Episode 17

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Published on:

11th Jan 2026

Episode 17: “What If They’re Too Comfortable?” — Managing Chill Without Losing Control

When a CI classroom gets too comfortable, strong community can quietly slide into chaos—and managing chill without losing control is a skill every language teacher needs.

Take the CI Proficiency Quiz to see where you land and assess your comprehension-based teaching at https://imim.us/ciquiz.

In this episode of Comprehend THIS!, we unpack how to reset expectations, hold boundaries, and lead with warmth and authority—without becoming the fun police or killing classroom morale.

Need ready-to-use CI lessons, routines, and systems that support structure and joy? Check out the CI Survival Kit at https://imim.us/kit.

#comprehensibleinput, #languageteaching, #classroommanagement, #worldlanguageteachers, #teachingspanish, #citeachers, #teacherpodcast, #proficiencybasedteaching, #teacherburnout, #classroomculture

Hosts:

  1. Scott Benedict - https://www.instagram.com/immediateimmersion
  2. Kayla Velasquez - https://www.instagram.com/Srta_kaylavela
  3. Jackie Deming-Plunk

Resources & Links:

  1. Assessment Academy: https://imim.us/academy
  2. CI Survival Kit: https://imim.us/kit

Join the Conversation:

Got thoughts or your own story? Share it in the comments or tag us @ImmediateImmersion!


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Connect with Scott:

Host: Scott Benedict — Immediate Immersion

🌐 https://immediateimmersion.com

📧 Scott@immediateimmersion.com

Youtube: https://youtube.com/immediateimmersion

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Transcript
Speaker:

Good morning and welcome everybody. How

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is everybody doing this Sunday morning?

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The first, well actually it's the second

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official Sunday of 2026.

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I hope everybody is having a good week

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and had a good start to the new year.

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You are watching the comprehend this

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webcast and we are today talking about

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what if they are too comfortable. So you

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know that moment when your

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CI class feels too comfortable

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like they have upgraded from safe and

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supported to we live here

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now and make our own rules?

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Yeah that moment. Today on comprehend

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this we are talking about what happens

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when chill crosses the line

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and how to reel it back in without

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turning it into a villain

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in your own classroom story.

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I am joined by Kayla Velasquez and Jackie

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Diving Plunk is back with us.

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Jack Kayla who literally builds familia

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level community with music, movement,

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reading and Spanish TV.

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And Jackie we all know who also knows the

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delicate art of keeping class fun without

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letting it turn into a

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Spanish language sitcom.

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We are unpacking boundaries, vibes,

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leadership energy and why fun does not

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mean do whatever you want

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while I slowly lose my soul.

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If you've ever thought wow they are way

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too comfortable maybe even more too

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comfortable this episode is for you.

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We'll be back after these short messages.

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Pop quiz. Are your assessments align with

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what you're actually

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teaching? No? Cool. Let's fix that.

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The Assessment Academy is 10 pre-recorded

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lessons that help you ditch the scantrons

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and actually assess what matters.

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Like proficiency, performance and whether

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your students are

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still breathing by Friday.

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Watch on your time as many times as you

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want for a whole year and no there's not

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a single lesson about bubble sheets or

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grading 72 essays at 11pm.

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You're welcome. Go over to mm.us slash

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academy and start assessing

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like you actually mean it.

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Welcome to comprehend this real talk for

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real language teachers. No drills, no dry

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theory, just honest stories, practical

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ideas and a reminder you're not alone in

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the CI trenches. Let's dive in.

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Good morning. How are we

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all doing this morning?

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Doing great. Awesome, awesome, awesome.

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Kayla it's your first time with us so let

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us a little know about if I can speak

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English this morning. Let us know a

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little bit about yourself.

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Sure. I am in my 11th year teaching and I

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always like to say I hate working but I

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love my job. So if I have to work I would

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only want to do this job.

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I teach in Western Wisconsin at a small

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rural school. I am a Department of one.

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So I'm the only language teacher in my

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district. I teach exploratory middle

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school and then all levels

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of Spanish at the high school.

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And I'm super proud that when I came into

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this school that there was only Spanish

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one and two and my fourth year there I

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graduated a class of 15 Spanish for

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students and I've been using CI ever

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since my first of my second semester of

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my first year teaching because I thought

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that I was I just thought that it was

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unsustainable otherwise.

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So I dove into my CI teaching journey

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kind of right away. And I use textbooks

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for literally maybe four months and I

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haven't looked back since. So my room is

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filled with books and we do class novels

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and we do FVR and we do music every day

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and we do dancing on Fridays and calendar

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talk and we laugh and we have fun and I

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cry because I'm so proud.

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And it's great. So I live here with my

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husband and my two year old puppy and our

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two cats one who is the grumpiest one

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you'll ever meet and one who's the

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sweetest you'll ever meet.

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I know I have a dog that's just almost a

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year and a half. So yes going through

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those terrible twos getting ready there

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with her. And I'm like you I only did

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textbook for the

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first four months of mine.

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Once winter break came and I came back

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while it was actually second semester

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which was shortly into January. I started

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with CI back in 2001 and I haven't looked

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back since so I kind of like the view I

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did not do the textbook I would not be

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here today if it were

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for the textbook at all.

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Not absolutely at all. So thank you and

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welcome for being with us. Jackie is a

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semi regular with us so welcome back from

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what part of Tennessee

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is it northern southern.

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Eastern western and southwest. I'm about

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two hours from Memphis but still on the

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state line still in state line. Well

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welcome welcome back.

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She wasn't able to be with us last week

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because illness be struck her household

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but we're glad to have her this week. So

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today we're talking about what if they're

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too comfortable managing

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chill without losing control.

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I'm going to say one thing just to start

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it off because it's a double edged sword

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for me. I like having continuity I think

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there's a benefit and a negative to for

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kids to have the same teacher for their

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whole you know their whole time their

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levels one through four.

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And I've only had that one time where I

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had all I had like a handful of kids I

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had levels one two and three because we

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only talked to level

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three in middle school.

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And it was really wonderful because I

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could see where their progression went

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and I really like that. And then I also

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know this is kind of sounds selfish and

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conceited but I know that where they got

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to from level one to level three was all

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because of me because there

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was no other teacher in there.

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Because when you have like all there with

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me for level one and then they went to

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someone else for level two and they're

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back to me for level three how much of it

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was their level one experience how much

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of what they know is from

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their level two experience.

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You don't really know but when you've had

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them all along. So I like that. But then

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there's also that negative is when you

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tell them the class rules and everything

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they're like oh yeah you know push over

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here you know they they're get too

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comfortable and they want to break that.

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And it doesn't happen. It's like I taught

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11 years in one school and it happened a

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lot because I had a lot of repeat

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customers. And so I was like trying to

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train my new kids that are in there but

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the old kids are like bringing up their

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old bad habits and kind of teaching the

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kids the bad things.

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And then I moved to a new school two

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years ago. This is my second year there.

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I went back to high school and so last

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year everybody was new no repeats first

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semester everybody was new no repeats but

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now I've got a Spanish to this semester

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and I've got out of half my kids are

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repeats and half my kids are new to me.

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And there's that comfort ability there

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that they are way too comfortable already

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like on the first day of school they are

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already like it's already been six months

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into school year already that they're so

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comfortable and and play the games that

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they play not necessarily in a bad way

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but they know the buttons to push and

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they know what they can get away with and

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what they can't get away with.

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And if you try to change anything like I

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change some things up this semester

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they're like still going with the old way

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of doing things so there's a double edged

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sword I like seeing familiar faces and I

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like that continuity and I think it also

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benefits the kids in some ways to have

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that continuity because they don't have

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to spend time learning all the ins and

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outs of a new teacher in a new class.

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I can just focus on the input but there

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is that double edged sword sometimes. So

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what do you guys think any opinions.

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I would totally echo that I have said for

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years because I've always been a

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department of one my entire 11 years and

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I've always said it's a blessing and a

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curse and I say it's a blessing for the

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same reason that you do because I get to

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see exactly where they start from and

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then where they end up regardless of

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wherever they decide to end whether it's

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just one year or two years three years

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four years and like that sense of pride

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that I get as an educator of kind of

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being like oh my gosh look what they can

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do after being in my room.

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And then this program and it's amazing

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and I mean that's that's priceless. It's

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also makes it really easy as far as

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lesson planning unit planning long term

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planning because I know exactly what they

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know. I know exactly if they've learned

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this structure before. I know if I can

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use Shakira and Bizareps Distract with

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this group because I didn't do it last

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year with that group like it's it makes

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it so easy to plan for things.

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But I totally echo that as far as

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expectations and classroom management go

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my Spanish one is the easiest to do that

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with because they're brand new to me or I

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mean my eighth graders but I'm talking

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about like full time 65 minute year long

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courses my Spanish one when we do those

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classroom norming things together that's

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all fresh for them and it's really easy

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to stick to those expectations from a

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brand new Spanish one crew.

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Spanish two it's still somewhat easy

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because they're still you know it's only

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been a year in class and they come back

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and they're excited but you know you

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revisit expectations and you go over

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things again and it doesn't seem like

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Spanish two is one of my harder spots to

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control but it's when I get into the

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threes and the fours that it gets tough

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because they're super

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comfortable which I love.

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Like I wouldn't trade that for the world

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but they're so used to being that room

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they're used to me they're used to the

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routines and the procedures and I mean

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how many I feel like how many times can

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you do the same classroom norming with

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the same students and without it feeling

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like an eye roll or you know you're also

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getting older students at this point

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they're 17 they're 18 and I feel like I

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get a little bit of

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pushback at that point too.

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So I guess one strategy that I tried

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starting last year that I found kind of

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started to work was really being explicit

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about our proficiency goals and like

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their their growth goals like their

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personal what they want to get out of

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this class and where they can expect to

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be by the end of this you

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know Spanish three Spanish four.

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So then when we come back to expectations

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it's like if this is for you if you want

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to get to intermediate mid on your on

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your speaking this is why you you have to

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follow these classrooms expectations.

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So I've been finding that having those

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personal goals tied to proficiency has

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kind of helped in a way and we revisit

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those goal sheets and we have those

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individual conversations and class

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conversations in those upper levels.

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And I feel like that's something that's

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helped me a little bit.

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I also want to say that I, I feel like

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there might be a little bit of of shame

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in this whole like idea out there of like

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it's okay that our classrooms sometimes

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like run into too comfortable and we

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shouldn't feel shame about that.

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Like, see I teachers are amazing at

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making classroom communities, and I know

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that, like, as teachers as educators we

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don't sometimes want to admit that you

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know we've, we've lost control or things

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aren't going our way.

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And I feel like that's something that we

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maybe don't want to admit but it's okay

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that that happens. And we just have to be

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able to talk about it and then talk about

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what we do to move forward and so that it

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continues to be like a

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positive, safe, productive

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space for us and for our kids and so I

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just would want to remove any shame that

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anybody feels like they have from that

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idea. If you feel like your classroom

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sometimes does feel a

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little bit too comfortable.

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If I can just piggyback on that.

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Absolutely. I love what you just said

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there because I was talking to Kayla

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before we started this morning about my

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second period last semester which just

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was not buying into any of it.

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And that community building just couldn't

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happen it didn't happen they kept butting

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heads all along the way. And I would much

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rather have too comfortable, then that

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coldness where I walked in the classroom

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and I could like walk in

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from, you know, in the beginning

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of the school year started I'm in

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Sacramento so it's 110 outside and I walk

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into a class that's like 54 degrees

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because they are just not into it. I

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would much rather have that and you are

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so right that we as CI teachers work

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really hard to build that community.

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I'm there for the kids and I like to get

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to know the kids and who they are and use

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what they bring to the table to teach

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them and if I was just teaching like cold

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math or you know those types of things

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where I wouldn't have that relationship.

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I don't think I'd be here anymore. I mean

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it's that that relationship with the kids

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that building that community is so well

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so you're right. It

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shouldn't be a shameful thing.

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We obviously want to manage it so that

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it's not complete chaos. But as I said I

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would much rather have too comfortable,

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then offstand ish type of thing where

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you're constantly

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butting heads along the way.

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Absolutely,

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absolutely what you just said.

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What about you Jackie.

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Yeah I mean I mostly agree. I'm I have

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never been a department of one that's

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kind of the only difference in my story

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so far but it kind of ends up being a

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department of one because the current

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school that I'm at and the last school I

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was at tried to keep all of the students

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with the same teacher between

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semesters because we are on a four by

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four block so the kids take Spanish one

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in the fall that takes Spanish two in the

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spring and they try to keep them with the

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same teacher unless there's some extreme

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circumstance that requires them to move

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to a different class.

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And so yeah semester two they tend to be

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very comfortable with me. They do get

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shifted around so they don't have all of

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the exact same classmates but they do end

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up with a mostly the same class.

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There'll be some new people and that kind

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of shifts the balance a little bit.

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But yeah I almost take pride

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in having a chill classroom.

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My kids are very comfortable talking to

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me about stuff and I

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feel like kids do need that.

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They need an adult they feel like they

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can talk to. And so to some extent I

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enable the chill to happen because there

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is some important stuff happening even if

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the Spanish takes the

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backseat for a minute.

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And I think overall it leads to more buy

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in in when we're doing

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things that aren't fun per se.

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So and really it's it's about learning

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how to start that balance and it's about

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learning quick moves to regain the

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control in the situation

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and pivot where you need to.

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And if you can learn to strike that

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delicate balance then you know things

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don't get too chill usually.

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Absolutely. You said something that

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brought to my mind right away that when

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kids kids want to talk to me you know

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they they want to share things.

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But sometimes it's a little too

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comfortable about what they want to share

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and it's not one of those things like the

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self reporting stuff that you have to

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report not that kind of stuff but like I

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had a kid who I like made a joke about

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something about Target and he's like oh

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I'm banned from Target.

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Well oh my gosh I don't know why I asked

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thinking that it was like shoplifting or

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stealing but I asked this is so how do

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you get banned from Target.

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I mean because he's got a lifetime banned

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from this Target he cannot go and they

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got a picture of him in the security ring

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and he's not allowed in and I am so

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regretful that I asked and then he told

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me and I it's not it's not appropriate to

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talk about here it's that bad.

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And I'm like oh my gosh he goes well you

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shouldn't have asked the question if you

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didn't want to know the answer I'm like

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yeah but that answer was so out of

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nowhere I was not expecting that at all.

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I thought maybe you don't want to know.

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Yeah it should have been not the NSFW not

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safe for work comment beforehand you know

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sometimes they just share.

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I'm like oh my gosh I did not want to

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hear that and not and it's funny because

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I had that kid last semester in a non

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Spanish class and now I have him again

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this semester in a Spanish class and I

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can't look at him the same way.

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It is just I'm like there is just too

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much information that I know now and I

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didn't want to know about that.

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So it's kind of you know sometimes they

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over that's the word I want to use they

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over share they get too friendly and they

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think of you like a friend and they share

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that kind of information they share with

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a friend and I'm like

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I ain't your friend.

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Nope nope nope nope we're not going over

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that boundary that boundary you know keep

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it a little bit a school appropriate you

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know you don't have to be church like but

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we do need to be school like you know

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there's something just because it goes to

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your head should not come out your mouth.

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Yep, and that was one of the things I say

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a lot is I don't want to know. Don't I

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don't want to know don't

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tell me I don't I don't I.

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You know what once he told me the start

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of it I'm like I don't want to know

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anymore stop I don't want to know I don't

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want to know yesterday yesterday was

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Saturday Friday had a kid.

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I had him the year before and his name is

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junior and he's like up I gotta take a

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dump I need to pass and you to go take a

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dump I'm going to explode the bat is like

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going on and elaborate and like we don't

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need to know this you can just say I need

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to go to the bathroom what you do in the

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bathroom we don't need to know the

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details then he comes back and he tells

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us all the details and I'm like we don't

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need to know this you

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went to the bathroom.

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Hopefully you washed your hands you came

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back there is oversharing we are in

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Spanish and at least if you're going to

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describe what you did please do it in

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Spanish at least at least.

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Yes do that.

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Yeah, I have very selective hearing

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sometimes I'm like I especially between

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bells. I'm like, oh, I'm just gonna

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pretend I didn't hear that.

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But I do use the between Bell things. It

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was so funny, especially I taught middle

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school. I'm always listening because they

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are always talking. And so, I'll bring it

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up like they'll be talking about so and

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so is now dating so and so, and so I like

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throw that into a story, and they're

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like, how the heck did you know that.

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I'm like, I'm everywhere I see everything

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and really like you just said it outside

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in the hall as you're walking into class

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I mean I was just paying attention.

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And so I use that information to make the

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class more fun and interesting because

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they think I know everything like, oh

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yeah, and I go up. Well, john and

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Melissa, you know they you know they're

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not talking to each other today they

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broke up and then like that just happened

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like 10 minutes ago how

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do you know that already.

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It was kind of, you know, just keep your

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ears open so there are things you want to

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hear that you can use appropriately in

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class, and there are things that oh my

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gosh, I wish I always

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tell the kids sometimes.

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There are benefits to being deaf and

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there are benefits to being blind.

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Sometimes in class that some things I

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don't want to see in some things I

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definitely don't want to hear.

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We had a kid, we were playing. We were

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doing colors and body parts we play

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Twister, and I have

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two giant Twister boards.

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So they can fit more people on them

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they're really really big so I takes two

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of them and it comes up with a good two

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thirds of my classroom, and we had a kid

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who was trying to stay up and bent over

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and his pants came down and is under a

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rush on I'm like, oh my gosh.

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Benefits being blind benefits being

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blind. So that's that was a class joke

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that whenever he bends over that his

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pants come down. It was just kind of

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funny. Those kinds of

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things that happen in class.

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And the inside jokes though like talk

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about community, right? Yeah, like I was

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there some of those are some of my

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favorite parts and then you know

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something will be one year we were, I was

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doing buska and something with Komeida

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and so I was hiding like

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plastic food around the room.

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And I hit a fry like a plastic French fry

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and so I was like buska papa frita. And a

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kid came back with like an actual French

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fry and I'm like, where did you find this

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and they found like an actual old gross

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McDonald's French fry like in my library.

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I'm like, that's disgusting and I did put

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that in there. Who knows when that's been

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in there since but then that old French

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fry got taped up on the boat on the

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whiteboard for the rest of the year which

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is like a piece of tape.

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And then it just was called my papa

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frita. And then it just became like an

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inside joke and the other classes didn't

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get it and they're like, why is that

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there and I'm like you had to be there you had to be there.

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But like, you know, when we talk about

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classroom community like that is the type

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of stuff that I love and you can only get

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it if you're in that

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if you're in that crew.

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And so you're on a typical day I have

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like six, six groups of

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inside jokes that I'm also better.

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Yeah, I did the same thing except I kind

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of spread them around because I like to

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call my classroom or one big family who

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can't sit at the same

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dinner table at the same time.

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So I share stories from one class to the

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other. And so we were just in our first

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week and as I get new students every

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semester I'm like Jackie on the four by

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four so I got brand new students and in

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my level one class in period one we have

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this kid named Nikolai and Nikolai we

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already we got we established on the

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first day that he was not normal.

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Because when I asked him what kind of

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music he listened to he said he listened

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to experimental pop. None of us had heard

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of that genre of music not once and then

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we went and looked it up on Spotify and

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listen to a song and we're like, what?

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So we tell him he was not normal because

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he listened to this experimental pop. So

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it's kind of like a little joke. Well

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then the next day we were still talking

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with him and he talked

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about how he shaves his legs.

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And we're like, what guy shaves your leg?

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I mean, if you're a swimmer I understand

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but it wasn't swimming season and he's

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not a swimmer. So we were laughing about

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that he goes, Yeah, my mom makes fun of

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me for shaving my legs.

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I'm like, and rightfully so.

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We kept a vote how many boys shave their

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legs. Nobody in the class did. So we did

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that and then next period period two we

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started I started the class

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guy class you won't believe.

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Remember we talked yesterday and I didn't

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tell them the name I go that kid is even

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more abnormal than he was yesterday. And

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I said, Can anybody guess what he does

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now and nobody could guess because nobody

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that was not an anybody's bingo card

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right and I'm like, he saves his legs.

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He doesn't wax them. He shaves his legs

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and I'm like, how many boys in here shave

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their legs and no boy raises their hands

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and one of the kid recognized it was his

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friend. I could see it in his face. He's

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like laughing and then I go and I'm not

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going to mention any names and they go

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Nikolai and everybody starts laughing and

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the other kid laughs. I go,

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Are you Nikolai's friend? He's like, Yes,

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I go. You're just as strange then for

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being Nikolai's friend. And then we went

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on with another kid and Eli and Eli was

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talking about he likes to play video

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games and he plays

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video Fortnite every night.

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And so then I asked him, Do you have a

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girlfriend? He goes, No, I go, Well, it's

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obvious because you're playing Fortnite

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every night instead of trying to get a

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girlfriend. And so we were talking about

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that a little bit. And

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then he goes on and he says,

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I said, because he's in our I'm going to

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I teach at a career technical academy. So

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he's in the culinary program. I said, So

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what's your specialty dish? He says

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spaghetti. And I go, Oh, poor Eli.

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Unfortunately, no girls can experience

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his magnificent spaghetti because he's

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playing Fortnite all the time. And then

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we started going and the kids go, Oh,

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yes, but he feeds his spaghetti to his

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game controller. So I did that.

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And we found a little picture of him with

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his game controller and we have a

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Valentine's Day dance coming up in, you

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know, next month. And so I'm like, class,

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he doesn't take his a girl to the game

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because he doesn't have a

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he doesn't have a girlfriend.

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So guess what does he take to the dance?

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And they're like his game controller. So

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we we had so much fun with that. In fact,

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I'm going to show you because then I use

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I use chat GPT in my

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classroom all the time.

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Let's see. Eli with spaghetti. I'm

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getting that. So I can show you. We made

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this image. And my first period, they

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didn't hear this because

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this happened second period.

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But I wrote a story for our reading time.

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And they're going to hear the story then

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so I can share it with them. And it makes

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it really funny. Let me pull up the

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pictures here real quick here that I made.

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So this is the first one with Eli making

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spaghetti for his game controller. And

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that looks just like Eli because I

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uploaded his school picture to get that

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picture in there. And then here he is

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taking his game controller

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to Valentine's Day dance.

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So this is going to become a funny story

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that you know, endeared all of us in that

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first week of Spanish one, the kids were

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all laughing, which tells you they're

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understanding what's going on.

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And they're now this is going to become

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this like little class mythology that

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we're going to be working on. And at the

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end of class, Eli with a smile comes and

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goes, Profa, you did me

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dirty. You did me dirty.

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And that picture should be framed and be

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on your wall somewhere in that room. Oh,

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that's a great I should definitely I'm

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going to print them on Monday. Now that

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you said that I'm going to print them on

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Monday and put them up.

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Laminate for Valentine's Day. You can do

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little Valentine's cards with those on

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the front. You can print a five by seven

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through Walmart for like 17. Oh, no.

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They put in color color copy machines in

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our school. So I can just print it on a

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copy machine, put it I can laminate it.

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We'll keep it up. And at the end of the

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semester, I'll give it to Eli saying

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here, here's your president

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for the end of the semester.

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I usually I make stories about my kids

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every year. I make four stories a week

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and I put different kids in them. And

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what I do is I take all the stories of

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that they're starting and I print them

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out for them and give them a little

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booklet so they can remember Spanish with.

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But now I can do these pictures because

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I've been having so much fun that chat

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now does pictures. I started it last

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spring, making pictures of kids in the

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stories that we do that come up because

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it does takes a couple minutes. I put it

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on there, put my prompt on there. We

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continue talking in Spanish and then a

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couple minutes later, it pops up and I can show it to them.

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And they are just funny and some of the

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kids are like, Oh, you can't use my

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school picture. I'll send you a picture

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that you can use because I don't want

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that school picture to be the one that

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chat TVT uses to make my

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character. So it's funny.

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So moving back to our little conversation

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about being too comfortable. When do you

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realize what makes you think that all of

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a sudden this is gone to the

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one side of too comfortable?

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I feel like I have some non-negotiables

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and I guess there's three things. I was

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trying to think of when, like the

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difference between a lively classroom

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community versus a chaotic classroom

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community because I love lively.

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And I also love chill and I think they

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both can live within the same space

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either at the same time or within the

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same room, just maybe on different days.

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But on days where it maybe seems lively

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and I'm trying to decide, okay, is this a

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good lively or is this a chaotic?

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I think chaotic is when things seem

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either unproductive or uncomfortable or

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unsafe. And I have some non-negotiables

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for those three

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things that I look out for.

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And I mean, the easiest one, I guess not

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the easiest, but the least threatening

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one is the unproductive. So I don't care

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if kids, I have flexible seating in my

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classroom and I don't care if kids are

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laying on the floor during, if they're

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working on something or if

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they're doing a group game.

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I have rugs and bean bags and stuff and

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so if they're physically laying out on

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the floor, I know other teachers don't

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like that, but I don't care about that.

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But if they're laying on the floor and

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rolling around, then that's an

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unproductive type of laying on the floor.

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So I feel like that's one example of a

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non-negotiable as far as a physical type

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of thing that I could see that gets into

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that unproductive territory.

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As long as they are doing the thing that

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I'm asking them to do, I'm okay with it.

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As far as uncomfortable goes, if I see

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things happening like exclusion or

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insults, excessive swearing, I say

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excessive swearing because I do like to

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teach the kids like meercolists and like

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some of those like cute little like, you

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know, fun little like Spanish, like the

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shiitake mushrooms, like

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those versions of things.

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Just because language is real and

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language is communication and I swear in

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my real life and they probably are going

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to want to too. So I do give them some

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things that they could use within the

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classroom context that can allow them to

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express frustration.

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But if it goes it like if it's English

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swearing, like that that makes me

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uncomfortable and then I tell them that

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and I'm like that I don't care if you do

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that on your time, but like I don't like

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hearing that. So that makes me

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uncomfortable and I'll

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just share that with them.

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And then unsafe things would be like not

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following like our big school rules, of

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course, like, you know, like violence,

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threatening, bullying, I mean, any of

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those things and I don't I don't I've

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never had issues with those.

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But I feel like those those three things

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are the difference for me in between the

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type of lively and or chill community

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that I'm okay with and one that I'm not.

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And I love what you said, the

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non-negotiables that that's a really good

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word for that. And yours are the same as

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mine, the unsafe, you know, because like

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in my BFFS class, my building foundations

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for success class I taught last semester,

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which was not Spanish related at all.

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It was all in the kids were on their own.

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It's like I describe what activity they

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were working on today and they were on

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their own. They got rambunctious,

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especially because I had 17 boys and two

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girls and all the boys knew each other.

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So they were slapping each other, you

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know, doing all kinds of stuff that that

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progressed into the non safe. And so I'm

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like, we got to be safe in here. We can

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have a little bit. You can sit where you

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want. You can do what you need to do to

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get your work done as long as you're getting your work done.

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So I am right there with you. They need

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to be productive. They need to produce

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something by the end of that period or

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that time slot that we're working on some

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activity. They've got to do that.

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And exclusion is a big one for me that we

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don't exclude anybody from the classroom

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that everybody is welcome. You may not

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like them outside of class, but at least

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in class, you're going to treat them with

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respect and moving on.

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You don't I'm not asking you to hang out

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with them on the weekends or have a

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sleepover with them or do any of those

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kinds of things. But at least be

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respectful because in real life we have

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to work with people we don't necessarily

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like, you know, you may have to work, you

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know, even as teachers, we sometimes get

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put into groups as teachers that we have

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to work on a project like we're doing our

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WASC accreditation right

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now. We're working on that.

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And so we're put into groups and there

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might be some people you work really well

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with and some people you might not work

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really well with, but we still have to

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work together in a professional thing.

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And I think it's a really important skill

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for kids to understand that, you know,

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we're not excluding anybody.

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Everybody's got to be included.

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But that doesn't mean you have to like

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them. You just have to respect them as a

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human being. So I think those things and

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swearing is a big thing. I came from

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middle school for the past. I taught 11

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years in high school and

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swearing wasn't as big of a deal.

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Then I taught 11 years in middle school

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and COVID happened. And then we came I

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came back to high school and swearing is

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a really big deal at my school. They do

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it a lot. And I'm like, oh, my gosh, I'm

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like my poor virgin ears, all the

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swearing that I hear on there.

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So that's another one that I'm working on

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with them too. So it's been a problem.

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And I like your thing with the miracle.

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That's a, you know, those kind of things

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are the euphemisms kind of funny and

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brings culture into real life culture.

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And I always explain to my kids because

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they want to know the swear words. I'm

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like, the swear words are 10 times

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stronger than they in in Spanish than

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they are in English because a lot of them

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have religious backgrounds.

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And if you walk down the street and start

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using these bad words, some strangers

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gonna slap you across the face because

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they're not used like they're using

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English. And they're like, well, my

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Hispanic friends swears just as much as I

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do. I go, that's because he learned that

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from you that it's acceptable in America.

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But ask him if he'll do that in Mexico or

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Guatemala or that and they'll say, uh,

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uh, you know, and where nudity is a

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little bit more freeing in other

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countries where it's not so much here. I

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say it's kind of like the opposite thing.

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Nudity is okay in other countries more so

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than swearing in here, you know, swearing

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is more okay than nudity. So it goes,

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it's kind of like that. Now bring that

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cultural point to them that they won't.

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And if I see some random Hispanic kid

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walking in the hall, I'll say, come in

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here for five minutes and let's ask these

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questions about the swearing and they'll

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say, oh no, my grandma will slap me if I

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start saying those words.

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But you swear here and she goes, well,

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that's because all the Americans do. So

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I'm used to doing it that way. Right?

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When in Rome. Yeah. And to bring in that

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cultural, you know, component of it too

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and just educate them about it.

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And I think kids appreciate that. Like

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they, they don't know that. So they like,

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they, I think they genuinely like hearing

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that. And I, I feel like I'm going to

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bring that now next time that

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conversation comes up. So

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I'm glad you mentioned that.

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And I should. And back in our day, we

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couldn't look the words up. They weren't

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in the dictionary most of the time, you

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know, stuff. But now I say you really

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want to know what I'm, go ahead and look

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them up when you go home.

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You know, you can find them online if you

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really want to, but I'm just letting you

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know that most of the words have a

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religious connotation. Like when you're

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using the B word that's referring to

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Mother Mary and people are not going to

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think that is a fun word for you to be

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using on a regular basis.

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You know, the, the, the F word has to do

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with the goat, but the goat is the devil,

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the representation of the devil on the,

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you know, in the Bible. So, you know,

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just be mindful of your

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audience when you use some of this.

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When you use some of this, because I

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remember in when I was in high school in

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the eighties, I know I'm old, I had my

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Spanish, Spanish story had this kid who

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was Mexican and he taught me this song

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that I still know today and it's full of

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swear words, but it's

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to Bippity Boppity Boo.

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It's to that music.

Speaker:

So, but I still know those swear words,

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but I knew the context in which it was

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okay to use them, because he was really

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hesitant to teach me that song.

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Because of the American way of, you know,

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using swear words and back in the

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eighties we did not use swear words like

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they use the swear words now. Not at all

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we would never swear in front of an adult

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not ever ever ever ever

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would that ever have happened.

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But nowadays they just don't care. So

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yes, I like your your idea of non

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negotiables I think that's a really good

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word for that that's the

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way they go over that line.

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Absolutely. What about you Jackie.

Speaker:

So, for me, I do have some non

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negotiables. Unlike you guys, I am not as

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bothered by swearing.

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You don't just say yeah you can say

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whatever you want in my classes totally

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cool and fine and whatever like I

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definitely emphasize the idea of time and

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place. That's another thing I say a lot

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in my classroom is like hey you know

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there's a time and a place.

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This is not the time and this is not the

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place, you know, just to start getting

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them to think about, oh, you know, there

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are things that are appropriate in

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certain situations and there are things

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that are not in others you know and I

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tell them like you know there are things.

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Y'all are not my friends. You are

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children I'm not friends with children,

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it's just never going to happen. You

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know, I like you guys I love you guys I

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care about you guys but you are not my

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friends and so the way that I talked to

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you and the way that I talked to my

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friends is different.

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The way I talked to you and the way I

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talked to my friends is different than

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the way I talked to my family.

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You know, and you need to learn that

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there are times and places for certain

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things, you know, and, and my thing with

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whenever they asked about cussing as I'm

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like, number one, cussing in Spanish is

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not like cussing in English.

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It's a lot more illustrative.

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You know, it's, and it's not something

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that is done the way it is here, it's not

Speaker:

as casual. And, and then I also I'm like

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an ethically and legally I'm not allowed

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to teach you those words.

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Like, I am by law, not allowed to teach

Speaker:

you that. And they're like, what, I'm

Speaker:

like, yeah. And, you know, and I go over

Speaker:

that with them like you know there are

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rules and laws and ethics that guide what

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teachers are not

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allowed to do with you guys.

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So if there are teachers who are doing

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these things, then that's a problem, you

Speaker:

know, and that kind of goes back to a

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safety thing for me. And that's a lot of

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it for me is like, are we being safe,

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physically and, you know, mentally and

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emotionally with each other?

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And, you know, are we, are we being

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productive, you know, because there's a

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point where, and it's always about

Speaker:

finding that line like, you know, it's

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fine for them to express frustration to a

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point, but then it gets to a point where

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it's no longer productive.

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And that's what I'm like, okay, and we're

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going to move on. Thank you for the tea.

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Let's move on. And, and just kind of

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going that and usually it involves if, if

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it won't go anywhere else than changing

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activities is a good way to recalibrate

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the pacing and just kind of go all right

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and pivot and you know we

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go into a different activity.

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And that's something I got from john

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coward with his packet method he's he was

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teaching in Memphis, which when I first

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encountered his work I was teaching in a

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Memphis light kind of situation.

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And so it was it that was very helpful

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for me to kind of learn how to make those

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shifts into how to get

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into a more productive space.

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Absolutely. And you hit about a couple of

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things that I that I was thinking as

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you're going through.

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Oops, if I hit the wrong button on the

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wrong screen I'm trying to take notes as

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you're going through so I remember

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everything and I'm on the wrong screen.

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The swearing. I'm going to rephrase, I'm

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not offended by the swearing because I'm

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not one of those prude type people not at

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all, but I always just joke

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about that with my students.

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But my thing is like you like say time

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and place and when they become too

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comfortable with using these words.

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They're going to use them in the wrong

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time in the wrong

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place outside of school.

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I mean, in school, it's low stakes, they

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get in trouble, they get written up, you

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know, nothing really big happens. We

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protect them. But let's say it's a job

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interview and they let out the F bomb

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because they're so used to

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saying the F bomb out there.

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You know, that's that's a job

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opportunities now lost. Or let's say they

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got the job they made it to the

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interview, but now they're

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cussing a little too much.

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And some people are getting offended and

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putting this under harassment. And now

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they're getting into more because they

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don't know the audience that they're

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doing so that time and

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place is a real thing.

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And when they become too comfortable,

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they don't even know that they're doing

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it. And when they're doing it, I taught

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with she's gonna hate

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me for calling her out.

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But Carmen sent Carmen Andrews from Las

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Vegas, I taught with her for many years.

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And we always used to have to remind her

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because we'd be talking in the hall right

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at the beginning of the school year.

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And she has forgotten to turn off her

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summer mouth and moved it to her school

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mouth. So we're in the hallways and she's

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like cussing up a storm like we're in

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school, we're in school schools.

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Because I keep forgetting I haven't

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gotten that mode to switch back into

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school mode where you know, you're

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filtering what you're saying. And that's

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the that's the big thing

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with me with the swearing.

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It's more about them being mindful of

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time and place. And they don't really

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understand that schools a different time

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and place because they hang out with

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their friends. That's the reason for

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being school for them.

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They do not think about it as education,

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it's a place for them to hang out with

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their friends. So that's not there's no

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difference in place between

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the mall and school for them.

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But I want them to realize in the real

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world, that's good, that can be a

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problem, you can get in trouble for

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cursing too much in the job place. If

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you're offending other people. So I like

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that that time and place is really there.

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And that is key. Always have a backup

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activity in the back of your pocket for

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when anything goes wrong.

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I have backup activities, but sometimes I

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use them too much. So I have what I call

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a thinking activity, not for them to

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think, but for me to think how am I to

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get myself out of this hole

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that I just dug myself into.

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And it's usually I have backup videos

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that I can play, whether it be a senior

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wooly song that I've got three or four

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minutes to think of

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some activity I can pivot.

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Or I have some funny animated shorts that

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I have that are there and it gets the

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kids to pay attention while I'm

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scrambling for an

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activity to do in the background.

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Like what haven't I done? What can we do

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that's a little bit different that I can

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transition them to because what we're

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doing right now isn't working just

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because it's not that

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day for that activity.

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Or it went so far down the rabbit hole

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that I can't get it back. So I need to

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find something else.

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So I have some of those.

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Back up activities or what I call teacher

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thinking activities where the kids are

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doing something like watching a video

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that I don't have to grade later.

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And I can just go ahead and while that

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video is going and maybe takes two videos

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for me to think of something that we can

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pivot to to do right away

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that was really helpful.

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So I like that to the backup activities

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really really important for that.

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Jackie do you have some go to backups?

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When in data make them right.

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Because it takes a while to.

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Yeah. And it also like it's because

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usually what ends up happening is they

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get to piling around a

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little too much and like it.

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If I change modes and get them to start

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writing then they have to focus on the

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writing and they can't they can't focus

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on the writing and keep running around

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the room like a bunch of goofballs.

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You know and it's something that it's

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recenters them and focus on that focuses

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on them down to a single point.

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And then I can transition them into like

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reading or something like that where it's

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individual and they're having to be quiet

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and focus on something.

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And that usually works as like a reset.

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Is it work for me sort of.

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The only way it's it's really worked for

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me is if we haven't really done anything

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that we can write about but I can always

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find us something to write.

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You know even if it's just the discussion

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that they were having that took us off

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the rails or you know because a lot of

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times that happens when we're in calendar

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talk or they're getting too crazy with

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their story and trying to come up with

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really elaborate complicated things.

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To put into it and then I'm like you know

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that sounds great that in

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your version that you write.

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Which is something I got from I think Von

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Ray is the one who

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said that in a conference.

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He might have gotten it from playing. I

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don't know but it came from that world.

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And it just kind of like

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cuts the tension and we move on.

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And they get a reason for it. And

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essentially later on if they really want

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it. I'm like yeah it's just we got to

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keep it a little simpler for the sake of

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you know like progression.

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Exactly.

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Do you have any backup

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activities you use Kayla.

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As we're having this conversation I'm

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trying to think of some that I've done

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and I do feel like I tend to go to

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writing but I also like to

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find that I still like to be.

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Give the illusion that I'm like up in

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front and in charge. So I

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like to do the 1310 rights.

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So then it you know it kind of it's like

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the independent but then I'm also still

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there like leading the activity. So it's

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like I did plan this.

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This wasn't this wasn't a fallback for me

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this was actually in my plan.

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You know and then it just makes it seem

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like it's a little bit more of a you know

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of a structured activity.

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I really like the idea of the thinking

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breaks. I last year I bought all of all

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I'm gonna be so sad that I can't remember

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who wrote who wrote the books all of the

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in case by Pensando all of the what am I

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thinking about riddle book in Spanish.

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And so those have been a good fallback

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for me where we'll do riddles of like you

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know guess who I'm thinking of and we'll

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you know read clue by clue and kind of go

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through those and that it's a reading

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activity but it's a you know we'll do it

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on the dot cam and we'll go one by one.

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And you know they they fill

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time but it also allows me to.

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They need to really focus on what the

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clues are and then I have to explain the

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clues and so it's a good kind of reset

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type of activity because they have to

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really be focused on it.

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And I have all of I think there's seven

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books out now I got them all on Amazon.

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And so I have taught of

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them so I have not run out yet.

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So I feel like those are

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two that I've that I've done.

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Yeah.

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When I say when I say

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writing I mean writing discuss.

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So turns into a whole class conversation

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but I have them writing while I'm typing

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it up on the screen.

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Yeah because then and I make them write

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it by hand as well because that that

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physical act of writing means that

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they're remembering it

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more and it's pushing them to.

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It's a way for them to help internalize

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the structure of the grant.

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And you know the

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diacritical marks and stuff like that.

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So I do think it's important

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to have them writing as well.

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I also find it's a very my classroom is

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always very calm when everyone is writing

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and I don't know if that's it's probably

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just a coincidence because everyone's

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literally focused on pen to paper but it

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those are all some of the

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most focused moments in my room.

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And those are some of the I mean that's

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when you can really get your great pop up

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grammar in you know that's

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really my only time that I do.

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I feel like I get my best type of types

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of pop up grammar lessons and you know

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chats about like meta language and all

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that type of cool stuff that

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those kids want to know about.

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So yeah absolutely those are

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some really really great ideas.

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We're getting close to the end so I want

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to ask what routines or phrases help you

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reset expectations without killing the

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vibe killing the morale without going

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into that you know the Snoopy want want

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want want want teacher.

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When things get close to that point where

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I'm about to lose it I will I will say no

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me molestes porque me están molestando

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don't bug me because you're sure me and

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they all know what that means.

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And then if it gets past that point with

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the particular students that are the

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offenders then I switch to English and I

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invite them to take a walk and then they

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know I mean business because when I

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invite someone to leave my room then it's

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like become an issue.

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And I think everyone who knows me just

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knows like if she tells you to leave like

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it's you're past the point

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of it being funny anymore.

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Yeah so usually it's just you need to

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take a walk and think about this and you

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take a walk and and calm yourself.

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You need to take a walk and and recollect

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your thoughts you know and it's just it's

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in English and it's quick and it's

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they'll say yes or no and then we just

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continue to move on

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with what I need to do.

Speaker:

I think that's key also that you make it

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quick and dirty and then come right back

Speaker:

and get back into class it's not turns

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into a lecture type of thing I think

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that's an important thing because I think

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the lecture will definitely take the vibe

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and you're not going to get it back.

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What about you Jackie.

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You know, like I said before I use the

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whole time and place thing.

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And I will also ask if

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I look if I look amused.

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Like, you know, and like and I got this

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from my mother but I have

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a very good scary stare.

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And do not have that.

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Oh yeah no I have a very good scary stare

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all of my friends were afraid of my

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mother I was afraid of her like, I had

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that look in high school I remember I was

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backstage during a rehearsal and some

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people were planning around backstage

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which you were not supposed to do because

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you were supposed to be silent backstage

Speaker:

because everything that goes on backstage

Speaker:

you can hear on stage

Speaker:

and in the audience.

Speaker:

And I just stood

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there behind one of them.

Speaker:

And just did I did my best mom stare and

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and the kid turned around and like

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startled and it cut it out. So I do have

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the benefit of a very nice RBF.

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That I will pull out and I will just

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stare at them. And then I usually get a

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sorry ma'am. And, you know, so I

Speaker:

typically don't even have to say

Speaker:

anything. I can just stare at him and

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then I also like, well, I

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try to keep time to in Spanish.

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And so like I just reset the timer and

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then I just stare at holding the button

Speaker:

to start it again until they stop and

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then eventually their classmates stop

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like because I believe

Speaker:

in in in in peer pressure.

Speaker:

I'm with you I do the silent I stop I say

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the angrier get the quieter I become.

Speaker:

So I'll just stop everything and be quiet

Speaker:

and just wait and I'll wait and I'll

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wait. But you know, you said that stare

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face. I don't have it. You know, I was

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told my years ago with when I was working

Speaker:

with Carmen Andrews.

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I was like, I do not have I don't have

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kids. So I don't have that face. I just

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don't have it. She goes, well, make your

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face and let's see. And then we're at

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lunch and all of a to you're like, yeah,

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that wouldn't work for me either. That

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face that you have. It's

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it's not going to work.

Speaker:

And then I find it hard because sometimes

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what the kids say are so inappropriate,

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but at the same time so funny that it's

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really hard not to laugh

Speaker:

or keep a straight face.

Speaker:

Just some of the things that come out of

Speaker:

their mouths and I'm like, I know I

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should not be laughing at this, but I

Speaker:

can't help it there. I mean, it was just

Speaker:

hilarious. And then I'll have to say

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something like so inappropriate funny,

Speaker:

but definitely inappropriate.

Speaker:

Not the time, not the place kind of

Speaker:

thing. So for me, what works for me and

Speaker:

is just going silent. Just going silent

Speaker:

and the kids know it's really bad when

Speaker:

I'll go, I'll cancel class. It will be

Speaker:

like 10 minutes at the end of class and

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I'll be like, okay,

Speaker:

everybody put your stuff away.

Speaker:

You're just sitting there quietly. I

Speaker:

don't want no talking, no nothing. You

Speaker:

can't open a book. You can't read. You

Speaker:

can't do anything. You just have to sit

Speaker:

there. We're all going to sit there and

Speaker:

quiet because I'm done teaching because

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you're done learning.

Speaker:

And we just sit there and then they're

Speaker:

like, it's like 10 minutes of really

Speaker:

uncomfortability. And then at the end of

Speaker:

class, they go, okay, that was painful.

Speaker:

We're going to start fresh tomorrow.

Speaker:

Give that little thing. So the silence

Speaker:

really works that peer pressure, like you

Speaker:

said, does work when you get really,

Speaker:

really silent. That's what works best for

Speaker:

me. And like Kayla said, to make it quick

Speaker:

and come right back to what you were

Speaker:

doing so that it's not so because lots of

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times what they're trying to do is to get

Speaker:

attention and they don't care whether

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it's a negative

Speaker:

attention or positive attention.

Speaker:

It's just attention is what they want.

Speaker:

And so they'll do that. And then if you

Speaker:

give them more attention by disciplining

Speaker:

them there in that moment for an extended

Speaker:

period of time, they got exactly what

Speaker:

they want. And they're more likely to do

Speaker:

something like that again in the future,

Speaker:

where if you shut it down really quick

Speaker:

and then get right back to class, they're

Speaker:

less likely to pull that saying that,

Speaker:

well, that didn't work.

Speaker:

So in that those moments.

Speaker:

And then what I have days I try to do is

Speaker:

I try to preempt some of that. So like if

Speaker:

I know I have kids who are like that, who

Speaker:

just want and crave attention. Sometimes

Speaker:

I try to give them a little bit of one on

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one attention at the beginning of class,

Speaker:

like when they're doing bell work and

Speaker:

stuff like that. And I just kind of like

Speaker:

focus on them and talk to them a little

Speaker:

bit and like give them that one on one

Speaker:

adult attention that I

Speaker:

know that they kind of crave.

Speaker:

And that kind of helps later on it

Speaker:

because it helps them, I guess, regulate

Speaker:

or whatever it is. It helps, but it also

Speaker:

humanizes need to them. And so then when

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I need to get onto them, you know, they

Speaker:

know it's not because profe hates me.

Speaker:

It's not because of this, that and the

Speaker:

other. And then, you know, if it's a lot

Speaker:

of them doing stuff, the other thing I

Speaker:

will say is like, guys, I

Speaker:

don't need to pass this class.

Speaker:

I already took this class and I already

Speaker:

got my degree in Spanish. I don't need

Speaker:

Spanish to y'all need it. Y'all need to

Speaker:

pass this class so

Speaker:

that you can graduate. So.

Speaker:

And I just leave it at that. And that

Speaker:

usually shapes a lot of them.

Speaker:

Yeah, that's something that you talked

Speaker:

about is something that Susie Gross

Speaker:

talked about is filling their love bank

Speaker:

so that you can take withdrawals. So you

Speaker:

have to boost them up so that they know

Speaker:

that you do like them. And it's not about

Speaker:

their, you know, that

Speaker:

you don't like them.

Speaker:

You're boosting that up. And then then

Speaker:

when you need to take a withdrawal and

Speaker:

discipline them, you've got something to

Speaker:

take. If you've never filled their love

Speaker:

bank up first, then you're going in,

Speaker:

you're going into the negative. And then

Speaker:

that starts to make some tension between

Speaker:

you and the student right off the bat. So

Speaker:

I think that is a really good point.

Speaker:

Yeah, I was gonna say it kind of goes

Speaker:

well after what you just said, both of

Speaker:

you of when I have days that get really

Speaker:

uncomfortable like that, usually the next

Speaker:

day, like to have a little bit of closure

Speaker:

to then begin that day. So I'll be like,

Speaker:

Hey, I know this happened yesterday. I

Speaker:

love you guys so much, though.

Speaker:

And like, let's please remember why

Speaker:

you're here. So I'll either you know,

Speaker:

I'll bring in like, we're here because

Speaker:

you want to learn Spanish, I know you

Speaker:

guys want this and we'll get what you've

Speaker:

been able to, you know, achieve until

Speaker:

this point. So let's keep that going. But

Speaker:

what happened yesterday cannot happen.

Speaker:

And then I usually have like a meme or a

Speaker:

GIF, literally related to the incident

Speaker:

that happened, like on my welcome side,

Speaker:

like there'll be like a meme of like,

Speaker:

when you and your friend are looking at

Speaker:

each other like this after the teacher comes in, they'll be like, oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

Speaker:

Yeah, he sees me, he's Martha last night. So you're gonna like eventually, like, my

Speaker:

dad alwaysVE been on the phone and widget

Speaker:

and I feel normal about it, but then it's

Speaker:

awesome that you, just if you are, less often than not. You're making me pay off,

Speaker:

you may have just like 8 hell to go, you know, get something to

Speaker:

get back on high the..

Speaker:

Single fingers and having weirdthen your

Speaker:

You know, some of my kids who've been the

Speaker:

offenders of certain

Speaker:

things, you know, have

Speaker:

come into class and been like, I'm really

Speaker:

sorry for what happened yesterday.

Speaker:

It was just, it was for this reason and

Speaker:

it won't happen again

Speaker:

and blah, blah, blah.

Speaker:

You know, everything's,

Speaker:

it's good going forward.

Speaker:

It's because we built

Speaker:

that community ahead of time.

Speaker:

So absolutely.

Speaker:

And I tell my kids always, I go, I might

Speaker:

get angry in the moment,

Speaker:

but I'm not one who holds

Speaker:

grudges when the bell rings.

Speaker:

It's over for me.

Speaker:

And we start fresh the next day.

Speaker:

We start with fresh, um, to let kids know

Speaker:

that you don't have

Speaker:

to hang onto the anger

Speaker:

and it doesn't have to linger and it

Speaker:

doesn't have to fester

Speaker:

to become something bigger

Speaker:

than that.

Speaker:

That we just say, you

Speaker:

know, it, it happened.

Speaker:

It's over.

Speaker:

Let's start fresh and start anew.

Speaker:

Cause we all make mistakes.

Speaker:

I make mistakes.

Speaker:

You make mistakes.

Speaker:

We'll make mistakes tomorrow, but we can

Speaker:

all grow from those

Speaker:

mistakes and start every,

Speaker:

every day with a fresh

Speaker:

start so that we can move on.

Speaker:

And I think it's a really

Speaker:

important kind of thing.

Speaker:

It's a good like whole citizen teaching

Speaker:

moment for them, not just

Speaker:

a Spanish teaching moment

Speaker:

that we are, you know, we're

Speaker:

trying to be good citizens.

Speaker:

And if we hold grudges and stuff like

Speaker:

that, those kinds of

Speaker:

things fester into something

Speaker:

much more, much bigger than we can then

Speaker:

into a point where we

Speaker:

can't control it anymore.

Speaker:

So we need to be able to let go.

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Life's too short to be able to hold onto

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these kinds of things.

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And I think it's a really, um, a really

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good lesson to teach them.

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Absolutely.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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It's very needed.

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And because a lot of them

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are not getting it at home.

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Yeah.

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A lot of them aren't getting anything at

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home to be quite honest.

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In some of my cases, some of my cases,

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they don't get any kind

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of attention, feedback,

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positive or negative,

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you know, be teaching.

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Yeah.

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Their home lives are really

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depressing for some of them.

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And I feel for these kids, some of them

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that they only love and

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attention they get is at

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school.

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Mm-hmm.

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And that's just a sad

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situation that we're in.

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We are at our time.

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Does anybody have any final things that

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they would like to say

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as we close out today?

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One final thing I wanted to add is that

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I, um, I think part of

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the way that I maintain

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that, uh, uh, vibe of being friendly

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leader, not buddy who

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teaches Spanish is I like to

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share about my, um, professional

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endeavors with my kids.

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And I find that they

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find it really interesting.

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And I was trying to think back to my high

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school teachers and

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nobody ever shared any

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of that with us.

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And it was, and maybe it was because no

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one was really doing

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anything outside the classroom,

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which is fine.

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But I find when I present, I attend

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conferences, when I, um, do

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service work, um, even, even

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this podcast, I like to

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share that stuff with my kids.

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Like, Hey, I'm doing this.

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And I feel like that kind of creates that

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like subconscious,

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like, okay, like Cinderita

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is cool, but she also knows her stuff.

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So like, we're gonna, we're still gonna

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like listen to what she

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has to say and like trust

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her with like our trust

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her with our Spanish journey.

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So, um, and I don't know, I think to role

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modeling and, you know,

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seeing, seeing teachers

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and seeing adults in their careers and in

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their professions,

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um, continuing to learn

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networking and, and being part of these

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professional communities.

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And so I, I think there's maybe a stigma,

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like, you know, don't

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share too much about

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your lives with your kids, but in this

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regard, I really like to

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share those things with them.

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And I found that it's,

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it's been really beneficial.

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It also teaches them that we're lifelong

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learners and that we

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always, you know, every school

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has it somewhere in their mission

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statement to make lifelong

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learners out of these kids.

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But if we don't demo that, just telling

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them that it's not

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going to work, that you need

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to be learning.

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Tell them I'll be

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watching something on TV.

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Like years ago, probably about 10 years

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ago, I watched this program.

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It was not even a documentary.

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It was a TV show.

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And they were talking about plants that

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didn't need, um, soil or water to live.

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And I'm like, what?

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That can't be a real thing.

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So I had a pause.

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The TV show is on and I went and looked

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it up on Google and

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there is, it's a plant that

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lives like in crevices of mountains that

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you can buy them in, um,

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in, you know, plant stores.

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Um, and they don't need any soil.

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They just live in a crevice of a rock.

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And then they get all their moisture out

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of the air that they need.

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And that's all that they need.

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And I'm like, well, I

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mean, I'm always learning.

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There's something I'm watching or

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something that triggers

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something and I have to look

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it up right away or, you know, our

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learning communities that

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we're part of, or if we go

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to conferences, I think

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that's really important as well.

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Because it shows them that, yeah, we have

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our degrees and we

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might be, um, at the end

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of our careers or in the middle of our

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careers, but we're still learning.

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We didn't just stop and

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be stagnant at that moment.

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Absolutely.

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It's a great way to end that one.

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What about you, Jackie?

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Um, so sometimes it can seem scary and it

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can seem like you

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don't have control of your

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classroom when they get chill and they

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get too comfortable and too relaxed.

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And because there is this mentality of

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like school is serious

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and you come in and you

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sit in a desk and you face the board and

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you take notes and then

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you take a quiz and then

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you take a test, you know, at very like

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super harsh, strict.

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And so relaxing out of that can feel

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really scary because it

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feels like a lack of control.

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Um, and it's important to realize that

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like you can have the

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relaxed vibe and relaxed

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atmosphere and the community aspect and

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still be the adult in the room.

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Um, and it can take time to develop that

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balance, but it is

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possible and it's not always going

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to feel super comfortable.

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Um, but that's okay.

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And I think a lot of teachers kind of shy

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away from it when it feels uncomfortable.

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And especially as language teachers,

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we're not, you know,

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we're not regular subjects.

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Like we teach communication and we teach

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connection and you have to feel

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comfortable to do that.

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So it just, it just makes sense.

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Absolutely.

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And I'm just going to reiterate from my

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closing, um, that the

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non-negotiable is a really key

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word there.

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What are you willing to

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put up with in your class?

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And it may not look, I mean, another

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teacher's like, Oh my gosh,

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there's no way I would allow

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that to happen in class where other

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teachers like, you know, flexible

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seating, like sitting

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on the floor and that kind of stuff.

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I allow that to happen too.

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As long, my rule is as long as you're

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paying attention, you're

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with us, however you sit,

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doesn't matter to me

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because that's not the point.

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I want you to be comfortable.

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But if you're not

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paying attention, guess what?

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You're in that hard child seat, that

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student seat that's

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sitting there and you're going

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to be sitting upright feet on the floor.

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Um, no crossing legs, no nothing, you

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know, that kind of thing.

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So it's up to you how you do that.

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But that works out really, really well.

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Make that non-negotiable.

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What, what are you willing to let slide

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or let happen in your

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classroom and where is

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that line and make sure that your kids

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know where that line

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is, those non-negotiables,

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things like being unsafe, whether it be

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emotionally, because I like

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that Jackie brought that in.

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We normally think of unsafe, we think

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physically, but

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emotionally unsafe as well.

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Being unproductive, excluding people, too

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much swearing in the

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wrong time and place,

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those kinds of things have that, that,

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um, that line, those non-negotiables.

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I think that's really, really good.

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And don't just think

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about them in your head.

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Things don't exist

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until you write them down.

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So even if you don't share the list with

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your kids, write it down,

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have it on a sticky note

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close to your, um, your desk.

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I have tons of sticky notes that I taped

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to my desk that I kept

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like, okay, these, in

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fact, what I sometimes do is I take a

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piece of paper and I

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stick my sticky notes to this

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paper and tape it down.

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And I put that in one of those protective

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sleeves and I taped the protective sleeve

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to my desk.

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So I have quick references I can look at

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it, go, oh, I need to

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hit the super seven.

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These, I have a list of my super seven

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verbs that are up there.

Speaker:

So I make sure that I'm hitting them.

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I have my non-negotiable things, things

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that I'm not willing to,

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to do those kind of little

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notes that are there and

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on my table at all times.

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And they're not laminated because I need

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to maybe add or change.

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So I just have that sleeve.

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I slipped the paper in

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and slipped the paper out.

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Works really, really well for me.

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Little reminders for myself.

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You know, yes, no, either,

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or question word questions.

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Just that I forgot to ask

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a question word question.

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It helps me keep myself on track.

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So with that, that's a

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wrap today, everybody.

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A huge thanks to you for

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hanging out with us today.

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An extra big thank to Kayla and Jackie

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for keeping it real and

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reminding us that strong

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community still needs structure.

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And if today's episode helped you rethink

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boundaries, leadership

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energy, or how to reset

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without nuking your classroom vibe,

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mission accomplished.

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If you haven't already, make sure you

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subscribe, leave a quick

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review and share this episode

Speaker:

with that one teacher friend who

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definitely needs it,

Speaker:

but will never admit it.

Speaker:

You can watch us live on YouTube or catch

Speaker:

the replay on your favorite podcast app.

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Ditch the drills, trust the process, and

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I'll see you next

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time on Comprehend This.

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Bye-bye, everybody.

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Bye.

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About the Podcast

Comprehend THIS!
Real talk for real language teachers—because comprehension isn't optional.
Welcome to Comprehend THIS!, the podcast for language teachers who are tired of the same old textbook chatter and want the real talk instead.

Every episode is like pulling up a chair in the copy room or leaning on the hallway wall at your favorite conference — except it’s not awkward, the coffee’s better (yours, not mine), and nobody’s grading you.

Host Scott Benedict sits down with 1–2 guests — teachers, trainers, authors, CI rebels — to swap stories about what actually works in a comprehension-based classroom.

We talk the good, the weird, the messy middle — first wins, facepalms, reading that actually sticks, grammar without drills, surviving department side-eyes, grading for real proficiency (without losing your mind), and everything in between.

It’s casual. It’s honest. It’s LIVE — so you get all the “did they just say that?” moments, unfiltered.

Pull up your favorite mug. Laugh, nod along, steal an idea or two for Monday, and remember: you’re not the only one doing it different — and doing it better.

Watch LIVE: Sunday mornings at 8am Pacific / 11am Eastern, on YouTube at youtube.com/@immediateimmersion — or listen soon after on your favorite podcast app.

Comprehend THIS! — Real talk for real teachers. Ditch the drills. Trust the process. Stay human.

About your host

Profile picture for Scott Benedict

Scott Benedict

Scott Benedict has been teaching Spanish since 2001—which means he’s survived more textbook adoptions, curriculum rewrites, and “revolutionary” teaching fads than he cares to count. He runs Immediate Immersion and hosts the Comprehend THIS! Podcast, where he tells the truth about teaching with comprehensible input: the good, the bad, and the “did that student just say tengo queso again?”

After two decades in the classroom, Scott knows what actually works (spoiler: not conjugation charts) and isn’t afraid to say it out loud. On the podcast, he dives into CI strategies, teacher survival hacks, and the occasional story that will make you question your career choices—but in a good way.

When he’s not recording or coaching teachers, you’ll find him traveling, taking photos, or wandering yet another zoo because apparently, one giraffe enclosure is never enough.

Comprehend THIS! is equal parts professional growth and comic relief—because let’s be honest, if we don’t laugh about teaching, we’ll cry.