Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Season 3, Episode 22 - Kristi O'Donnell
86 Plays1 year ago
Robert's wife enters the podcast for a very interesting back and forth about all types of topics. They discuss the great things about middle school compared to elementary, the history of teaching history, and whether or not she would like to work for a principal like him at a school like his. It is a fascinating conversation that evolves into a power struggle to see who is right by the end of the 50 minutes. Enjoy!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Christy's Participation
00:00:09
Speaker
Good afternoon. Welcome back to an episode of It's All About Perspective. I am your host, Robert Hinchliffe. I've been trying to get this person on the podcast for a very long time. I don't know why she decided to do it, but she did.
Transition in Teaching Due to 2020 Changes
00:00:25
Speaker
So welcome to my wife, Christy O'Donnell. How are you today? I'm doing great. How are you?
00:00:31
Speaker
Okay. Just, it was just another day. I haven't seen you yet. So I don't even know what happened in your world today, but my day was good. It was good. All right. It was, it was hard to get you on here. Why was it hard to get you on here? Um, I don't like talking to people. Well, to some people, I don't like hearing my voice. Is there a reason? No, but I figured it's a new year. So, you know, let's try something new.
00:01:00
Speaker
I appreciate that. If I'm not going to start going to the gym, might as well try something different, you know? True. All right. Well, again, thank you for being here. I don't know why you decided to, but I appreciate it. I wouldn't have you on, as you know, because you taught first grade forever.
00:01:18
Speaker
And then you decided to make the jump to sixth grade. So why did you decide to go to middle school? Cause people out there is transfer season soon and they're thinking about it. So what, why did you choose to go to middle school from first grade? So I taught first grade for probably like 15 ish years. You probably know my years better than I do, but something around that. And so 2020 happened and lots of things changed. And I just decided I needed a change in my life.
00:01:47
Speaker
And so I knew the principal over here at Fest because three of our kids went to Fest before. And so I love Roger. And so I needed a Roger in my life at the moment. And so, um, yeah, so that's why I wanted to change.
00:02:02
Speaker
But why,
Support from Administration
00:02:03
Speaker
I mean, why did you need to change if you could tell people? Because right now on, you know, with people are trying to decide, do I want to change schools? What, what caused you to make the leap? I mean, you're not afraid to make changes in your life. Why did you do that? Yeah, so honestly, mine was just because of 2020. I was just sick of all the fake stuff going on in the world. I was
00:02:30
Speaker
just the hypocrisy of a lot of things. And so mainly like, so I taught first grade, we had to wear a mask for that last year that I was in there. And so, you know, I hated that trying to teach first graders how to read with a mask on was ridiculous. And then you see people on TV, you know, like government officials and stuff wearing or not wearing a mask and going places. And so, but yet I had to be in a room with six year olds with one on.
00:02:56
Speaker
Um, and so I was just over it. So I needed a change.
Elementary vs. Middle School
00:03:01
Speaker
Okay. But even then the rules, middle school. Yeah. I needed a Roger in my life. Well, I mean, again, Roger West been on, he's been on the podcast. He was like the second one this season. Define that I started raining right when you said that. I don't know if that's like an omen or something, but okay. Define why did you need Roger West in your life? Um,
00:03:25
Speaker
I needed, you know, I just needed to teach. Like I felt like I was being micromanaged a lot. And you know, you've talked about that before on here. I knew Roger wasn't one of those kind of admins and so, and he hasn't been. And so like, I legit come to school every day and I get to teach. I am not bombarded with the, you know, the other things.
00:03:50
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I get it. I know, I mean, again, I'm married to you. So I realize that you don't want to be controlled in any way. Okay, so all right, let's just jump forward. What's the biggest difference between elementary school
Middle School Challenges
00:04:03
Speaker
and middle school? Oh, so many. You want to know the positives or the negatives first? Whichever one you want to roll with. Okay, so let's go with report cards. So I have over 200 kids, which sounds like a lot. And when people hear that, they think, Oh my gosh, that's so many. How do you do all those report cards?
00:04:20
Speaker
The report cards take me less time than doing 30 first grade report cards. So I love that. There's no teacher drama in elementary. There's lots of teacher drama, as you know. I don't know why there isn't any middle school, but at least I have not encountered any of it. Everybody kind of just stays in their own lane and does their job. And that's really like they come here, they do their job, and that's it.
00:04:49
Speaker
I get to teach just one subject. I teach the same lesson six times. So two times, for two days I teach the same lesson. So if I suck at it the first time, I get better or vice versa. So I get to just change that. So it's kind of nice. What else? I don't have to do maps or SBAC. So that's fine because I'm sixth grade science. So I don't have any testing. So that is amazing. I legit just get to teach science.
00:05:17
Speaker
In middle school, I feel that there's not as many interruptions during your teaching period. We do have interruptions with behavior and all that kind of stuff every once in a while. But as far as like assemblies and things like that, I just feel like in elementary, there's always something other than what you're teaching. There's something to do. And in middle school, I just teach science. So that's awesome.
00:05:46
Speaker
Um, some negatives. I don't know most of the people who work at this school. I was going to say like earlier, you're like, you know, there's all kinds of teacher drama in elementary school, which is true. And I don't know why, but then, you know, you don't have that, but I was wondering like, do you miss the camaraderie? Cause your best friends were in elementary school and now, you know, you have friends, but they're not your best friends. So do you miss that?
Student Issues and Social Media
00:06:08
Speaker
I do miss that. And, um, like I know the people in my 600 building, um, I don't know them well, but I do know them.
00:06:15
Speaker
But I mean, we've been places before we were at one of our daughter's theater performances. And I knew a lady. I knew I knew her, but I didn't know how I knew her. And I worked with her. And so that happens a lot. And so that's very strange, because in elementary, you know everybody very well. But I'm at a point in my life where I don't need any extra friends. And so I'm good with it. And I'm good with the no drama.
00:06:45
Speaker
Okay, I mean, that makes sense. And I mean, in reality, you don't really like drama anyway. Well, that's not true. I mean, I guess it depends on the topic and everything. Okay, so middle school, we've talked about this all the time. I'm not made for middle school at all. What, in your opinion, is the biggest problem plaguing middle schools? Because
00:07:08
Speaker
If you ask a lot of people, they will say that our neediest areas are middle schools. Is it because the kids are hitting puberty and they got hormones or, you know, they have drama or they have attitudes? What's the biggest problem plaguing middle schools? Yeah, I mean, I feel I mean, when you're in middle school, you have no idea who you are. So they're trying to figure themselves out. And then social media, obviously, is a huge problem. Having their phones here at school, I think is a problem. I however, I think best does a great job.
00:07:38
Speaker
of keeping it under control, especially in sixth grade. They know that they have to have their phones put away. If they are out, they get them taken away. We just call a campus monitor and it goes up to the office. The parents have to come pick it up after three times, I believe. So I don't have any phone problems, but I think it's like the after school social media, that kind of stuff that the kids are struggling with. And I feel like also something that's kind of interesting is an elementary school
00:08:07
Speaker
when you call home or you have a parent meeting and you let a parent know, Hey, Johnny did this. And I remember what, for instance, one time I had a kid punch somebody right in front of me and I told the parent and the parent said, no, he didn't. And I said, I saw him do it. And then they asked him and he said, no. And so it's just weird how the parent always believes the kid in elementary school. However, in middle school, for the most part, all the parent meetings that I've had,
00:08:37
Speaker
the parent takes responsibility for the kid's behavior and acknowledges it and doesn't say, Oh, that doesn't happen. Like they know their kids like that. And so how are we going to help
Positives of Middle School Teaching
00:08:48
Speaker
them? How are we going to fix this? So that's kind of nice. That's interesting, though, because I would
00:08:55
Speaker
I don't know why that happens. I'm actually fascinated by the fact you said that, because I just have a hard time believing. Or maybe, like you said, in middle school, they've already figured out their kids are paying the butt. And so they're like, well, yeah, that doesn't surprise me. Or if they're good, then they'll take responsibility for it that way. I don't know. Yeah. And something that helps out, too, whenever we have a parent meeting, I had one this morning. And so with the kid and a parent and the two counselors,
00:09:24
Speaker
and we had the science teacher, me, the reading teacher, and the math teacher in. This one wasn't a behavior issue, but typically on a behavior issue, we have all the teachers. So you can have anywhere between three and seven teachers in on a meeting. And so when you have all these different teachers kind of saying the same thing, then can you push past the music? So he's coming to the back of my room. Oh, never mind, he's going somewhere else, sorry.
00:09:53
Speaker
Um, so they, um, you know, you have all these teachers saying the same thing, um, when I don't even know the teacher next to me. So, and the parent starts to pick up on that. And then a lot of times you recognize, Oh, they're doing horrible in their core classes with behavior, but in specials, um, like in band or PE, they're totally fine. So, but that's because they, they
Debate on Education Philosophies
00:10:17
Speaker
liked that probably, or they liked their electives. Yeah.
00:10:21
Speaker
Okay, all right, so let's switch gears here. Oh, I still have some more positives and negatives. Okay, sure. I mean, if there's more positive and negatives, then let everybody know because there's people trying to make a decision. Do I want to go to middle school or not? So I made an extra $8,000 a year this year. So that's one of my positives. Well, but I worked my butt off for it. So I sell my props almost every single day. And so you don't like that.
00:10:51
Speaker
It's fine. I just, I didn't expect you to say that stuff. Well, I think that's important though, you know, for people like me, you know, who are motivated by money. And so I wasn't able, like you, you let your teachers sell their props. Um, when at my old school, I wasn't allowed to sell my props. And so I wasn't able to make any extra money. So, um, here I'm able to, so I enjoy that.
00:11:19
Speaker
It helps with my spending habits. Yes, and I appreciate that greatly. That's true. All right. What are the other positives? You can keep it going. All right. Admin is super supportive, kind of in a different way than like elementary supportive. I feel in elementary when when a parent complains to you, you want to make that parent happy. You
00:11:47
Speaker
Um, do everything that you can to, I'm not, I'm not saying you, I'm just saying like, I think I'm going to push back on that one because I think that depends on your personality. Cause I've worked with plenty of teachers that don't give a shit if they make a parent happy or not. No, I'm saying like, if, if a parent complains to, um, my principal about me, something I said or did, um, the principal will follow up on it. The principal will not like automatically.
00:12:15
Speaker
accuse me of something. I feel that just because maybe it's because of middle school. I mean, like this younger kids, a lot of times they do tell the truth a lot more than the middle school kids. So I think if somebody goes home and tells their parents something that I said or did, um, admin's not going to come and reprimand me for it. Like they might, they're going to come talk to me, but I don't feel like attacked by them. And then
00:12:39
Speaker
they're looking out for us more than they're looking out for to make the parent happy. And I appreciate that. I think that's a leadership style though. Because if a parent came and said, Miss O'Donnell called my kid a dumb shit, hypothetically, you know, like, I think some people would probably
00:13:03
Speaker
Think about just giving you a notice and investigating that. Absolutely. As to where Roger and myself, we're just going to say like, hey, this is what was said. What do you got to say? Christy's going to say, yeah, I said it. And I'll say, all right, we'll figure out a way out of it. But I think that's just a leadership style. And Roger's just so laid back. Yeah. So OK. So that's a positive work in a fast, not necessarily middle school. All right. All right. What other negatives you got?
00:13:32
Speaker
Um, I can't think of anything right now. I'll get back to you. All right. Let's shift gears. Okay. You and I agree on very little educationally. I mean, we just, I think we just discussed more than we probably agree on. Can you think of an opinion of education that I have that drives you crazy? So, I mean, we disagree on a lot, but I think the main argument that we've had over the years is AR.
00:14:02
Speaker
All right, so I'm not an accelerated reader elementary anymore. So it doesn't really, you know, matter to me that much, but, um, you know, and most of my elementary
Criticism of Education System
00:14:12
Speaker
experience was in first grade and you've always been a strong AR supporter over the years. Um, I believe in, especially in kinder and first grade teaching the love of reading. I don't believe in teaching a test. Well, let's start with AR. I,
00:14:29
Speaker
If I remember correctly, in order to find your level, you take a placement test, correct? True. In kinder and first grade, they're taking that placement test and those kids are guessing and pushing buttons. But wouldn't you say, so let's just have fun so everybody can enjoy our relationship.
00:14:46
Speaker
Wouldn't you say that that is a, yes, no, true. Some kids just push because they don't care, but- But not because they don't care. They can't read in Kendra first. But you don't give them one until they're ready to do it though. Okay.
00:15:03
Speaker
So if they're ready to do it and they're ready to take an online test, they take map now. So if they're ready to take an online test, a reading test to get a level and they just push it, wouldn't that be kind of a teacher? No, you're telling me in first grade, you don't make the kids AR test at the beginning of the year.
00:15:23
Speaker
No, they do if they're ready. We have what's called rainbow rears to make sure they're ready, but they don't know their vowels, their vowels. Okay, they're not reading the AR books. We've, we've, we've evolved a little bit with that. Okay, but that's how you started, right? Yeah, because back in the day, that's how you did it. Okay, so that's back in the day when I mean, I've only did it two years, I think about. And so that's how it was. And so that's why we steered away because I could not
00:15:51
Speaker
If this Robert could go back to that time, I would agree with you on that, so. Well then, no argument then, we're good. But also, I mean, I just believe in creating a love for reading in those younger years. And when you're teaching them to read and take a test, and I'm so over the test taking stuff, and you are too, you know, and it's, I think there's a time and a place to take a test, and I feel we're making these kids test all the time. And so,
00:16:20
Speaker
When they're going to the library and picking out those AR books, the library should be a great place for kids to go. Our kids, two of them, I guess two out of our five, love going to the library and picking out books. They have a love for reading. But if Audrey and Kinsey had to take a test every time they read a book, do you think they would love reading as much as they do? So allow me to push back.
00:16:43
Speaker
I believe that you can create a love of reading with AR, because the kids have a choice about what they want to read, and they learn to love to read about topics. Kinsey was brought up on AR. She went to my school. Did she enjoy taking the test? Yes. All right. She did AR. She was a million word club reader. So was Harper. They were brought up on AR. I think so much of it depends on the teacher and how they sell AR.
00:17:13
Speaker
to create the love of reading. If you're telling the, so this is my struggle, would you rather have, so you liked wonders, I know you liked it. No. No? It was wonders, the basil that you worked at. Yeah, yeah. Okay, yeah. So you loved, you liked wonders, maybe loved isn't the right word. I loved it as a resource. Yes, of course, everything resource. We agree on that, nothing with fidelity. But it's,
00:17:42
Speaker
wonders, it has the books and the kids have to read that story. There's no choice. In AR, if they are able to go read about baseball or football or pigs or chickens, they can at their level. So they learn to love to read because
00:18:02
Speaker
in my small groups, I feel that they were able, I mean, I did small group reading and then they were able to go pick whatever books they wanted to read. But how do you know they were comprehending the books that they were reading when they weren't in your small groups? Because I would go around and ask them questions as they were reading.
00:18:19
Speaker
Well, isn't that a form of assessment, just like a computer? Yes, but I'm also building a relationship, whereas the computer can't build a relationship. Good rebuttal there. Okay, do you have anything else that drives you crazy that I believe? I mean, I'm sure there's tons, but I mean, that's the main one that we are all concerned about. The one that I thought of was, I always say, like, if you just have relationships with kids, you can fix almost any kid. Oh, yeah, you always said that.
00:18:49
Speaker
And you were like, in middle school, you've really kind of pushed back on that one. No, so I believe you said, you said all kids, not most kids. So I do believe someone can get through to someone, but that one kid that's the terrible kid, in order for anybody ever to get through to them, it's going to come down to having a relationship in some way with that kid.
00:19:14
Speaker
So
Administrative Burdens on Teachers
00:19:15
Speaker
what you're telling me is when we go to our kids, middle school and high school, basketball and football games, you will be more tolerant to those kids doing those inappropriate things.
00:19:27
Speaker
No, because that's not who I am. What I'm saying is that in order for the behaviors to change in any kid or any school, it all comes down to relationships. And everybody that teaches any of those kids should try to form a relation. Look, you have relationships. You have a kid that went to Texas and sent you a picture of his, whatever it was, his plants that the restaurant's eating. Hydroponic. Hydroponic. Why did that kid do that?
00:19:56
Speaker
Yeah, I know I get that. Um, but one of the downfalls for science too. Um, so I only see the kids every other day for 80 minutes. So it is harder for me to build relationships with the kids. Whereas English and math get to see them every day for 80 minutes. Um, and then, you know, in elementary, you have the kids all day long. So, but it is nice to sometimes send them on their way and go on to the next batch of kids too. So, I mean, they're, you know, pros and cons to everything.
00:20:22
Speaker
but it is more difficult to build those relationships is my point with middle school and seeing them every other day. And then you throw in being absent too, then, you know, that's a whole nother ballgame. I mean, I can go weeks without seeing kids sometimes. That's fair. That's fair. They have to be, I think we all, I mean, we can agree like they got to be at school or you're not going to be able to do what you can. Yeah. Okay. What about this profession bugs you?
00:20:48
Speaker
like teaching just what what bugs you? What just makes you like get angry about the profession of teaching? Okay, well, CCSD. So that's bad, right? Careful. But still. CCSD. I mean, if we were able just to like be at our school and teach and be with kids, I mean, that would be amazing, right?
00:21:13
Speaker
Um, it's all the extra
Standardized Education Concerns
00:21:15
Speaker
paperwork. I mean, I go, I sit in like at least two to three IEPs a week. Um, I'm the Jenna teacher that gets to do that. Um, and so, which I get to use for it. So I don't mind obviously, but that's a lot, you know? You mean like the paperwork for an IEP? Well, I mean, I don't have to do that, but just like the extra stuff.
00:21:39
Speaker
So the extra stuff in general, for example, when you were in elementary school, SLPPs. Oh, yes. Yeah, that's another positive of middle school that I don't have to do. So the extra stuff. That doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. Also, if we're talking about things that don't matter right behind me, I have my fabulous learning intentions and success criteria posted. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter that it's posted?
00:22:09
Speaker
or it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter that it's posted. Okay, so some teachers may disagree with you and me because I don't agree with it either, that they need it posted so they can refer back to it or the kids can refer back to it. And that's the only way they can stay on track.
00:22:29
Speaker
I feel what, so when admin comes in and you ask, what are you learning about? Then they're able to look up there. I mean, you know, we, you and I have played that game before, right? Yeah. So just because they can say it, does it mean, do they know it? Which goes into, okay, something else if you want to talk about, I have a question for you. What is the purpose of kids going to school?
00:22:55
Speaker
The purpose of kids going to school is for them to learn what they need to be successful in all facets of life. Why? Okay. So do you feel that when these kids graduate, they are successful in all of that? I would say it highly depends on the school they went to, the teachers they had, and the job the parents did
00:23:23
Speaker
in many ways, I would say those are the three biggest factors. If you go to school and you graduate and you had 12 terrible teachers, I mean, almost everybody graduates in CCSD, you had 12 terrible teachers and you still can't barely read, you're definitely not ready for all facts of life. If you went to school and you had 12 teachers that did not teach you how to be responsible. Hold up, let's stop right there. So with you said,
00:23:49
Speaker
being able to read, okay? So by going through 12, 13 years of school in CCSD or any school, you know, and you've lived here in the United States, should you know how to read and do basic math facts? Yes. Okay. So in sixth grade, I have had kids who, you know, speak English that they don't have any, they don't have an IEP, they don't have any of those other things going on. They cannot write a complete sentence.
00:24:17
Speaker
And they don't have an IEP? Nope, they do not have an IEP. That is a breakdown of the elementary school. That is fully on the elementary school. Because even if you missed a third of the year, you should still be at third grade level by the time you get to sixth grade. I guess that would be half. You should still be at second grade level. We have sixth graders who are reading at a third grade level.
00:24:41
Speaker
I can't judge the elementary school without more information though, because like you just said, and you agreed with, if they haven't been in school, you can't blame the school or the teacher. That would go back to the parents, which is what I put in there also. Yeah. Question, which is helping with this. I appreciate that you're trying to get me on my own podcast. Watch me. So in elementary school,
00:25:08
Speaker
What kind of things do you learn about in history? Give me a few things you learned in history in elementary school. Right off the top of my head, just teaching. Well, not mine. Well, although I remember reading about Gettysburg, I think I was in fifth grade back home. And I was just fascinated by that. That's why I love the Civil War. But then when I taught fourth grade, that's all in Nevada history. OK. Being a first grade teacher, we taught Abraham Lincoln, George Washington.
00:25:35
Speaker
Christopher Columbus, right? Okay. Middle school. What kind of middle school social studies did you learn? I don't, uh, I'm old, you know, I don't have a good memory. Maybe like geography, the civil war, right? Okay. So, okay. You can, you can go with that. I mean, you can combine geography with the civil war if you really want to. High school. What kind of history did you learn in high school?
00:26:00
Speaker
So that would be like the US Constitution, all that stuff. Back when I went to school, you learned a lot about US history. So I know you love watching those certain shows where they're interviewing people and they ask questions about basic history. Like how many states do we have?
00:26:20
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. And isn't it amazing how many people don't know these answers? Yes, it is actually almost infuriating when people cannot name who the president is or who the first president was. There's no excuse to not know the history of the country, good and bad. Okay. So, and a lot of times, if I'm not mistaken, these interviews are done on college campuses. That's very true. They're usually the kids on spring break.
00:26:49
Speaker
Okay, so you've gone through 12 years of school, 12, 13 years of school. Now you're in college. So you've gotten your high school diploma, yet you don't know how many states there are or who was the first president. Okay, so go ahead. You're trying to prove a point right now. Go ahead. So what is the purpose of school? The purpose of school. Okay. The purpose of school, as I said, is to teach students, people,
00:27:15
Speaker
the skills they need to be successful in life. However, you're doing a good job because technically, I could say, well, I don't need to know there's 50 states to be successful in life. So I think what you're trying to do is get to one of my questions here.
00:27:30
Speaker
which kind of talks about conspiracies of education. I don't know how long you thought this out. Maybe this is why you haven't been honest since you've been plotting this out for months. But I see one of the things that drives me nuts is so much in education.
00:27:46
Speaker
The kids don't need to know. They don't need to know. I mean, well, do they need to know Algebra 2? I don't think so. Do they need to know sine and cosine? Not unless you're going to go be an architect. Learn that in college. So there's a ton of our school system that does not need to be taught.
Conspiracy Theories in Education
00:28:06
Speaker
And then there's a ton of stuff that needs to be taught that isn't.
00:28:11
Speaker
So is that going into like, I was gonna say what's your biggest like conspiracy you talk about with school? Is that kind of where you're trying to? Kind of, yeah. So in college, becoming a teacher, what kind of history did we have to take? So in college, I don't...
00:28:30
Speaker
Honestly, elementary ed, I don't remember having to quote unquote, take history, but I remember taking history because I learned about ancient, ancient civilizations. Did you have to take that? I did. I chose that. Like you could choose like certain history to get your degree. Well, I learned about the history of rock and roll, the history of classical music. Those were the history classes I took. And then I also took elementary social studies, which I think we all had to take. Right.
00:28:59
Speaker
I had to teach elementary social studies. Okay. Um, so, but have we ever been taught about the history of the educational system? No. So in any like business, you're taught the history of the business, right? You're taught the history of whatever it is that you're doing. Like you need to know where it came from, where it's been, where it's going in order to make changes. Right. I mean, I would say that would be a good nugget of information to have.
00:29:26
Speaker
And so I just feel like we don't know about the history of the educational system I feel like you really want to use this forum to tell people Your your view And I mean again, you're you're welcome to say what you want. I don't I know you just want to go off on your tangent I know you all enough, but I
00:29:53
Speaker
So, so you're, you're, again, you're trying to get into the history of education and why the system is like it is. So do you know how many, um, really successful people have not gone to college? Tons. Tons, right? Um, so like I know Bill Gates, for instance, hasn't right Mark Zuckerberg. Um, I think they went to college. I don't think they graduated. Okay. Steve Jobs.
00:30:23
Speaker
Same. Russell Simmons, Ted Turner. I don't know about that. Okay, so there's tons of them, right? Who, but they're all very successful, because they have a skill, right? Well, I would say they're successful because they have determination. Yeah.
00:30:42
Speaker
which we're lacking big time with kids. Yeah, very little. They have grit. Yeah, absolutely. In order to build a business, like if you look at Mark Cuban, who used to sell vacuums to build up, you have to have grit and determination and a will and a desire that most people do not have these days. Well, so the system- That usually means you're getting ready to tell us all about it.
00:31:12
Speaker
Okay, so back in the olden days like eighteen nineteen hundreds, right? Did kids go to school? If they could and they didn't have to work on the farm or help support things it depend on the family like Abe Lincoln's dad did not Value reading at all, but Abe loved to read. Yeah, so it just depends. Yes. Did Abe go to school?
00:31:36
Speaker
No, no, I think he was he was homeschooled by his stepmom after his original mom died. Okay, so he didn't go to school yet. He loved to read and he learned how to read and he became a president, which is right. He learned how to do all this stuff. And then he went to law school, he became a lawyer. I don't know if he went to law school, but he became a lawyer. Back then, I'm sure the rules were different. You didn't have to go to law school. So from what I know, like kids would go to school like a couple hours a week.
00:32:07
Speaker
Or they went to Sunday school. I'm like, that's where they will learn. Well, but it depends. Like if you watch Laura Ingalls Wilder, like she went to school. Absolutely. But during that school, did they sit in a box that I'm in right now with no windows for six hours? No. No. No. Okay. With the fluorescent lighting. That is horrible for us that does so much damage to our kids.
00:32:31
Speaker
that's helping them with their ADHD and going nuts in the classroom. So I just think it was different to where they were able to learn real life skills. I think they went to school, they did reading, writing, and math. They did not have to sit here
00:32:50
Speaker
and learn a bunch of stuff that they're not gonna remember. But how much is that just because of the system back then and the lack of knowledge and the lack of access to all of that? So one could think that and that's what I used to think until I learned about the history of the educational system. So John D. Rockefeller helped with the educational, why are you laughing at me?
00:33:19
Speaker
I appreciate your passion about this it just you know, you know, I have a huge passion about it So do you know what one of his most famous quotes are? No, I don't want thinkers. I want workers Okay. Well, I can push back on that and say back in the day if you if you're doing you want people that aren't thinking and they're just focused on one task and
00:33:47
Speaker
Yeah, they wanted people to work in factories. Yeah, so you're right. We don't want you to think about things. We want you to focus on the one thing you have to do. So it would make sense that he wanted workers and not thinkers. Plus the thinkers are thinking, how can I make this better and go do my own thing? Do you remember the other day when I asked you when you were upstairs and you were writing and I said, what if I interrupted you when you were totally
00:34:16
Speaker
engaged in what you were doing and you were passionate about it. And I said, you know, there's some sort of problem. How would that make you feel? And what did you say? It would make me annoyed. Yeah. So when we're in a classroom and a kid is totally engaged in something, whether they could be learning about dinosaurs or whatever it is that they're interested in, and then the bell goes off or the teacher says, we're moving to math right now. How do you think that makes the kid feel?
00:34:45
Speaker
it most likely annoys them. If they're focused and in it.
Vision for Ideal Education
00:34:50
Speaker
Yes, but we don't even give it the kids like a chance to get that deep into something before we're switching on to the next thing because we have to teach math for 120 minutes or whatever it is, we're on to the next one. Okay, or in elementary, middle school is not my thing, in elementary, I see in fourth and fifth grade
00:35:13
Speaker
Many times, not all the time, it's hard to get them into things that deep because their brains are wired to need change because they're on technology from the time they're born. And so it's hard to get them stamina. We talk about stamina all the time at Thompson. It's hard to build stamina. Thus it's hard to get them engaged in learning. And in order to do that, the teacher has to do a great job of getting the kids to buy in personally to what they're doing. Otherwise they won't buy into it and they won't focus.
00:35:42
Speaker
However, if you're going back to the Laura Ingalls Wilder days, the kids would sit there and they would be engaged in what the teacher just standing there speaking. But that's because we're now we have to do a dog and pony show for the kids for them to be engaged and they're still not engaged because they're so hooked on the social media. I don't disagree with you that social media is causing the decline of the United States in many ways.
00:36:13
Speaker
But at the same point in time, it's just a factor that you have to deal with. Probably back in the 1850s, they had to deal with if it was really human, the kids got tired or did they even eat or things like that. I think every every educational generation has a problem. In the 70s, it was probably kids smoking in the boys room. Yeah, it's probably that today too. But you know, like everybody has issues depending on when what generation you're in.
00:36:43
Speaker
I got you thinking that's good. No, you want me to keep going? We can talk about the periodic table. Okay? What do you know about that? I keep science. I don't know any. Go ahead. Okay. I know that gold is AU. Is what?
00:36:59
Speaker
AU gold. That's the Or like a squared plus b squared like all of this like the Thagory and theorem unnecessary information or what about like PE, for instance, how many times of our kids came home and said that they just walk around a track all day and pee like a few. Okay, and so are like, I mean, how you want me to talk about health?
00:37:28
Speaker
Well, I mean, I don't know if we have all night. I don't know if the people have already stopped listening to you or not, or they're just laughing at us. But I mean, okay, so I was gonna say, I will bet that if, well, I don't know after talking to you now, but if you could make one huge change in our profession, like schools overall, I was gonna say, I'll bet it would be the kind of food that kids are eating. Because you're good friends with Jen Baajos, who was on here a few weeks ago.
00:37:57
Speaker
Like you two were on a mission for health.
Nutritional Quality of School Meals
00:37:59
Speaker
Yes. I'm going to go with no, that would be my second one. Okay. So during the whole 2020 thing, when I was thinking about I needed a change in my life, I was looking into micro schooling, different types of schools, right? Different options. But then me being so far in for retirement and stuff just financially, it doesn't make sense. However, if I were to go back in my career,
00:38:21
Speaker
I would definitely not choose a public school system. Um, I would do something just something different. Um, you know, I want to go move on a farm and like, I would love to do some homeschooling things to where we can actually like learn some like real life skills. Okay. Now, if I may.
00:38:41
Speaker
I do not like when people who work in public school. I know, it's horrible. Yeah, you know, I don't like that. Like teachers that send their kids to private school will work at public school. That really bugs me. And, you know, my daughter's with me the whole time. But why can't we enhance the kids education? Like I grew up on a farm. I went to school, but then we learned about the farm.
00:39:08
Speaker
So even though we live in the suburbs, why can't we enhance their education some way? We have a chicken outside for peace sakes. So, you know, you're saying you would take them away from the public school system. And I'm saying no, I wouldn't. Because there's a lot, there's so much good from a free public school education system, no matter what. Every kid has the right
00:39:32
Speaker
as long as they behave, to be in a public school and learn something, whether or not the access is up to them. Okay, so it's free, just like our free lunch and our free breakfast, right? It has to be because if it wasn't, many people can't afford to go to school and then we'd have a society that's even stupider than it is now. No, my point is with the free is
00:39:58
Speaker
So of course it's free and now the kids are eating the free lunch and the free breakfast. What are they eating? They're eating food they shouldn't.
00:40:07
Speaker
Why? I mean, it's from CCSD, it's from, I mean, and it's not just CCSD, it's everywhere. But again, I made this point with Jen, the reason that they have to do this and they can't afford to get it all to be healthy is because it's such a huge undertaking in our district to feed that many kids. Okay, so I'm going to disagree with you because... Okay, shocker. My friend, Jen.
00:40:30
Speaker
Um, her son came home one day, um, and she thought he was joking, but he said, Hey mom, in the vending machine at school, there's Red Bull, crime, Coke, Mountain Dew, and monster energy drinks at school. And she thought, no way is he asked, is he telling the truth? Because.
00:40:51
Speaker
You know, we go to a public school who has like these health rules, you know, the rules. I mean, we watch these, how many, how many hours do we spend a year watching those back to school videos about like regulations and rules? You know, and I have to post all my, my things. We have to follow the rules, but they, CCSD has these rules yet in many high schools, middle schools and elementary schools, there are vending machines with these drinks.
00:41:19
Speaker
So you're you're again, you're on a crusade against something that's very hard to to police and
00:41:28
Speaker
not so much anymore, but back in the day, those vending machines funded pizza parties and things like that. So now you're probably going to get conspiracy about that. I know you don't care, but the point is, there's, there's a book from CCSD that says you're not allowed to have soda, like basic Cokes, right? You're not. No, the rule is you can't sell it between X time and X time. Okay.
00:41:55
Speaker
Well, that doesn't happen. That doesn't happen. I don't want to say people are following those rules. I'm not going to say that. We don't have any vending machines at Thompson, so life is good. But I know what you're trying to say. The vending machines are giving things that are bad for kids, and they contribute to all the unhealthy things that we see in kids. And it's not making the system better.
00:42:20
Speaker
So, but I mean, that's more of a school site based decision, like to put those things on your campus. But CCSD is giving the kids in the school lunch. Because on that same week, you sent me a picture of Doritos. Yes, you sent Doritos, which has the red 40 in it. And Jen sent me the same picture two days later. So it wasn't just a fluke one day. And so we're giving these kids red 40 on a regular basis. And they're not
00:42:47
Speaker
remembering things, they're not performing, they're having behavior problems. And we're asking, why are they why is this happening? Well, we're making it happen. Again, I don't disagree with you on the red 40 and the bad things in the food. What I'm trying to tell you is from an admin upper level perspective, you're you want to steer the Titanic. And that I'm not saying they can't be done. I'm saying there's no appetite to put the work in to do it.
00:43:15
Speaker
Well, I would love that job. Jen and I have been talking about taking over that job in CCSD. We just need some more information about it. If you can find out for us. You'd be fired in a week. Totally. Yeah. Okay.
Reflections on Teaching Experience
00:43:30
Speaker
All right. Again, I know I don't disagree with you, but we in education, not just in Vegas, do a terrible job.
00:43:41
Speaker
of making change. You know, it drives me crazy. Like we aren't changing things. Like that's my job. I'm a, I'm a fixer changer. Yeah. And you do a lot of change though, but you are not the norm. So there's no doubt about that. And you know, like you've always said, like, why can't people be like us? You know, and so no, what I say is they can't all be like you or me. Yeah. Well, I can tell you why is because they don't,
00:44:09
Speaker
Well, one is they're afraid to break rules. Two is they're afraid to live in the- But people are afraid to break rules, but they're not afraid to break the vending machine rule. No, well. You know, I'm being serious. Like, so they could, I have to have these posted. Look, every, I have a quote on Twitter I put up every now and then. Everybody follows 100% of the rules they agree with.
00:44:35
Speaker
OK, so again, all depends on your your perspective of the rules. And can we live like that? And then probably a little bit of am I going to ever get caught? And if I do get caught, what's going to happen? There's just a lot of facets to everything. The rules are there. I mean, but there's there's laws and rules that make no sense because they're from 1840. It just depends on if we if we know them and then if we follow them. A lot of people probably don't know you can't sell
00:45:06
Speaker
soda to kids between this time and that time. And how many parents don't know that that vending machine exists, especially in a high school? Like, you know, because you're not stepping foot on the high school campus that much. Okay. But I can say that if you've done a good, I mean, I can push back on this one. If, if Christy doesn't want her kids to drink soda,
00:45:29
Speaker
then the kids should not go to the vending machine. It's a choice. It's a personal choice in high school. They're old enough to make their own decisions. No, we should not be in a public school, be giving them bad options like that. Okay. Again, we're just, this is what we do. We just talked about this. Okay. All right. It's been 45 minutes. It goes by fast and crazy, right? Yeah. Okay. Probably the first time we've talked 45 minutes straight, a long time.
00:45:59
Speaker
All right. Would you like to work for a principal like me? I don't know. I mean, so right now in my, at my age, in my career, I would say no. Why? Um, so like, well, let's, if I was like 25,
00:46:21
Speaker
and young and I had energy and I didn't have kids and I was ready to change the world. I would love to work for you. I think you have a fabulous school. I love your teachers. I love hanging out with them. I love going to your school functions. It is definitely like a cool vibe. However, I'm too old now.
00:46:47
Speaker
So what you're saying is you are completely okay being mediocre. There you go. No, I'm not okay being mediocre. So I have done elementary school for 15 plus years. Okay. And I've done it for 24. Okay. So I'm just saying I needed a change and I was, I, I. What you're saying is you went to middle school where you could work less. No, I did not. I work.
00:47:17
Speaker
I manage my time better. Okay, why do you manage your time better in middle school than elementary school? You can manage your time. There's there's a lot more. It's just it's different. Because you know, you are, you are there.
00:47:39
Speaker
You, I mean, you guys are like magic makers at your school. Okay. That's the whole idea. I mean, I take off a day every year to come to your school because it's a fabulous day, you know, but I don't know. It's just, I'm just not at the point in my life where I would want to work for you. So hypothetically, if I, not that I can, but if I came to fast and I took over and I'm like, Hey, we are doing, we are making magic people. And if you don't like it,
00:48:08
Speaker
hit the road, you would be like, I'm not working, I'm not doing that, I'm out of here. No, absolutely not. I think maybe middle school would be different. Well, first of all, I think it would be fun to watch you come to middle school. No, it wouldn't be. It would be fun.
00:48:23
Speaker
But no, it's just middle school's a different vibe. And so it's just different. I would love to make magic happen at middle school. I would love that. But there's a school not far from your school that is making magic happen. Yep. They're actually here at our school right now in a basketball tournament. So why are they doing it and you're not? Well, I mean,
Future of Education and Conclusion
00:48:43
Speaker
we say that they are. But do we really want that? Yeah, we're not there. We don't know for sure, of course. And everything you see on social media is just what people put out.
00:48:52
Speaker
But the overall consensus is they are making more magic than most middle schools. I don't know. I mean, I'm open to it. I'm open to change. You know, I'm open to change. As long as you agree with it. No, I am open. All right. So, hey, let's go get a bag of Doritos at home. Let's make some changes. That doesn't even make sense. It does because you're not going to change that. That doesn't make sense.
00:49:22
Speaker
All right. Okay, so you would not like to work for someone like me if you were experienced. So what you're saying is that anybody out there that's 20 years plus don't apply to Thompson? No, it's just where I'm at. It's a personal choice for me. You know, so it just depends where you're at in your life. I think if maybe like, you know,
00:49:45
Speaker
I mean, because I did a lot the past like 15 years, you know? And so I think maybe if I didn't have that at all, I would love to come work for you, you know? Cause I know you have people like that who come from those, you know, certain types of schools and they're like, oh my gosh, this is just so great. Like I love how we do all this, you know? So if I didn't have any of that, I would love to come to your school. I am just tired.
00:50:14
Speaker
Most educators are tired and like the people at Thompson, they're...
00:50:17
Speaker
They're like exhausted at the end of Rock Your School Day or various other things. And God bless them, you know, a lot of people don't apply Thompson, because a lot of people don't want to put forth the effort that those ladies do. So we agree on that. Yeah. And it's just like in your career, like, I mean, every once in a while, you've made some changes, you know, because you needed a change. So this is just a change that I needed.
00:50:44
Speaker
Yeah, I don't disagree. You're much happier. Right? I'm much happier. Yeah. You're like, I don't know if you're a lot easier to live with the last few years. I mean, I come home and you asked me how my day was and how, you know, do I react most days? It was great. It was great. Yeah. Oh, my lesson was this and this and this kid did this. And then like every day it's great. And I'm like, that's great. I'm happy for you.
00:51:11
Speaker
I mean, I get to teach about fecal transplants, the microbiome, you know, metabolism. So that's cool for me. But see, that's one good change education has made, I feel like, is that you're now teaching about that. You have kids that are learning about food and all the bioengineered food in their pantry. I mean, it's not that you're not making a difference. It's just whether or not they actually follow through with it.
00:51:36
Speaker
Yeah, well, I did. I have had several kids tell me they are never eating Skittles again. So that's good. So you feel like you're doing your part to save the world. Yes, I am. Awesome. All right. Well, this this wasn't that bad being on here, was it? No. No, you survived. I did. Well, hopefully, I don't know. We'll see if anybody emails me and says we need to talk. Maybe somebody might offer me that health position.
00:52:07
Speaker
you know what maybe I mean I don't again you and Jan hypothetically it's but you know you can say any but not anybody a lot of people could go to a different place and make a positive change it's whether or not the other people would let the positive change happen because in the end all comes down to control or money but mostly control so
00:52:35
Speaker
All right, well, you know the ending. Thank you very much. But no matter where you stand on the issues, in the end... It's all about my perspective. Most days, that's true. Thank you.