Hi, welcome back to Eat Your Crest Podcast.
I'm Crystal, I'm Jisoo, and I'm Hannah.
Welcome, Hannah, to the podcast.
Hannah is an old friend of mine from high school, and now Hannah herself is a teacher.
So we thought it would be really really interesting to bring Hannah on and talk about her new and expanded perspective of school.
I feel like it's such an interesting time too because over the course of this year I've kind of talked about how I sometimes don't feel like an adult I don't know what I'm doing or where I am and I feel like looking back and reflecting comparing yourself back to when we were in high school or even college it really does show how much you've grown and I feel like Hannah you see these like high school kids every day and so it's really an eye -opener for you I'm sure to like see how different or maybe even similar you all can be so we're really excited to have you on and I guess to kind of get the ball
rolling how would describe your experience of being a teacher?
Just like overall in general?
Well I'm now in my sixth year of teaching high school English and I would kind of describe the experience I guess like in three words I would consider it very fulfilling humbling and also challenging and it does feel kind of insane to like say in my own words I've been a teacher for six years now, especially because my first year was 2019 to 2020.
And so that was such a chaotic year because we entered a global pandemic and we had online learning and then we had hybrid learning.
And then we have fully back in person learning.
I low key don't remember maybe the first three years.
Like I remember moments and like snippets, but a lot of it's kind of blur.
and sometimes I don't even remember like my students faces from those years because we had to wear masks too.
And so that just feels like a completely different part of my life.
It's a huge 180 from like the kind of teaching experience that I have now and yeah.
So then when the pandemic ended and we were back in real life learning, I guess, did you feel like you had to relearn how to be a teacher in some senses?
I don't know if I felt like I had to relearn being a teacher, but there are just so many many more variables and factors coming into play.
I mostly taught underclassmen my first couple years, so I always taught freshmen.
And now I teach juniors and seniors, but I just remember like your person.
We have no online learning, no hybrid model.
I just remember my freshmen being so socially immature, and also just like very deprived.
They were like online and at home in like middle school, etc. And so they didn't really have like that middle school experience.
And so they very much had middle school energy, which is not what I signed up for.
So it was just like super chaotic.
Students, they would get really close and then they would get into fights really easily.
They would like break friendships like left and right, because it's just so much all at once.
It was just hard for them to like kind of come back into learning and also high school is just so different from middle school, which they kind of missed out on, but I just remember it just felt very chaotic and like as a teacher you have to make all of these decisions so quickly at a split second like you're trying to do a lesson and then some kid in the corner is not paying attention or like another kid is saying something like out of a pocket shit and you're like go on now like, like we don't do that that's not the culture that's not the norm.
Or like, if they don't act right, I'm like, go outside and it's just like all these things.
Sometimes I'll get a phone call and be like, oh, so -and -so's parents here to pick them up.
I'm like, I'm like, okay, you can go anyways.
So it's just like, so much all at once.
First two years, I think, being fully back in person after a pandemic were probably the roughest years.
And I think nationwide, our principal was sharing how you were seeing a lot of it across the nation, like more fights, just more like behavioral issues, etc, low scores all around.
Dude, isn't it hard to establish authority as a teacher when you yourself are so young because I'm thinking, especially 2019 2020, you were probably like just out of undergrad.
And being so close in age to your students, I'm sure could pose a little bit of difficulty or maybe like nuance that you have to navigate.
Yeah, I thought that was my fear when I first started teaching.
But because I started teaching when I was like 23, essentially 2223.
I remember having that fear of like, Oh, well, the students don't respect me, etc. Will it be hard to establish authority?
But at the end of the day, you could be the smartest kid, I'm still smarter than you.
I'm still the adult in the room that is responsible for you, and even though I'm young, you feel that gap with the students.
Even with seniors, Ranz and I am a bit older now in my late 20s, and I teach juniors and seniors.
But when you're in the classroom and you interact with the students, I think it's very, I don't and you don't seek your students' validation, it's actually much easier.
It comes naturally, I think, to establish authority and to command respect because the students will know.
They can gauge and they'll try to push their boundaries a little bit to see how much you're willing to take, how much you're willing to let by, but I think, as a teacher, if you're holding yourself to a high standard and you hold your students to a high standard, they will recognize your authority and respect you.
Yeah and I think for me I also respect my students like I always greet my students or I try to, sometimes there's something that needs to be done in between passing periods but I will always try to greet my students at the door and I take them seriously and I hold them to high standards and I think they recognize that and not every student is gonna like you and that's totally fine because I don't need my students to like me I do You know that my students like me, but I don't need them to, to understand that I'm still good at what I do.
And I have their best interests at heart.
And so I think at the end of the day, that's reciprocated.
I think that makes sense to what you said earlier, no matter how smart the smartest kid is.
You are still gonna be smarter, like more mature, have just lived more life experiences.
And I feel like once you said that out loud, it totally makes a lot of sense.
Teenagers just think they're the best all the time, but they're not.
I don't say that to undermine any of them in any way.
Their intellect or their capacity to be really smart is just that I am the adult in the room, and I have different expectations and rules and responsibilities than you do as a student, and so we're not the same.
It's also crazy to think that certain things that you do as a teacher were things that my teachers also did, which is like, stand at the door and like say hi to people.
Or I think we also had some students who would insist on certain things like calling people by their last name, you know, like Miss Kim or whatever.
And it's crazy to think that these are all like stylistic choices that are made by the teacher instead of just the way things are because I don't think I really recognize that as a student, I was just like, oh, this teacher does that.
But looking back, all of it was individual choices that the teacher's made.
Very much so. And they're like, every teacher has their own style.
And it does kind of range depending on like your experience, how long you've been at the school sites, etc. Are there individual choices that you make for your appearance as well?
So something I saw on tiktok recently was like, I'm a teacher who is fairly young, so like kind of close an age with my students.
So therefore, I try to dress more mature or in like a specific way to command like a certain vibe.
That's so funny, because I just wear what I want.
That is still like work appropriate.
I am tenured at my school site.
And so it's nice to have that job security, it does kinda make a difference in how you feel comfortable with just yourself like in that space or at that school site.
I just wear what I want.
That makes me feel good and that is still professional but still my own style.
So my students love my fits whatnot.
They tell me frequently they're like, I love your fit today Miss Lee.
Oh my god, that's so cute.
I think I actually do dress pretty casually sometimes so there's some days where I dress pretty professional with like a dress pants etc. I'm drinking like Aritzia has really good professional basics I will wear jeans I will wear cargo pants I will wear what I feel comfortable in I'm like five too so I wear heels a lot pretty much almost every day but once it gets cold I'm wearing my sneakers I'm wearing my Adidas Samba's or whatever on the days that I dress pretty casually you know my admin my colleagues have seen the way I dress to it's never really been an issue because I think it's like my
way of expressing myself but also I still command respect and I have authority in my classroom I think anything kind of helps for the students to see that like oh I have my own style and I can work my own style instead of trying to like fit in or try to seem too business professional, etc. because like I'm in my classroom all day.
And so part of me preparing for the school day is also feeling good about myself.
And so what I wear kind of helps.
That makes a lot of sense.
And you're probably like getting up and walking around a lot too, so you want to be comfortable.
I feel like if I had a teacher who dressed pretty casual or like had cool fits, I would respect them more, because I would be like, Damn, And this teacher's hella cool.
I do think I give that vibe.
Yeah, I could totally see it.
And I feel like kind of what we were talking about earlier, the question of like commanding authority, even though you're a little closer to age to these youngsters, I feel like when I was in high school, if I had a young teacher I thought they were automatically cooler.
Yeah, that's a privilege you have as like a young teacher.
And I think it's going to capitalize on it.
like yeah i wonder if you ever set trends in your classroom though like trends yeah you're like students are like oh my god miss lee's shoes are so sick maybe i should get a pair when my friend went to japan last year i asked her get me the onitsuka tigers the yellow ones so whenever i wear those my students was like oh nice shoes and like even my colleagues my older colleagues and like, oh nice shoes.
I don't know about trends, but I do have colleagues that I'm really close with.
I'm really close with my colleague, who was my mentor teacher when I was a student teacher at my site.
We've also recently hired a lot of newer younger teachers.
There are two other female teachers that I'm really close with.
We went to the football game last night for our senior night.
We saw some of our students, And so they're like, oh, it's the three musketeers.
Oh my god. Oh my god.
And they know. Yeah.
I don't know about trends, but they know our patterns.
Oh my god. At school, because sometimes I will come in.
I have a prep period, so that's a period where you don't teach, essentially.
And you prep. And so sometimes during my prep period, I'll drop off coffee for some of them.
And the student's like, oh, this is late.
Bro, coffee again. Oh my god that's so cute.
Yeah, so I don't know if we like set trends but we definitely, when you're at school every day and you're interacting with students and interacting with your colleagues I think they definitely recognize patterns.
I mean, students just see so much.
Like, I'm thinking back to my high school days and I don't know if we necessarily dissected people's fashion but we definitely talked about things like, this person tends to be like a really happy teacher, or like this person presumably might have things going on at home because he's so angry all the time.
Like there's all this student gossip that I feel like gets around just because your students are like staring at teachers for eight hours every single day.
And students are they're very observant, and They all know Like there's like one day I was just I was just tired and I try not to share it too much but sometimes it's just hard and She's like, I miss you.
Good. I was like, I respectfully know You're like we're just gonna watch a movie today, oh My god, but are you ever at work and you're like hungover I'm not gonna deny that that has never occurred before, but it's definitely rare, and I tried not to be hungover at work.
I think it's just more on a rare occasion where if we have something on a Sunday night, or like maybe we had a little too much fun at our happy hour, I remember maybe like two times, I was like, pretty hung over the next day.
And it was like, a workday and I was like, I'm never doing this again.
And I just try not to.
Yeah. Because it's just rough.
Yeah, I'm sure. And I guess it's like similar to like our jobs.
I mean, me personally, I also try not to be hung over at work.
But I do think I get the benefit of if I am really hung over and I'm at work, I could just try to move all my meetings.
But like teaching is unavoidable right?
Yeah and so life just like presents opportunities for you you know you gotta take them but I don't try to like be like oh it'll be okay like etc it's just more like sometimes like something spontaneous happens and the next day I'm like I'm paying for it we'll not do that again and that very like rarely happens.
I would say I've been hung over at work maybe less than a handful of times, but I also think it's a little unrealistic to be like, Oh, that's so professional you should never I'm like, shut the fuck up.
Everyone has had a day.
Yeah, yeah, like you could have a day and not even be hungover.
True. Well, I do want to ask you this.
So now that you have several years of experience being a teacher, is there anything that you look at differently with having this teacher experience behind you where you look back at your own memories with school and you're like, Damn, like that's crazy now that I have all this expertise.
It is eye opening, I think just like as you get older, things start to kind of shift or your perspectives shift.
And as a teacher and as like the responsible adult of your classroom, there are definitely a couple of things that make me realize like Oh, I kind of have a bit more insight as to like why things are the way they should be.
When we were in school, like when I was a high school student, I just remember, you know, sometimes you finish a lesson early and you maybe have like a couple minutes left and I'd be like, oh my God, they just let us leave a couple minutes early.
Especially at the end of the day or maybe like on a Friday I'm about to go off into the weekend.
And from like a teacher perspective, if I were to let my students theoretically leave a couple of minutes early, but then something happens to them.
Let's say like, and my classroom in particular is pretty close to a parking lot.
So let's say like, I don't know, they get hit by a car or something, I would be the one that's held responsible.
Or I would have liability in that because I was supposed to keep them in until the bell rang and dismiss them.
I was like, I'm not about to legally help you know, happened, you know, on my contracted time.
And so things like that have definitely shifted.
My colleagues and I, we went to the senior night football game and, Asp students are trying to show my school spirit, they're having a lot of fun and cheering and then they popped off these like colored powders.
And I was like, Oh my god, so cool.
Like, oh, me and my colleagues were like, wow, that looks so cool.
The Asp teacher was like going off on them because they they know that you're not allowed to use those materials or use this kind of poppers etc at sporting events which I had no idea.
The reason is because like oh it's not safe, some students may not consent to having that powder on them, you don't know like their health needs, their allergies and I do think that maybe a couple years ago some kind of incident where like a powder gone to students eye, they had an infection.
And then that can lead to like, parents potentially wanting to sue the school.
And so it's just like, okay, we cannot have that anymore.
Right? And so things like that I'm like, okay, I, there's a lot of like legal liability.
And as a student, you're just thinking, oh, it's like harmless.
It's not a big deal.
But as an adult, it's very different.
And especially like for the school and the district, because parents have that power to sue essentially or really anyone has a party suit right so it's about preventing those accidents that could potentially come out of like those even just like fun silly events...oh my god this is like a prime example I think of having a frontal lobe so this year I've kind of been obsessed with my frontal lobe because I know it's developed now and And I've like talked about it with some friends.
It's like, oh yeah, we just like, we have more anxiety now.
We like care, we know the consequences of things now versus when we were younger, we were only thinking of the like, right now, like what is happening, not the like, you know, further down the line.
What are the consequences?
What are the accidents that could be happening?
Or, you know, as you said, like legal liabilities or people around you getting hurt.
And so I'm like, oh my god this is definitely a prime example of like you having your frontal lobe And the students not.
I think it's just like when you're young, and you're at that age, it's easier to put yourself first.
And just, you know, live in a moment.
And that's, you know, kind of the romanticism of our youth, right?
But I think like you said, like, once you're like prefrontal cortex, or like your frontal love is like fully developed, you're just like, Damn, I'm I get it now, like, I understand.
And I think that's why your mid -20s, this is my hot take, your mid -20s are like not as fun of a time as like, I don't know, entertainment and media has portrayed it to be, cause that's when your brain is like developing.
I felt like I was going through a crisis.
For sure. For sure.
And like, when we're 25, I feel like that's when we're like in the pandemic, especially and so I was like, oh my God, pandemic, your brain is so developing.
We got stunted. It was just so much all at once.
Yeah, I do want to ask though, because you said the students are pretty aware and they notice like your patterns and they've kind of noticed that you're close to, you know, those other two teachers.
So do you notice a lot of the student drama that's going on?
Who's in a fight? Like who's like beefing and who's like suddenly not friends anymore because there was a drama or like maybe people are dating and there's like dating drama too like all that kind of stuff.
Oh my god, it is just so high school.
I as I said before students are very observant bizarre teachers and it's like always super funny.
Like you could just tell when I see it's like on their phone or has their Chromebook book open and you know, they're not doing their work.
How do you know? It's pretty obvious, but also we're like observing you guys, there is always something happening with our students.
People have crushers.
They have beef. I had a group of students who were so close up the beginning of the year and then like, a month into school, they got to major beef with each other, and I was like, What in the world?
What's the switch up?
They will tell me, they'll share with me and I'm just like, Oh, that's so yeah, I remember like, going through things like that in high school.
But you see all the time, like I've seen really close friends, just like all of a sudden stop talking, or like they request like a seating change.
That's when it's like really bad.
And I was like, Oh, okay.
And then they're like, it's because like sometimes I don't even have to ask, they'll just like, tell me.
That's so funny. But yeah, there is so much drama sometimes.
There's just so much tea.
And I tell my students at the beginning of the year cause I do like a little intro of myself.
I remember on my slide show, I was like, these are a couple things that I love.
And if you love them too, great, well vibe.
If not, it's okay. I remember I put like tea, cause I don't drink coffee.
I drink like matcha and like I'll drink like your Beaches.
My students know I love a your Bemann And I like said, I love literal tea and metaphoric tea You have any tea to tell me please let me know and it's your secret safe with me Like I'm like, oh my god sometimes I'm like I shouldn't have said that Cause sometimes like, it can be not stressful, but it's like, oh, but my heart hurts for them, you know, when they're going through it.
If they request the CD change, oh, that's, it's crazy.
But sometimes they turn around and they meet me at the end of the semester and they're like, Oh yeah, we're besties again.
And I'm like, I'm like, great.
What a roller coaster.
I know. That sounds so fun honestly.
like being up to date with the student gossip.
Because there's no gossip like high school gossip.
Like that's when gossip peaks.
Oh, so much. And I think gossip is powerful.
And that's not to say like, I don't believe in like spreading rumors and like all these things and like trying to put a person down.
But I think gossip, it's a tool that women have use through years.
True. It's a way to protect ourselves and also gain knowledge.
and you know what, I'm all for it.
Obviously certain parts I'm like, okay, that's not something you should be sharing with me or just like you're being a bully right now.
And I will be honest with my students.
When it gets up, when I'm pretty honest and I try to redirect them like that's not, I think the intention, right?
But other times it's like kind of silly or it's like harmless or I'm just like, oh, it's just high school.
You know it's kind of like a rite of passage where you don't go through these trials and tribulations.
Right. I feel like knowing that you are so in tune with the Student Gossip just makes me think that you're super in tune with like the school overall, like you're really, you know, what's going on and you're even like helping guide these kids in the right direction when you can in like not just academics, but also in, you know, conflict, which I feel like is really valuable.
And I think just like with any person, like we all need like social emotional support.
A lot of times they are looking to just be heard.
Other times you can gauge we're like, oh, I think they want some guidance.
And that's where it's really important, I think as teachers to not just be in tune with our students, but like you said, with our community.
And so I make it a point because we're all on the same team.
We're all in the same community, trying to like support our students and support each other too, cause teaching can be really hard or it can be exhausting I think.
And so it's a point to like understand that you're all on the same side.
And so I do my best to like get to know like my colleagues, know the counseling department, know our admin.
And I do think that takes some time.
Some people are just naturally really more extroverted.
I don't really think that was like a big priority for me my first like two years of being at the site because you don't even know if you're gonna be there anymore right after a year because when you first start your attempt teacher so your contract is done when the school year is done I think that's not always like on the forefront of a lot of like new teachers minds to like get to know the community but super important knowing your custodial staff knowing the security team, trying to know someone from each department.
Because a lot of times you meet them in passing.
And so it's hard to have, not meaningful, but more in -depth conversations with them.
And so when you have an opportunity, it's really important to take that opportunity to get to know one another.
I think once you do you feel like you're building community at your site and you also know that you have each other's backs.
Like I'm close with our counselors.
I know our custodial staff really well and know our security team and that also I think positively impacts your students like they will know other students as well you probably shared a lot of your same students together if I have like Oh, I think maybe some the students going through something then like I can loop counseling in as well have some conversations on how we could support them.
But I think as you shared, it's super important to be in tune with your students will also be in tune with the overall community.
And I think the longer you're in teaching, the more you crave that because as much as I love my students, because I'm interacting my students all day, I crave adult communication.
Yeah, like, I have to talk to my colleague, like my work besties, even just like to say, Hi, a two minute conversation like I need that because I'm just I'm just talking to high schoolers all day.
That makes total sense.
I'm just imagining you like catching your work friend in the hallways and you're like oh my god did you hear about like so -and -so like did you hear about all the student drama right now.
Oh no yeah we update each other like no like sometimes we'll have break in as soon as the students leave I like call up my friend I'm like oh my god It was so funny.
They just told me this.
And like - we keep it confidential to ourselves, you know?
Like we notice students, but it's just so funny sometimes.
It's like watching your own high school drama TV show.
Yeah. Do you find that you ever have to like draw boundaries with your students?
I say that because when I was a student, you know, with some of our younger teachers, the bad kids in the class would try to like follow them on Instagram or like add them on Facebook, try to kind of like push that limit with them even during class of sometimes they would like try to flirt or do these things.
So have you ever had that experience with your students?
I've had a couple experiences with students who try to like push those boundaries.
and when that happens I immediately draw the line.
I don't entertain it I like shut it down because it's just not appropriate and so sometimes students will be like oh can we like follow your Instagram?
I'm like no not when like you're actively like my student, right?
I know some teachers who like have students follow them like on their social media after they graduate and like I have a couple that I let follow me and those are ones that I'm like I trust you you know you're not gonna like be telling like the current high schoolers anything and in terms of like students who try to flirt because I remember going to high school and like whenever there was a young attractive sub everyone would go crazy I by no means am comparing myself to that but you know you'll always get like a couple students who try to push that boundary and I just don't, I will never entertain it.
Like immediately no.
And like you know, they're just trying to be funny too.
But I think it's important not to humor them.
Because it's also not every student truly knows you as a person.
And so even if you're trying to like meet at their level and like just humor them, that is not going to be interpreted the same by everyone.
And so I've had like one sir he's like Miss Lee like do you want to hang out this weekend?
I was like, no, get out.
like it's so like go home like and I think when I see that I'm just like they're just being teenagers like being bold and like trying to be funny and all these things and you said your piece I'm gonna say mine.
They might try once and when you shut it down they don't bring it up again.
And what they say amongst their friends that's like on their own personal time that's like what they say to me, and like how they interact with me.
I'm just like, I very much draw that line.
Because in my opinion is, it's not a humorous thing to entertain.
Because it's like you are literally an adult who is responsible for them.
And they are children.
They are children. You'll see it on the news.
Sometimes you'll see those teachers or coaches it's like a teacher or coach who had an inappropriate relation with the student.
I'm like that's so insane because that's completely predatory.
I'm just like you're a grown adult praying on a young child.
Yeah, people try to like work around especially if they're like 18.
And I'm like, No, it's not because the context of what you're meeting them in is at a school site where you are responsible for them.
And so when I see that, it's crazy.
It is and you're right, like They're children.
Like, you're in completely different life stages.
They are much more immature, not as an insult, just like as a fact.
They're much more immature than you.
And they're a completely different species almost.
And I do think that, in a way, like what I mentioned before about how it's important as a teacher to be secure in yourself, in your capacity to do well, to be an excellent teacher, to make a difference in all these things.
you as an adult should not be seeking a child's validation.
And I think that's where a lot of that kind of falls in line with too.
So if like a student pushes boundaries or like wants to follow you on social media or like they want to like hang out outside of school hours, or like they're flirting with you, you as a teacher should not be seeking their validation or their attention.
I think this is especially interesting too, because I'm a huge tick tock person.
And with with social media being so big now you can actually see real life evidence of this stuff on social media.
So I know one of the things that was really popular a couple months ago were skits reenacting teachers who do crave and seek that validation, especially from a female teacher who seeks like male student athlete validation or something.
So there were a lot of skits around that and I remember watching it and not to say that school had a lot of like predatory teachers growing up, but there are like some elements of it where you see it and you're like, oh, there were teachers who like, kind of would joke back with like the male students a lot more than the female students.
So I don't know. I just feel like with social media, being a teacher must feel a little bit different now.
I do think so. And you know, we went through a K through 12 education.
I remember seeing teachers, who give me that that pick me behavior, right everyone carries like their own insecurity, etc. And I think it's concerning when that falls into their careers and especially when they're interacting if their career consists of like interacting with children.
I do think that with social media that gets hard because sometimes it feels like a double standard, right?
Because Because as much as I am a high school teacher, I'm still just Hannah and I love my job, I love what I do, but it's not all of who I am.
There are like certain expectations and standards.
Like, obviously your students should not follow you on like your own personal social media.
And so that's where a lot of teachers will try to do like a public social media.
Doing social media, I'm like, that's actually so much work.
But I do think with social media kind of blurs that line because social media enables like parasocial relationship between you and like the people who view your content or your followers.
And when you're a teacher, you're supposed to stay in that realm as a teacher when interacting with your students.
I think social media is still like a ever evolving field or like industry.
And I think there are some blurred lines with that.
Some people just have to use their discretion.
But then I think that's where it can be kind of risky because again, no one knows you as a person just behind the screen.
They can make their interpretations or these perceptions, and that can have like a lasting or like a very negative impact on your persona.
Yeah, that's true. It's like a whole new section of professionalism that we are just like growing with because I was like, when we were in high school, our teachers didn't have Instagram, like maybe they had Facebook, but honestly, even that was kind of rare.
And so now it's like, okay, most people you bump into probably have one or the other Facebook or Instagram.
You could probably find someone pretty easily, you know, searching LinkedIn or searching the internet.
You don't like those TikToks where that one girl, she just like, find someone off of a name and a profile picture.
And I'm like, dude, that's crazy.
Like, that's the world we live in right now.
It would be so easy for your students to just find you.
And I guess at this point, it's like inevitable, right?
All you can do is just private your Instagram and like, not necessarily prevent them from finding it but prevent them from following it.
And like the appeal of social media is like it's a very saturated industry but you see the potential for it.
And so there are very successful like teachers who also have like social media accounts.
Like, there's this one that I really like and she just says like, get ready with me in the morning.
That's strictly most of her content.
I'm like, I wanna get my bag, too.
I wanna get, I don't know, skincare.
I think it can be rewarding.
There might be high rewards, but there's also high risk.
It depends on what you really prioritize.
For me, my Instagram is private because I feel like I'm so much more open about my life on my Instagram.
And that feels a lot more personal.
Dude, do you watch AVID Elementary?
I do watch AVID Elementary.
Not like consistently but sometimes I watch it.
Yeah same, I've been watching it slowly and this kind of reminds me of that episode where like they want funding for the school and then they post like tiktoks to go viral to get money from that so that they can buy supplies for their students.
And then the kind of like underlying message of that is like, oh, is it worth it to sell our souls to social media and like post fake content or not necessarily real or true content just so that we can get you know the money to like provide for our kids.
But yeah I thought that was really interesting.
As you said there's potential there as a tool but also it's a lot of work and you have to really curate your content kind of.
Well that's the other thing too right I feel like even when we were in school there was always discourse about how, one, teachers are underfunded, but also to schools themselves are underfunded, so there's just not enough resources to be able to provide for students without dipping into your own personal money.
And do you find that that's true and also a big problem in the current day, or do you think things have gotten better over the years?
It really kind of depends on the district that you're in, but I think even in my district that has a lot of, like, we're a high -performing district and, generally, more money is funded towards schools that are not as high -performing, which is totally understandable.
I know that in my first, maybe, three years of teaching, I've definitely spent a lot of my own money to kind of curate my classroom, because that's like the room that my students are in and that I'm in all day.
My side definitely we can get our supplies but we share it amongst the department.
It kind of depends on where you're living, the performance of your districts, location and like performance.
I work at a high performing district in a more middle -class, high -class town and so we definitely have like resources but I definitely think that as like a first or a new teacher you are definitely spending your own money to kind of curate your classroom maybe your curriculum and all these things.
I remember doing like a fundraiser like DonorsChoose where every time someone donates they match that donation and so it's really easy to get funding for it or to reach your goal and I remember sharing that with social media and like people from high school like contributing.
I was so moved by that because I was like, oh my gosh and I felt very moved Saying people that I've known even people I haven't talked to like want to contribute.
Also Loki felt like I was begging for money I don't know how to say it's like I just feel so like I don't know like conflicted Having to ask for money like that Nevertheless, I appreciated it.
I do think that as a country, we say we care about education, but I think the reality is that we do not, because it's not prioritized.
And instead we care about all the wrong things about education, like trying to ban books, trying to control the curriculum and all these things at public schools.
Even though my school is probably one of the oldest schools in the district, we still have those terrible deaths where the table is connected to the seat.
There are some classrooms that have the new deaths where it's literally like an actual desk and a separate moveable chair, that's just more accessible and accommodating.
But not everyone has those deaths and chairs.
That's been a continuous issue because it feels like an equity problem.
It doesn't feel equitable that like some classrooms have those chairs I'm just like we bring results and we do well like all these things we're like up going above and beyond for students why can't we get enough funding for everyone to have these deaths which is like the most basic thing and so there are times when it's frustrating because it just feels like we're like going three steps forward and two steps back sometimes we focus on other things that maybe as a priority because when we look at the field of education it's so much more than teachers there's so many other components to it who gets
to like make a decision on what gets prioritized and what doesn't and so but as a teacher that can be frustrating because we're the ones who are actively interacting with our students on a daily basis oh my god I do remember when you did the fundraiser in like the first couple years And as someone who donated, I feel like the vibe was not like, oh, I'm begging for money.
It was more like, oh my God.
I do remember being underfunded at school.
So like Hannah needs this, like, you know.
Thank you. I know. I know like that wasn't like, but I think just like being the one to ask for it, I was like, wow, this feels so like humbling.
Cause I remember like when we were in high school, we would complain all of time about like our lockers and stuff like just simple basic necessities of school and we were like dude our lockers are literally like rusting and like not okay.
We were always complaining about how old our school was or just like how little funding we had and then we looked at like the other schools in our district and we're like how come they always get money and we're stuck with these like half -ripped textbooks you know like that kind of stuff.
That's the memory that and I was like, damn, Hannah's dealing with these problems yet again.
We must help her know like in our high school.
Oh my God, the deaths were terrible.
Yeah, they were so like close in proximity to each other.
I was like, what if you have like physical needs?
Like truly. Right. You cannot be accommodated because the classrooms I was like Wow, they're actually really small.
And it's just insane.
I just remember our high school I was like, oh my god, I'm I'm like at my high school kid Like it's like one of the oldest schools in the district.
We performed really well but then we look so like we look like we have no funding yeah, and It was just insane.
We had like trailers for classroom The portables yeah, we have portable it's not like a legitimate building I was so insane but a lot of that's out of the teacher's control.
Like we live in a more like Western, like individualistic society too.
And so there's a lot of hearsay that like we care about education but I don't really think that's not a priority.
And so that's just like something that always rubs me the wrong way.
I'm like, you can say, you don't care about education.
We can't get you to care.
Yeah. but don't pretend like you care when you clearly don't, you know, and so...
I feel like talking to you about your experience as a teacher has been so eye opening because in a very simple sense being a teacher is like guiding your students through your curriculum.
But there's so many added layers that you talked us through today of navigating the social needs of a student and also navigating like the funding and resources aspect and also knowing like the school and the various departments to make sure your students are feeling the most supported.
Like all of these things feel like so much additional expectations that you kind of layer on top of just your like true duty of teaching your students a curriculum.
So in many ways I feel like being a teacher is very thankless or like receiving less thanks than it deserves because you're kind of raising the young generation for like a decent portion of their days.
I don't know, like, if it's like a toxic mentality to just be like, oh, that just comes with the territory.
And I do think that is a toxic mentality.
But I'm sure like especially from an outside perspective, it must sound like a lot.
And I think a lot of it does build up if you're trying to support your students.
And that's not even including like the instruction right and the curriculum building that we do and a lot of adjustments that we make Because we want our students to succeed but we also want them to strive for excellence How do we hold them to high standards?
How do we get them to meet those standards be proficient, but also?
Be like, okay. Well now that you've met those standards like there's also you should try strive for excellence I think when it comes to like being a teacher with like most careers I feel like and just like our living costs like our salaries have not increased like exponentially to meet like the demands of our economy right now.
you know, people say salaries is a scam I have 100%.
There are so many more responsibilities outside of your actual like contracted hours and sometimes that's like chaperoning events or being like a club advisor doing what we call adjunct duty, and that can vary per school side or per district.
But there are a lot of after -school hours.
Granted, of course, people are quick to point out that we have our vacations.
And I don't think people understand that this job is not sustainable without those vacations, because if you have gone through a public school, if you went through a traditional nine -month school year, you know what it was like being a student, right?
And you needed those vacations.
There are some year round schools where they kind of break up their vacation dates differently.
And I think that also makes it more sustainable, but you will take work home.
And I think the longer, the more years you put into teaching, the faster you get at your grading, but sometimes life happens, right?
Maybe you get married, maybe you have children and like all these things, but you will always have work to do outside of your contracted hours.
if we need to be out because I'm sick or like we have like an emergency, we have to create lesson plans for our subs.
Sometimes you have great subs, and like this is like I appreciate all our subs, but sometimes there are certain lessons that are very teacher centered.
And it's hard for a sub to do, you know, so sometimes it's just like I needed to get this done, but like like, I can't like 100 % rely on the sub if you don't know them.
That's just like very interesting to me because I feel like oh, if people are out sick, I don't feel like they have to delegate or sometimes like we have to have something in place.
Yeah, because just because we're out sick doesn't mean the students have a day off.
Essentially. There are a lot of other factors that go into teaching.
If you don't have community, you will burn out 100%.
And so it's super important as a teacher to have community.
I think that's kind of what has helped me in my teaching career.
I found the job very fulfilling when you work with your students and you see them every day and you see those like light bulb moments where they get it or they kind of reach a potential they didn't anticipate existing within themselves.
It makes it feel like all the work pays off.
and you've and I think what it is is like when you're a teacher you're investing in a feature that you will not see immediately or that's what investing is, right essentially it's you're putting out all this time and this work and maybe you won't see those results in your time with them sometimes that's like just the way it is you know but if I know that like these students if I know I'm helping them build these skills and these capacities and like also redirecting them to like be good decent humans it just makes the job worthwhile you know but that cannot be the only thing that sustains you in this career
people are like oh do it for the children do for the kids I'm like that's not a fair standard and expectation to whole teachers because at the end of the day this is still the job like none of us are doing this for free some people I think will do exactly what they need to do or what is kind of asked to them according to their contract and then other people will do more and that's really up to their discretion because at the end of the day, this is a job.
And I also do think that if you want x, y, z or you want this much more, these results, you also have to incentivize or support your staff because it's not realistic to expect everyone to be intrinsically motivated.
Like, our students are not intrinsically motivated.
They're trying to get good grades.
They're trying to go to college.
They're trying to secure their future.
There might be some students who are there for the pursuit of knowledge, and those students still exist, but it's not as high, as it maybe was like years ago.
And as teachers, like, yes, we're in it for the students.
You're not in teaching if you're not invested in the students.
But that cannot be the only thing that pushes you forward and keeps you going.
Like we should have sustainable like salaries and you need to have a good support system as a working adults Yeah, for sure.
And I think as an outsider it's easy to forget how much of a handful a classroom of 20 kids can be in a Non -teacher job we interact with a lot of people as well and you know, it can be tiring but like these are like adults You're like literally handling like kids right?
It's it's a whole different thing So I feel like it's really easy to forget how different that can be.
You forget how much of a like nuisance you yourself were as a teenager.
I want to add too, like in a public school, it's rare to have that low of a number of students.
Oh, right. I think when I first, when I was student teaching, I think there was like a period that had like 34 or 36 students.
And there are schools that have like almost 39 students per period.
Yeah, it's a lot. So I think the range is truly anywhere from like maybe 28 to like, at least near mid 30s.
I think just like not on my side in particular, but just like across the board.
That's a lot of students, and those students, they might have different needs.
They might have IEPs, they might have 504s, and IEPs are like individualized education plans.
And they're for students who might need like certain accommodations because maybe they have ADHD or they are emotionally disturbed or they have certain like health needs.
You have to also accommodate them.
And you'll have a variety of them in your classes." Dude, and for us, it's very rare for us to even have a meeting with 30 people.
Yeah. Dude, I have this like very distinct memory of going up to do a presentation in one of my classes in high school.
And it was a classroom where everyone faces the same way, like up to the front with like where the teacher is and when you're doing your presentation, you're getting the teacher view, right?
I remember looking to do the presentation and seeing like 40 pairs of eyes and being like holy shit, this is what our teacher sees every day.
Yeah. Definitely mildly terrifying, but I think, I feel so grateful for teachers like you Hannah and everyone else who kind of holds it down for the young generation and I completely agree that we need to be paying our teachers more.
We need to be funding our schools more because this is a fairly complex and nuanced job and also a very important one to kind of hold our society up in the future so thank you so much for coming on and sharing your experiences with us of being a teacher.
For any of our listeners out there who might also be a teacher or for who is now reflecting on their crazy days as a high school student.
Feel free to reach out to us.
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Thanks for listening and don't forget to eat your crust!
