SPEAKER_02 0:24

Welcome to Ed Leadership on Tap. Gentlemen, how are we today?

SPEAKER_04 0:29

Man, we are in October, sir.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

I know. Speaking of which, October is National Principals Month. Yes, it is. So we want to appreciate our principals out there nationwide. Uh to me, the principalship is probably the hardest job in education aside from the superintendent. So thank you. Thank you to all our principals for all the job that you do.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

Absolutely. Yeah. The the leaders of the campus for sure. And and uh sometimes a lonely position, but a really, really important position. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 1:03

Yep. All right. So last week we had an in-the-chair segment with uh Dr.

SPEAKER_04 1:08

Baddock.

SPEAKER_02 1:08

Yes, yes, so enjoyed that. Yeah, so feedback from that episode. We had a listener say how refreshing it was to hear a consultant who had such a heart for kids and how they wished that all c all consultants were that way. Uh I think we have quite a few consultants who love kids.

SPEAKER_04 1:29

Yeah. Yeah, I think sometimes it's a when you're in the realm of education, sometimes viewing yourself in that role as that consultant's kind of a man, it's kind of a stretch sometimes. Right. And and to hear from Dr. Baddock, who we all know very well, and what she does and that focus of putting kids first, sometimes you don't always see that, but uh definitely see it with her.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

And she she loves the campus, she loves kids, she loves working with teachers. So if you listen to the episode, you know we we might be trying to recruit her back, you know, out of consulting. Get back get back with us sometime.

SPEAKER_02 2:00

Absolutely. What about feedback on our on tap segment?

SPEAKER_04 2:04

You bet our on tap segment talked about the greatest sketch or kind of skit characters um of all time, and and we had a a couple of them. Our friend of the show, Nancy, brought up a great Saturday Night Live character um with uh Gilda Radner playing Roseanne, Rosanna Dana.

SPEAKER_02 2:25

That's right.

SPEAKER_04 2:26

Yes, telephone operator and and uh great character, if you remember that from early Saturday Night Live.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

Good stuff, yeah. I had one as well. I had one from listener Laura who talked about Rick James from the Chappelle show. I'm Rick James. That is a great character. Yeah, I didn't finish that line. Sometimes he says words that aren't very nice, but that's a great character for sure. Had another one, a listener, Scott, uh wrote in, Stefan. That was, I don't know if you remember Stephon. It was a SNL character played by Bill Hayter that would talk uh come on um weekend update, yes. Would come on weekend update and kind of talk about crazy club experiences and things like that. So Stephon got a vote as well. That is a great character, and it ties right into mine, the weekend update, guys. Oh, yeah. Yes. That's that's to your point, that's the the part of SNL that I've got to catch every time. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 3:16

So, listeners, thank you for the feedback. Um, we love it, so please continue doing so. All right, so today we are going to talk to a new teacher.

SPEAKER_04 3:25

Yep. A someone who just finished their first year as a brand new teacher.

SPEAKER_01 3:30

Yeah, that's gonna be a lot of fun. You know, we've talked about uh first year principal, first year assistant principal. So to kind of take that and get the experience in the lens of a first year teacher is gonna be a good time.

SPEAKER_02 3:40

All right, so let's go. All right, gentlemen, welcome back. We're already up to episode five in season two. Can you believe that?

SPEAKER_01 3:56

Yes, sir. I don't feel any older than like episode three. That's all right.

SPEAKER_02 4:02

We have a very special guest today, episode one. We talked with a new principal.

SPEAKER_04 4:07

Yep, Brooke.

SPEAKER_02 4:09

Yes, episode two, we spoke with a new assistant principal. Yep, Alexandra.

SPEAKER_04 4:13

And then after that, Dave, you kind of mentioned that hey, it'd be a great idea if it would be a great idea if we brought on a wonderful teacher who just finished their first year as a classroom teacher because we talk about all the time that it's not about the title that you hold, it's about the position and leading from where you are. So in my role, I get the opportunity to meet a lot of awesome first year teachers and out recruiting and talking to people. And um, our special guest today is Anna Day. Um had the opportunity to uh uh visit with her at Oklahoma State and go coax. Yeah, convinced her to come look at GCISD. And uh we are blessed that she joined us uh here in GCISD for the 25-26 school year um at the land of the gators, Glen Hope Elementary School, where she teaches second grade. So Anna, welcome to our podcast.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

Yeah, I'm so excited.

SPEAKER_04 5:10

So as we kind of start, just for our listeners, give us a little bit about your background, your college experience, you know, why education, you know, all the things.

SPEAKER_01 5:18

So people know who you are. Did you always know you wanted to be a teacher?

SPEAKER_00 5:21

I went into college not going in education. So I'm originally from Flower Mound, so really close to GCISD. And I went to school in Florida, St. Augustine Flagler College, where I was originally pursuing a broadcast journalism major.

SPEAKER_01 5:38

Oh, see, perfect. Perfect for what you're doing right now. She can give us some pointers.

SPEAKER_00 5:43

Well, I don't know, because then I changed my major, but I just quickly realized I'm like, okay, my heart is not not in this where I want to be. And I think I always kind of knew like deep down, like, okay, I want to work with children because growing up, I was coaching youth lacrosse, and I always was nannying or babysitting younger siblings or neighbors. And so I knew that I always had a passion with working with children. And so it was after this fall of my freshman year, I was like, okay, I'm gonna give this a try. And so I switched over into elementary education. And then I finished out my college degree at Oklahoma State University. Again, go post. And it was a really, really wonderful experience in their teaching program. Moved back down here to Texas, where I transferred over my Oklahoma teaching certificate to Texas and started working at GCISD.

SPEAKER_04 6:39

So you talked about the the, you know, working with kids and that. Did you have like a teacher you look back and go, man, that person really inspired me to go in this?

SPEAKER_00 6:48

Yeah, definitely. That's something we talked a lot about in college too. It was like, okay, well, think back to when you were a student in school. Like, why are you in this program? Who inspired you? And my mind always goes back to my first grade teacher. Her name was Miss McGee. And I just remember the way that she made me feel. Like, could I tell you now the lessons that she taught me in first grade? No. I know I learned how to add, I know I learned how to read, but specifically, no. But I do remember her being the most kind and so silly, and even running into her. Um, I ran into her a few years ago and still remembers me. We have each other on Facebook now, and she just holds a really special place in my heart. And I always think back to her when I think about a teacher that inspired me.

SPEAKER_04 7:32

Is she still teaching or is she?

SPEAKER_00 7:35

You know, I'm not sure. I'd have to follow up on that.

SPEAKER_01 7:38

Yeah. Sometimes one of the interesting things about being a teacher is that you you learn the job or aspects of the job from your students. You know, you might think about learning from peers or or from a leader on the campus, but sometimes it's our students that teach us things. So what's what's one thing your students taught you in your first year?

SPEAKER_00 7:54

Oh my gosh, so many things. They literally taught me how to be a teacher in my own classroom because in student teaching, you are taking over someone else's class. And so I feel like your relationships with students, they while they can become personal, they're not as personal as when it is your very own. So watching those kids like come in through the door, okay. Like I can pick up on how you're feeling today. Taught me how to do pick up on that. And then I think biggest of all um is how to embrace the chaos. Like there sometimes there are just days like when you're doing a craft, and then they're so excited and there's paper all over the floor, and I'm like, okay, this is kind of ramping me up, but they're having fun, they're learning, like let them. I love that phrase, let them, you know, and that that's probably the mega settle.

SPEAKER_04 8:46

Yeah, let the kids do the learning. Yeah, yeah, that's great.

SPEAKER_02 8:49

What surprised you most during your first year? Was there anything that you just thought, wow?

SPEAKER_00 8:55

I think probably how quickly I kind of took on classroom management because in my student teaching experience, that's something I really struggled with was classroom management. But when it became my own classroom, it's like I I snapped into this new person. And I'm like, okay, I know the routines, I know the procedures, I'm gonna hold you to the routines and the procedures, and we're gonna redo them if we don't do it correctly. I feel like that's sometimes what I hear first year teachers struggling with is the management part, but I don't know that surprised myself that I'm like, okay, I kind of took naturally to this, which was nice because I got to focus on like other aspects. I'm like, I'm not worrying about the management portion. I can focus on other portions where I maybe need more.

SPEAKER_01 9:37

Yeah, I that's good. And I think that's probably rare for a first-year teacher. I think back to my first year, and that was a lot of years ago, not as far as Dr. G, but it was a lot of years ago. Um, and I remember wanting to be, and it was middle school, it was secondary. I wanted to be a cool teacher. I wanted to be the a teacher that the kids liked. Um, and I think the relationship side came very naturally, but the classroom management side as a result of that did not. Um, and I remember one of my kids that I really liked, Jacob, I remember his name to this day, and he said, you know, Coach Crow, we we like your class, we love it, we have a good time in here, but but you can hold us to a higher standard. And I had like a 13-year-old telling me this, and I was like, wow, okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

It's the highest compliment ever from a 13-year-old.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

Talk about your students teaching you something. He's like, you can challenge us more than you do. You know, and I think that probably a lot of first-year teachers come into it like that, where you want to be a likable teacher, you want to establish the relationship side. Um, but I like that that you were able to, unlike me, you were able to come in and set some of those expectations right off the bat.

SPEAKER_02 10:34

That is definitely rare. It's not commonplace. Yeah, you're right, and that that's the one thing that new teachers struggle with. So kudos.

SPEAKER_04 10:41

Yep. So um remind me, Oklahoma State does year-long residency. Um did you know.

SPEAKER_00 10:48

Yeah, I was in I was in my same placement for the year, but in the fall, I was there. I was only in the classroom for, I think it was one or two days a week full time. And then in the spring, it was full-time every day. So I was with my same students and my same mentor teacher, but wasn't full time until the spring.

SPEAKER_04 11:04

Okay. So thinking about that, and you kind of mentioned the classroom management, teaching's one of those professions when you go into, you're like, okay, this is completely different than my quote unquote internship. Yeah. Um, so you know, the classroom management, obviously, what were some other surprises where you're like, okay, I wish I would have known this or I could have done this a little bit differently?

SPEAKER_00 11:27

Mm-hmm. Um, probably lesson planning in college, it's just so different than what you're actually doing every day in the classroom. Like in college, we would have, we would start with the standard and then we would build it up from there, building block by building block, you know, creating all of our resources and everything, these 10-page, typed out, scripted lessons, like just ridiculous. And I knew going in it wouldn't be like that, but I didn't know what it would look like. And so that was kind of scary for me going and not knowing all of that. And with that, there came a million resources for me to access, which is great, but it was super overwhelming because I have all of these curriculums coming at me. I have iReady coming at me. I'm like, okay, how do I work this? How do I work this? How do I get to this worksheet? How do I type it in the plans? Where are the teaks? What am I supposed to be doing this week? All these questions. And so that was a really huge difference from my preparation program versus the classroom. Definitely my hardest challenge that year.

SPEAKER_04 12:30

I could see that. I remember those lesson plans in college, and you're like, it doesn't look anything like that.

SPEAKER_02 12:37

So many of our listeners are principals. So as they're looking at teachers who are just out of college, what would what advice would you give them in terms of three things that they should look for uh in a new teacher out of college that will kind of signal that, hey, you know what, this teacher could work out. Because a lot of principals are hesitant to hire brand new teachers unless you're up to the you know final August. Right, August two weeks before the school starts. So what are three traits that you feel new teachers should have in order to be successful?

SPEAKER_00 13:17

I think number one is probably confidence. Like even though it is your first year, you have to come in with a certain kind of confidence, like, okay, I am supposed to be here. I'm here for a reason. I went through all of the training and whatnot. I'm meant to be here because if you're lacking confidence like in yourself, you're gonna lack confidence in the classroom to your students. Then number two is positive, positive attitude. I think it's really easy to, you know, kind of adopt a negative attitude. And depending on who you're around to, like in your school, like depending on what the culture is, I think you can run into these negative Nellies that can bring first-year teachers down. So keeping that positive attitude is difficult, but I think really, really necessary. And then number three is probably the ability to be flexible. I think, I mean, for me personally, I had a really hard time with this my first year thinking more flexible and thinking on the fly because in the classroom, stuff can come at you from any direction. Like you could have seven extra students in your room that day because a sub didn't come to school and you're splitting a class. What are you doing with those seven extra kids?

SPEAKER_04 14:28

They didn't teach that in college, dude.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

No, no, which I ran into a lot my first year. And I'm like trying to figure out like, okay, how am I gonna manage this? And so you just need to have that go with the flow mindset, like it's all gonna get done, but flexibility and thinking on the fly, I think is really important. Or you need to have.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

I'm sorry. You shared something um that we've talked about before, which I think when you have someone new to your campus, one of the one of the most powerful things a campus leader can do is connect them with the right people. You talked about when when you are surrounded by a negative person or negative people, it can kind of influence your outlook a little bit. And and when you're connected with positive solutions-focused people, I think the same thing can happen. So did you, was there someone on your campus that was you were connected with as a mentor, or uh was there another teacher that you connected with early that kind of guided you toward um that that positive outlook on education?

SPEAKER_00 15:23

And and yeah, 100%. I have the best team on planet earth. My second grade team is amazing and they really lifted me up throughout my whole first year. They took on a big bulk of the planning for me so I could just focus on teaching and figuring out how to navigate the classroom and the school, took on a huge chunk of that. They were always there to answer any of my questions. They never made me feel silly or dumb for asking anything, which I think is huge. And then I am so fortunate to have amazing administration as well. My principal is amazing and she was always there to connect with me, answer any of my questions, coach me, all of the things. She was there. And it just made me feel very valued and seen. And if I brought something to her or my team, I knew it was gonna be acknowledged and my problem or whatever I was coming to them with was gonna be solved.

SPEAKER_04 16:21

And that's huge. Having that support staff.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

Yeah. Cause it's hard because I have friends who are at other campuses and I know that they do not get the same support. Um, I have a friend that just graduated college this year in I don't know where she is at in Oklahoma, but she talks to me all the time about how she just struggles because she has a really, really difficult class and she feels like she doesn't have a lot of support from team members or around the school. And I'm like, that would be so difficult. But I've had the opposite experience, so I feel for you, but it could be really hard.

SPEAKER_04 16:56

Hey, we we're hiring. I know.

SPEAKER_00 16:58

Like, come over here. I'm like, come down here.

SPEAKER_04 17:02

Let's continue kind of with that theme. Um, you know, after your first year, you know, and you do, I mean, you have an amazing administrative team, Miss uh uh Alec is phenomenal and uh Miss Clem. So as you're kind of looking at that, and you do have friends other places, what are those things that administrators can do to help support those first year teachers?

SPEAKER_00 17:24

That was actually one of my questions I asked before I even entered into GCIST. I'm like, okay, as a first-year teacher, how are you going to help support me? And fortunate, fortunately enough, we have instructional coaches. Like we had one that was designated to our campus, and she was in my room weekly helping me with stuff, whether it was lesson planning or giving me tips on how to do something. So that was really important. And then my head principal, Alicia, was my coach that year one. So she was always in my room, okay, just not like for those getcha moments, but just to really guide me along my journey. And so I think just a presence. You would go into Alicia's office and like try to find her, and she's never there. She was always around, like in someone's room, like helping them and probably mine, because it was my first year. And just having access to them probably and not feeling like so far away.

SPEAKER_01 18:20

Yeah. It can it can feel intimidating for a new teacher, I think, to have someone sometimes, depending on how it's framed, to have someone frequently in your room. So what do you think she did differently to make it a comfortable thing for her to often be in your room?

SPEAKER_00 18:33

Mm-hmm. Well, I've heard stories of people that would have like observations happen and like horror stories of like, okay, the the whoever's watching you jumps in and like reteaches what you're saying, like stops you and is like, that's wrong. Never, never, ever, ever would that happen at my school. And it was just like a silent observation and then a quick little note at the end, like, okay, this is your glow. You did amazing at this, or and then a grow, like this area. We let's try this next time. Like maybe put a sentence stem up on the board. And then for that next go around, okay, that would be implemented. And it was just really great to get like real-time feedback. I think that's probably number one is that real-time feedback instead of just walking around, oh, what are you doing? And then also she would shine on moments. Like if she saw something really awesome going on in my room, or this would happen in all of the other rooms too, like snap a picture, and we have a a newsletter for the staff, and she would share it on there and like blast out all of the wonderful things that the teachers are doing. So it was never like a getcha moment or uh, you are doing terrible at this. Like you need to fix this and this and this and this. Like it was never in a negative light. It was always in the positive light. Yeah, it's great.

SPEAKER_02 19:52

We talk a lot about building relationships and how that's the key really to any profession is building relationships. Tell me what you did in your first year to build relationships with your students, with your colleagues, with your families, administrators.

SPEAKER_00 20:08

Yeah. I mean, I think that's something that's really intimidating going in as a first-year teacher who's probably the youngest. That's something that's really intimidating. But again, just having that confidence to go out there and be yourself, connecting with students, like getting onto their personal level. Like, what are they interested in outside of school? Like one of the things that I did is I loved to go to their sporting events outside of school. I was really fortunate enough to go to a couple basketball games and flag football games. And then that was also just another opportunity for not only me to connect with the students and see them in a light outside of school, but to connect with their families too. I'm talking with mom and dad on the sidelines about little Jimmy and how awesome he is at football and just like a really great chance to connect with them outside of school because maybe they do struggle with a subject in school and they they're not shining there, but they're shining on that football field right now, and that is wonderful.

SPEAKER_02 21:03

And then look at that first year, and she's already preparing to be an administrator. I know.

SPEAKER_04 21:08

I'm like, how can we get her in the master's program to get her admin?

SPEAKER_00 21:13

Yeah. And then just communication. Like, I would rather be an over-communicator to you than an under-communicator to you. We do weekly newsletters. Every time something happens in our classroom, I'm always sending an email to the parents so they know what's going on, maybe more than they'd want, but over communication and then with your team as well. That's those are your rocks. Your team is your rock. Your administration is your rock. And so building relationships with them is also super important. Like my team, we have lunch together every single day. We're fortunate enough to be able to sit down as a team and all eat together. And, you know, we're talking about stuff that's not school related, like what's going on with the outside of school, building those relationships just through conversation. And same with my administration as well, talking about stuff that's not school. related.

SPEAKER_04 22:01

Yeah, you often spend more time with them than you do your, you know, people at home. Right. For sure. So you you kind of, and and I love how you said it about the the feedback and you know your your administrators on campus of just being super supportive and wanting to see you be successful. And you you said something else though that I want to go back to taking that feedback and growing. You know, because sometimes I've seen it and I think Michael and Gilbert have seen it too. Sometimes you have staff members who know it all. I don't know how to say it any differently, you know that oh hey yeah yeah I got that I got that but I mean I think you know kind of going on that other trait of of teachers when you're hiring is that ability to want to grow and get better and taking that feedback and you know building your your tool chest. So yeah I love hearing that from you. So talking about you know that you you talked about your administrator giving good feedback and caring as you go into a campus what would be those things that you want like three traits from your leaders that you really want to work under.

SPEAKER_00 23:13

I want to work for someone that is first leads everything with kindness. Okay I think that would be super difficult to work for someone who again is negative or doesn't have a positive outlook on everything. So definitely someone who leads with kindness is number one someone who I want to who I would want to work for. Number two is someone who is going to be able to help me grow. So how are you going to progress me from this year one teacher to year two to year three? How how am I going to get better? How are you going to help me get better? Like a coach almost and then someone that can set a good example. Like if you are telling me how to do something or telling me that I need to do something like explain how I can do it or show me how I can do it, lead by the example.

SPEAKER_01 24:05

Whether we've talked to a principal, a superintendent, a teacher, everyone we've talked to we've kind of asked them the same question because I think we all struggle with it. How do you manage the demands of the job, especially being new to it? You've got um grading you've got planning you've got all these things that look different than they looked in school in the classroom when when you actually have your own room. So how do you manage that healthy work life balance? What do you do away from school or or what strategies do you use to keep yourself sane?

SPEAKER_00 24:34

Well to be honest at first I did not I had the absolute worst work life balance on planet earth like the first semester of my student or not student teaching, my first year teaching and I was staying at school so ridiculously late and I just remember thinking when is this going to end? Like when am I going to go home? It's going to be like this forever. And it wasn't until I realized how to kind of um compartmentalize things like what do I have to get done after school? What can I do in the morning? What can I do on Wednesday? And what can I do next week to kind of figure out okay I can leave. And then also something that really helped me to just push me out the door even if I had a million things to do was scheduling things for after school. Like maybe that is going to get lunch with a friend after work one day or dinner with a friend after work one day or my workout classes if I schedule them like for right after school. If I don't show up I have to pay a $25 fee. So that really got me out the door. So just like having things outside of school.

SPEAKER_01 25:40

I think that's a great tip because we've we've talked during the day about the only way you're going to prioritize things is to put them on your schedule. So I like that even outside the workday, prioritizing your work life balance by saying you know things I enjoy or things that are are good for me or things that are going to get my mind off work for a little bit, I'm going to schedule those. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:57

So you mentioned already some of the things that you have to do differently to not spend so much time during your first semester. Any other things that you would do differently from your first care?

SPEAKER_00 26:08

Yeah giving myself grace I am so hypercritical of myself and just like every aspect of life I always have been but in the classroom I was super critical like a lesson wouldn't go to plan and I would be like oh my goodness I'm the worst teacher ever. Like just crazy stuff like that. And no that's not the case. And I think it's crazy because all day long that's all I'm showing these kids is grace and kindness for their mistakes. And so giving myself more of that is something that I definitely need in this second year and just going forward grace and kindness to myself for my mistakes.

SPEAKER_01 26:45

Old people like us that have been in education for a while have seen a few different like technological revolutions. Email. Yeah yeah he's really really old but yeah I mean literally like you know when Google came about and people are adapting to that in the classroom and how in the world will we survive and how would we get kids to not cheat and and and lately AI has been kind of the most recent among those trends. So um you obviously probably more um accustomed to some of these more recent technological changes but how are you using AI? How does it help you in the work that you do uh how how does it change uh teaching from where you what you thought it might be to what it is?

SPEAKER_00 27:29

Yeah that's a great question. I wouldn't say I use AI too often but I do use it to make maybe some more creative things. I love to use it to make coloring sheets. I have a classroom Goose her name is Silly Goose and I love to make like just themed coloring sheets of her for the kids to do every so often I'll also use it to do one of my most like mundane tasks the one that I hate the most is making seating charts. And so what I do is I plug all the kids in there like by their number and I will designate okay number one cannot sit by number three because they talk all day long. Number four needs to sit by me or else they will not do their work. Don't sit number five and six together because they will argue all day long or number seven needs to sit next number six because they are a good example. Stuff like that. And then I would type that all up one time and then the whole year every month when I would want to change their seats I'd just press make me new seating chart and then it'd be like boom boom boom boom boom put them here put them here put them here. And it was great because I hate thinking about that. And so that was like probably what I use it for the most and it was it was really really wonderful. But it is definitely forever changing like AI is just the beginning right now and it's only going to evolve and so who knows how it's going to eventually push into the classrooms especially from an elementary perspective. Like I'm sure at some point it's coming and you'd be shocked to know that it's already a conversation really in second grade. I just the other day the kids it is yes okay just the other day I overheard some students talking about how AI is not always correct. And so I'm like yes like I'm glad you're saying that versus you know AI knows everything. And so they're already having these conversations probably at home and you know it's something they're conscious of but teaching them to become a critical thinker is going to be more important than ever because that's why what that's what AI can take away the most from is that critical those critical thinking still skills, creativity. So I think it's really important from early on and through middle and high school to teach them, okay, how do I think for myself? How do I don't just want to ask Chat GPT like what do I what do I want to eat today? Like think for yourself.

SPEAKER_01 29:45

And if we can share some of that critical thinking and discernment with with all the adults around no doubt. No doubt the world will be a better place. Right.

SPEAKER_02 29:53

I like the fact the seating chart example that you gave because the worry of many people about AI is that it's you know it's going to make learning obsolete kids are not going to know anything. They're just going to ask AI but that was a perfect example of using AI without having to sacrifice any kind of learning. It it it's just about a seating chart and once again it's a mundane task.

SPEAKER_04 30:17

Right. I mean where where you would spend 30 minutes trying to be critical I got to move this around where it pops it up in 30 seconds.

SPEAKER_02 30:25

Yeah that's that's that's a no-brainer use of AI those mundane tasks.

SPEAKER_04 30:29

Absolutely so this is kind of off script here a little bit um but second year and you you have three people here who have what would what do we figure almost a hundred years no how many years in education? Over 50 over yeah probably about 75 years. Yeah yeah what do you what do you see yourself doing going down the pike?

SPEAKER_00 30:54

Oh gosh that's so hard to imagine but I don't know I you know I never thought about like anything other than okay I want to be a teacher and that's all I want to do. But I think it's really interesting to see all of the other roles that are within a school because I didn't really get to see that in my teaching like student teaching experience and my college experience. And so I don't know what the future holds for me. And I think I want to hold it down in second grade for a little while longer, but I mean you never know a new grade um a new position something like higher up I don't know but I'm excited for the future no matter what it is.

SPEAKER_02 31:31

Hey if you start listening to our podcast you get an idea of many roles that you can contribute against and I think the cool thing there is there's no wrong answer.

SPEAKER_01 31:40

You know, we've talked to people that have gone into different roles and then gone back to the classroom because teaching was their passion and that's where you know they're still practicing leadership but that's where they're doing it from um and there's so that's that's why it's cool to talk to people from different roles and different jobs because all of them are utilizing leadership in a different way. Yep absolutely all right so to kind of wrap us up here you you've made your way into year two now you're a pro. You're a seasoned veteran. If you could go back and talk to yourself on day one of your first year what would you tell yourself?

SPEAKER_00 32:12

Oh man probably don't blink because it goes by so fast. And just to soak in all of the good and the bad and the crazy because at the very the very end of the year is the best time ever. That was probably my favorite moment of the year was the end of the year because you get to see like your labor of love in those students and how much they grew and how much they're going to miss you and all of that stuff. So yeah don't blink because it goes by really fast.

SPEAKER_01 32:43

And you will love all the kids you teach and and that's going to continue but there's something about the kids you had your first year that kind of always sets them apart because you kind of grew up together a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 32:52

Yeah and you know you know what um when you said that it kind of triggered something in my mind. Before we started recording I mentioned how second grade was my favorite grade. And I remember my first year first year in general at the end of the year yes it was great it was fun but I kept thinking did I teach these kids anything and honestly as a first year teacher I couldn't answer my answer that question. Yeah yeah it wasn't until I got the next set of kids in the fall and where they were at and that's when I knew I said wow that was that light bulb moment for you makes sense.

SPEAKER_04 33:31

Yeah well Jacob would confirm that I didn't teach my kids anything and at least until he gave me a stern talking to well Anna man we so appreciate talk about mature beyond your years in education just just your thoughts and your thoughtfulness and your um you know just perspective on a first year teacher. We so appreciate you joining us today and we always have a little fun at the end talk things outside of education and we do an on tap moment and would like to know if you'd like to stay with us. Yeah I'd love to go all right all right let's go all right so for our on tap moment today um we want to congratulate Anna because you are engaged and planning a wedding correct congratulations November 20th very nice very nice and so as we were talking we've talked music we've talked sports we've talked travel um in in honor of uh Anna's wedding we ask what would be the top two or three perfect wedding slash love songs I'm glad she agreed to stay on for this because that would have been kind of awkward if she said no now.

SPEAKER_02 34:49

Exactly Gilbert you want to kick us off sure the two songs that I picked I don't know if you guys have would have heard of them maybe maybe not was it on the was it on vinyl eight track what what were they old yes they are old number one was from 1977.

SPEAKER_01 35:08

Oh my gosh were you born no I was not yet Michael was not on case you're curious I wasn't born either all right do you know what an eight track is at least no okay technology it's evolved so the group's name was Heat Wave and the song is Always and Forever.

SPEAKER_02 35:27

Okay all right uh it was released in December of 77 and it peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Okay. Back when they had charts.

SPEAKER_01 35:38

Yeah yeah not streaming and all right Crow all right that I went classic on this now in in my own wedding we actually went with a Pat Green song crazy so I'm gonna give a quick shout out to that one because that um that was uh my wife and I that was our first song um but in terms of like ones that felt they fit this category I went classic so with both. So the first one I had is At Last by Edda James. I don't have all of the the great statistics that Dr. G had on his buttons I'm sure it's been used at a million weddings. It's a classic it's it's one that you know a really old song that despite that anytime I hear it I just let it play all the way through and I think it it is very fitting for that uh first day of matrimony.

SPEAKER_04 36:21

So I'm gonna go I have I have two different ones I'm gonna go as a husband our wedding song my wife and mine um was Mark Cohn True Companion. I don't know if y'all know that one it's not coming back to me could you could you sing a little bit? Mark Cone, you guys would all know his big hit Walking in Memphis.

SPEAKER_03 36:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 36:42

On that same album there's a song called True Companion and that was the song that my beautiful wife and I danced to at our wedding. That's good stuff.

SPEAKER_00 36:51

Yes yes all right Anna what's your number one okay well I think my number one wedding song has got to be anything from Mamma Mia. Have you guys seen Mama Mia? Yes yes best soundtrack music of all time gimme gimme dancing queen like my anthems like they're just so fun to like get out there with and have everybody out on the dance floor.

SPEAKER_04 37:12

So those will definitely be two that aren't going to be played at my wedding hand that playlist to the DJ and say yep play this must play I'm adding y'all's down too all right all right Gilbert what's your second one all right you can probably guess the artist of my second song your favorite that's correct Prince.

SPEAKER_01 37:32

Prince yes can you guess the song though I I can oh no I can't never mind I was looking on the on my cheat sheet it's not there.

SPEAKER_02 37:40

The song is called Adore have you ever heard of it?

SPEAKER_01 37:42

Oh it is there.

SPEAKER_02 37:43

I missed it no I don't know that one yes Adore so it was Adore was on the 1987 sign of the times that's correct yes it was released in 87 it was part of the sign of the times album like Crow just stated and it's a song that many people have never heard of because it wasn't really released as a single but even though it wasn't Rolling Stone named it number 432 in their top 500 songs of all time list.

SPEAKER_03 38:16

Wow congratulations to Prince on the door I don't know that one I'm gonna have to have to listen to it.

SPEAKER_04 38:22

What year was it 80 87 87 all right okay good stuff all right for my second one I went with another classic Elvis this time um I can't help falling in love with you like I think I think that's a great one it's uh you know it it speaks to um just kind of being being overwhelmed with love for someone it starts out wise men say only fools rush in so that encouragement not to rush into a situation but when when I'm with this person I can't help it they're they're pulling me in can't help falling in love with you so that's uh my second one that's a great one quick trivia uB40 oh sorry never mind I thought I thought I knew where you were going with that trivia you may I mean name two other artists that have covered that song UB40 is one of those name two more let me think about this oh Prince no did Roy Orbison redo it didn't Willie Nelson do it oh yeah yeah Willie Nelson and then one more that's a good one too you'll never guess this one but you've probably heard it pet shop boys okay okay all right that's a good one golly Gilbert is just a mantra of knowledge as long as it's before the year 2000 there you go all right so I I went with my song for my wife I'm I have a song and and my daughters being a dad of two daughters um I was so scared he was gonna say his girlfriend especially this is my my two daughters I have already told them that this is the song we're dancing to at your wedding as the father daughter dance and they're like no we're not but this is gonna happen so um I am a I believe in our generation the greatest songwriter is Jason Isabel. He is I love Jason Isabel and his songwriting is phenomenal and he wrote a song um that is on his reunions uh album that is called Letting You Go and it talks about a dad's journey of letting his daughter go. And I mean dude it tears me up every single time and um so the chorus is being your daddy comes natural the roses just know how to grow. It's easy to see that you'll get where you're going the hardest part is letting you go. And it it just talks about the the journey of handing off his daughter to a husband of I wish you were there watching your winter nightmares and all of those things. So it's a great song.

SPEAKER_01 40:48

Dude I Google these lyrics and I'm tearing up right now I don't even have a daughter I don't know how you how you do that.

SPEAKER_04 40:54

I mean I'll it will come on on my you know playlist every once in a while and I'm like all right I know I'm I'm not crying today in the car so saving the the tears for the wedding.

SPEAKER_02 41:02

Exactly I want to see a post of your facial facial expression at the wedding when they're playing this song.

SPEAKER_04 41:08

Oh you I'm sure you'll be at that wedding guilter so you can get point point view there. All right Anna what is your last one?

SPEAKER_00 41:16

Anything Taylor Swift Taylor Swift has some some bops and one of my favorites from her is Enchanted and that's one that's going to be incorporated into our ceremony and so it's kind of the same thing. Whenever I listen to the instrumental version I always get like oh my gosh because I start thinking about it and I'm emotional. So yeah Swifty oh yeah yeah what's your fiance's name?

SPEAKER_02 41:39

His name is Kyle Kyle all right Kyle you heard your uh task here make sure these songs are available well those are great suggestions for everybody we kind of ran the gamut of songs on that I like it.

SPEAKER_01 41:52

I'm sure our listeners will come up with some more absolutely if you've got some you'd like to share with us please go ahead and send those in to us you can email us at info at edleadershipontap.com that's info at edleadershipontap.com or you can uh message us on all socials Facebook Instagram and the Twitter or you could send us a text or a voicemail by hitting the send us fan mail button on whichever app you listen to your podcast on. I think bonus points too if someone sings it into their voicemail like I would I would like to hear someone's rendition of this that'd be great.

SPEAKER_02 42:29

And we promise not to play it on the air unless you want us to all right that's it so until next time keep leading