WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.419 Welcome to the Classroom Narratives Healing in 00:00:02.419 --> 00:00:04.900 Education podcast, the space where education 00:00:04.900 --> 00:00:09.019 meets resilience. I'm Dr. Joey Weisler, and in 00:00:09.019 --> 00:00:11.400 each episode, we dive deep into the personal 00:00:11.400 --> 00:00:15.099 stories of educators, students, leaders, and 00:00:15.099 --> 00:00:18.079 frontline advocates who are navigating the complexities 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:21.260 within modern education. Whether you're just 00:00:21.260 --> 00:00:23.879 starting your teaching journey, or are we seasoned 00:00:23.879 --> 00:00:26.239 professionals looking for inspiration, we'll 00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:29.059 explore how to foster meaningful change, prevent 00:00:29.059 --> 00:00:31.879 burnout, and build trauma -informed communities 00:00:31.879 --> 00:00:34.979 within our schools. Now, let's take a seat at 00:00:34.979 --> 00:00:36.859 the front of the classroom as we get started. 00:00:37.859 --> 00:00:40.320 Welcome to an exclusive segment here as part 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:42.759 of the Classroom Narratives podcast. You are 00:00:42.759 --> 00:00:44.799 tuning in at this time to what will be a spread 00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:47.359 out series of voices right from the heart of 00:00:47.359 --> 00:00:50.979 the system itself, the students. I recently thought 00:00:50.979 --> 00:00:54.119 about my favorite text. "The Help", where a protagonist 00:00:54.119 --> 00:00:56.780 works to expose the ills of a system, but in 00:00:56.780 --> 00:00:59.619 doing so, she must turn towards the very voices 00:00:59.619 --> 00:01:02.100 that are being suppressed and cause change to 00:01:02.100 --> 00:01:05.859 begin one whisper at a time. In this segment, 00:01:06.019 --> 00:01:09.040 and others to match, I revisit not only the students 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:10.900 who formed the heart of the education system, 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:13.439 but the very same students who formed the heart 00:01:13.439 --> 00:01:16.840 to my why. All high school graduates and university 00:01:16.840 --> 00:01:19.420 students at the time of our recordings, these 00:01:19.420 --> 00:01:21.359 students will tap into their pasts with me as 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:23.459 their teacher, some from their time in middle 00:01:23.459 --> 00:01:26.120 school. We'll reminisce and talk openly about 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:28.739 what worked, what didn't work, and what calls 00:01:28.739 --> 00:01:31.000 to action we can give onto the system to ensure 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:33.299 that every student is equipped for future success. 00:01:33.900 --> 00:01:46.269 Now, let's go ahead and get started. Welcome 00:01:46.269 --> 00:01:48.250 to the Classroom Narratives podcast, where in 00:01:48.250 --> 00:01:50.890 today's series of voices from what I coined to 00:01:50.890 --> 00:01:53.569 be from the "Weisler Alumni Club", 00:01:53.750 --> 00:01:56.269 come all the way back from my first year of full 00:01:56.269 --> 00:01:58.590 -time teaching. The course that I had these students 00:01:58.590 --> 00:02:01.170 for was 8th grade English in the South Florida 00:02:01.170 --> 00:02:04.219 School District in the 2019 school year. I'm 00:02:04.219 --> 00:02:06.280 so privileged to have Mandy Lanier joining the 00:02:06.280 --> 00:02:09.300 show with me. And Mandy Lanier is a 19 -year 00:02:09.300 --> 00:02:12.060 -old dancer from South Florida with over 13 years 00:02:12.060 --> 00:02:14.939 of experience. She's currently pursuing a Bachelor's 00:02:14.939 --> 00:02:17.379 of Fine Arts in Dance at the University of Florida 00:02:17.379 --> 00:02:20.659 with also a focus on neuroscience. Mandy also 00:02:20.659 --> 00:02:23.139 created a dance film called Guys on Every Corner, 00:02:23.280 --> 00:02:26.199 which was featured at the ACDA, or the National 00:02:26.199 --> 00:02:28.659 Dance Conference of South Carolina, representing 00:02:28.659 --> 00:02:31.879 the University of Florida. She shares her dance 00:02:31.879 --> 00:02:33.719 performance and collaborations on her YouTube 00:02:33.719 --> 00:02:36.060 channel as well as TikTok and collaborates with 00:02:36.060 --> 00:02:38.699 other dancers often. She also works as a dance 00:02:38.699 --> 00:02:41.020 instructor and a musician as indicated in her 00:02:41.020 --> 00:02:43.139 LinkedIn profile. Check it out in the show notes 00:02:43.139 --> 00:02:44.960 to learn more about her. Mandy, thank you so 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:46.400 much for joining me and welcome to the show. 00:02:46.439 --> 00:02:49.599 It's such a privilege. Thank you. I'm so excited 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:54.000 to be here. Ryan Romero, also known as "DJ Romi". 00:02:54.479 --> 00:02:56.780 is a second year communication major student 00:02:56.780 --> 00:02:59.840 at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, 00:02:59.879 --> 00:03:03.099 Florida. He says to always remember, "Todo es 00:03:03.099 --> 00:03:05.939 Alegría", or, "everything is joyful". Ryan, welcome 00:03:05.939 --> 00:03:08.840 to the show. How's it going, Professor Weisler? 00:03:08.939 --> 00:03:12.379 How you been? Great to see you again. So speaking 00:03:12.379 --> 00:03:16.280 in context, fall 2019, my first year of full 00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:18.659 -time teaching, is an era that I speak about 00:03:18.659 --> 00:03:21.379 quite often on this podcast because this was 00:03:21.379 --> 00:03:25.360 a time where we as a community were exiting the 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:27.860 commemoration of the one -year mark of the Stoneman 00:03:27.860 --> 00:03:30.560 Douglas tragedy and while our classroom was just 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:33.400 one city over, as we're working to just really 00:03:33.400 --> 00:03:36.020 make sense as to what trauma -informed learning 00:03:36.020 --> 00:03:39.659 means and meant during that time. So my first 00:03:39.659 --> 00:03:42.639 question is, in terms of being a student in the 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:44.960 K -12 system, we can talk about college as well, 00:03:45.020 --> 00:03:48.860 but I'm most interested in K -12. How did education 00:03:48.860 --> 00:03:52.939 itself either help you or heal you? And especially 00:03:52.939 --> 00:03:55.580 in thinking about the trauma behind Stoneman 00:03:55.580 --> 00:03:59.039 Douglas or even COVID, how did that shape you? 00:03:59.099 --> 00:04:02.500 And where did we succeed you or fail you? And 00:04:02.500 --> 00:04:05.120 how can we as a system make it better for other 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:09.199 students? Yeah, well, the system definitely shaped 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:13.229 me in a variety of ways. I would say the biggest 00:04:13.229 --> 00:04:16.730 help was the fact that it nurtured my need to 00:04:16.730 --> 00:04:19.750 know more. I feel like I was constantly pushed 00:04:19.750 --> 00:04:22.149 from a young age especially in middle school 00:04:22.149 --> 00:04:25.509 to keep going for more and more and more and 00:04:25.509 --> 00:04:27.449 as soon as I would learn something I was pushed 00:04:27.449 --> 00:04:31.439 to learn the next thing which I think cultivated 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:34.319 this sort of hunger to know a lot within me that's 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:37.500 been successful and it's been a big help as I've 00:04:37.500 --> 00:04:40.199 gotten older. I think something that it failed 00:04:40.199 --> 00:04:44.360 to do though was like fully engage us as students. 00:04:44.439 --> 00:04:47.819 I feel that for the most part, with the exception 00:04:47.819 --> 00:04:51.240 of your class of course, for the most part I 00:04:51.240 --> 00:04:55.500 noticed an overuse of like recall -based testing 00:04:55.500 --> 00:04:59.680 and I felt like though we were being pushed to 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:03.360 know more and more, it was kind of just so we 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:06.040 could pass the test and make the grade and then 00:05:06.040 --> 00:05:09.540 forget about it all later, rather than having 00:05:09.540 --> 00:05:13.769 like a scaffolding lesson plan that. We built 00:05:13.769 --> 00:05:16.910 upon as we went. This is why when I was in grade 00:05:16.910 --> 00:05:19.449 school, I gravitated towards math so much because 00:05:19.449 --> 00:05:22.569 I felt that everything I learned, I had to apply 00:05:22.569 --> 00:05:26.209 in the next level in order to like continue my 00:05:26.209 --> 00:05:29.149 knowledge versus in a lot of other classes, I 00:05:29.149 --> 00:05:32.139 could completely memorize something. and then 00:05:32.139 --> 00:05:34.420 completely drop it and just keep going which 00:05:34.420 --> 00:05:37.139 was I feel like something that we used a lot 00:05:37.139 --> 00:05:39.259 in elementary and high school because everyone 00:05:39.259 --> 00:05:41.779 was just so obsessed with achieving these grades 00:05:41.779 --> 00:05:44.420 and like writing the essay doing the paper doing 00:05:44.420 --> 00:05:46.660 this doing that but like nobody was actually 00:05:46.660 --> 00:05:48.379 learning so i feel like that was definitely a 00:05:48.379 --> 00:05:51.579 massive failure on the education front though 00:05:52.160 --> 00:05:54.839 It did push me to be able to learn a lot, which 00:05:54.839 --> 00:05:58.980 I'm glad. I feel also through the trauma, I found 00:05:58.980 --> 00:06:02.040 the system to be quite unforgiving of everything 00:06:02.040 --> 00:06:05.839 that was happening. I did not go to Stoneman 00:06:05.839 --> 00:06:07.699 Douglas. I was obviously in middle school. I 00:06:07.699 --> 00:06:10.000 didn't live in Parkland. However, I did dance 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:12.620 with one of the people who passed away in that 00:06:12.620 --> 00:06:18.379 shooting. Even though all of my teachers and 00:06:18.379 --> 00:06:22.079 the higher ups knew that this had occurred, nobody 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:27.379 really cared. Like I didn't get much sympathy 00:06:27.379 --> 00:06:31.560 beyond like I didn't get much sympathy, period. 00:06:31.579 --> 00:06:34.360 Actually, they would encourage me to go to the 00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:37.060 counselor, but like they didn't understand that 00:06:37.060 --> 00:06:40.160 maybe sitting in a room with somebody who I wasn't 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:42.339 comfortable with, like wasn't what I wanted. 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:45.639 And I felt like nobody really cared if I was 00:06:45.639 --> 00:06:48.040 going through it or not because my grades were 00:06:48.040 --> 00:06:51.040 always good. Maybe if I had some sort of academic 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:53.079 drop off, then they would have cared more. But 00:06:53.079 --> 00:06:55.839 I felt like I was always just perceived as like 00:06:55.839 --> 00:06:58.040 a number throughout everything. And no matter 00:06:58.040 --> 00:07:00.720 what was going on in my own life, really like 00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:04.000 aside from a couple teachers that I had personal 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:06.939 relationships with, in general, the system didn't 00:07:06.939 --> 00:07:08.699 really care because everyone's just a number 00:07:08.699 --> 00:07:12.060 to it. And also through COVID. I know it was 00:07:12.060 --> 00:07:14.339 very unforgiving through COVID because I watched 00:07:14.339 --> 00:07:18.240 so many friends of mine try to combat the burnout 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:20.639 that was happening and their grades were horrible 00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:23.660 and nobody cared. No teachers cared about it 00:07:23.660 --> 00:07:27.100 and there was not a lot of grace at all and that's 00:07:27.100 --> 00:07:28.699 something that a lot of us have had to explain 00:07:28.699 --> 00:07:31.180 in college essays. Colleges are definitely a 00:07:31.180 --> 00:07:33.480 lot more understanding of what COVID did to everybody 00:07:33.480 --> 00:07:36.040 but I felt like Being in middle and high school, 00:07:36.120 --> 00:07:38.579 nobody cared that we were all trapped in our 00:07:38.579 --> 00:07:40.660 houses in a global pandemic. So long as we were 00:07:40.660 --> 00:07:42.500 still getting our work done and getting A's, 00:07:42.620 --> 00:07:44.620 like it didn't matter, which is something that 00:07:44.620 --> 00:07:46.240 led a lot of people to cheat their way through 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:48.699 everything, which is obviously bad. But I'm going 00:07:48.699 --> 00:07:50.319 to start off with a little bit of eighth grade 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:54.240 and then we'll track back till 2020. But in eighth 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:57.959 grade, there was a moment where a group of educators 00:07:57.959 --> 00:08:00.639 and my mother, of course, they wanted to push 00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:04.779 me up because you saw like my passion for English 00:08:04.779 --> 00:08:07.920 and the way that I was excelling in the regular 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:10.660 class and you guys wanted to push me up to honors. 00:08:10.920 --> 00:08:13.139 And then there was a certain group that all because 00:08:13.139 --> 00:08:15.420 of a test score, they didn't want to push me 00:08:15.420 --> 00:08:18.699 up. And I just feel like nobody should be defined 00:08:18.699 --> 00:08:21.199 by a test score. A test score in reality does 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:23.920 not mean the world. I'm definitely not a great 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:27.019 test taker. Like I could know the stuff. I could 00:08:27.019 --> 00:08:29.420 tell it to you. But once I see that pen and paper 00:08:29.420 --> 00:08:32.620 and I hear silence, I can't work in silence personally. 00:08:33.159 --> 00:08:36.700 And there's also just the pressure because in 00:08:36.700 --> 00:08:39.279 middle school and high school, grades were everything. 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:42.679 Grades start determining what college you go 00:08:42.679 --> 00:08:44.980 into. So when I picked up that pen and paper, 00:08:45.059 --> 00:08:47.919 pencil and paper, especially in math, it was 00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:50.960 just something else. So then tracking back a 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:54.059 little bit onto the COVID year. I really feel 00:08:54.059 --> 00:08:57.159 like Zoom was so new at the time, like end of 00:08:57.159 --> 00:08:59.759 eighth grade. You know, we started, there was 00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:01.700 no Zoom. They would just post the assignments. 00:09:01.799 --> 00:09:03.720 You would do them because we all thought we were 00:09:03.720 --> 00:09:06.000 going on this two week break. Unfortunately, 00:09:06.059 --> 00:09:10.799 that two weeks became two years. So it was definitely 00:09:10.799 --> 00:09:14.360 rough because you would get accustomed to just, 00:09:14.460 --> 00:09:18.159 oh, let me just google everything. Let's just 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:20.720 get this done quick. I don't have to meet there. 00:09:20.779 --> 00:09:22.899 I don't have to sit there. So I think definitely 00:09:22.899 --> 00:09:26.379 being in person is a way better environment than 00:09:26.379 --> 00:09:29.320 being on Zoom. I'm very extroverted. So that's 00:09:29.320 --> 00:09:32.080 definitely like the way I feel. Then when it 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:34.860 came to high school, there was definitely like 00:09:34.860 --> 00:09:37.440 a growth when it came to like people that actually 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:40.139 like supported me because the teachers that I 00:09:40.139 --> 00:09:42.779 had in high school for English were amazing. 00:09:42.940 --> 00:09:45.659 I love them all. Learning should be fun. Learning 00:09:45.659 --> 00:09:48.440 shouldn't be like some professors at the university. 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:51.259 It's just them talking. And to me, that's not 00:09:51.259 --> 00:09:53.470 learning. You have to come in with like some 00:09:53.470 --> 00:09:56.250 sort of way to engage your class, because if 00:09:56.250 --> 00:09:58.490 it's not engaging, then what are you paying for? 00:09:59.070 --> 00:10:00.570 Thanks for all that you've both shared about 00:10:00.570 --> 00:10:03.289 that. So then how can we make the existing system 00:10:03.289 --> 00:10:06.490 better for students? And also, what can you share, 00:10:06.509 --> 00:10:08.730 if anything, and if willing, to celebrate your 00:10:08.730 --> 00:10:10.850 success since the time you were both eighth grade 00:10:10.850 --> 00:10:14.919 students in my class five years ago? Just realizing 00:10:14.919 --> 00:10:17.960 that students are people too, especially in that 00:10:17.960 --> 00:10:22.120 middle school age. I think everybody thinks that 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:25.399 we were like children. And I feel that now I've 00:10:25.399 --> 00:10:27.340 earned the right to say this because I am an 00:10:27.340 --> 00:10:30.460 adult. I like when I was in middle school, I 00:10:30.460 --> 00:10:33.460 was fully as sentient as I am now. Like I did 00:10:33.460 --> 00:10:38.190 not. undergo any sort of major like crazy development 00:10:38.190 --> 00:10:41.610 maybe I will when I'm 25 and my brain fully develops 00:10:41.610 --> 00:10:45.070 maybe I'm still a kid I don't know but like those 00:10:45.070 --> 00:10:47.669 young kids they know a lot more than you think 00:10:47.669 --> 00:10:51.309 they do and unfortunately like as everyone keeps 00:10:51.309 --> 00:10:53.309 getting younger and younger and like cell phones 00:10:53.309 --> 00:10:55.629 everything is so readily available these little 00:10:55.629 --> 00:10:57.769 kids now are going through things that a lot 00:10:57.769 --> 00:11:00.399 of people don't go through until they're way 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:02.500 adult life just because of everything that they're 00:11:02.500 --> 00:11:05.360 exposed to so they're like mature enough to have 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:08.679 a real conversation and figure things out and 00:11:08.679 --> 00:11:11.019 they're not necessarily a group of people that 00:11:11.019 --> 00:11:12.940 need to be told what to do every single second 00:11:12.940 --> 00:11:15.399 of every day and they're like actual people so 00:11:15.399 --> 00:11:17.659 I think a lot of times I got written off as just 00:11:17.659 --> 00:11:21.860 being like a edgy like teenager but at the same 00:11:21.860 --> 00:11:25.120 time Like I was a real person having real problems. 00:11:25.139 --> 00:11:28.059 I think just recognizing that these kids that 00:11:28.059 --> 00:11:31.000 everybody claims to be like, yes, the teachers 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:33.340 are teaching them. But at the same time, there 00:11:33.340 --> 00:11:35.799 is a level of like mutual respect that needs 00:11:35.799 --> 00:11:39.519 to be achieved where both parties are perceived 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:42.360 as equivalent in their own humanity. Like just 00:11:42.360 --> 00:11:44.659 because you're a young child doesn't mean that 00:11:44.659 --> 00:11:47.860 you are not good enough to have a real conversation. 00:11:48.460 --> 00:11:50.940 Right. Now, teachers often walk into the classroom. 00:11:51.470 --> 00:11:54.070 And they put their own voice at the center. And 00:11:54.070 --> 00:11:56.309 in doing so, they write off the credibility of 00:11:56.309 --> 00:11:59.830 what the students around them may know. And I 00:11:59.830 --> 00:12:02.450 think starting at the middle school level where 00:12:02.450 --> 00:12:04.710 students have experiences that they can really 00:12:04.710 --> 00:12:07.330 contribute meaningfully, it's really important 00:12:07.330 --> 00:12:10.149 to acknowledge that the educator can be the thought 00:12:10.149 --> 00:12:12.850 leader, but they're not the only thinker in the 00:12:12.850 --> 00:12:15.230 room. And others can be around them to facilitate 00:12:15.230 --> 00:12:17.799 those dialogues. 100 percent. That's something 00:12:17.799 --> 00:12:19.980 as a dance teacher, actually, that I feel like 00:12:19.980 --> 00:12:22.940 I've encountered a lot. Most of my dance teachers 00:12:22.940 --> 00:12:26.759 since I was probably age 13 have like never, 00:12:26.860 --> 00:12:30.809 ever made me. bow down to them as this higher 00:12:30.809 --> 00:12:33.830 power it's always been told as a dancer that 00:12:33.830 --> 00:12:36.649 we're all equal and they might have more knowledge 00:12:36.649 --> 00:12:39.529 and experience than me which is why they're stepping 00:12:39.529 --> 00:12:41.690 into this sort of mentorship role but at the 00:12:41.690 --> 00:12:43.669 end of the day their job is just to facilitate 00:12:43.669 --> 00:12:46.889 growth not to dictate it it's it's been very 00:12:46.889 --> 00:12:49.669 successful I met a lot of amazing people here 00:12:49.669 --> 00:12:52.490 at the university I just finished my first year 00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:55.379 Color commentator for men and women's soccer, 00:12:55.639 --> 00:12:58.919 DJ for men and women's basketball, national champs 00:12:58.919 --> 00:13:02.379 for men's basketball. Amazing season. I miss 00:13:02.379 --> 00:13:06.360 basketball season every day. Work here at the 00:13:06.360 --> 00:13:08.539 radio station, production engineer. A little 00:13:08.539 --> 00:13:12.279 bit about that is that I basically record, edit 00:13:12.279 --> 00:13:16.559 all the liners, PSAs, podcasts, all of that fun 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:20.139 stuff, and then send it over. That gets approved. 00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:23.759 It gets put on the Spotify. That's a little bit 00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:26.019 what I do here when it comes to production engineering. 00:13:26.220 --> 00:13:28.700 I'm also a DJ on the radio and that's been a 00:13:28.700 --> 00:13:32.179 lot of fun. But I can't do none of that without 00:13:32.179 --> 00:13:35.340 the skills I've learned in mastering the arts 00:13:35.340 --> 00:13:39.139 of talking. And people overlook talking as like 00:13:39.139 --> 00:13:41.840 you learn talking when you're a little kid. But 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:43.919 no, in reality, you're learning talking every 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:46.759 day because the more you interact with people, 00:13:46.899 --> 00:13:50.490 the more you start building. relationships and 00:13:50.490 --> 00:13:53.889 you build those relationships and just great 00:13:53.889 --> 00:13:57.350 things come out of that in general. And that's 00:13:57.350 --> 00:13:59.809 stuff you learn in English class when you're 00:13:59.809 --> 00:14:02.149 with your peers. I love that. And I'm thinking 00:14:02.149 --> 00:14:04.690 about what was also a takeaway or even like a 00:14:04.690 --> 00:14:07.470 life lesson that you've gained from being in 00:14:07.470 --> 00:14:09.669 a classroom and how do you still apply it to 00:14:09.669 --> 00:14:11.990 your own life? And what advice would you have 00:14:11.990 --> 00:14:14.509 to other teachers that are working to really 00:14:14.509 --> 00:14:16.929 make a student friendly or student centered classroom? 00:14:17.559 --> 00:14:19.419 that you've experienced in the past as well that's 00:14:19.419 --> 00:14:23.639 worked for you? Yeah, one of my biggest takeaways 00:14:23.639 --> 00:14:27.259 actually did occur in your class. It came from 00:14:27.259 --> 00:14:30.940 the outsider's activity, which I'm sure anyone 00:14:30.940 --> 00:14:32.759 listening to this might already know what it 00:14:32.759 --> 00:14:35.399 is, because I feel like it's been mentioned in 00:14:35.399 --> 00:14:38.179 your work before. Let's see, we were reading 00:14:38.179 --> 00:14:41.159 of mice and men, and we were doing an activity 00:14:41.159 --> 00:14:44.980 on... kind of which characters we could perceive 00:14:44.980 --> 00:14:48.440 as the outsiders within the novel. So we talked 00:14:48.440 --> 00:14:50.419 a lot about like Curly's wife or just people 00:14:50.419 --> 00:14:52.740 who are kind of on the outskirts. And then we 00:14:52.740 --> 00:14:55.059 ended up doing this activity where there was 00:14:55.059 --> 00:14:59.279 a string involved and everybody had to grab the 00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:03.679 string. If they felt alone in some area, there 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:06.480 was a bunch of like question prompts. I don't 00:15:06.480 --> 00:15:08.879 remember exactly what they were, but all of the 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:11.980 questions had to do with feeling alone, doubting 00:15:11.980 --> 00:15:15.580 yourself, struggling with poor mental health. 00:15:15.639 --> 00:15:18.100 There were many, many, many questions. And the 00:15:18.100 --> 00:15:21.320 score was for us to grab the string every single 00:15:21.320 --> 00:15:23.340 time that we agreed with one of those things. 00:15:23.639 --> 00:15:27.850 And then we ended up like. arms tangled everyone's 00:15:27.850 --> 00:15:29.830 grabbing the string everyone's holding on to 00:15:29.830 --> 00:15:34.370 it and you made this really excellent point to 00:15:34.370 --> 00:15:37.610 us about how all of the questions were about 00:15:37.610 --> 00:15:40.409 us feeling like an outsider but then in that 00:15:40.409 --> 00:15:43.169 moment we were all grabbing the string connected 00:15:43.169 --> 00:15:46.149 and our feeling of being outside so it's like 00:15:46.149 --> 00:15:48.090 even though we all felt like we were very alone 00:15:48.090 --> 00:15:50.470 we were actually all together in that feeling 00:15:50.470 --> 00:15:53.539 and I think that's something that I've taken 00:15:53.539 --> 00:15:55.860 with me, like, my whole life, and whenever I 00:15:55.860 --> 00:15:58.700 hear other people say, too, like, oh, nobody 00:15:58.700 --> 00:16:00.799 gets it, like, I'm all alone, I'm like, no, you're 00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:04.600 not, like, it just, it helps to know that no 00:16:04.600 --> 00:16:08.399 matter how alone you might feel, there's other 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:12.059 people who are also feeling alone, and in that, 00:16:12.059 --> 00:16:15.120 you're not alone, even if you're feeling alone 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:17.899 for different reasons, like, that feeling of, 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:20.240 oh, nobody gets me, like, I think everybody has 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:22.789 hit that point at some point, and that is kind 00:16:22.789 --> 00:16:25.850 of what unites us all and something else that 00:16:25.850 --> 00:16:29.389 I adopted from that lesson I kind of took it 00:16:29.389 --> 00:16:32.169 one step further and then every time I would 00:16:32.169 --> 00:16:35.250 like feel like I was completely by myself I would 00:16:35.250 --> 00:16:38.470 like look up and like find a cloud and like do 00:16:38.470 --> 00:16:40.850 the math of how many other people were like also 00:16:40.850 --> 00:16:43.090 probably looking at that cloud at the same time 00:16:43.090 --> 00:16:45.830 and it kind of gave the same vibe as like holding 00:16:45.830 --> 00:16:47.750 on to the string and then seeing everyone else 00:16:47.750 --> 00:16:50.399 hold it So yeah, I feel like it was a nice grounding 00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:53.340 activity, especially for all of us, like angsty 00:16:53.340 --> 00:16:56.759 teenagers in that class. We all felt like nobody 00:16:56.759 --> 00:16:59.820 understood us, but we all actually just understood 00:16:59.820 --> 00:17:01.980 each other perfectly. We were just all too afraid 00:17:01.980 --> 00:17:05.119 to say anything about it. I usually don't say 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:06.599 this in front of people because I don't want 00:17:06.599 --> 00:17:09.859 them to think I'm a little bit nerdy, but I loved, 00:17:09.940 --> 00:17:13.160 I loved in your classroom and still till this 00:17:13.160 --> 00:17:18.279 day, I read it, the telltale heart and the monkey's 00:17:18.279 --> 00:17:22.720 paw. I will never forget that. That was amazing. 00:17:22.980 --> 00:17:28.099 And that's just, without that, I don't feel like 00:17:28.099 --> 00:17:32.359 I would love to like learn English as much if 00:17:32.359 --> 00:17:36.660 it wasn't for that. What worked about them? Definitely 00:17:36.660 --> 00:17:39.660 that little scavenger hunt you had us do. That's 00:17:39.660 --> 00:17:43.539 right. Like I said earlier, I love teachers that 00:17:43.539 --> 00:17:46.380 are like immersive and just like are themselves 00:17:46.380 --> 00:17:49.569 and they want to have fun too. That's a core 00:17:49.569 --> 00:17:52.170 moment for me. Just like the Inside Out movie, 00:17:52.349 --> 00:17:56.230 like the little circles. Yes. I'll never forget 00:17:56.230 --> 00:18:00.029 that. Like that scavenger hunt was so fun. Like 00:18:00.029 --> 00:18:02.250 even just listening to that audio book, because 00:18:02.250 --> 00:18:05.490 I personally don't like reading like as much. 00:18:06.069 --> 00:18:09.630 I prefer somebody like talking, you know, like, 00:18:09.630 --> 00:18:12.509 so let's say I get an assignment for the university. 00:18:13.069 --> 00:18:15.509 I literally like if there's no way for me to 00:18:15.509 --> 00:18:18.289 read it. I copy and paste and put it into like 00:18:18.289 --> 00:18:20.789 Google Translate and I just click. Even if it's 00:18:20.789 --> 00:18:24.730 a horrible like voice, I rather read it self 00:18:24.730 --> 00:18:27.910 to me. But definitely that that definitely shaped 00:18:27.910 --> 00:18:31.609 like a lot of love towards English. And I'm not 00:18:31.609 --> 00:18:34.750 a big poem guy. One thing that I would say that 00:18:34.750 --> 00:18:37.930 you would do is you would be consistent and definitely 00:18:37.930 --> 00:18:41.259 consistency is a key no matter what you do. you 00:18:41.259 --> 00:18:43.640 always have to be consistent what i mean by that 00:18:43.640 --> 00:18:46.039 is like the phone nap time you would be super 00:18:46.039 --> 00:18:49.059 consistent with that the snoopy theme like I 00:18:49.059 --> 00:18:52.099 love the classroom changes you know I was always 00:18:52.099 --> 00:18:55.339 so excited for the months to pass and see the 00:18:55.339 --> 00:18:57.940 different decorations that was super consistent 00:18:57.940 --> 00:19:01.259 definitely consistency is a key another key factor 00:19:01.259 --> 00:19:04.859 is just the teacher like being themselves there's 00:19:04.859 --> 00:19:07.359 some teachers that hold back and follow that 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:11.839 system and you didn't do that You made learning 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:15.079 fun. And if I was never in your classroom, I 00:19:15.079 --> 00:19:16.960 feel like I would still be, you know, like just 00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:19.019 English is whatever. I probably wouldn't even 00:19:19.019 --> 00:19:22.400 be a communication major. Who knows? But definitely 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:24.519 that's that's just one thing you did. Like you 00:19:24.519 --> 00:19:28.180 made us students feel like we were worth something 00:19:28.180 --> 00:19:32.599 and not just kid in a system that should only 00:19:32.599 --> 00:19:35.079 exceed like high expectations, high grades, all 00:19:35.079 --> 00:19:38.849 that fun stuff. So talk to us a little bit more 00:19:38.849 --> 00:19:41.049 about the types of work that you each had a chance 00:19:41.049 --> 00:19:43.650 to produce in school that you still remember 00:19:43.650 --> 00:19:46.569 being proud of today. And I mentioned this knowing 00:19:46.569 --> 00:19:49.250 that, Mandy, you pursue a lot of activities and 00:19:49.250 --> 00:19:52.009 projects around dancing. And Ryan, you spent 00:19:52.009 --> 00:19:55.670 your senior year creating a vlog channel that 00:19:55.670 --> 00:19:59.089 united your entire class of 2024. Tell us about 00:19:59.089 --> 00:20:00.950 some of the projects that you've done that have 00:20:00.950 --> 00:20:03.940 still made an impact on each of you today. Overall, 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:06.000 every project that I've done that I've been proud 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:12.859 of has come from a place of passion, being excited 00:20:12.859 --> 00:20:17.140 to do a project on whatever it is I'm wanting 00:20:17.140 --> 00:20:19.700 to do a project about, and also having the creative 00:20:19.700 --> 00:20:22.480 freedom to do what I want. I think, especially 00:20:22.480 --> 00:20:25.319 in a school setting, it's important for students 00:20:25.319 --> 00:20:29.039 to be able to guide their own learning in a way 00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:32.650 that's authentic to them. Obviously some people 00:20:32.650 --> 00:20:37.569 might not want to do a documentary film or write 00:20:37.569 --> 00:20:39.430 whatever and I think there should be different 00:20:39.430 --> 00:20:41.890 avenues for every student to stay in their niche 00:20:41.890 --> 00:20:44.390 in terms of what they like to do project -wise 00:20:44.390 --> 00:20:47.730 and still put forth their maximum effort because 00:20:47.730 --> 00:20:51.450 if I had to write a paper for every single thing 00:20:51.450 --> 00:20:53.750 that I've ever learned I would probably not be 00:20:53.750 --> 00:20:57.170 as successful as I've been because I don't love 00:20:57.170 --> 00:21:01.549 writing papers as much as I like creating films 00:21:01.549 --> 00:21:04.349 or dances or doing other things I feel like I 00:21:04.349 --> 00:21:08.150 have that outlook on everything so it's nice 00:21:08.150 --> 00:21:10.190 in moments where I've been able to apply that. 00:21:11.049 --> 00:21:13.170 Also some other projects that I do outside of 00:21:13.170 --> 00:21:15.190 school. I have a YouTube channel, subscribe, 00:21:15.670 --> 00:21:19.369 everything. I create a lot of dance films, which 00:21:19.369 --> 00:21:22.309 I love doing. And all of that is just stuff that 00:21:22.309 --> 00:21:24.710 I do for fun. The school system needs to do a 00:21:24.710 --> 00:21:27.730 better job of emphasizing the importance of inputting 00:21:27.730 --> 00:21:29.809 yourself into the work that you're doing and 00:21:29.809 --> 00:21:32.430 finding what works for you and knowing that it's 00:21:32.430 --> 00:21:34.930 okay to stay true to that, even if somebody else 00:21:34.930 --> 00:21:37.680 is suggesting. you do something else because 00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:39.279 at the end of the day especially when you're 00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:42.920 in elementary middle and high school I mean people 00:21:42.920 --> 00:21:45.599 can make you feel like you have to do it a certain 00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:47.799 way but at the end of the day if you do it with 00:21:47.799 --> 00:21:49.900 quality they're not going to give you a bad grade 00:21:49.900 --> 00:21:52.240 and I feel that that's something I had to learn 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:55.640 on my own because I had so many teachers trying 00:21:55.640 --> 00:21:59.200 to force their own methodology onto me but at 00:21:59.200 --> 00:22:01.579 some point I just hit a wall and was like, you 00:22:01.579 --> 00:22:03.200 know what? I'm doing it the way I want to do 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:05.619 it. If I get an F, I get an F. But at the end 00:22:05.619 --> 00:22:07.900 of the day, I was always able to produce quality 00:22:07.900 --> 00:22:10.700 work and nobody can discount that. So like, if 00:22:10.700 --> 00:22:12.519 you're a student listening to this, just do what 00:22:12.519 --> 00:22:14.759 works for you. Obviously don't cheat. Like if 00:22:14.759 --> 00:22:16.980 what works for you is chat GBT, like maybe don't 00:22:16.980 --> 00:22:21.319 do that, but do what works for you so long as 00:22:21.319 --> 00:22:23.460 it has merit and you'll produce work that nobody 00:22:23.460 --> 00:22:27.440 can discount. So definitely going into senior 00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:31.619 year, I always say the story and I'm just super 00:22:31.619 --> 00:22:35.640 proud of it because our class was super divided. 00:22:36.119 --> 00:22:38.920 If you were there in person, trust me, you would 00:22:38.920 --> 00:22:41.140 see. There would always be little groups here, 00:22:41.220 --> 00:22:44.400 little groups there. And the reason why I wanted 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:47.619 to vlog senior year was my mentality going into 00:22:47.619 --> 00:22:50.380 this is like, all right, it's our last year. 00:22:50.460 --> 00:22:53.400 Some of us may never see each other again. Why 00:22:53.400 --> 00:22:55.799 don't we all just come together, enjoy the events, 00:22:56.019 --> 00:22:59.529 have fun. Why do we have to argue in our last 00:22:59.529 --> 00:23:01.309 year? You're never going to see half of these 00:23:01.309 --> 00:23:03.650 people ever again or hear from them. Why is there 00:23:03.650 --> 00:23:06.769 to argue? And another part of the reason is all 00:23:06.769 --> 00:23:10.190 these people always tell me and I never believed 00:23:10.190 --> 00:23:12.470 them. And this is how the same story goes over 00:23:12.470 --> 00:23:15.130 and over. You never believe someone until you're 00:23:15.130 --> 00:23:18.970 there. I would never believe anyone to say, oh, 00:23:19.069 --> 00:23:22.190 senior year goes by super quick. Oh, senior year 00:23:22.190 --> 00:23:25.730 is the most fun. You're going to miss it. Well. 00:23:26.509 --> 00:23:30.529 They were right. I was wrong. Definitely the 00:23:30.529 --> 00:23:34.630 vlogs were a gateway to also, you know, experiment 00:23:34.630 --> 00:23:38.490 a little bit because I did do some university 00:23:38.490 --> 00:23:41.029 vlogs, but definitely being in the university, 00:23:41.109 --> 00:23:43.549 it's a total different environment because you're 00:23:43.549 --> 00:23:45.849 not with the same people like every single day 00:23:45.849 --> 00:23:49.390 for like every year. But the point of the vlogs 00:23:49.390 --> 00:23:52.109 were to, again, bring people together and just 00:23:52.109 --> 00:23:57.480 document it. So by... The first pep rally. The 00:23:57.480 --> 00:24:00.200 theme was the Wild West. Yes. Okay. I remember. 00:24:00.599 --> 00:24:04.680 So the first pep rally was definitely like an 00:24:04.680 --> 00:24:07.440 amazing, like I would say video drop because 00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:10.240 why? It was spirit week that led into the pep 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:12.920 rally. We had our class group chat with like 00:24:12.920 --> 00:24:14.500 most of the students who ever wanted to join. 00:24:14.579 --> 00:24:16.700 We just send them the code and that's where like 00:24:16.700 --> 00:24:19.160 we would keep each other updated, like send texts. 00:24:19.259 --> 00:24:23.880 Oh, do this, do that. Oh, does anybody like. 00:24:24.380 --> 00:24:28.859 need help with this and i was in sga and my mom 00:24:28.859 --> 00:24:33.000 definitely like still tells me that i should 00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:36.680 have went for the ace diploma yes i should have 00:24:36.680 --> 00:24:40.980 but i would not have had as much fun as i did 00:24:40.980 --> 00:24:45.619 senior year then i would have if i went for that 00:24:45.619 --> 00:24:49.940 ace diploma why didn't i go for that it's because 00:24:49.940 --> 00:24:54.170 i just wanted to have fun and like i was taking 00:24:54.170 --> 00:24:56.710 ace classes sophomore and junior year and that 00:24:56.710 --> 00:24:59.670 just took up so much time and i'm like listen 00:24:59.670 --> 00:25:01.609 i'm gonna be a senior this is my last year in 00:25:01.609 --> 00:25:03.849 charter i've been in charter my whole life i 00:25:03.849 --> 00:25:07.150 feel like i deserve some fun so definitely that's 00:25:07.150 --> 00:25:10.329 another reason why i started the vlogs too but 00:25:10.329 --> 00:25:14.000 if i did take those ace classes I wouldn't be 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:17.420 up there with Mr. Jablonka commentating, him 00:25:17.420 --> 00:25:19.599 teaching me the ways of commentating, and that 00:25:19.599 --> 00:25:22.680 led to me now commentating our men and women's 00:25:22.680 --> 00:25:24.420 soccer here at the university. I wouldn't have 00:25:24.420 --> 00:25:27.119 been able to excel my DJ capabilities in practice 00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:30.299 while DJing the football games, DJing the basketball 00:25:30.299 --> 00:25:32.920 games. I wouldn't be able to bring the class 00:25:32.920 --> 00:25:35.339 together in rehearsing for pep rally, trying 00:25:35.339 --> 00:25:38.119 to bring fun. Like you said earlier, I live by 00:25:38.119 --> 00:25:40.240 the phrase, todo es alegría, everything is joyful. 00:25:40.809 --> 00:25:42.690 I wouldn't be able to bring that fund into my 00:25:42.690 --> 00:25:46.730 community. And then by the end of the year, everybody 00:25:46.730 --> 00:25:49.710 was just so united. Nobody wanted to leave each 00:25:49.710 --> 00:25:53.670 other. It was just amazing. And to hear my name 00:25:53.670 --> 00:25:57.829 at graduation be mentioned by both speakers of 00:25:57.829 --> 00:26:00.990 the JAG Pride Award and the principal is amazing. 00:26:01.430 --> 00:26:03.049 I don't know if you remember our class motto 00:26:03.049 --> 00:26:06.009 on the wall. The class motto that we had is our 00:26:06.009 --> 00:26:10.140 moments matter. And I emphasized. To all the 00:26:10.140 --> 00:26:12.240 students, like, you know, when five years from 00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:14.119 now, when you're in college, blah, blah, blah. 00:26:14.200 --> 00:26:16.259 And they all laughed at me and poo -pooed me 00:26:16.259 --> 00:26:19.180 and said, that's his story, won't be mine. And 00:26:19.180 --> 00:26:22.819 what we say in psychology, the excuse that we 00:26:22.819 --> 00:26:25.099 lean into is that, oh, they're 14, their brains 00:26:25.099 --> 00:26:28.299 are underdeveloped. We accept that. But now, 00:26:28.420 --> 00:26:31.640 like you said, when you get to that age, once 00:26:31.640 --> 00:26:34.660 you go through it, it's like, oh, wow, that guy 00:26:34.660 --> 00:26:39.410 from 2019, whoever he was, he was right. Definitely. 00:26:39.490 --> 00:26:41.490 I mean, literally just going back to what I said, 00:26:41.529 --> 00:26:43.910 like you wouldn't believe the stuff people say 00:26:43.910 --> 00:26:47.849 until you actually live it. And that senior year 00:26:47.849 --> 00:26:52.250 was definitely like making my moment matter. 00:26:52.849 --> 00:26:57.049 I actually on my laptop, I have your quote. that 00:26:57.049 --> 00:27:00.069 you had on your wall and that sits on my laptop 00:27:00.069 --> 00:27:03.710 uh wall screen it will never leave and it's just 00:27:03.710 --> 00:27:06.549 a photo of like all my friends like family uh 00:27:06.549 --> 00:27:08.990 people that like i really care about you're you're 00:27:08.990 --> 00:27:12.690 on the wallpaper it was work hard not to prove 00:27:12.690 --> 00:27:14.789 your critics wrong but to prove your believers 00:27:14.789 --> 00:27:19.329 right yep there it is my mom has said this so 00:27:19.329 --> 00:27:22.890 many times and i completely agree with her you're 00:27:22.890 --> 00:27:27.559 at school throughout your core education more 00:27:27.559 --> 00:27:30.539 than you are at home your teachers are like your 00:27:30.539 --> 00:27:33.180 mother and father your brother your sister you 00:27:33.180 --> 00:27:35.619 spend more time with them than you spend with 00:27:35.619 --> 00:27:39.079 your own family at home for five days of the 00:27:39.079 --> 00:27:44.380 week unless you're sick but and and that's that's 00:27:44.380 --> 00:27:47.779 true i i couldn't have said it or heard it better 00:27:47.779 --> 00:27:52.579 myself because Your school is your home and your 00:27:52.579 --> 00:27:56.500 core education is what you thrive on. And the 00:27:56.500 --> 00:27:58.559 way that you're taught manners at home, like 00:27:58.559 --> 00:28:01.519 saying, yes, ma 'am, yes, sir, no, ma 'am, no, 00:28:01.599 --> 00:28:05.400 sir, is in reality the way you are taught in 00:28:05.400 --> 00:28:09.880 school. That's just the way it works. Absolutely. 00:28:10.279 --> 00:28:12.140 And it sounds like what Ryan's saying is that 00:28:12.140 --> 00:28:15.839 authenticity is one of the most important factors 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:18.480 that we can have in the classroom. When a teacher 00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:22.779 is not being authentic, it's easy to catch on 00:28:22.779 --> 00:28:26.039 to. I think when I was starting to lose my interest, 00:28:26.160 --> 00:28:28.480 it was very obvious to your class. And I remember 00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:31.339 there was one time that Ryan came up to me during 00:28:31.339 --> 00:28:33.200 a group activity. Do you remember this conversation? 00:28:33.539 --> 00:28:37.039 He said to me, Mr. Weisler, Mr. Weisler, my cousin 00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:40.019 wants to go into education. What advice do you 00:28:40.019 --> 00:28:43.220 have for her? Do you remember my advice? Don't 00:28:43.220 --> 00:28:45.880 do it. What was the advice I told you to give 00:28:45.880 --> 00:28:49.759 your cousin? I remember this. You said it would 00:28:49.759 --> 00:28:53.420 be easier to be a garbage truck driver than to 00:28:53.420 --> 00:28:55.880 be an educator. That's exactly what I said. That's 00:28:55.880 --> 00:28:59.019 exactly what you said. I'll never forget that. 00:28:59.619 --> 00:29:03.619 Under oath, yep. And I think when you get to 00:29:03.619 --> 00:29:09.640 that mentality, it was easy to realize how passionless 00:29:09.640 --> 00:29:12.700 or how unhappy the system can make educators 00:29:12.700 --> 00:29:16.220 and students at some point. If you could tell 00:29:16.220 --> 00:29:17.940 yourself either something from either middle 00:29:17.940 --> 00:29:20.680 or high school or say something to a former teacher 00:29:20.680 --> 00:29:22.859 that has impacted you in either a positive or 00:29:22.859 --> 00:29:26.119 negative sense or both, what would you say to 00:29:26.119 --> 00:29:29.400 that person? Essentially, what words of wisdom 00:29:29.400 --> 00:29:32.599 would you tell your middle school self? The advice 00:29:32.599 --> 00:29:36.720 that I would give myself. First of all, I would 00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:39.559 definitely say like calm down. What you're doing 00:29:39.559 --> 00:29:42.519 in middle school is not going to impact your 00:29:42.519 --> 00:29:45.480 life for better or for worse. And it's OK to 00:29:45.480 --> 00:29:49.059 not get 100 on every single assignment. It's 00:29:49.059 --> 00:29:52.180 OK to not be the best one at everything. I think 00:29:52.180 --> 00:29:54.700 it's actually better to not be the best one at 00:29:54.700 --> 00:29:58.480 everything. So I would first say like just chill 00:29:58.480 --> 00:30:00.779 out and it's fine and you're going to be fine. 00:30:01.319 --> 00:30:05.599 I would also say. Focus on your passions more 00:30:05.599 --> 00:30:09.119 than the grade. Make work that you're proud of, 00:30:09.140 --> 00:30:15.400 even if that means it not being perfect. If you 00:30:15.400 --> 00:30:18.200 are writing something and you're not agreeing 00:30:18.200 --> 00:30:21.420 with what you're writing, stop doing that and 00:30:21.420 --> 00:30:24.799 change it so you do agree with it. Because at 00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:28.980 the end of the day, If you don't get 100 on every 00:30:28.980 --> 00:30:31.519 single assignment, it's OK, so long as you're 00:30:31.519 --> 00:30:33.819 proud of what you're making. If you're always 00:30:33.819 --> 00:30:36.539 getting A's or always getting perfect grades, 00:30:36.700 --> 00:30:39.319 but you don't like any of the things that you're 00:30:39.319 --> 00:30:41.480 doing to do it, you're going to burn out and 00:30:41.480 --> 00:30:45.500 it's going to be really hard to get back on track 00:30:45.500 --> 00:30:47.779 in terms of making things that you like and are 00:30:47.779 --> 00:30:51.819 proud of. Yeah, so I would definitely tell her 00:30:51.819 --> 00:30:55.769 to like not care about the grades so much. and 00:30:55.769 --> 00:30:58.250 care a little bit more about actually being proud 00:30:58.250 --> 00:31:01.009 of the stuff that I'm making because then the 00:31:01.009 --> 00:31:03.069 grade will come if you're proud of what's happening 00:31:03.069 --> 00:31:05.309 the grade will come to you you'll get a good 00:31:05.309 --> 00:31:07.069 grade if you're really putting your full effort 00:31:07.069 --> 00:31:09.809 into everything the grade will come and you'll 00:31:09.809 --> 00:31:12.710 be proud of it which is really important versus 00:31:12.710 --> 00:31:14.789 if you do the opposite you're just gonna burn 00:31:14.789 --> 00:31:17.829 out and not like anything that you're doing and 00:31:17.829 --> 00:31:23.269 also not like yourself um let's see what would 00:31:23.269 --> 00:31:30.539 I say To my teachers. I think this applies to 00:31:30.539 --> 00:31:33.720 basically every teacher that I have had, really. 00:31:34.019 --> 00:31:36.799 Almost every single teacher that I've had, their 00:31:36.799 --> 00:31:40.000 class has changed me in some way. And I think 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:42.380 it's important for all of them to know that. 00:31:42.859 --> 00:31:47.390 Even the teachers that. I disliked or that disliked 00:31:47.390 --> 00:31:50.349 me. Their class did change me in some sort of 00:31:50.349 --> 00:31:53.410 way, perhaps realizing that I wasn't fond of 00:31:53.410 --> 00:31:55.630 certain traits or teaching me what I didn't like, 00:31:55.670 --> 00:31:58.250 but every class has taught me something. I think 00:31:58.250 --> 00:32:01.509 that's super important to say. And to the teachers 00:32:01.509 --> 00:32:06.730 that really took the extra time to get to know 00:32:06.730 --> 00:32:09.799 their students and just Let them know that they 00:32:09.799 --> 00:32:12.500 understood, even if they didn't really do anything, 00:32:12.740 --> 00:32:15.380 just letting them know that they were like present 00:32:15.380 --> 00:32:18.039 in their students' lives. I especially thank 00:32:18.039 --> 00:32:22.480 them because there's nothing worse than sitting 00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:25.539 in a classroom and feeling like you don't mean 00:32:25.539 --> 00:32:29.700 jack to your teacher. And I've had teachers that 00:32:29.700 --> 00:32:34.579 will tell all of us that. We are all there learning 00:32:34.579 --> 00:32:37.099 from them that this is their classroom and that 00:32:37.099 --> 00:32:39.960 they don't care whether I get an A or pass the 00:32:39.960 --> 00:32:43.220 exam because it's their class. And to those teachers, 00:32:43.359 --> 00:32:46.000 I would like to say you're a bad teacher because 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:48.319 you should care about your students. And also 00:32:48.319 --> 00:32:50.700 it's a huge reflection on you if we get it or 00:32:50.700 --> 00:32:54.000 don't get it. So I think that is something that. 00:32:54.509 --> 00:32:57.230 is important but I definitely had a lot more 00:32:57.230 --> 00:33:00.089 teachers who were concerned about our lives than 00:33:00.089 --> 00:33:02.730 teachers who weren't and for all of those good 00:33:02.730 --> 00:33:05.529 job on your career choice you did a good job 00:33:05.529 --> 00:33:10.089 because yeah and also my mom is a teacher shout 00:33:10.089 --> 00:33:13.450 out Amy um my mother is a teacher and I think 00:33:13.450 --> 00:33:17.170 this has given me a very specific mindset when 00:33:17.170 --> 00:33:19.690 it comes to meeting teachers and dealing with 00:33:19.690 --> 00:33:23.400 them because I know that my teachers are people 00:33:23.400 --> 00:33:26.339 too. A lot of students don't think about that 00:33:26.339 --> 00:33:30.660 at all, which is completely fair. Honestly, the 00:33:30.660 --> 00:33:33.900 only reason I do recognize my teachers as their 00:33:33.900 --> 00:33:36.039 own human beings is probably because my mother 00:33:36.039 --> 00:33:38.940 was one. And I grew up having her talk about 00:33:38.940 --> 00:33:42.700 her students and stuff like that. So I've always 00:33:42.700 --> 00:33:45.400 recognized that my teachers are people. I think 00:33:45.400 --> 00:33:49.690 my peers could do a better job doing that. Also, 00:33:49.769 --> 00:33:52.609 for all my teachers who show who are brave enough 00:33:52.609 --> 00:33:55.349 to show their humanity in the classroom, like 00:33:55.349 --> 00:33:58.930 keep it up and we see you. And even though not 00:33:58.930 --> 00:34:04.069 every student is a dream to have, you are making 00:34:04.069 --> 00:34:08.369 an impact on their life regardless. And it's 00:34:08.369 --> 00:34:11.250 OK to show that your students that you're a person, 00:34:11.329 --> 00:34:14.050 too. They'll probably like you a lot more if 00:34:14.050 --> 00:34:16.670 you appeal to their sense of humanity, because 00:34:16.670 --> 00:34:19.639 when you lead a class with ego. Everyone hates 00:34:19.639 --> 00:34:22.500 it, you know. But when you're a person, everyone 00:34:22.500 --> 00:34:23.980 loves it. That's why everyone loved you, Mr. 00:34:24.039 --> 00:34:26.300 Weisler, because you had that board and you said, 00:34:26.340 --> 00:34:29.079 yesterday I got two hours of sleep. And we all 00:34:29.079 --> 00:34:33.400 knew you were telling the truth. You weren't 00:34:33.400 --> 00:34:35.320 sitting there telling us, oh, you need to get 00:34:35.320 --> 00:34:38.159 eight hours, you need to do this, whatever. You 00:34:38.159 --> 00:34:40.739 were just an open, honest person, which is something 00:34:40.739 --> 00:34:46.170 that is lacking nowadays on all sides. The more 00:34:46.170 --> 00:34:49.510 authentic and real you can be, the more your 00:34:49.510 --> 00:34:52.050 students will like you. And if you're a real 00:34:52.050 --> 00:34:54.090 person and your students don't like you, they're 00:34:54.090 --> 00:34:56.630 just not the right student. You know, better 00:34:56.630 --> 00:34:58.809 to be a teacher that you're proud of and have 00:34:58.809 --> 00:35:01.590 some students maybe not love you as much than 00:35:01.590 --> 00:35:04.530 to be a dictator and all your students pretend 00:35:04.530 --> 00:35:07.090 to love you, but secretly they hate you. That's 00:35:07.090 --> 00:35:12.170 better. I would just really say just keep being 00:35:12.170 --> 00:35:16.139 yourself. Keep being that goofy kid that tries 00:35:16.139 --> 00:35:19.840 to bring joy in others and just don't stop waking 00:35:19.840 --> 00:35:22.219 up every day and just trying to be better each 00:35:22.219 --> 00:35:25.119 and every day. For the teachers that have impacted 00:35:25.119 --> 00:35:28.900 me positively, I would definitely say keep being 00:35:28.900 --> 00:35:32.889 yourself, keep being like the star you are. You've 00:35:32.889 --> 00:35:35.849 definitely helped me grow in my way of communicating 00:35:35.849 --> 00:35:38.710 with others, in my way of just being able to 00:35:38.710 --> 00:35:41.130 understand writing, being able to be professional 00:35:41.130 --> 00:35:45.550 now that I'm in university. And for the one, 00:35:45.570 --> 00:35:48.909 because there's only one English teacher that 00:35:48.909 --> 00:35:53.269 I just didn't like at all. I'm going to prove 00:35:53.269 --> 00:35:56.889 you wrong. And, you know, I hope you're enjoying 00:35:56.889 --> 00:36:02.570 life at home with your cats. And is there anything 00:36:02.570 --> 00:36:04.230 that we haven't touched on in our conversation 00:36:04.230 --> 00:36:06.829 that you wanted to or wish to address or any 00:36:06.829 --> 00:36:09.210 final thoughts you have for our listeners? For 00:36:09.210 --> 00:36:13.869 anybody listening to this right now, I think 00:36:13.869 --> 00:36:18.170 it's important to be your true authentic self, 00:36:18.389 --> 00:36:24.030 no matter what, and let that true authentic self 00:36:24.030 --> 00:36:26.909 come through in everything that you're doing. 00:36:28.110 --> 00:36:33.050 Because As a dancer, I've been taught to let 00:36:33.050 --> 00:36:38.110 my own personal movement style slash individuality 00:36:38.110 --> 00:36:40.650 come through in every single thing that I do. 00:36:41.969 --> 00:36:46.829 And that's been hard, but doing that has made 00:36:46.829 --> 00:36:50.090 me better at dancing, first of all, and also 00:36:50.090 --> 00:36:52.690 just made me a lot more confident in who I am 00:36:52.690 --> 00:36:55.789 as a person. And I think it's important to just 00:36:55.789 --> 00:36:59.170 always stay true to that person that you are 00:36:59.170 --> 00:37:02.110 and make sure that the things that you're doing 00:37:02.110 --> 00:37:04.409 and the choices that you're making are aligning 00:37:04.409 --> 00:37:07.289 with that person that you are and who you are 00:37:07.289 --> 00:37:10.690 constantly becoming. Because I think a lot of 00:37:10.690 --> 00:37:13.469 people feel that they have to act a certain way 00:37:13.469 --> 00:37:17.630 for their job or because of whatever class they're 00:37:17.630 --> 00:37:21.150 taking or the friends that they have. But honestly, 00:37:21.329 --> 00:37:24.869 if you try to be something different, it's never 00:37:24.869 --> 00:37:27.349 going to work because also everybody can tell 00:37:27.349 --> 00:37:30.530 when you're just putting on a show. So I think 00:37:30.530 --> 00:37:33.369 it's really important to let the person that 00:37:33.369 --> 00:37:36.489 you are and the person that you're becoming shine 00:37:36.489 --> 00:37:38.869 through in everything that you do, not just in 00:37:38.869 --> 00:37:40.849 your personality, but in the work that you're 00:37:40.849 --> 00:37:45.489 doing in school, at work, interpersonally, heck, 00:37:45.590 --> 00:37:47.309 when you're cooking your dinner, like you should 00:37:47.309 --> 00:37:50.789 be yourself 100 % of the time. And understand 00:37:50.789 --> 00:37:53.230 that that's the most important, because if not, 00:37:53.250 --> 00:37:55.409 you're going to accidentally become somebody 00:37:55.409 --> 00:37:58.110 that you dislike. I know so many people specifically 00:37:58.110 --> 00:38:01.869 in college that are like in finance, and they 00:38:01.869 --> 00:38:05.090 believe that in order to become successful in 00:38:05.090 --> 00:38:08.210 finance, they have to turn themselves into Patrick 00:38:08.210 --> 00:38:10.670 Bateman. And they have to play the game and get 00:38:10.670 --> 00:38:12.349 so good at smoothing that they like completely 00:38:12.349 --> 00:38:14.989 lose the person they are. But when in reality, 00:38:15.090 --> 00:38:16.949 the people who are most successful in that field, 00:38:16.969 --> 00:38:20.420 like. understand their own personal beliefs and 00:38:20.420 --> 00:38:22.260 values and they stick to them and that's what 00:38:22.260 --> 00:38:24.679 people are drawn to so I think that's really 00:38:24.679 --> 00:38:28.300 important to like stay true to the person that 00:38:28.300 --> 00:38:31.820 you're becoming unbecoming and reinventing all 00:38:31.820 --> 00:38:36.400 the time I just want them to gain that one the 00:38:36.400 --> 00:38:40.320 teachers deserve more respect because there are 00:38:40.320 --> 00:38:43.639 some teachers that do struggle outside of the 00:38:43.639 --> 00:38:47.159 classroom and have a lot of stress of stuff that 00:38:47.159 --> 00:38:49.239 happens in the classroom and they don't get the 00:38:49.239 --> 00:38:52.179 proper respect that they deserve. So definitely 00:38:52.179 --> 00:38:55.320 respect your teachers. Definitely, I feel like 00:38:55.320 --> 00:38:58.119 all teachers, because I've talked to teachers 00:38:58.119 --> 00:39:00.840 before, I've talked to you before. Some teachers 00:39:00.840 --> 00:39:04.179 are very open to like formatting their way of 00:39:04.179 --> 00:39:06.239 teaching in a different way, if that makes sense. 00:39:06.699 --> 00:39:11.440 But definitely just be open with them and be 00:39:11.440 --> 00:39:15.380 yourself. Because if... an educator doesn't see 00:39:15.380 --> 00:39:18.699 you for who you are like if you're just that 00:39:18.699 --> 00:39:20.880 student that just oh like i don't want to be 00:39:20.880 --> 00:39:23.800 at school oh i just want to sit in the back of 00:39:23.800 --> 00:39:26.719 class be on my phone do nothing don't waste your 00:39:26.719 --> 00:39:29.000 time doing that don't waste your time doom scrolling 00:39:29.000 --> 00:39:32.559 show your potential and show your educator who 00:39:32.559 --> 00:39:35.219 you are and who you can be because teachers are 00:39:35.219 --> 00:39:38.239 great teachers are your family thank you so much 00:39:38.239 --> 00:39:40.460 for tuning in and we hope you enjoyed our first 00:39:40.460 --> 00:39:44.019 round table from the weissler alumni panel and 00:39:44.019 --> 00:39:46.960 in the new school year let's focus on the values 00:39:46.960 --> 00:39:51.139 of authenticity flexibility and mindfulness as 00:39:51.139 --> 00:39:53.699 ways to become united as students and teachers 00:39:53.699 --> 00:39:57.599 while making our moments in school matter thank 00:39:57.599 --> 00:39:59.400 you for joining us on the classroom narratives 00:39:59.840 --> 00:40:02.559 Healing and Education podcast. If today's episode 00:40:02.559 --> 00:40:05.179 inspired you or made you think differently, I'd 00:40:05.179 --> 00:40:07.539 love to hear from you. Drop a comment or review 00:40:07.539 --> 00:40:10.400 wherever you listen to podcasts and stay connected 00:40:10.400 --> 00:40:12.920 with us on the At Classroom Narratives podcast 00:40:12.920 --> 00:40:16.219 over Instagram and Facebook. Remember, together 00:40:16.219 --> 00:40:19.460 we can transform our scars into stars in education, 00:40:19.820 --> 00:40:22.099 one conversation at a time.