29] Speaker 1: All this capability, but people just perceive them wrong. And
[25:35] Speaker 1: so I think it's time to change the perception. I
[25:37] Speaker 1: see it happening because now I'm starting to see that
[25:41] Speaker 1: people are running for office. People are talking about learning,
[25:46] Speaker 1: talking about the importance that their children have. I thought post-COVID,
[25:49] Speaker 1: everybody was going to wake up. Teachers, I love that
[25:51] Speaker 1: nurses got their due. I thought we were going to
[25:55] Speaker 1: get there, but then... Everybody back to school and everybody
[25:59] Speaker 1: forgot about the role of what the teachers did and
[26:01] Speaker 1: how we kind of saved a lot of family systems
[26:04] Speaker 1: by providing education during COVID when guardians were kind of
[26:09] Speaker 1: flipping out and like, please take my kid back. I'm sorry.
[26:12] Speaker 1: I'm sorry. I'm sorry. But we're not babysitters. And that's
[26:16] Speaker 1: the other thing is we're kind of just your babysitter.
[26:19] Speaker 1: They learn stuff, but what are they really learning? Now,
[26:24] Speaker 1: is it true that I have seen many a teacher who, well,
[26:28] Speaker 1: let's just say, wrote something not so interesting on the
[26:34] Speaker 1: board in some slightly not-so-good color, like yellow, on the board,
[26:41] Speaker 1: and talked about the importance of sitting there and answering
[26:48] Speaker 1: this on exactly three pages with this many words, and
[26:54] Speaker 1: the teacher went and sat in the corner and played
[26:56] Speaker 1: on her phone. That was in middle school. That was
[26:59] Speaker 1: during my student teaching, and I was appalled. I was
[27:02] Speaker 1: so angry I could have thrown something. But I'd sit there,
[27:05] Speaker 1: and my sense of hesitation was kicking in, and Hesse
[27:09] Speaker 1: and I were trying to keep it together because it
[27:12] Speaker 1: was not my place to do that. But I weaseled
[27:14] Speaker 1: my way in and started bringing in some stuff I
[27:16] Speaker 1: was interested in to talk about because I'd be passionate
[27:19] Speaker 1: about it. And wow, someone turned the lights on. I
[27:22] Speaker 1: created a classroom culture that was based in interest and
[27:27] Speaker 1: kindness and exploration. It changed the entire vibe in a heartbeat.
[27:34] Speaker 1: The teacher was the roadblock. So, I mean, you know,
[27:36] Speaker 1: out there in the world, I get you. I get
[27:38] Speaker 1: that you felt that way because you probably had that teacher.
[27:41] Speaker 1: Can you stop a second and remember the fact, like,
[27:43] Speaker 1: think about running 300 eighth graders all day. That's what
[27:47] Speaker 1: I did. But then I had bus duty in the morning.
[27:50] Speaker 1: I also had to plan what I was even going
[27:52] Speaker 1: to teach about and prepare the mental gymnastics of that.
[27:55] Speaker 1: I challenge any Bowser out there who talks to people
[27:58] Speaker 1: at rallies or any of these political pro-money powered ego events.
[28:03] Speaker 1: I challenge you to sit in front of a stadium
[28:05] Speaker 1: full of 8th graders. Do a Taylor Swift. You entertain
[28:09] Speaker 1: a bunch of teenagers and they leave on a happy note.
[28:12] Speaker 1: You have reached the pinnacle of wizardry, my friend. To Taylor,
[28:19] Speaker 1: well done. By using song and dance and all kinds
[28:24] Speaker 1: of interesting things like P.T. Barnum, you dazzle them and
[28:28] Speaker 1: show them something new and people will change. She gets that.
[28:33] Speaker 1: Perception of teachers is that we have all this Taylor Swift,
[28:36] Speaker 1: you know, riz, but the thing is, is that the
[28:40] Speaker 1: perception is that we're the kid on the carpet rolls
[28:44] Speaker 1: at the dance sitting on the side and. just watching
[28:48] Speaker 1: everybody because we don't want, why try if we're not
[28:50] Speaker 1: encouraged to do so? But I'm not talking about the students.
[28:53] Speaker 1: I'm talking about the teachers first. If the teachers aren't encouraged, engaged,
[28:58] Speaker 1: inspired to bring something to the classroom, then we fall.
[29:04] Speaker 1: The campaign will fall. Right? So yes, teachers are great
[29:10] Speaker 1: at diversion and pivoting back to the kids because that's
[29:14] Speaker 1: what we are there for. We are selfless to a fault.
[29:18] Speaker 1: Selfish is not bad, teachers. Selfish just means that you
[29:22] Speaker 1: care for yourself also. I'm starting to realize the hardest
[29:27] Speaker 1: thing I've ever learned is that I do have to
[29:29] Speaker 1: save myself sometimes. Like, I will rabbit hole so hard
[29:33] Speaker 1: on teaching that I forget to eat. I forget to sleep.
[29:38] Speaker 1: I forget to, you know, all that because that's my
[29:40] Speaker 1: rabbit hole so in my way of saying we're sitting
[29:43] Speaker 1: in the traffic jam and everybody's perception is that i'm
[29:46] Speaker 1: probably a jerk because i'm trying to weave my way
[29:49] Speaker 1: out of this traffic but i'm trying to be respectful
[29:54] Speaker 1: So all that hypocrisy and confusion, like teachers are confused
[29:57] Speaker 1: because we don't understand why we're such good people and
[29:59] Speaker 1: everybody hates us so much. What did we do? Like
[30:02] Speaker 1: we're Miss Fink. We went and went to garage sales
[30:06] Speaker 1: on weekends and picked out stuffed animals to bring joy
[30:09] Speaker 1: to children. And yet we're criminals and they don't like us.
[30:13] Speaker 1: And we give our service like the military to America's children.
[30:18] Speaker 1: Think of us like a military in a way, like
[30:20] Speaker 1: a branch of the military. Except what we do is,
[30:23] Speaker 1: you know, we teach kids. We better our future. Big concept.
[30:28] Speaker 1: But honestly, I just want to get home because I'm
[30:30] Speaker 1: really tired. Like, I am worn out. Good energy eustress, E-U-S-T-R-E-S-S-E,
[30:36] Speaker 1: eustress is good. I'm having fun. I am playing gymnastics
[30:40] Speaker 1: all day long up there with those kids. And one
[30:42] Speaker 1: of the things I love best was being three steps
[30:44] Speaker 1: ahead and making little jokes that you can get. Much
[30:47] Speaker 1: like watching Animaniacs and getting a whole different vibe out
[30:49] Speaker 1: of the cartoons. I could play in two worlds and
[30:52] Speaker 1: it was great. But I had to entertain myself because
[30:55] Speaker 1: I'm sorry, but worksheets aren't working. So why did you
[30:59] Speaker 1: have worksheets? Why was the teacher boring? Why? What happened
[31:03] Speaker 1: to them? I don't know that we got to the
[31:06] Speaker 1: point of not thinking that way. But here's the thing
[31:09] Speaker 1: as a divergent person. That's the first thing I think of.
[31:12] Speaker 1: It's like, wake up. It's the minutia that I have
[31:16] Speaker 1: trouble with. So that's where we need to pair and
[31:19] Speaker 1: have a symbiotic relationship with more neurotypically designed people where
[31:23] Speaker 1: they might be like, hey, we're just doing worksheets and
[31:26] Speaker 1: this teacher stinks, you know, whatever. And they say hateful,
[31:30] Speaker 1: they throw out nasty words that mean hateful things. That's
[31:34] Speaker 1: a Bowser technique. But we don't throw enough good words. Well,
[31:39] Speaker 1: if anyone needs some good words thrown at them to
[31:42] Speaker 1: rebrand them societally, sociologically, emotionally, for their mental health. We
[31:49] Speaker 1: don't protect teachers' mental health at all. I can tell
[31:53] Speaker 1: you 100% truth because I have the lived experience to
[31:56] Speaker 1: tell you. And I've worked in various positions, lots of
[32:00] Speaker 1: them throughout a school system. In the family system, I've
[32:03] Speaker 1: tried it all. I drank the Kool-Aid of every single
[32:06] Speaker 1: job there was, and I can tell you the same
[32:08] Speaker 1: thing happened every single time. So I kept trying more
[32:13] Speaker 1: jobs to be like, prove me wrong, prove me wrong. Nope.
[32:15] Speaker 1: Same thing. Same thing. So I asked the mental health
[32:19] Speaker 1: people when I was in clinical social work, I'm like,
[32:20] Speaker 1: what do you think of teachers? Like, what do they do?
[32:23] Speaker 1: And so I was always sitting there fighting for teachers,
[32:25] Speaker 1: fighting for teachers, trying to stick up for them. I'm like,
[32:28] Speaker 1: so what do we do? Teachers aren't really thinking about
[32:31] Speaker 1: kids' mental health. I'm like, I'm sitting there like, like growling.
[32:37] Speaker 1: And there's where my anger starts to come in. Protest
[32:39] Speaker 1: a lot better has been activated. And she's putting on
[32:42] Speaker 1: her bandana of death to rage. I'm like, we make
[32:48] Speaker 1: a difference. You know, what do we make? We make
[32:51] Speaker 1: a difference. Most people, what do you make? You think money.
[32:55] Speaker 1: Because that's apparently what most people value. I never understood
[32:58] Speaker 1: that immediate association. What do you make? A difference. Duh.
[33:03] Speaker 1: Because I don't value money. I really don't. I have
[33:06] Speaker 1: no money. I'm broke. But I don't care. I'm like, okay,
[33:09] Speaker 1: I'll work it out. It's just another puzzle in the
[33:11] Speaker 1: great sequence of life. In fact, in some ways, it's
[33:14] Speaker 1: kind of fun to be industrious and to live on
[33:16] Speaker 1: a very small budget because that's all I've ever known.
[33:19] Speaker 1: I never had the financial backing as a teacher in
[33:21] Speaker 1: equity to have it any other way. I haven't had
[33:26] Speaker 1: any other option besides my civic. If I had another option,
[33:29] Speaker 1: that'd be awesome. So that's where I'm begging corporate America
[33:31] Speaker 1: if you're listening. You want a great charitable type of thing? Subaru?
[33:38] Speaker 1: Start a charity for teachers. You know, give us cars
[33:41] Speaker 1: or whatever not just Subaru but you know other you
[33:44] Speaker 1: know because you just have the dog edition you know
[33:47] Speaker 1: create the teacher and mom edition because a lot of
[33:51] Speaker 1: teachers are moms so but think about us as a
[33:54] Speaker 1: player in the game think about Dumbledore teachers are the
[33:58] Speaker 1: Dumbledore right Dumbledore knows a whole lot of things that
[34:02] Speaker 1: Harry and the kids don't know and they accept that
[34:05] Speaker 1: kids accept that kids accept the hierarchy kids look up
[34:08] Speaker 1: to teachers like celebrities But then by the time people
[34:11] Speaker 1: become adults, they may have been so traumatized by one teacher, perhaps,
[34:16] Speaker 1: that suddenly they don't like them anymore. Well, now the
[34:20] Speaker 1: Bowserville political system has gotten so crazy that, you know,
[34:26] Speaker 1: we're now actively going after on the offense to these folks,
[34:32] Speaker 1: the Care Bears. Yeah, the teachers, all the Care Bear,
[34:36] Speaker 1: the Care Bears and Care Bear Cousins. now it's like
[34:39] Speaker 1: we have pitchforks against the Care Bears. Talk about confusion, right?
[34:46] Speaker 1: They're in the middle of a flaming tantrum of death,
[34:48] Speaker 1: and I'm like, I'm just Braveheart lying here. That's all
[34:52] Speaker 1: I'm trying to play when I go to school. Rebranding.
[34:56] Speaker 1: But physically, too. People out in the corporate America, they
[35:00] Speaker 1: have the money to brand themselves physically a little bit.
[35:05] Speaker 1: When's the last time teachers you went and had a haircut?
[35:08] Speaker 1: curl up and die, you know? I've been throwing those
[35:11] Speaker 1: in there all this time. Some glitter for you, I'm
[35:13] Speaker 1: sure you've noticed. Suggesting that, why don't we start, you know,
[35:18] Speaker 1: doing the Oprah method to teachers? Think about what we
[35:22] Speaker 1: can do with five bucks. Think of what we can
[35:24] Speaker 1: do with a car. Think about what we can do
[35:25] Speaker 1: with $ 100, 000. To you guys, it's nothing. We all know
[35:29] Speaker 1: you make way more money than most of the average population.
[35:34] Speaker 1: So how much money do you need? Like, what is it?
[35:36] Speaker 1: Does it hug you? Like, Money is a tool. Wake up.
[35:40] Speaker 1: You went to school too. This is your teacher telling
[35:42] Speaker 1: you that, hmm, might be time to think about your
[35:46] Speaker 1: highways and what's happening here. And are you the problem?
[35:51] Speaker 1: It's just, it's not you as a person. You're fine.
[35:54] Speaker 1: You're awesome. You're amazing. You've done amazing things in life.
[35:56] Speaker 1: You're a CEO or whatever. Good for you. I'm really
[35:59] Speaker 1: proud of you for that. That's amazing. And if someone
[36:02] Speaker 1: tried to tell you that you couldn't do that and
[36:03] Speaker 1: that's why you're there now, awesome. You used the fuel correctly.
[36:09] Speaker 1: But let me check you. People are human, and they
[36:14] Speaker 1: have capacity for love. You have a family system in
[36:17] Speaker 1: your organization. You're the head of the family, but you
[36:21] Speaker 1: haven't asked the kids how school went. So what happens?
[36:26] Speaker 1: You get sad. You feel forlorn. You feel like the
[36:30] Speaker 1: NBC nightly news is more important than you are. So
[36:33] Speaker 1: why try? It's not learned helplessness. It's just learned, well,
[36:38] Speaker 1: giving up. So what do you think teachers are going through?
[36:41] Speaker 1: We're like level 16 at this because especially middle school teachers.
[36:48] Speaker 1: I know it with one question. When I go out
[36:52] Speaker 1: in public and I would tell people I taught eighth grade,
[36:57] Speaker 1: they would ask me, why? I always saw why as
[37:02] Speaker 1: a great word, an exploratory type positive word. Why? That
[37:08] Speaker 1: version of why. is the only time I've ever been
[37:12] Speaker 1: disappointed in why. Because people look at me with disdain
[37:17] Speaker 1: and pity over being an 8th grade teacher. You know,
[37:22] Speaker 1: Taylor Swift. 314-year-old squirrely folk with hormones. But we recognize
[37:29] Speaker 1: that mental health goes right on along with learning at
[37:31] Speaker 1: that age because we condemn teachers for teaching at 8.
[37:36] Speaker 1: There's a loop for you. I'm scrambling your eggs here, folks.
[37:38] Speaker 1: Getting ready for breakfast time. The bacon is coming. The
[37:41] Speaker 1: thing is, is that we know all this. So why
[37:47] Speaker 1: is it in neon? Because it's been that way for
[37:50] Speaker 1: me for a long time. I just happen to have
[37:51] Speaker 1: the blessing of being able to express what I'm seeing.
[37:54] Speaker 1: A lot of us divergent folk can't do that, at
[37:56] Speaker 1: least not very easily. So we need help to understand
[38:00] Speaker 1: these big concepts from elementary school. And learn how to
[38:03] Speaker 1: verbalize them. So elementary people, I need you to help
[38:05] Speaker 1: us try to verbalize. Give us lots of words when
[38:08] Speaker 1: we're little. Big words. Fun words. Make it like toys.
[38:11] Speaker 1: Make words toys. And if we can learn to play
[38:14] Speaker 1: with our toys successfully, then by the time we get
[38:17] Speaker 1: to middle school, we can learn to process them and
[38:19] Speaker 1: spin them around. And almost like someone out in front
[38:22] Speaker 1: of a building, you know, with a cool spinny. In
[38:25] Speaker 1: middle school, you can learn to do that sort of stuff.
[38:28] Speaker 1: Make it awesome. We just build. We forgot that learning
[38:32] Speaker 1: is about building. Love can build a bridge. We're building
[38:36] Speaker 1: a bridge into adulthood. And we didn't build the whole bridge.
[38:42] Speaker 1: But unfortunately, the tour guide, we just took them out
[38:45] Speaker 1: in the backyard and kicked their tail. And yet we
[38:50] Speaker 1: expect them to go to work every day. Dumbledore and
[38:52] Speaker 1: go back to Dumbledore. Okay, did you think about Dumbledore
[38:57] Speaker 1: in the sense of what did he eat? Did he sleep?
[39:00] Speaker 1: Was he happy? What was his fuel in life? It's
[39:04] Speaker 1: like we can even give celebrities that benefit. Like we
[39:09] Speaker 1: think about what's their day like because that's fun because
[39:12] Speaker 1: it's like they live in a whole other alternate universe.
[39:14] Speaker 1: And whenever you get to meet a celebrity, it's like,
[39:16] Speaker 1: you know, but teachers, if we see them as kind
[39:20] Speaker 1: of kid celebrities, by the time you're an adult, we're
[39:24] Speaker 1: completely forgotten about. We are the Bing Bong. Teachers are
[39:27] Speaker 1: Bing Bong folks. Teachers are the bing bong. We're the
[39:33] Speaker 1: ones that dress up crazy every day and, you know,
[39:36] Speaker 1: turn ourselves into sadness from inside out. Or my brother
[39:39] Speaker 1: who wears a dashiki and turns himself into Captain Kwanzaa
[39:42] Speaker 1: because he felt that Kwanzaa deserved a superhero. Because he
[39:46] Speaker 1: was that caring. But yet the perception of male teachers
[39:49] Speaker 1: is that they're in some, and I don't even want
[39:52] Speaker 1: to say what they think they're doing. Because that is
[39:55] Speaker 1: so far from the truth. We love children like Mr. Rogers.
[40:00] Speaker 1: And I brought up the concept of how would we
[40:02] Speaker 1: see some of these people like Mr. Rogers in today's mindset.
[40:07] Speaker 1: In today's sort of social family system. It's a little
[40:12] Speaker 1: scary to think that Mr. Rogers may not be liked
[40:15] Speaker 1: so well for wanting to work with pre-K kids. Which
[40:18] Speaker 1: means that masculinity has altered and the good guy isn't
[40:23] Speaker 1: the hero anymore. Yikes. So those of you who have
[40:27] Speaker 1: something to do about that, just go out there and
[40:30] Speaker 1: be the really good Tom Hanks-y type of guy. Folksy
[40:34] Speaker 1: and fun and fixes stuff and is that the vision
[40:37] Speaker 1: of masculinity that we all need. Especially for those middle
[40:40] Speaker 1: schoolers out there who are trying to develop their perception
[40:42] Speaker 1: of life. But we're giving them really bad examples. Bowsers.
[40:48] Speaker 1: We keep throwing Bowsers at them like, this is what
[40:50] Speaker 1: you want to be. Okay. So then they grow up
[40:52] Speaker 1: to value money, power, and ego. And yeah, they may
[40:54] Speaker 1: have lots of money and can do all that, but
[40:57] Speaker 1: what kind of person are they? I think as parents,
[40:59] Speaker 1: we all just kind of want our kids to be
[41:01] Speaker 1: happy and to contribute to society. But are we actually
[41:06] Speaker 1: just teaching our kids that you just want to be
[41:07] Speaker 1: rich and have power? So money, power, and ego as teachers,
[41:12] Speaker 1: we have no value in that. We don't get paid anything.
[41:15] Speaker 1: So why would we value money? Power, well, the only
[41:18] Speaker 1: power we wield is just to help kids to the better.
[41:22] Speaker 1: It's in the dark zone that power becomes complicated, like
[41:27] Speaker 1: the mafia or what have you, which talk about a
[41:30] Speaker 1: family system. We don't know the world of the good
[41:34] Speaker 1: so well. We have some positive spin. We don't know
[41:37] Speaker 1: how to handle that. Just like a lot of people
[41:39] Speaker 1: can't handle a really sincere compliment anymore. They just freak out,
[41:42] Speaker 1: like the cafeteria folk. They just were like, what? We
[41:47] Speaker 1: need to get back to baseline. Like, okay, are you
[41:51] Speaker 1: awake now? Because you're there. Unless you have sociopathy or true,
[41:57] Speaker 1: you know, a very serious mental health condition that is
[42:00] Speaker 1: not really going to be alleviated by simply discussion. You know,
[42:04] Speaker 1: maybe chemistry needs to be involved in someone way more
[42:07] Speaker 1: qualified than me. I respect your professionalism in what you do,
[42:10] Speaker 1: and I'll stay in my lane. I'm just a classroom teacher.
[42:13] Speaker 1: I'm not a psychiatrist. But I do have a degree
[42:16] Speaker 1: in mental health. And I can say I know the signs.
[42:20] Speaker 1: And I don't want to get so far to where
[42:22] Speaker 1: we're now dealing with things like school shootings. That is
[42:24] Speaker 1: a cry for help. That's the weird kid that people thought,
[42:29] Speaker 1: you know, the word weird. There is good weird, you know.
[42:32] Speaker 1: We keep talking about bad weird lately and it's very effective.
[42:34] Speaker 1: But good weird is also equally as effective. But maybe
[42:37] Speaker 1: if that kid had another option, you know, maybe an
[42:39] Speaker 1: art school or somewhere to get their emotions out because
[42:43] Speaker 1: the arts do that. I see it. I've made this
[42:46] Speaker 1: synthesis by seeing both worlds in therapy. And that's the key.
[42:52] Speaker 1: Make mental health just woven in like you're just merging
[42:56] Speaker 1: on our way. And the more you do it, that
[42:58] Speaker 1: exposure therapy of it all, the more people normalize it.
[43:02] Speaker 1: And it's going to take a minute. But it'll happen.
[43:06] Speaker 1: So maybe by the time those middle schoolers, if we
[43:08] Speaker 1: try to just change things, it doesn't cost anything. It's
[43:10] Speaker 1: just a mind switch, perception switch. Like I said, teachers,
[43:14] Speaker 1: we don't need to do anything. When we create an
[43:17] Speaker 1: issue to solve, it's always cheap. Because usually we're paying
[43:23] Speaker 1: for the field trip. Like the time I paid for
[43:26] Speaker 1: my entire class to go to the zoo when I
[43:28] Speaker 1: taught smaller middle schoolers. I went to the zoo to
[43:33] Speaker 1: make the field trip work. I had to pay out
[43:34] Speaker 1: of my own pocket, so I paid over $ 1, 000. That
[43:36] Speaker 1: was pretty much my whole paycheck to let my kids
[43:40] Speaker 1: go to the zoo. And then I had a chaperone
[43:44] Speaker 1: who wanted to go. And I was like, wow, single mom,
[43:47] Speaker 1: that's great. You know, let's do something. Let's let you
[43:49] Speaker 1: get out of that. I'd already helped with, you know,
[43:51] Speaker 1: I paid an electric bill out of my own pocket.
[43:54] Speaker 1: I helped with holiday gifts. I've been helping, helping, helping
[43:57] Speaker 1: this family, trying to get them ahead because I really
[43:59] Speaker 1: believed in this family. We get to the zoo. And
[44:03] Speaker 1: I pay for mom and the little sister to come
[44:07] Speaker 1: out of pre-K and come along to the zoo. And then,
[44:09] Speaker 1: of course, the kiddo. And we get there. And first
[44:13] Speaker 1: of all, Mom ends up taking some medication on the
[44:16] Speaker 1: bus and starts yelling at people from inside of the
[44:19] Speaker 1: bus or in the Nashville traffic. Oh, great. Here we go.
[44:25] Speaker 1: And I'm like, oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh. You know,
[44:27] Speaker 1: no good deed goes unpunished. So we get there, and
[44:30] Speaker 1: by then she's completely corked on whatever she took. And
[44:33] Speaker 1: there's a little bridge when you walk in the zoo there. Well,
[44:37] Speaker 1: she climbs on the bridge. Talk about love can build
[44:41] Speaker 1: a bridge. Well, there's the other side. She starts yelling
[44:44] Speaker 1: at one of the birds and falls into the water.
[44:49] Speaker 1: I try really hard not to laugh because that's a word.
[44:55] Speaker 1: But of course, then I snap out of the chair,
[44:58] Speaker 1: snap on with and moonstrike. I'm like, oh, my gosh. Oh,
[45:01] Speaker 1: my gosh. And so, you know, this mom is kind
[45:03] Speaker 1: of a bit of a dump for fire. Unfortunately, she
[45:06] Speaker 1: clearly needs some assistance in life. Cry for help. But
[45:10] Speaker 1: but I'm sorry. I was so mad. Because then we
[45:12] Speaker 1: got her out and went through that whole fiasco. I
[45:14] Speaker 1: redivided up the kids, sent them along with different teachers
[45:17] Speaker 1: and chaperones and tried to, you know, put out the fire.
[45:21] Speaker 1: And then we walk over and I'm like, all right,
[45:24] Speaker 1: why don't you all go get something to eat? You know,
[45:26] Speaker 1: just chill out one and you all can go wander
[45:28] Speaker 1: around the zoo. I'll check back in with you, you know, whatever.
[45:31] Speaker 1: Do you need money for food or anything? Like, and
[45:33] Speaker 1: so I was trying to think, how much money do
[45:34] Speaker 1: I have in my pocket here? I don't know. That
[45:36] Speaker 1: is my lunch money after all, but wouldn't be the
[45:39] Speaker 1: first time. Okay. So I was like, all right, I
[45:41] Speaker 1: got $ 10 on me. All right. Do you need money
[45:43] Speaker 1: for lunch? She's like, well, maybe, but no, I think
[45:46] Speaker 1: we'll be all right. So I was like, okay. I
[45:48] Speaker 1: turned around, and mom's walking into the gift shop and
[45:50] Speaker 1: pulls out this giant money burrito and starts giving the
[45:54] Speaker 1: kids $ 100 each. And so the kids get back on
[45:58] Speaker 1: the bus with giant bags of toys and all kinds
[46:00] Speaker 1: of stuff, where the other kids were only allowed to
[46:02] Speaker 1: have $ 10. So now I'm in trouble with all my
[46:04] Speaker 1: other kids. It's like a mutiny as to why they
[46:07] Speaker 1: have bags of stuff. So I had to lie. which
[46:11] Speaker 1: breaks trust. And lying to kids is the worst thing
[46:13] Speaker 1: that I ever can do. I hate lying to children.
[46:17] Speaker 1: I loathe it. So what do you do? You know,
[46:22] Speaker 1: hesitation is a big emotion for teachers. What do you do?
[46:27] Speaker 1: But unfortunately, no one's really considered the perception of where
[46:30] Speaker 1: I stand in the whole thing. You know, mom didn't
[46:34] Speaker 1: give a rip about anything when it came to money.
[46:37] Speaker 1: She just thought the government paid for it. No. I
[46:42] Speaker 1: ended up giving another kid my 10 bucks because he
[46:44] Speaker 1: didn't have money. Did I eat that day? No. Did
[46:47] Speaker 1: I even get to go to the bathroom that day? No.
[46:49] Speaker 1: Teachers can hold their bladders for like eight hours. Middle
[46:53] Speaker 1: school teachers, we are camels. It's like part of the
[46:57] Speaker 1: military training like Navy SEALs. There are many a day
[47:01] Speaker 1: when I don't actually get to go to the restroom.
[47:02] Speaker 1: I go in the morning before I even go to
[47:04] Speaker 1: work and then when I get home. I haven't had time.
[47:08] Speaker 1: I haven't had time to eat. I haven't had time
[47:09] Speaker 1: to do anything. And planning period is a myth because
[47:14] Speaker 1: grading papers during planning period, if you are one of
[47:18] Speaker 1: those divergent-y kind of people, you've been sparked in a
[47:21] Speaker 1: million different ways throughout your day and are adjusting your
[47:23] Speaker 1: day accordingly. And so the stress and anxiety of processing
[47:28] Speaker 1: all of that and weaving that into the rest of
[47:30] Speaker 1: the day, how am I supposed to sit there and
[47:31] Speaker 1: grade 300 essays? You know? So now, in the future,
[47:36] Speaker 1: I've known that I've had to start making life a
[47:38] Speaker 1: little easier for myself and change my own perception of teaching.
[47:41] Speaker 1: To be like, yeah, I'm going to use AI. And
[47:43] Speaker 1: I'm going to teach the kids to use technology because
[47:46] Speaker 1: me sitting here grading 300 essays for 17 hours or
[47:48] Speaker 1: whatever it takes and having to fall asleep in my
[47:51] Speaker 1: own classroom because I am grading for so long. I
[47:54] Speaker 1: am so exhausted. I'm running on empty. I'm living on espresso.
[48:01] Speaker 1: That's a crazy dream. So... This is bad when that's
[48:05] Speaker 1: your leader. So I'd like you to think about your
[48:07] Speaker 1: perception of teachers and think about the perception of the
[48:10] Speaker 1: players in your game. If you want to play wizard's chess,
[48:13] Speaker 1: you've got to look at the wizard first. Right? So
[48:18] Speaker 1: those of you in the marketing world, teaching is all
[48:20] Speaker 1: about marketing as well. I think marketing is fascinating. I
[48:22] Speaker 1: love kind of guessing what the public is going to do.
[48:25] Speaker 1: I used to think I was psychic or something, but no,
[48:28] Speaker 1: I just notice things. Notice changes and shifts in personal
[48:31] Speaker 1: behaviors socially. I think of things as a system. So
[48:36] Speaker 1: if we can just try to think of schools as
[48:39] Speaker 1: a system, and if you want to help your kids,
[48:41] Speaker 1: you got to look to the teacher. Look at Dumbledore.
[48:44] Speaker 1: You want a Dumbledore or whatever character would represent the
[48:48] Speaker 1: super teacher for you, but you want a superhero, essentially.
[48:53] Speaker 1: Someone who's divergent, who has superhero qualities and can do
[48:56] Speaker 1: things nobody else can do, but yet they may be
[48:59] Speaker 1: in a rabbit hole of teaching because they love it
[49:01] Speaker 1: so much and care so much for the kids that
[49:03] Speaker 1: They have forgotten to eat, sleep and everything else along
[49:06] Speaker 1: the way and have the self-care like we don't know
[49:09] Speaker 1: what self-care is. We haven't had a haircut in forever.
[49:11] Speaker 1: We cut our own hair probably with scissors in our classroom.
[49:15] Speaker 1: Most of us who really are passionate about what we do.
[49:18] Speaker 1: So I challenge all of you. you at the end
[49:20] Speaker 1: of this podcast to check in on your teachers. They're
[49:25] Speaker 1: probably not very good at asking for help. So please
[49:29] Speaker 1: help me help them. Check in on your local teacher.
[49:34] Speaker 1: Adopt a local teacher. Because in the arms of an angel...
[49:39] Speaker 1: I'm not going to go Sarah Vlachlan, I promise. Promise.
[49:42] Speaker 1: But go check in on your people and, you know,
[49:46] Speaker 1: go see what's up with Mrs. Fink or whoever that
[49:48] Speaker 1: represents to you. Send them a card, give them a call.
[49:52] Speaker 1: You know, just spend some time thinking about your teacher
[49:54] Speaker 1: at least. Send some good vibes their way. But check
[49:58] Speaker 1: in on your people. They meant something in your life,
[50:00] Speaker 1: but abandoning them and throwing them down the chasm is
[50:04] Speaker 1: not what we do to Bing Bong. Bing Bong makes
[50:07] Speaker 1: a comeback. And unfortunately, these days, Inside Out 2 told
[50:11] Speaker 1: us that Bing Bong kind of comes back as anxiety.
[50:16] Speaker 1: Because when you don't have Bing Bong anymore, that's kind
[50:20] Speaker 1: of where you're going. But imagine if Bing Bong stuck
[50:23] Speaker 1: around in middle school in Inside Out 2. I think
[50:27] Speaker 1: they're the same character, but maybe they're not. But maybe
[50:30] Speaker 1: anxiety is the result of losing Bing Bong in grief.
[50:33] Speaker 1: Like grieving over the loss of their imaginations. Noodle on that, yo.
[50:40] Speaker 1: We'll see you next time.

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