Unlearn16: Class is in Session - The One Where I Went Over The Falls To Build a School

00:00:00.000 class is in session hey everybody and welcome to unlearn 16 class is in session today you just get

00:00:09.840 me you just get me and you get me a little tired a little wiped out a little a little spread very

00:00:18.960 thin but but very happy so i don't want to undervalue that okay i want you to understand

00:00:26.640 that there's a level of happiness here and a level of, of excitement that I'm going to talk

00:00:32.700 to you about. First going to talk about the trip I just took my seven and eights on. So I just

00:00:36.940 decided with the help of another teacher, Rebecca, to take the grade seven and eights to an overnight

00:00:41.800 trip to Niagara Falls. Why? Because I'm insane. And they desperately wanted to go. So what did

00:00:49.160 we do? Well, we planned and booked the whole thing. So we would drive, we would have a full

00:00:54.740 day on Friday, we'd have an overnight. By the way, the overnight is the only thing they want.

00:00:59.840 I'm pretty sure you could take a group of 12, 13-year-olds, drop them in a warehouse,

00:01:05.640 let them stay awake all night until they feel nauseous from Cheetos and they're really grumpy

00:01:09.820 because they're tired. And they would say they had an absolute fantastic time. They don't need

00:01:16.420 anything. Maybe their phones. That's it. Some Nerf guns. I mean, they really don't. I went there and

00:01:23.780 we took them to the falls and we bought them packages of tickets. So we went on every ride

00:01:29.780 that made me want to throw up. They even went through the haunted house, which some of them

00:01:33.380 didn't want to go, but went through and really regretted it later. We went on all of the things

00:01:39.360 that made me nauseous. Like they spun and there was clowns jumping out and I was, you know,

00:01:45.200 shooting zombies and the whole thing. And they were pure joy. They were pure joy. I even talked

00:01:55.760 them into, and you won't see this because I can't show my kids on social media, but I even talked

00:02:00.720 them into all going into one of those antique vintage places where we all got dressed up as

00:02:06.840 cowboys and posed for pictures. Guys, we should all be models. It was fantastic. It was

00:02:14.920 absolutely fantastic. And that's going to be the number one picture going into the brand new school,

00:02:19.720 I'll tell you right now. But as I'm experiencing all this, and they're being really, really great

00:02:26.500 kids, I realized it wasn't just a matter of them being great and their parents being thankful and

00:02:32.560 all of those things. I realized that I have students at my school now, and that will be

00:02:40.240 going to the new school as of next year, who are just good, beautiful people. You guys know what

00:02:49.480 that's like? You know what that's like when you look at your students and it's not just about,

00:02:54.060 you know, them being good and behaved and this and that, but you can actually go eat pizza,

00:03:00.180 go on a Ferris wheel, you know, get late night ice cream and you have a good time because they're

00:03:07.000 cool because they're fun to hang out with because they're intelligent and interesting and still

00:03:13.980 kids so they make you have a good time even though you're really really old and want to get

00:03:17.980 your sleep that's the beauty of this trip that's the beauty of the trip I'm going to tell you a

00:03:24.020 couple tiny little secrets of this trip number one so they were going through the haunted house

00:03:30.620 not all of them wanted to go through the haunted house two of them sat down with me so they didn't

00:03:34.400 have to. Those were smart kids. How to hold your ground because they knew they weren't going to

00:03:38.240 enjoy it. A few others went through sort of not really under peer pressure, but kind of, you know,

00:03:44.320 like everybody else is going and they didn't want to not go. And they just kind of bucked up and

00:03:48.400 went. And one of them, they sort of rock, paper, scissored it to find out who was going to lead.

00:03:56.280 That's horrible, by the way. And one of the kids that had to lead, he was really, really upset

00:04:02.440 about it um and another kid both boys and another kid went up to him apologized for it said don't

00:04:11.240 worry dude i've got your back and try to make him feel good rather than as many you know especially

00:04:19.560 some you know 13 year old boys will do rather than make fun rather than jeer rather than whatever he

00:04:25.640 he went up to him, gave him a hug and said, don't worry. I got you. I'm sorry. We did that.

00:04:33.500 What? Who are these beautiful humans? I'm going to tell you another thing. So we're going through 0.95

00:04:40.180 the night and, and sometimes, you know, kids will get a little hyped up and they'll be like,

00:04:45.540 Joanna, can we do this? Joanna, can we do that? And then they start, you know, Joanna, can you

00:04:49.020 buy me things? I'm like, guys, I don't have any money. Um, like what, why do you think that I'm

00:04:55.160 independently wealthy and they'll be like come on can you can you just buy us like a uh they all

00:05:01.360 have money by the way it's not like they don't have money they just want they they just like it

00:05:05.320 I could buy them a pack of gum and they'd be super happy I don't know what it is but nonetheless

00:05:09.900 they're doing this and I heard a student pipe up but not in my earshot really just saying it to

00:05:14.900 another kid and this is what he says to another kid stop asking her to buy you things do you know

00:05:21.120 any other teacher who would take a bunch of us to niagara falls overnight cut it out and i'm like

00:05:27.760 i didn't say anything because i wasn't really wasn't supposed to hear that but i'm like oh my

00:05:32.720 god my heart grew three sizes that day so that's happening and i'm watching them all interact with

00:05:38.960 each other and we're having a really good time and you know we get to the hotel and and let's be

00:05:44.480 honest that's their goal their goal was the hotel their goal was to convince me to stay they could

00:05:48.640 could stay up until seven o'clock in the morning, doing nothing, by the way. You want to know what

00:05:53.040 they do? They all sit in the room and they stare at their own phones. Occasionally a pillow fight.

00:05:58.640 If I'd let them bought the Nerf guns, that could have been a problem as well. But for the most

00:06:03.440 part, these kids are just interested in hanging out all night, even though they're exhausted and

00:06:11.360 they know they're going to be tired in the morning. Nonetheless, I give them to a certain

00:06:15.760 time. My mom's sixth sense wakes me up about 20 minutes after my time limit. I get up, I give the

00:06:22.560 knock. Guys, I hear them scatter in the room. And I'm like, I'm thinking to myself, guys,

00:06:32.300 first of all, don't ever join the CIA. You're just brutal. It's embarrassing over here. 0.79

00:06:37.880 And then second of all, I'm going to open the door and I'm going to make sure kids are in their

00:06:43.660 rooms. When I open the door, a kid comes to the door. He's like, hey, hey, Joanna. And he's like

00:06:51.180 rubbing his eyes. I'm like, okay, first of all, you're not a good actor. So I'm going to need you

00:06:56.900 to put that away. That's embarrassing. You need more classes with Ryan. Second of all, everybody

00:07:01.760 in the room, up we get, let's go. So out of the bathroom, from under the bed, from behind the

00:07:07.860 curtains, they come out like, you know, and they're just like all walking out a single file,

00:07:12.560 not making eye contact with me with their heads down. Was I, was I annoyed? Sure. Was I angry?

00:07:19.000 No, that's what kids do on an overnight. Of course, that's what they try to do. And it's

00:07:23.600 my job to ruin it. That's, that's the great balance of life. They try to push it a little

00:07:29.220 bit further and I'm the wet blanket, even Steven. So as they're all, their heads are down. Like

00:07:36.140 they don't want to catch my eye or otherwise, like I'm going to scream at them or something,

00:07:39.240 which I never did. I'm like, everybody to their bed. Now, here's the trick of a great teacher.

00:07:43.900 You want to hear the trick of a great teacher? You send them off to their rooms, guys. But then

00:07:49.560 you wait. You shut the door. You even might pretend to shut your door. And then what do you do?

00:07:58.880 You take an extra 10 to 15 minutes and you stand in the hall. Why? Because they're not smart.

00:08:07.380 and and what they're going to try to do is wait they heard joe's door shut she's gone back in a

00:08:13.740 room that's it for her she's not coming back out again and they try to sneak out so as i'm standing

00:08:19.100 there kind of leaning against the door of course they see a couple doors open they open they see

00:08:23.900 me now i have to say one one kid in particular came up with a night like a thing pretty quickly

00:08:30.020 he's like oh oh joanna do you mind if i just go back in that room and get all my stuff so not only

00:08:35.540 was it was this a bad plan but it was a full-out plan because two of them had left all their stuff

00:08:43.500 in this other room their computers their phones their charger like everything was in this room

00:08:50.000 and they're everything so they had to go back I'm like what'd you forget and they're like oh

00:08:54.140 I just forgot my I had a laptop I slept so they come out guys carrying what looks like all of

00:09:00.300 their belongings that they were using on the trip that they're now drudging back to their room and

00:09:05.240 I said, Oh, okay. Well, that's good that you guys came back out while everybody was still awake,

00:09:10.300 you know, and, and, but I have to give it to that particular student. Cause that was a quick pickup

00:09:14.880 and he kind of, he sold the line. He really sold the line. So I get them to get all their stuff

00:09:21.140 and they go back to their room. And I said, listen, here's my, my big rule. You do not go

00:09:25.980 to the pool without me. That's a big rule, right? Cause bad things happen in pools. Kids are stupid,

00:09:30.320 whatever. And you do not. And they're like, well, can we wake you up in the morning? I said, 1.00

00:09:34.780 well, obviously you can, but I thought they'd sleep in, right? I thought they were up until

00:09:40.100 God knows what time, even after I put them back in their room and patrolled the hall for the extra

00:09:44.560 15 to make sure that's where they were staying. But they got up in the morning and these kids

00:09:52.020 knocked at my door at about quarter to eight, quarter to eight AM. And I'm like, wow, very

00:10:00.380 nicely tap tap tap Joe Joe can we go to the pool now and guys there was like six of them fully

00:10:07.580 ready bathing suit towels ready to go down the that pool so obviously I say of course we will

00:10:14.040 stop and get coffee on the way down and let's go to the pool and then they had a great time right

00:10:19.440 and then we got all packed up took them out for breakfast which they were also very thankful for

00:10:25.040 and very lovely at breakfast.

00:10:28.060 And as we're choosing all the food at breakfast,

00:10:31.100 it was quite funny.

00:10:33.560 And a kid sitting next to me,

00:10:37.760 very quietly, very lovely.

00:10:40.180 And so nobody else could really hear says,

00:10:42.740 I just want to thank you for doing this for us

00:10:46.000 because it really means a lot.

00:10:49.440 And guys, that kid could have asked me

00:10:52.980 to buy him a car in that moment.

00:10:54.740 and I would have said, I melted. That kind of authentic thank you for just doing something,

00:11:02.900 you know, and I said to him, dude, you guys were great. You guys were fantastic. We had a great

00:11:07.900 time. I should be thanking you, you know, and he's just like, no, you didn't have to do this.

00:11:12.840 No, nobody else would really do this in other schools, you know, and, and had he known the,

00:11:19.080 the melting of my heart, I mean, I would have given him my car keys right about then because

00:11:23.840 it was so beautiful and then we went on to have a nice shopping day at the outlet malls and all of

00:11:28.100 that and as we're driving home and they're all passed out in the car because they're exhausted

00:11:32.460 you know I start to think about the new school and the thing that Ryan and I and the teachers

00:11:39.280 are about to step into and all of the work that it's going to be and and the stress and all of

00:11:45.060 those things that it already has been and I think this is the foundation of what I want to build

00:11:53.160 that the idea of building a school where kids and students and parents for that matter

00:12:03.240 can look at their teachers as a part of their community as an extension of their family because

00:12:09.840 we are all connected and talk to one another and a part of each other look at us and understand

00:12:15.760 that we want to do amazing things with them that we want to see them grow that we want to we got

00:12:22.280 their back. And all we want to do in this world is see them do great things and then for them to

00:12:29.120 trust that and us going out and trusting them and doing great things with them. Guys, that should be

00:12:37.460 the underpinning of a school. Because it's that kind of trust and that kind of commonality and

00:12:44.380 that kind of connection. And it really does extend to parents. Make no mistake. Like I've had parent

00:12:51.240 meeting, after parent meeting, they're on phones with me talking about the new school, what's going

00:12:56.120 to happen, how's it going to happen, what's, you know, all of their concerns. And as this is

00:13:01.420 happening, all the chaos I thought it was going to be, all of the insanity I thought it was going to

00:13:07.260 be, what it actually has done, is it's built this beautiful, powerful community of teachers,

00:13:18.520 administrators parents and students who all want the same thing and we listen i know for a fact not

00:13:26.820 always parents aren't always going to agree with me and teachers and students aren't always going

00:13:30.400 to agree and we're going to have issues you know we're going to handle it we're going to handle it

00:13:34.040 by having big discussions we're going to handle it by having open communication and we're going

00:13:38.880 to handle it with an underpinning of trust and support and community that is essential if every

00:13:47.780 school had that, our kids and our students would have such a better shot at life, such

00:13:58.660 a better capacity for growth and progress and accomplishment, such a better sense of

00:14:06.720 self-esteem and confidence and the ability to find their true and authentic selves because

00:14:16.200 we're all just there trying to make sure that happens with your faults with the things you're

00:14:22.840 great at with your insecurities even if they exist we're all gonna big that up

00:14:30.920 and and over the last few weeks including that trip i realized that that's what this new school

00:14:38.600 is and i don't know if it exists anywhere else i haven't seen it i really haven't seen it i don't

00:14:47.560 know if it you know people will say what the foundations of education are but i i still feel

00:14:53.560 like they're missing the point because the foundation is never about a result

00:15:01.160 is never about the end the foundation or the underpinning of education has to be

00:15:08.600 the student. It has to be how do we make them feel great and make them feel an

00:15:18.320 internal greatness and ensure that they're going to rely on people when

00:15:23.660 they get into trouble and they're going to be able to ask for help when they

00:15:26.760 need it and we're going to build this connectivity between their family and

00:15:31.760 the school and them. I think a lot of schools actually probably don't advocate

00:15:37.880 for that they pretend right with like parents councils and bake sales and all those things

00:15:42.680 that's not what i'm talking about it really isn't and what i'm talking about probably for a lot of

00:15:47.880 teachers and a lot of administrators they wouldn't want any part of they would think it would be too

00:15:51.320 hard too consuming and it probably will be it probably will be i'm not gonna lie um but i

00:16:00.520 don't think, unless I'm willing to go in it like this, I don't think it has value. I think this

00:16:11.020 school, and I know I haven't given you a name or the school colors, but you can go check the mascot

00:16:17.020 got out on my TikTok. But the value of this school has to be that. Has to be that.

00:16:29.340 And I've really lucked into finding out what the real value is. Because I think I,

00:16:37.600 I always thought I knew. And until I was thrown into this insanity of a situation, I had no idea.

00:16:47.020 you know you pretend like you know you think you know because you're like well i've been through so

00:16:51.880 much i've been a teacher for 21 years and then all of a sudden you're tossed into this and you

00:16:56.460 have parents picking up the phone saying we got your back we know you have you know my kids back

00:17:02.780 so we have yours let's build this thing and and that is a beautiful beautiful thing and i don't

00:17:11.260 think I know I wouldn't have found it if not for the chaos, if not for the controversy. You don't

00:17:19.100 see greatness in your community until it is tested, until things suck, until things are at risk,

00:17:28.600 until ideas are challenged and even disagreements and conflict happens. You don't see the greatness

00:17:36.120 that is your staff, that is your administration, that are your students.

00:17:41.940 I have students.

00:17:43.460 I mean, this is a big transition for them, right?

00:17:45.760 This is a lot.

00:17:47.320 And they're like, that's all right.

00:17:49.740 We got this.

00:17:51.260 Not I got this.

00:17:53.740 They say, we got this.

00:17:57.200 You know, my volleyball team's just asking about new uniforms.

00:18:00.680 They just want to make sure we're going to be practicing.

00:18:03.400 We're going to up our game.

00:18:04.520 We're going to do this and this.

00:18:05.560 I'm like, of course. You think I'm going to let that team go? Forget it. You guys are just becoming great.

00:18:14.540 So in the same way, the grade seven and eight trip made me exhausted, made me question all of my sense as I was driving.

00:18:27.100 heaven help me help me listening to metallica slipknot and then the battle between drake and

00:18:34.320 kendrick lamar um i you you realize that you have to put yourself in their world and if you put

00:18:44.540 yourself in their world to some degree you get this sort of beautiful community slash

00:18:55.540 experience with these amazing kids who, with their parents, you're teaching them how to be

00:19:02.420 cool, grown people. What's okay? What's not okay? All that stuff is about school.

00:19:11.000 Because I know when I sit down and I demand things of them now, and I push them to excel,

00:19:17.520 and I push them to study harder, or I push them to do better in assignment,

00:19:22.620 I know for a fact, I know for a fact, they're not going to look at it as much as, oh, Joanna's just

00:19:28.460 a teacher trying, no, no, no, no, no. Now Joanna gets to be the teacher that found out her school

00:19:36.100 was closing, fought like hell to get a new one, took them on this trip, understood what they 0.94

00:19:42.580 needed, understood the elements of education as they exist outside of the classroom. The teacher

00:19:51.000 that talks to their parents consistently, not to catch them in anything, not to control the

00:19:57.060 student, but to understand them and their family. And all of a sudden, that student is going to

00:20:01.900 trust me and go, I'm going to give it a go. Because I don't think Joanne is trying to trap

00:20:07.620 me or make me work or somehow punish me. I know she's trying to help me. And if a student knows

00:20:16.800 that if a student knows you have their back and that's what your goal is, guys, there's no stopping

00:20:26.180 that. There's no limiting that level of education. And whatever they do with it, they will gain

00:20:34.140 esteem and confidence and a level of superpower status that will make them be able to accomplish

00:20:40.440 and walk into any room to do anything that they set their minds to.

00:20:47.340 So that's my school ethos.

00:20:50.960 Go through scary things, be honest, be authentic, rely on each other,

00:20:57.200 build a community, and you will be amazed at what a bunch of people

00:21:02.620 who truly care about each other can make happen in this world.

00:21:07.140 and with that I will see you next Tuesday same bat time same bat channel and maybe just maybe

00:21:16.120 I'll let you in on the colors and the school name but you'll have to come back for that one

00:21:21.820 dismissed

Unlearn16: Class is in Session - May 21, 2024

The One Where I Went Over The Falls To Build a School

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