The Kids are Not Alright, but Why?

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You are listening to the Balancing Act podcast. Here's your hosts,

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Jamie Wanko and Joe Vitale.

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Hello, and welcome back to the officially recording podcast. Oh, nice.

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The Balancing Act. Hello there, Mr. Vitale. I'm Jamie Wanko. How are you doing?

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I'm doing just fine there, Ms. Wanko. So I'm having a wonderful day today.

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It's just a wonderful day. Oh, my gosh. I have my salmon-colored shirt on.

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I'm enjoying some hopefully nicer weather soon, although I'm tired of standing

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outside in children's sporting events and freezing.

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Oh. A few years ago, my wife got me an Amazon find. It was a battery-operated heated jacket.

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Yeah, I think you've mentioned that before. And it is glorious.

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So doesn't that keep you toasty it does keep me

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toasty um but it's still cold because

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i'm a wuss when it comes to the cold uh yeah and

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it's just nice that we are officially in springtime big

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ups to spring springtime all pollen all the time what are you looking forward

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to what are you looking forward to this spring there buddy what are you looking

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forward to what am i looking forward to this spring well i was doing um as i

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do i often do at this time of year i like to do how many weeks of school are left,

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exactly what it is that I want to accomplish before the end of the school year,

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how many weeks. I like it.

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And then I like to make like I, you know, it's very fancy.

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I take like a eight and a half by 11, you know, copy paper page and I just make

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enough, you know, and I kind of plan it out so that I can see exactly how many weeks.

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And then also all the things that are going to come up in between as far as

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class trips or celebrations or just anything else that might,

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a testing, of course, testing, testing, one, two, three, all the testing that comes through.

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So I like to map out, you know, how many topics I have left to cover and what

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are the things that are most important for me to get to.

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And then, you know, kind of be able to say, all right, well,

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this is how many days we really have.

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And, you know, so we're kind of just getting ready for the, if not,

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you know, tipping right over into our last marking period. Which is crazy. Yeah.

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This year, I don't know. I don't know if you feel the same way,

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but this year more than any, it's like I blink and here we are.

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I feel like we are just in September and I'm never one for wishing time away.

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I really, I really, you know, I don't want to do that because,

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you know, you want to enjoy and be in the moment.

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When you're with your family, when you're with your friends,

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you want to enjoy that time.

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But like, it just goes so quickly this year.

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So it's crazy to think that we're almost into that fourth marking period time frame. It is.

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So you talked about work stuff. Like, what are you looking to accomplish work-wise by the end of the year?

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Just like projects and stuff like that? You know, I mean, we did Mega Project.

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That was a project that the three of us that all teach the same subject in eighth

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grade. We did a MAGA project together.

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And the kids, it was like backed by popular demand.

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All three of us have been asked multiple times, four, I should say four,

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because one of the classes has two teachers in it.

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Well, they're together like how you are.

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They're together three out of the four classes that he teaches.

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So there are, you know, four of us for majority of the day.

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And um and so i have to say like the kids just keep

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asking can we do that again are we going to do that again so like

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none of us can ignore that the the absolute you

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know um interest that the kids have so we already know when we're doing it again

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that's great it's good it's great to lean into that too like if the kids really

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want to do it like not not to change the subject but i just did a mock trial

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with my students um and i told them like i have others like they really enjoyed

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it. And I was like, I want to do those with you.

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I said, you know, I got some things I need to accomplish with you guys,

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but like, you know, we'll do another one. I got one about Goldilocks and the three bears.

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I got one, you know, and, and they're very, they're very good.

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And they've even come in a couple of times. Okay. Are we doing that trial thing

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again? I'm like, we're going to get to it.

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I promise. I'm not just saying that we are going to do another mock trial, but I need to do that.

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That's the thing. I need to do the same thing that, that you did.

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Like, I need to sit down and look it over because I also have things I want

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to accomplish by the end of the year.

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Normally now is when I start diving into, in a deeper fashion, when we do DBQs.

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And the DBQ project book that we have, because I like to do those because I

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think it gives students a good idea about their writing and finding their voice.

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And what I also like about it is it teaches students that you need to know multiple

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sides of the argument in order to make your argument stronger.

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So if you're going to argue that I use an example of you're going to argue that

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the fifth Harry Potter book is the most influential one to the story,

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then you have to stick with that.

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But also know why the other ones aren't as strong. You have to know the resources

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and the information behind it.

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So I work with them through that process. And I enjoy it.

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I enjoy doing the writing with them to try to teach them the process.

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Because I also try to say, you might do these in the eighth grade.

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You also might decide you want to take an AP course in the high school.

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And they're like, because they offer world history AP for freshmen in the district that we work in.

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And a lot of them were kind of looking at me. and I was like,

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they're like, why are you talking about a freshman class? Like we're in seventh grade.

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I'm like, well, by this time, yeah, by this time next year, you'll have made

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your eighth grade schedule.

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Right. So we might as well start exposing you to some of the things in a smaller

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fashion of what you're going to see. So you can make an informed decision. I'm a good writer.

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I'm a critical thinker. Therefore I can take this challenging course or I'm not good at this.

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So I'm not going to, that's a good thing to know.

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Um, or it's something I really want to get better at. Yeah. What about that?

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I want to work to improve.

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Absolutely. And what is something personally you want to do this spring?

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What are you looking to do?

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Looking forward to? What am I looking forward to this spring?

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Well, I have some, um, theater that I'm going to be seeing and,

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um, I'm very much looking forward to that.

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Just getting some tickets for Legally Blonde, the musical.

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Um, so I'm excited about that. And last year I actually planted a garden,

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um, and things actually grew.

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Um, so I'll be looking forward to that again. I had a lot of delicious basil,

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um, tomatoes, uh, and some other things like that. So we'll definitely do that again.

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Um, I want to put my, um, hot tub out a little earlier this summer than I did last year. I like it.

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And, um, and so last year we had, um, a bunch of work done on our house.

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So we did not put it up until after we came back.

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Cause it was kind of like, why put it out? And then you got to put it away.

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You know, we have this inflatable hot tub, totally recommend 10 out of 10. Is it a game changer?

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I mean, I wouldn't call it a game changer cause I wouldn't want to offend anybody,

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but, um, you know, it was definitely like, it was a fun, it was a fun birthday

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present a couple of years ago. And it is something that, um.

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You know, we just enjoy so much.

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And, um, and so it was really nice. Um, you know, and then we say like,

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Oh, you know, you have a pool.

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So, you know, it's like, you kind of say like, yeah, I'm going to leave it up to September.

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And then it's like one September comes and like, just like a thousand things back going on.

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Um, but I definitely, like, you know, it was like, we just have to get,

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we have to take this down. We just have like one less thing to worry about, you know?

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Um, so I definitely think that getting in on like the earlier side.

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Um, so I'd like to have that.

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And, um, it's just so nice to the sun to be shining, to be getting outside and

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having, um, a little bit more, you know, time to walk and I love taking walks.

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So just those kinds of things I'm really looking forward to my,

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you know, girls are in a show in May.

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Um, so that's really exciting. So that'll be like a pretty busy thing.

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And, um, you know, and then of course, like, you know, we have,

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um, cotillion and there's just like all these different things that are popping up.

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So I was actually in looking at, you know, because we have 11 weeks left of the school year, um,

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10, 11 weeks that at this point, I don't know when this is gonna,

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you know, come out, but, um, it really is, um, a shorter amount of time than,

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you know, sometimes you think like, oh, it's going to be long,

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but it's, it's really not.

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So that's the thing too, as we move to close the one marking period,

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like I'm, I'm already thinking like, okay, when we start the next one, I want to front load the.

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You know, get some grading done as quickly as possible into the marking period

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because it ends so abruptly when we get to June.

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I mean, trade secret for me, it's not a secret.

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I'm sure lots of people do this, but I close every marking period a week early

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and start a week early and.

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Especially second marking period because the holidays come and hit the kids

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really hard, whether they celebrate Christmas or not.

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Like the season is the reason to not do your homework. So, or work or,

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you know, that everybody just gets so distracted.

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So I feel like second and fourth, it's kind of like you really have to sort

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of get going and have like a handle on that because, yeah.

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And even just, you know, once the weather turns again and we start feeling the

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warmth, they really get, you know, antsy.

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They start hearing the magical sound of summer, the ice cream man riding around the streets.

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Yeah yeah i'm looking forward to uh you know i did get my jeep so i have the uh little uh.

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Mechanical top thingy so i'm looking forward to opening up

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the top i've done it like on one or two warm days just to

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drive around a little bit nice that was nice uh i'm

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gonna i want to sneak out with our older golden retriever

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darius and put him in the damn jeep and drive down to

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island beach state park and just let him run around on the

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sand and because you know i hate sand um and.

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And you know jump in the water because he loves the beach um

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i'm hoping to be able to do that now how will you prepare him

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to get back in your car to drive him back home i'll

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figure it out um no honestly

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i'll be hermetically seal him you know no no

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no honestly it's we it's weird with dogs like they

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don't get as sandy as you would think they kind of shake off and

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everything just kind of like like kind of goes off it's

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their paws that you worry about and then towels wipe them

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off i mean who's the psycho me or joe let's compare um

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you know i my theory is like you

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go to the beach you have your stuff you come

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off the beach you you know shake shake

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swap you know you swat a little bit at your

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leg feet you know get the majority off everybody and

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then um you know at the end of the summer you you

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go to the car wash and you vacuum all

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the stand away and say like goodbye summer i watched

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my car i watched my mr vitali and family have

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been not anymore we don't really do that anymore we

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were when they were younger right because this could be a really good question

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for our list listeners um especially those that go to the beach communities

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do you um you know do you spend like a good 45 minutes um at your car cleaning

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or he'll say it's not 45 minutes but we were home and already having dinner

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and they were still cleaning themselves.

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I was just curious. That is not true. Uh.

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But no, we did do a lot of clean off because my daughter. I know. We saw you.

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My son was also like a chafe monster. So we were trying to get all this because

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he hates having sand in his bathing suit. So we were always like, let's get it out.

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And he would always do like that one last dip where he'd like run in and then

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he would be a breaded chicken cutlet when he got to the car.

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So we would just try and get it off because it was like everywhere.

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But no, it's just I have like a I have like an old sheet that I put in the back.

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I throw everything in there and then i pull

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the sheet out and shake it throw back in that was old joe not

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new lazy fair joe i mean you know

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when you're lazy fair joe i'm taking i'm taking lessons

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from my son who i'm not sure is my child because he

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is the most go with the flow child on the history of the in the

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history of the universe he's just like meh but what when

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you know joe you need a suit yeah what do you

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want it to be i don't know i don't know i'll figure it out like how are

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you when when like do you know it needs

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to be purchased like and you know

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might need to be tailored a little bit to like fit your so yeah so anyway um

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but yeah i'm looking forward to that i'm looking forward to the weather just

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being warmer being outdoors playing a little golf yeah definitely enjoying the

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outdoors because it's been a long you know it's been a long winter for a variety

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of reasons it was chilly it was there was definitely some chilly points although So my, um,

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my recent gas bill would think that I live in the Biltmore state and that that's

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what I was, you know, that's what I was heating up.

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Um, you know, I am very old fashioned. I was one of the last people to get online banking.

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Um, and when I finally did it, I couldn't let go of my old system.

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So I do like half and half, but my, um, system was always to make my own, um, chart.

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And the chart has like all of the bills that I pay.

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And then all of the months, of course, you know, it goes from like July to June or whatever.

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And, and, and so I have like just in one little packet, like five,

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the last five years of all the bills that I've paid and how much I've paid.

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So the other day when the gas bill came, I was like, say what now?

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What are you talking about, Willis?

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Right? And I had to look like 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2022. It was so much more.

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And I understand that they are increasing our, you know, it's just one of those things.

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But it was crazy. It was about $65 higher than it had been.

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For the last five years. It's just, I don't, yeah, you know,

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and I love, I don't want to get into a political statement, but like,

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you know, everybody, Democrats, Republicans, this person doesn't like,

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like, okay, let's start.

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I realized that wealth drives, you know, economies and creates jobs,

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but like our companies that are like billion dollar companies that are crying

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losses, But yet they're still making, you know,

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hand over fist on the little people like us, even though we have this gigantic

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podcast on human content. It's so true.

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I have this boy in my fourth period. And he always is like, Ms.

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Wonka, I know you're rich.

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I'm like, you do?

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Really? And he's like, oh, yeah. He's like, I just look at you and I can tell. You've got money.

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It's just so funny. And I'm like, I, thank you.

00:15:03.700 --> 00:15:07.860
And for him, it's like, and it's such a like, you know, compliment.

00:15:08.340 --> 00:15:12.320
And it just cracks me out because I'm like, are you my first grade teacher?

00:15:12.460 --> 00:15:17.240
You know, my first grade teacher, Mrs. Del Mastro, told my parents at my conference,

00:15:17.480 --> 00:15:21.020
like the conference when they went, Jamie really needs to marry wealthy.

00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:24.700
Oh. You know, Mrs. Del Mastro, she was my girl.

00:15:24.820 --> 00:15:28.200
I used to sit right next to her desk so we could chat. um

00:15:28.200 --> 00:15:33.440
and um she was going through a divorce i knew

00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:36.300
all about her divorce i knew like she was like a single

00:15:36.300 --> 00:15:41.160
you know raising her daughter at six

00:15:41.160 --> 00:15:43.920
you know so um anyway it just i we always

00:15:43.920 --> 00:15:48.340
laugh because i'm like damn it mrs domastro i should have listened to you not

00:15:48.340 --> 00:15:54.480
married for love just but anyway i chose love what can i say i mean and that

00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:59.420
is always the right choice so i mean We've been rambling on about our springs

00:15:59.420 --> 00:16:01.280
and everything else. What are we talking about today?

00:16:01.420 --> 00:16:04.100
What are we talking to? Spring time, that ring and ding and ding time.

00:16:04.340 --> 00:16:07.600
I do have to go back to one thing that you said earlier when you described your

00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:10.020
shirt color. What color is your shirt? Salmon.

00:16:10.380 --> 00:16:12.780
I just want to shout out my grandmother, R.A.P.

00:16:13.320 --> 00:16:19.340
Josephine, a woman for the ages who always had to say salmon.

00:16:19.680 --> 00:16:24.220
Salmon. The L was never silent. The L was never silent. Just like almond. Yeah.

00:16:24.950 --> 00:16:30.030
She said almond. Almond. That sounds weird. I need you to go to the restaurant

00:16:30.030 --> 00:16:32.850
depot and I need you to get me almond paste.

00:16:33.670 --> 00:16:37.730
Yeah. She would crank out cookies like nobody's business. Oh,

00:16:37.730 --> 00:16:40.190
you made them this. You made them fish.

00:16:40.510 --> 00:16:43.450
Yeah, I do. My grandmother would make vanouli cookies like nobody's business.

00:16:43.750 --> 00:16:48.270
I can't even have them in the house because my son will just destroy them. Almond.

00:16:48.790 --> 00:16:53.430
Yeah. My son at one point was watching Sopranos with us because,

00:16:53.550 --> 00:16:55.690
you know, if you're from New Jersey, that's what you watch. Yeah.

00:16:55.870 --> 00:16:58.810
And he was in his Tony Soprano era and would just like, you know.

00:17:00.090 --> 00:17:03.510
Gobba ghoul. Gobba ghoul. Hey, it's a callback.

00:17:04.290 --> 00:17:07.550
They have a great podcast. Have you ever seen that? I have.

00:17:07.690 --> 00:17:09.390
I haven't listened to it. Like Meadow and the other. Yeah, yeah,

00:17:09.450 --> 00:17:13.550
yeah. Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. I've seen some clips on social media.

00:17:13.790 --> 00:17:15.310
Bobbity boobity. Yeah. Bibbity boobity.

00:17:16.570 --> 00:17:19.650
Yeah, but so, yeah, for sure. So what are we talking about, friend?

00:17:19.910 --> 00:17:24.090
What are we talking about? Yeah. Huh. I don't know. I don't know.

00:17:28.710 --> 00:17:31.410
So on these episodes where I like to surprise Joe with a topic,

00:17:31.590 --> 00:17:36.910
it's just always so delightful to me to watch him in anticipation of what the

00:17:36.910 --> 00:17:38.430
topic is going to be. I like the surprise.

00:17:38.510 --> 00:17:40.250
I ask her, like, hey, is there anything you want to talk about tonight?

00:17:40.290 --> 00:17:42.550
A lot of times we plan out what we're going to say. We do.

00:17:42.810 --> 00:17:45.730
We do. But sometimes it's like she likes to just throw these curveballs in.

00:17:45.930 --> 00:17:50.290
Also, we have a list. You know, yes, you know, we have a list. But yeah.

00:17:50.490 --> 00:17:57.490
So so I wanted to talk about a topic that has come up like several times.

00:17:57.490 --> 00:18:01.530
And I keep seeing and I guess it's, you know, obviously it's like who you follow

00:18:01.530 --> 00:18:04.150
in the algorithm algorithm and all of the things.

00:18:04.330 --> 00:18:13.550
But how many children, how many students are choosing like to take a zero decision?

00:18:14.498 --> 00:18:16.458
Rather than try.

00:18:19.918 --> 00:18:23.738
So the, you know, where, so, so something that's been coming up for me quite a bit.

00:18:24.078 --> 00:18:27.718
And I, it always makes me think of Scott Caldwell, someone that Joe and I had

00:18:27.718 --> 00:18:30.638
worked with for a while. And he left our district.

00:18:30.818 --> 00:18:34.898
He's still working, but in another school district. And he loved the book Grit.

00:18:35.958 --> 00:18:39.178
And then when I moved to the new school, our principal had actually,

00:18:39.178 --> 00:18:41.498
like, asked everyone to read that as well.

00:18:41.498 --> 00:18:47.598
But, you know, it's just, it's, it is the, and I talk about this a lot with

00:18:47.598 --> 00:18:53.778
my students, that the most successful people, the idea is that the most successful

00:18:53.778 --> 00:18:55.418
people are not the smartest.

00:18:55.418 --> 00:19:01.238
They're not always, you know, the most gifted, but they are the most,

00:19:01.398 --> 00:19:07.138
like, they are the least likely to give up. And so what is that quality that

00:19:07.138 --> 00:19:10.158
you can track in the most successful people?

00:19:10.538 --> 00:19:19.838
And that shared quality is grit, their willingness to continue in any kind of

00:19:19.838 --> 00:19:22.098
circumstance, no matter what it is that they face.

00:19:22.098 --> 00:19:29.418
Um, so what, what do you think that we are doing, not doing, not doing, um,

00:19:29.938 --> 00:19:34.158
you know, as a society, as, uh, as teachers, as parents, what do you think is

00:19:34.158 --> 00:19:42.398
happening that, you know, there are so many kids who so easily give up?

00:19:42.898 --> 00:19:45.858
This is a multifaceted question.

00:19:47.358 --> 00:19:52.958
And I'll tell you, there's no easy answer because there's a lot of things that we do.

00:19:53.558 --> 00:19:57.558
We've talked about the idea of learned helplessness where if they don't immediately get,

00:19:58.267 --> 00:20:03.467
something, uh, in regards to work, the hand immediately goes up.

00:20:03.607 --> 00:20:07.347
And I had this activity that I did with my students, um,

00:20:07.967 --> 00:20:12.107
where we were looking up Supreme court justices that I kind of handpicked the

00:20:12.107 --> 00:20:16.207
nine that are currently on the Supreme court, as well as important ones,

00:20:16.307 --> 00:20:21.887
Sandra Day O'Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Antonin Scalia, like ones that were, you know,

00:20:22.727 --> 00:20:25.207
powerhouse figures, right? Thurgood Marshall. Okay.

00:20:26.607 --> 00:20:31.087
And I gave them resources to look at. And the resources that I gave them were

00:20:31.087 --> 00:20:33.967
government websites. There were encyclopedia entries.

00:20:34.307 --> 00:20:36.827
There were things that I gave them that they could go to and look.

00:20:37.987 --> 00:20:42.087
And I had them answer specific questions about each Supreme Court justice.

00:20:42.747 --> 00:20:48.967
And a lot of it is if the answer is not jumping off the page and doing the Macarena

00:20:48.967 --> 00:20:56.567
for them, they are not willing to, to put forth the extra effort to find, um.

00:20:57.987 --> 00:21:01.847
The answer or look for the value or paraphrase on their own.

00:21:02.027 --> 00:21:05.807
Like it has to be word for word. And I just, I wasn't, I was,

00:21:05.947 --> 00:21:08.547
I kept saying, did you read this?

00:21:08.687 --> 00:21:13.147
Well, no, I just get, well then sit down and read it because you will find it.

00:21:13.907 --> 00:21:16.627
If you, if you go and sit down and read it i tried to like

00:21:16.627 --> 00:21:19.607
talk to them about like you know this is what like the

00:21:19.607 --> 00:21:23.007
the dipping our toe in the water what research looks like i wasn't even asking

00:21:23.007 --> 00:21:25.627
them to find the websites themselves i was giving them to them i was saying

00:21:25.627 --> 00:21:28.747
like because that's a whole other beast it's a whole other beast like i wasn't

00:21:28.747 --> 00:21:32.467
going to get to that because i didn't have that kind of time um but i wanted

00:21:32.467 --> 00:21:38.827
to make sure that you know i gave them the right resource and there were so many kids that um.

00:21:40.074 --> 00:21:48.334
Just either, either gave up or handed in a crappy product or didn't put in the

00:21:48.334 --> 00:21:51.334
effort because they had to do that little bit extra.

00:21:51.574 --> 00:21:54.354
And I don't know if it, I don't want to go back to the pandemic.

00:21:54.554 --> 00:21:58.694
You're like, is it a pandemic thing? No. Like, is it a parenting thing? I don't know.

00:21:59.074 --> 00:22:03.894
But I've been, do you think it's a parenting thing? I think it's a huge component.

00:22:04.194 --> 00:22:07.554
Okay. And I'd love to know your thoughts too. Because I do as well.

00:22:07.814 --> 00:22:11.494
Yeah. And I wish that I, that I had an answer. But I think that there's a little

00:22:11.494 --> 00:22:17.714
bit of a devaluing of what we do in the classroom where students are not expect

00:22:17.714 --> 00:22:21.374
they're expected to get, you know, great grades on everything.

00:22:22.314 --> 00:22:25.314
Or and they're expected to get hundreds on everything that they do.

00:22:25.654 --> 00:22:29.934
But that's sometimes learning comes from mistakes.

00:22:30.154 --> 00:22:34.514
Learning comes from missteps. Learning comes from when you don't find success in something.

00:22:34.694 --> 00:22:38.074
There are life lessons. I do this lesson with my students where I,

00:22:38.074 --> 00:22:42.494
I put up pictures of famous people and we talk about like famous failures.

00:22:42.754 --> 00:22:45.594
And of course, one of the major ones is, uh, Michael Jordan, right?

00:22:45.694 --> 00:22:48.894
The guys cut from his high school basketball, freshman high school basketball

00:22:48.894 --> 00:22:51.094
team. Cause the coach just says he wasn't good enough.

00:22:51.394 --> 00:22:54.974
And Steve jobs was fired from Apple, the company that he created.

00:22:55.134 --> 00:22:57.794
And then the company went in the toilet and then they rehired him back as CEO.

00:22:58.074 --> 00:23:02.334
And Walt Disney, I think was a, is a marketing job. I think he was fired from

00:23:02.334 --> 00:23:04.894
his first marketing job. Cause he was told he wasn't creative enough.

00:23:06.019 --> 00:23:12.939
Can you imagine the moment, though, as Steve Jobs when he rolled back into that company? Yeah.

00:23:13.779 --> 00:23:18.239
That must have been a great moment. No, it must have been. Hey, suckers, I'm back.

00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:24.499
Lady Gaga, people in high school posted. They had a MySpace page that had her

00:23:24.499 --> 00:23:26.179
real name, which I don't remember what it was.

00:23:26.299 --> 00:23:31.419
And it was like, why she will never be successful or she'll never be famous.

00:23:31.619 --> 00:23:35.699
And all the people in her high school joined up. And instead of...

00:23:36.019 --> 00:23:41.079
Going into their shell, they basically said, okay, well, F all you people.

00:23:41.339 --> 00:23:46.219
I'm going to work harder and practice more basketball. I'm going to keep working

00:23:46.219 --> 00:23:48.239
in the technology field and create something great.

00:23:48.359 --> 00:23:53.499
I'm going to create the most recognizable brand in human history.

00:23:53.879 --> 00:24:01.059
When we talk about Disney, you have to use these things, setbacks as springboards.

00:24:01.299 --> 00:24:04.459
There's a young man that, that I just talked to is, you know,

00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:07.779
who he is, who goes to our school, like applied to one of those academies and

00:24:07.779 --> 00:24:11.059
didn't get in and got waitlisted. And I had that conversation with him.

00:24:11.099 --> 00:24:13.119
I pulled him aside and, and him and I talked.

00:24:13.159 --> 00:24:16.659
And I said, there is a, I said, I'm not, I don't want to talk religion with

00:24:16.659 --> 00:24:18.799
you. Cause I had this, this young man, he's a very nice kid.

00:24:19.219 --> 00:24:22.079
I said, there is a path that you're going to be on.

00:24:22.339 --> 00:24:29.679
And these things need to be the, the, the motivation for you to be successful.

00:24:29.679 --> 00:24:32.359
It shouldn't stop you from the path you want to go on.

00:24:32.479 --> 00:24:36.199
It should be like, okay, that door closed, but there is a door somewhere else

00:24:36.199 --> 00:24:39.039
that is open for me. I just don't see it yet.

00:24:39.839 --> 00:24:43.159
And we're also talking about seventh and eighth graders. That's what we deal

00:24:43.159 --> 00:24:44.019
with all the time, right?

00:24:44.179 --> 00:24:49.119
So that is very hard to put them in that mindset because it is immediate,

00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:50.939
instant gratification right now.

00:24:51.559 --> 00:24:57.159
I think that there's a parenting component. I think there's a huge technology

00:24:57.159 --> 00:25:04.079
component because if we are not entertaining and you know dancing in class and

00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:06.219
giving them all this information you know.

00:25:06.991 --> 00:25:09.771
Through creative ways, they immediately shut down.

00:25:09.971 --> 00:25:14.011
They, they're used to getting, you know, unlimited hits of dopamine by opening

00:25:14.011 --> 00:25:18.311
their devices and seeing all that all the time. And if they don't get that,

00:25:18.411 --> 00:25:21.051
they're like, oh, this is boring. I'm just going to close my eyes. Yeah.

00:25:21.311 --> 00:25:23.171
Or, or meaning like metaphorically.

00:25:23.451 --> 00:25:28.191
Yeah. So, um, the book that I had referenced earlier was, um,

00:25:28.471 --> 00:25:30.391
was written by Angela Duckworth.

00:25:30.631 --> 00:25:34.171
Um, there's lots of Ted talks and things, um, you know, from her as well.

00:25:34.311 --> 00:25:40.111
And she defines this personality trait as a combination of perseverance and

00:25:40.111 --> 00:25:44.611
passion for long-term goals characterized by a sustained effort and resilience

00:25:44.611 --> 00:25:46.131
in the face of challenges.

00:25:46.331 --> 00:25:57.051
So the idea here is, how do you foster the idea in each individual child?

00:25:57.411 --> 00:26:06.811
How do you really teach them or show them the importance of this?

00:26:06.971 --> 00:26:10.591
So, you know, are you tenacious? Are you determined?

00:26:11.051 --> 00:26:14.531
You know, how, you know, I know a lot of people say like, oh, it's not the setback.

00:26:14.591 --> 00:26:18.511
It's the, you know, the get up or, you know, there's like a thousand ways to

00:26:18.511 --> 00:26:29.551
say the same thing, but are we, as teachers, prioritizing that idea for kids?

00:26:29.851 --> 00:26:34.631
You know, and a lot of what we do in school and the model of school is.

00:26:35.465 --> 00:26:41.605
Lacks passion. You know, it's like, because it's the same, like repeating certain

00:26:41.605 --> 00:26:44.425
subjects and it's, you know, certain ideas and it's like, well,

00:26:44.485 --> 00:26:45.865
I'm not really interested in this.

00:26:45.905 --> 00:26:50.665
So it is difficult to become really, you know, passionate about something that

00:26:50.665 --> 00:26:52.825
you are not necessarily interested in.

00:26:53.005 --> 00:26:58.225
How do you teach the importance of, even if it's not something that immediately

00:26:58.225 --> 00:27:03.925
sparks a flame, how do you get it, you know, to sort of get some interest going

00:27:03.925 --> 00:27:06.565
for that? That's a great question.

00:27:07.245 --> 00:27:08.445
I don't have an answer.

00:27:09.625 --> 00:27:15.085
I also used to do an activity, which I got from one of my fraternity brothers,

00:27:15.585 --> 00:27:19.065
and he did this in a seminar with us, and I really liked it,

00:27:19.125 --> 00:27:24.005
and I kind of adapted it to do something with my classes where we would list

00:27:24.005 --> 00:27:25.985
some successful people on the board.

00:27:27.405 --> 00:27:30.625
Athletes, famous people, business leaders, whatever.

00:27:31.385 --> 00:27:34.885
And then we would basically go through and talk about, okay,

00:27:35.025 --> 00:27:36.345
what qualities do they have?

00:27:36.805 --> 00:27:39.305
And they would talk about all those things that they're determined,

00:27:39.445 --> 00:27:41.845
that they're hardworking, that they're educated, that they're this, blah, blah, blah.

00:27:43.005 --> 00:27:46.985
And 90% of the things that we would put on the board, I would go down and I'd

00:27:46.985 --> 00:27:49.105
look at that 10% and say, okay, so they're wealthy.

00:27:49.225 --> 00:27:51.665
I was like, okay, so this is something that they need to do.

00:27:51.985 --> 00:27:54.645
Okay, so they have a college degree. So we can get to that later.

00:27:54.765 --> 00:27:59.065
But all these other things, determined, hardworking, perseverance,

00:27:59.905 --> 00:28:01.505
attitudes, they're all attitudes.

00:28:01.745 --> 00:28:04.465
They're not anything. it's a mindset there's not

00:28:04.465 --> 00:28:07.925
anything that you need to do differently except change your

00:28:07.925 --> 00:28:11.445
mindset and go i'm gonna then push through and do

00:28:11.445 --> 00:28:15.165
this extra thing i'm gonna i'm gonna put forth the extra effort i'm gonna do

00:28:15.165 --> 00:28:19.465
the little bit extra if i wanted to get a b in algebra 2 in high school i had

00:28:19.465 --> 00:28:22.825
to have a tutor three days a week i had to go during my lunch couldn't sit with

00:28:22.825 --> 00:28:27.625
my friends met with a young man who was a year older than me wound up being

00:28:27.625 --> 00:28:30.845
like nice dude um someone who

00:28:31.145 --> 00:28:33.405
helped me like pass my algebra class, right?

00:28:33.505 --> 00:28:37.465
Cause I just needed that extra prep and extra help. I had to put forth the extra effort.

00:28:38.247 --> 00:28:41.747
Right. But you're, you're asking a great question. There's a lot of this,

00:28:41.887 --> 00:28:43.027
like, man, I just didn't do that.

00:28:43.907 --> 00:28:48.007
Right. Like, oh, the thing I just didn't do. Like, it was hard.

00:28:48.247 --> 00:28:53.807
Right. It was hard. So what is the difference between kids who will continue?

00:28:54.107 --> 00:28:58.327
So some of the, some of it is that they, you know, how do you, how do you foster that?

00:28:58.467 --> 00:29:04.607
So setting goals, reaching a goal, setting small goals, attainable goals, reaching the goal.

00:29:04.747 --> 00:29:07.487
And then the minute that you do that, what's your next goal?

00:29:08.247 --> 00:29:11.847
Oh, yeah. And then the next one. And then the next one. But I do believe that

00:29:11.847 --> 00:29:21.707
some of this must be tied into support and the systems of support and self-esteem. Yeah.

00:29:22.167 --> 00:29:26.587
You know, and. You have to build that small success. And that's what I do in

00:29:26.587 --> 00:29:29.047
the executive function coaching that I do.

00:29:29.187 --> 00:29:32.187
You have to feel that success and then want to keep going.

00:29:32.467 --> 00:29:37.747
Yeah. And we built like small steps in like, okay, for the next three days before

00:29:37.747 --> 00:29:45.247
we meet next, okay, we will, you know, we're going to set a goal that you're going to achieve.

00:29:45.527 --> 00:29:49.847
So when I work with my executive function students, we set small measurable

00:29:49.847 --> 00:29:52.547
goals. So if we meet on a Monday and a Thursday, I'll say, okay,

00:29:52.687 --> 00:29:54.767
let's look at your schedule.

00:29:55.387 --> 00:30:00.047
Let's see if we can check a box and find the production time you need to complete

00:30:00.047 --> 00:30:02.327
your homework. Let's schedule a time to get your homework done.

00:30:02.827 --> 00:30:06.427
Because a lot of the parents that I deal with are like, my kid waits at the last minute.

00:30:06.747 --> 00:30:09.127
They never write this down. They're like, do you have homework?

00:30:09.267 --> 00:30:10.927
No, I don't have homework. No, no, no, no.

00:30:11.287 --> 00:30:13.327
1030 comes along. Oh, wait, I had an assignment I had to do.

00:30:13.447 --> 00:30:16.347
And then we're pulling out the work and we're doing it then. And.

00:30:17.506 --> 00:30:22.706
Part of me wants to say at that point, you need to have a cutoff and say,

00:30:22.866 --> 00:30:27.006
you come to me at 1030 saying you have a homework assignment.

00:30:27.646 --> 00:30:30.626
That's a you problem. I'm not going to sit down and do it with you.

00:30:30.866 --> 00:30:34.526
I know. I know how this sounds. I wouldn't even be a week at 1030.

00:30:36.546 --> 00:30:40.866
There's that too, right? Yeah. It's like there's a cutoff. After 9 p.m.,

00:30:40.866 --> 00:30:43.846
it is a you problem. Right. Okay.

00:30:44.446 --> 00:30:48.706
And I don't, a lot of parents are not willing to, Oh, then I'll get a bad grade. And then they'll blah.

00:30:49.326 --> 00:30:54.466
And a lot of times like that needs to happen too.

00:30:54.606 --> 00:30:58.946
Like the parent needs to be a little bit like, you know, stronger. You mean say no?

00:30:59.846 --> 00:31:04.106
Yes. You mean say no. Exactly. And I, and I think that parents don't want to

00:31:04.106 --> 00:31:07.346
be the bad guy. So then we sometimes have to become the bad Right.

00:31:07.526 --> 00:31:13.366
They want to make school the bad guy. Yes. And it's really very difficult because

00:31:13.366 --> 00:31:18.726
what they can accomplish with, you know, how many kids, you know,

00:31:18.806 --> 00:31:20.826
it's like the average family has two or three kids.

00:31:20.946 --> 00:31:23.026
So, you know, a couple of adults.

00:31:23.826 --> 00:31:29.506
I'm sorry. What? My wife was just sneaking in. No, Tracy was just sneaking in here like.

00:31:34.746 --> 00:31:38.246
And she like grabbed her pencil case and she was looking at me like.

00:31:41.346 --> 00:31:45.326
That was a good impersonation of her i'm leaving this in because that was great

00:31:45.326 --> 00:31:49.426
uh great yeah i'm sorry you actually were making a very good point it was serious

00:31:49.426 --> 00:31:52.786
and i'm sorry that's all right so let's go back to that we're doing it live

00:31:52.786 --> 00:31:56.806
yeah we're twin we're going for it no that that idea of like, you know,

00:31:57.206 --> 00:32:01.526
saying you're the parent or I chose to have you and now I'm going to give you

00:32:01.526 --> 00:32:05.326
my full attention, which sometimes in school is...

00:32:06.092 --> 00:32:11.392
Really hard to do. As much as we build relationships, as much as we want to

00:32:11.392 --> 00:32:16.552
know something about every kid, as much as we try to, I mean, I try to really,

00:32:16.812 --> 00:32:21.512
really like look at their faces and be able to determine like,

00:32:21.592 --> 00:32:23.352
are they having a good day?

00:32:23.632 --> 00:32:26.972
Can I recognize when they're having a terrible day?

00:32:27.172 --> 00:32:31.152
You know what I mean? But I have a hundred kids. In my home,

00:32:31.312 --> 00:32:36.752
there are three. I know I don't have to study my kids' faces, you know.

00:32:37.032 --> 00:32:40.412
And so sometimes I think that that is a disadvantage for kids because,

00:32:40.412 --> 00:32:46.052
you know, the ratio is so much lower in the home that if they could really, you know,

00:32:46.832 --> 00:32:51.792
sit with them, talk to them about what the roadblocks might be or what the challenges

00:32:51.792 --> 00:32:57.592
might, you know, might be, you know, then things would get, you know, accomplished.

00:32:57.592 --> 00:33:03.172
And also there's the other side of like, you're, you just didn't do it.

00:33:04.052 --> 00:33:10.592
Right. So we've talked about that also. You just didn't do it. So what?

00:33:11.752 --> 00:33:16.132
There's no consequence. That's the other thing. It's like, there's no consequence in your house?

00:33:16.432 --> 00:33:19.712
That's the other thing too. There was a, there's another young man that I work

00:33:19.712 --> 00:33:25.232
with and he's a very nice kid, but you know what?

00:33:25.292 --> 00:33:28.032
I'm not putting this on him. Like, I think it's on the school.

00:33:28.212 --> 00:33:31.132
Like they, like some of the teachers have this policy where they like,

00:33:31.272 --> 00:33:34.732
you can just hand anything in at any time and get full credit for it.

00:33:34.892 --> 00:33:37.412
And it just, it doesn't work.

00:33:37.712 --> 00:33:41.692
Like you're just giving them an out all the time. So he's got like this practice

00:33:41.692 --> 00:33:45.152
thing he has to do. And like, you always get credit for it at the end of the marking period.

00:33:45.772 --> 00:33:49.712
And he's, he's expected to do it because mom expects him to do it.

00:33:50.232 --> 00:33:53.932
And number one rule, mom ain't happy. No one's happy. So we're doing what mom says.

00:33:54.732 --> 00:33:57.852
Um and that needs to be completed but there's

00:33:57.852 --> 00:34:00.732
when there's no penalty it's like i just didn't do it this weekend

00:34:00.732 --> 00:34:03.452
like i you know sleeping i was hanging out and then

00:34:03.452 --> 00:34:06.092
blah blah blah and then it becomes like well you

00:34:06.092 --> 00:34:08.572
didn't do this and now you have to it's marked late but i know you're not going

00:34:08.572 --> 00:34:11.532
to get a late grade but you need to do it and the kid's like well i'm gonna

00:34:11.532 --> 00:34:16.532
get to it eventually and he's not wrong because like there's no penalty for

00:34:16.532 --> 00:34:21.132
him not handing the thing in right you know so there's there's that and i and

00:34:21.132 --> 00:34:24.212
i go back again when i first start working with kids It's about setting those

00:34:24.212 --> 00:34:25.252
small, measurable goals.

00:34:25.452 --> 00:34:28.212
So if I'm meeting with you on a Monday and then on a Thursday,

00:34:28.432 --> 00:34:32.312
like, okay, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday before we meet,

00:34:32.472 --> 00:34:33.792
when are you going to do your homework?

00:34:33.972 --> 00:34:37.012
Well, Tuesday, I got this. Wednesday, I got that. So I'll do my homework at

00:34:37.012 --> 00:34:40.712
5 o'clock each night because I'm going to come home. I know I got that time.

00:34:40.852 --> 00:34:44.752
That's my production time. I'll come home. And then we meet and we talk about, did you do that?

00:34:45.783 --> 00:34:49.643
Yes. Great. We just succeeded three days in a row.

00:34:50.043 --> 00:34:53.963
Now let's next week, let's start on Monday and let's make it all the way to

00:34:53.963 --> 00:34:56.083
Friday. Let's see if we can do it. Okay.

00:34:56.543 --> 00:34:59.463
And then I talked to them constantly about if you're going to form a habit,

00:34:59.603 --> 00:35:03.963
if you're going to change practice, on average, it takes 66 days to form a habit,

00:35:04.103 --> 00:35:07.163
whether it's eating right, exercising, any of those things.

00:35:07.283 --> 00:35:10.763
That's the number that someone came up with, whatever research there is, right? Yeah.

00:35:11.363 --> 00:35:14.303
If you want to form half a habit, it's 28 days.

00:35:14.603 --> 00:35:19.583
Yes. So it's just such a, it's like, I don't know.

00:35:19.663 --> 00:35:23.243
There's like, there's no easy answer, but a lot of the parents and the schools,

00:35:23.503 --> 00:35:26.523
because we don't want to hear from parents, like, oh, they got bad grades and

00:35:26.523 --> 00:35:28.743
they're calling and they're coming in and then blah.

00:35:28.943 --> 00:35:32.643
And then like, I get that too, like from the school perspective,

00:35:32.663 --> 00:35:34.943
but there's a lot of people that I work with.

00:35:35.063 --> 00:35:38.203
It's like, oh, I'll accept it. Oh, I got them to hand in all their work at the

00:35:38.203 --> 00:35:43.023
end of the marking period. So now I can pass them that they didn't learn anything.

00:35:43.303 --> 00:35:47.103
All they learned was that they can wait and wait and wait and wait and wait and wait and wait.

00:35:47.223 --> 00:35:51.163
And you'll allow them to hand something in and then still pass them in that

00:35:51.163 --> 00:35:53.903
class. And there is a quote that I actually sent to you the other day.

00:35:54.043 --> 00:35:58.803
That is perfect for this. And it's from Desmond Tutu, um, who a,

00:35:58.983 --> 00:36:03.403
uh, a person on Instagram had posted and it says, and I love this.

00:36:03.643 --> 00:36:09.543
I want to marry it. I want to tattoo it on my arm. We need to stop pulling people out of the river.

00:36:09.763 --> 00:36:13.683
We need to go upstream and find out why they're falling in.

00:36:14.263 --> 00:36:20.023
And I'm like, oh, it's like I must have read that like 10 times before I sent

00:36:20.023 --> 00:36:22.363
it to you. And I was like, yeah, damn, I've never.

00:36:22.523 --> 00:36:25.783
Number one, I'd never heard that before earlier than earlier this week.

00:36:25.803 --> 00:36:30.103
But like we are not doing anything if we're not going back and saying,

00:36:30.103 --> 00:36:35.483
why is this happening in the first place? I'm a big believer in like things

00:36:35.483 --> 00:36:37.403
being uniform for kids at this age too.

00:36:37.583 --> 00:36:39.903
I'm going to tell you a couple of early theories that I have.

00:36:40.023 --> 00:36:41.843
Everybody does it. Everybody does it differently. Yeah.

00:36:42.023 --> 00:36:45.283
I'm sorry. I'm rambling. A couple, a couple of theories that I have that are

00:36:45.283 --> 00:36:50.383
big contributing factors to a lot of children being like, eh,

00:36:51.243 --> 00:36:56.383
you know, because it's like, well, we see more and more kids being less and

00:36:56.383 --> 00:36:58.503
less excited or excitable.

00:36:58.783 --> 00:37:01.983
Right. And it's like, God, you're a kid. Like, why are you not like pump it

00:37:01.983 --> 00:37:03.423
up? like, you should be more excited.

00:37:03.583 --> 00:37:09.803
Anyway, I had, my daughter had this teacher, and she always said,

00:37:09.803 --> 00:37:11.583
play is a child's workplace.

00:37:12.123 --> 00:37:18.243
I do believe that part of this is tied into pushing and doing things too early.

00:37:19.335 --> 00:37:22.615
Before we are developmentally capable of doing it.

00:37:22.915 --> 00:37:28.215
For example? For example, like we want kindergartners to be reading at a level

00:37:28.215 --> 00:37:31.095
D by the time that, and it's like- What a bunch of BS.

00:37:31.275 --> 00:37:34.595
Why are we doing that? I am by no means, and I know how I sound.

00:37:34.775 --> 00:37:38.815
I am by no means an expert, but like, come on. You are.

00:37:39.455 --> 00:37:43.535
Yep. Oh, okay. You are. Not a kindergarten, not a kindergarten.

00:37:43.535 --> 00:37:45.755
But you know how I stand. You know where I stand about this.

00:37:45.895 --> 00:37:48.735
Like you're working in a profession that you've been educated in.

00:37:49.275 --> 00:37:57.035
With a master's degree for 26 years, 30 plus years with your years of study, you are. Okay.

00:37:57.375 --> 00:38:02.695
So thank you. I tell every teacher that I meet, and no matter where we are or

00:38:02.695 --> 00:38:06.115
what they say, and people say this all the time, like, I don't, I'm not an expert.

00:38:06.235 --> 00:38:08.975
Yes, you are. You are an expert. You are.

00:38:09.835 --> 00:38:16.235
And that goes for Joe, you know, for me, for anyone that's doing what we do. Yes, you are.

00:38:16.915 --> 00:38:22.575
But the idea of, you know, taking away recess, taking away that's movement,

00:38:22.995 --> 00:38:27.335
taking away play, like play and discovery and learning how to mitigate issues

00:38:27.335 --> 00:38:30.735
with other kids, figuring it out on their own. Yeah.

00:38:31.115 --> 00:38:35.015
All of those things. And then, I mean, think about third grade,

00:38:35.635 --> 00:38:37.775
right? I was kicking it with Mrs. Delorier.

00:38:38.435 --> 00:38:43.855
She was amazing. My favorite thing was every Friday, she would read to us a

00:38:43.855 --> 00:38:45.935
chapter from Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.

00:38:46.235 --> 00:38:53.635
And she even did the voices and I can sit, like I can feel how I felt listening to her read to us.

00:38:53.775 --> 00:38:56.995
It was such a simple highlighted moment.

00:38:57.315 --> 00:39:03.175
We were maybe, maybe two or three days of cat testing.

00:39:03.355 --> 00:39:06.275
Remember the California achievement test? Oh, yeah, I remember. Right?

00:39:06.615 --> 00:39:12.395
And that was it. Like, it wasn't, you didn't, like, prepare and wait and go.

00:39:13.515 --> 00:39:19.035
So we're now, yes, obviously, we progress and we learn and we grow.

00:39:19.495 --> 00:39:25.395
But at the cost of the kids at this point in time, it doesn't seem like,

00:39:25.975 --> 00:39:28.655
isn't that a movie? Like, are the kids all right? Or the kids are all right?

00:39:28.895 --> 00:39:32.215
Are they? We also go back to,

00:39:32.855 --> 00:39:37.275
you know, I know I'm talking about the district that I work in and I am proud

00:39:37.275 --> 00:39:44.915
to both work and I was educated in and I now work in the district that I grew up in.

00:39:45.015 --> 00:39:50.175
You're a lifer. I live in the community that, you know, that I that I grew up in.

00:39:50.415 --> 00:39:55.235
I take pride in that. I want to make this a, you know, a great experience for

00:39:55.235 --> 00:39:57.615
the kids that I teach in my classroom.

00:39:57.675 --> 00:40:00.075
But also I want to make my community a better place.

00:40:00.235 --> 00:40:04.875
You know, the more, you know, the star flies over my head. Yes. But like.

00:40:06.354 --> 00:40:10.834
We, we change, we, and I'm not trying to be critical of decisions that are made

00:40:10.834 --> 00:40:14.034
above me because, uh, you know, it's trickle down economics, right?

00:40:14.094 --> 00:40:16.714
It comes from the state, then goes to here and it goes to there and it comes down.

00:40:16.834 --> 00:40:21.114
And I'm sure there's more moving parts than I know, but we, we change the schedule.

00:40:21.254 --> 00:40:24.694
We go to six periods. We add, we add electives.

00:40:24.894 --> 00:40:29.254
Most of those electives are academic based electives, journalism,

00:40:29.714 --> 00:40:34.034
creative writing, graphic novel, all ones that are academically based.

00:40:34.034 --> 00:40:36.794
There's no, and granted, there's an infrastructure problem with this.

00:40:36.894 --> 00:40:39.414
There's no woodshop. There's no cooking. There's no this. There's no that.

00:40:40.054 --> 00:40:44.194
We have a gym class where, you know, whatever it is, once a week,

00:40:44.614 --> 00:40:48.514
twice a month that they take the whole day and they sit and they do these SEO

00:40:48.514 --> 00:40:51.274
lessons sitting in the floor working out of a workbook.

00:40:52.314 --> 00:40:57.934
Let them run around outside and play a game. Let them play kickball.

00:40:58.134 --> 00:40:59.774
Let them go outside with their friends.

00:41:00.074 --> 00:41:03.794
Let them go out on the, you know, on the turf in the back. I'm not saying the phys ed teachers.

00:41:03.794 --> 00:41:12.394
How are you going to develop a sense of, like a true sense of self-worth or even just, you know,

00:41:12.694 --> 00:41:20.114
work on your ability to persevere in anything if you aren't really given an

00:41:20.114 --> 00:41:26.454
opportunity to feel genuinely successful in an area, any area, regardless. place.

00:41:26.614 --> 00:41:30.394
I, again, I know, I know I keep going back to the, the, the students that I

00:41:30.394 --> 00:41:32.934
work with, but it was a young man, very high achieving young man.

00:41:33.054 --> 00:41:36.674
And, and, you know, he gets stressed out sometimes and I, I can kind of,

00:41:36.754 --> 00:41:38.814
I can kind of feel it when he is.

00:41:39.634 --> 00:41:41.774
And I always tell him like, Hey man, I ain't taking it personally.

00:41:42.074 --> 00:41:44.534
Like, I know you're stressed out. I know you're frustrated. I know you're not

00:41:44.534 --> 00:41:47.614
frustrated with me because we have a, you know, him and I have a good relationship.

00:41:48.134 --> 00:41:54.554
Um, but like, I also know like when he's having a stressed out time at the same time,

00:41:54.674 --> 00:41:57.494
we were talking about his schedule for next year and he's like yeah i'm

00:41:57.494 --> 00:42:00.354
gonna take ceramics again i'm like oh like do you like it he's like

00:42:00.354 --> 00:42:03.054
yeah it's like i'm not a huge fan of it but like it's a

00:42:03.054 --> 00:42:05.814
class where i don't have to think and i can just go in and

00:42:05.814 --> 00:42:09.834
like relax a little bit and do something and it turns out which he

00:42:09.834 --> 00:42:12.654
didn't tell me but we've working together for a long time like he

00:42:12.654 --> 00:42:15.474
makes he has an app that he uses to like make his own music it's not

00:42:15.474 --> 00:42:18.194
garage band but it's like some other app he's like yeah i just

00:42:18.194 --> 00:42:20.914
find it very relaxing and i make my own beats and he wrote a

00:42:20.914 --> 00:42:24.554
podcast shout out to podcasts for um the

00:42:24.554 --> 00:42:27.134
friday night lights book that they read and they had to like talk about the

00:42:27.134 --> 00:42:30.974
book and the racial implications great little great look i thought i thought

00:42:30.974 --> 00:42:33.874
actually him and his group members did a great job they stuck to their topic

00:42:33.874 --> 00:42:38.614
they you know he and his music was the music in the podcast like he made his

00:42:38.614 --> 00:42:42.934
own like little little beat it was great it was it was awesome like.

00:42:44.712 --> 00:42:49.032
Unless you're, it's just, it's so frustrating to me.

00:42:49.092 --> 00:42:53.752
We need more opportunities to be able to expose them to, yes. Yeah.

00:42:53.952 --> 00:42:56.232
And it's like, I have a art class.

00:42:56.672 --> 00:43:00.852
They have coding. No offense to coding. Not every kid wants to code.

00:43:00.992 --> 00:43:02.432
Like they have robotics.

00:43:02.792 --> 00:43:06.652
Not every kid is into that. I understand that they're trying to do all these

00:43:06.652 --> 00:43:13.432
academic things, but there is nothing that they have to have any kind of release of energy.

00:43:13.712 --> 00:43:18.232
Yes. You know, so I'm a big fan of our, I'm a big fan of our movement Monday,

00:43:18.512 --> 00:43:23.112
like the things that we do, but like that kind of got ruined by too many people walking outside.

00:43:23.292 --> 00:43:26.672
Like, Oh, I love it. I was dancing. I dance every week. We dance every week.

00:43:26.712 --> 00:43:29.592
And I'm going to say this. I'm going to take the credit. I'm the OG.

00:43:29.852 --> 00:43:35.592
Okay. I texted our boss and said, can I take them outside for a walk? And she said, yes.

00:43:35.752 --> 00:43:38.892
And I was the first one to go. So I was the Christopher Columbus of doing this.

00:43:38.892 --> 00:43:43.592
And I really, really enjoyed those walks because I would go like,

00:43:43.772 --> 00:43:45.372
well, why don't you do it again?

00:43:45.752 --> 00:43:49.992
Well, because we were told that we can't because too many people were going outside.

00:43:50.452 --> 00:43:53.852
Kids were coming back in rambunctious because they weren't being properly supervised.

00:43:54.192 --> 00:43:58.432
So rightfully so she ended it. But I really love those walks.

00:43:58.612 --> 00:43:59.792
It gave me an opportunity.

00:44:00.072 --> 00:44:02.432
Like, hey, how was your weekend? What'd you do? Oh, you had soccer?

00:44:02.592 --> 00:44:05.972
Like I talked to kids. I would, I had one girl. Maybe you can go in the courtyard.

00:44:06.312 --> 00:44:09.552
Yeah, I, I, I probably can. I had one girl that I would talk to.

00:44:10.312 --> 00:44:14.012
She's not in our building anymore, but I would ask her like weird questions.

00:44:14.012 --> 00:44:18.432
It's like, if you could have any non-exotic or you could have any non-traditional

00:44:18.432 --> 00:44:20.772
animal as a pet, what would you have? She's like, Axel Waddle.

00:44:20.892 --> 00:44:22.112
And I was like, Axel what now?

00:44:22.372 --> 00:44:26.392
I'm like, Axel Rose, you want to sing Sweet Child of Mine? I have no idea what you're talking about.

00:44:26.512 --> 00:44:28.612
So I didn't know what it was. And then she explained it. And then we looked

00:44:28.612 --> 00:44:30.972
it up and we were talking about it and we laughed about it. And it was like

00:44:30.972 --> 00:44:32.952
such a cute little moment, you know?

00:44:33.552 --> 00:44:36.752
And I wouldn't have had that if we didn't go on those walks because I don't

00:44:36.752 --> 00:44:39.192
have that time in class. I don't sometimes don't have that luxury.

00:44:39.372 --> 00:44:41.592
Like I really enjoyed doing that.

00:44:42.363 --> 00:44:45.903
You know, and it also is a great activity to do, to get out,

00:44:46.063 --> 00:44:49.363
walk. Well, I say you should persevere and try it again. Get out in the quad.

00:44:49.563 --> 00:44:52.663
Well, I got to have, I'm going to get permission because I'm a,

00:44:52.883 --> 00:44:55.603
I, you know, I, I live my life by two main rules.

00:44:56.543 --> 00:45:00.023
Do what women tell you and don't tell women what to do. And it has served me

00:45:00.023 --> 00:45:02.043
very well in my life thus far.

00:45:02.403 --> 00:45:07.043
So I guess we'll continue on to try to figure out exactly, you know,

00:45:07.143 --> 00:45:11.263
some, some more ways to solve or dig into.

00:45:11.623 --> 00:45:15.863
Yeah. Some solutions or some things to make it better because that's what we're

00:45:15.863 --> 00:45:18.023
all about. But it certainly is an issue.

00:45:18.363 --> 00:45:23.383
And it is definitely something that, you know, another thing that educators

00:45:23.383 --> 00:45:29.883
face in their day to day of trying to inspire and educate and also, you know,

00:45:29.983 --> 00:45:34.743
foster student independence, growth and grit.

00:45:35.103 --> 00:45:38.603
Yeah, I really. What was the name of the book again that you referenced for

00:45:38.603 --> 00:45:41.463
our listeners in case they're interested? What was the name of that? Grit.

00:45:42.363 --> 00:45:45.423
Great by Angela Duckworth. By Angela Duckworth. It's called Great.

00:45:46.243 --> 00:45:50.543
I actually have. And if you're not a reader, check out her TED Talk because it's fantastic.

00:45:50.983 --> 00:45:56.023
Yeah, I think I just might do that. So you might. All right.

00:45:56.403 --> 00:46:02.063
As always, my friend, I appreciate you very much. And I appreciate you and your

00:46:02.063 --> 00:46:03.703
salmon shirt. Yes, salmon.

00:46:03.943 --> 00:46:07.283
I'm going to go have an almond cookie and go to bed. There you go. All right.

00:46:07.623 --> 00:46:11.603
Well, thanks a lot again. And we'll see you next time on Balanced Gank Podcast. Bye.

00:46:10.800 --> 00:46:23.760
Music.

00:46:23.463 --> 00:46:28.163
Look for the balancing act podcast every week on your favorite podcast platform

00:46:28.163 --> 00:46:32.583
new episodes drop every t-step Thank you for being a part of our audience.

00:46:33.680 --> 00:46:47.252
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