Andrea: Hello, and welcome to Those Who Can't Do. I'm Andrea Forkham, and I'm your host. And I am so excited about the guest that we have today. But before we get there, I have to tell you something that happened to me this week, or that potentially could happen to me in the very near ish future. My husband is in PA school right now, right?

And we are, we're new to this area. So while he is going through and he's rotating through all of his different specialties, which is part of the PA program, I am also meeting with various doctors. getting established and like starting my, my care with these different doctors, right? And I have one particular appointment that I'm not looking forward to.

That's next month at the OBGYN to get a pap smear. Cause we ladies, we got to take care of ourselves. Right? And so I was looking at the schedule and I realized that the, uh, love of my life, the father of my children is also going to be doing his OBGYN rotation. Next month, my OB, over the time period that I am visiting.

And so the question then presents itself is if they, I hear that knock knock on my door and they come in and they say, would you like a student today? Is do I say yes and let my husband, um, smear my pap, you know, I just, I can't, I don't know. Uh, and like I, I, I talked about it a little bit on my Instagram stories and some people, mostly guys who are less familiar with the process were like, he's already seen everything.

You don't see your cervix when you're just having a Saturday night. Okay. So it's not the same. So that is, that's still, you know, we're going to see where that leads us. Um, I'm thinking no at this point, but maybe just for science. and learning. I will allow it to happen, but we'll see. It's very unsettling at this point.

Um, somebody else who I will be seeing very soon in a completely non gynecological sense is the very funny guest that I have today, Devin Seibold. He is going to be touring in Indiana next month, and I am going to be taking a bunch of my students to go see him. And I was also lucky enough last year to be a guest on his podcast, Crying in My Car.

I am so delighted to have him on today. So let's get to it.

Welcome to Those Who Can't Do, and today I have the very funny Devin Siebold with me. Devin, thank you so much for coming.

Devin: Yes, thank you for having me. Nice to see you again.

Andrea: Yeah, this is so fun. Yeah, I know. I was trying to remember because it feels like it's been such a long time, but it was like last spring, I think, so almost a year that I came out and was on your podcast.

Devin: Yep. On the Crying in My Car podcast. Yeah, it was great to have you. You were one of the, we've only had like four in studio guests and you were one of the four and, uh, and it was great.

Andrea: It was so much fun. It was such an honor to be on there. I had such a good time and I got to visit Florida for the first time since I was like, gosh, like four years old was probably the previous time.

So it was, it was a blast. And you right now are not in Florida. You are actually in Toronto.

Devin: Yeah, yeah, I decided to come up here and do some shows as soon as they got six to eight inches of snow. I said, you know what? That's, that's when it's ideal to visit.

Andrea: Right, right, yeah, that, that tracks. So now, can you talk a little bit about, because right now you're like full time touring comedian, correct?

Yep. Yeah, so, so can you talk a little bit about why you became a teacher initially and how you got to where you are now?

Devin: Sure. Um. My, my journey into teaching was kind of odd. Uh, I actually originally was a psychology major and I was like a dual, uh, enrolled, uh, student. So I had, um, almost, gosh, almost like 90 plus credit hours towards a psych major.

And then I took a class, uh, with a, uh, teacher that it was called psych of, um, what was it? Child psychology, like 101, basically. And we were like reading some of the stories of these children and I was crying. I was like in the back of the room and I was just crying. And I was like the only person, but I'm like overly sensitive.

I like, especially when I read about like sad things, I start crying. I'll start crying if I talk about it too much. I cry a lot. And, uh, and so I was reading about these stories and I was crying and my, uh, psych professor comes up to me. He goes, um, this isn't for you. And I was like, why? He goes, He goes, well, you can't just sit across from a kid and cry.

And just like, you know, he said, you're the therapy, you're supposed to be the rock. And he's like, every time we talk about like children being hurt or like, you know, traumatic things, you're supposed to just absorb it. And he goes, you reflect it. And they don't want reflection. They want release. And then, you know, and I was like, And I just thought about it for a while.

And he was like, I think you should do something else. And he said, you know, he goes, maybe, maybe teach or something. He goes, then you can help kids and you don't have to deal as much with the trauma. Little did he know. But, uh, I thought about it and I had an old teacher, Mr. Murphy, that was awesome. And I was like, you know, it would be kind of cool to be like him and make a difference and, and be there for the kids.

And, uh, and it was one of those things that I was like, you know what, let me give it a shot. And I switched majors. Started taking education classes, got to work in the classroom, like right away. And I was like, yeah, this is it. I was like, this is what I like. I like seeing the impact right away. Positive impact, kids coming to you with like, hope in their eyes, like knowing that you were somebody who could change their lives and, and, uh, it was a lot, it was a lot better than.

I think that I would have been, as a psychologist, I probably still would have been crying in some therapy room. I'd have to, I'd have to do like an hour of therapy and then an hour cry session scheduled for me like right after. Right, right, yeah.

Andrea: So you, you mentioned a teacher who you were thinking about when you decided to become a teacher yourself.

What was it about him that kind of stuck out to you?

Devin: Um, his humor, his love for the, for the profession and his way of just connecting with us. I mean, he made me feel like he cared about me and I know that he genuinely did. That's the wild thing is, um, I, I actually had the, the real fortunate benefit of speaking at a history conference in Florida.

And so I go around to do professional speaking at schools, PD, keynotes, things like that. And, um, I got invited to this history conference and he actually messaged me and he said, he said, I'm, I'm retiring. And he said, this is my last year. And I'm at the history conference this year. And he goes, so it'll be amazing to see you on stage after all these years.

And it had been 20 years since I was in his class. And I got up on stage. I did a big speech and, uh, and it was great. Everything went well. And then at the end, I was like, you know, I have the person here to thank for all this is, is this person he's right here. And, and I did a big speech about him. He cried and it was, uh, it was, it was, it was great, but it was one of those moments where it comes full circle, where the student gets to express what a teacher actually did.

and how they impacted them. And, um, it was, it was amazing because afterwards we had, uh, we went and we had a beer. How cool to be able to have a beer with your teacher, you know? Yeah. And, uh, we sat down, we had a beer and it was like he never, it was like 20 years never happened. He was right back into it and he goes, so how's Mike?

How's Brit? You know, how's this? You know, I remember this and he started just telling me everything about like we never I mean He was telling me about students that I forgot about and I was asking he goes, you know Sarah did this and Lauren did this and you're not gonna believe and he was so proud of us still 20 years later He's held pride in those students That he had 20 years ago, and he's had thousands of kids since and knew everything about us.

And I was like, you know, I made the right decision in role model. You know, it's one of those things where you look back and you're like, yeah, that was the guy that should have led my life, you know? And it was, it was awesome. So he was, he's, he's a great guy, Mr. Murphy. And, um, and he was such an inspiration to all of us.

Like, it's one of those things where you ask kids who they think about that went to that school and they're like, Oh, Murphy. You know, Murphy, and it, it was, it wasn't anything that he did different other than literally look at you like you were the only kid in the class, like you were his sole responsibility and he was so invested in you and it was, it was a cool thing.

Andrea: That, you know, I've, I always wanted to be that teacher that like would see a kid they haven't seen in 20 years and be like, Oh my gosh, yeah, of course I remember you and remember their name and their hobbies. I, despite my best efforts, I get about. three months out from the end of the school year and I cannot remember names.

I recognize faces, but I cannot remember names. And it totally ruins being like, oh, when they come up and they're like, you are my favorite teacher. And I'm like, you, hey, you, I do remember I taught you. Like, I feel so terrible because I always wanted to be like, Just like that, right? Where it's like, oh, yeah, of course I remember you, and I would watch all those, like, inspirational stories about these teachers who retire after, you know, however many decades of teaching, and they see these grown adults come through and they name each of their former students, and I'm like, I want to be that, and I have never a date in my life been able to do that.

Are you able to remember students names and stuff like that?

Devin: No, not really. I wish I could. My problem was I taught in a majority Hispanic area, so I had like 72 Maria Rodriguez. And so there were so many names that were very family oriented, very cultural, very like significant to that area. And so a lot of my students share the same names, hyphenated this, you know, different versions of.

And so It was, um, it's always like, Oh, you know, which, uh, which student are you? And then they tell me, and as soon as they tell me their name, I've got 20 other kids in my mind with that same name. And I'm going, which one were you though? Which Maria Rodriguez were you? You were, uh, 2016 Maria. Okay. I remember you, you know, I remember usually the student, but it's, it's, the names are very difficult.

Andrea: Yeah, yeah. Which again, just highlights how amazing the teacher you had really was, that he was still able to remember all of those other students and all that. Cause I, like, like you said, like, I have classmates that like, they'll pop up on Facebook as like a recommended person and I'm like, Oh, I forgot they existed until this moment.

Like fully forgot they were gone from my brain and my memories. And some of them I went to school with like since kindergarten. And I'm like, Oh yeah. Like, I knew you for a decade, and I just, gone. So bad.

Devin: Andrea, you ever, you ever been on the reverse end of that, where, like, I messaged an old friend, I was like, oh my gosh, I haven't seen you in, like, 15 years.

And he's like, remind me who you are, and I was like, you were my best friend!

Theme: No! I'm like,

Devin: we, I literally wore our friendship bracelets for, like, two years, thinking that he was, like, it was my friend Drew, in, like, fifth grade, and Drew had no clue who I was. And I was like, I was like, Oh, dude, I, you were my best buddy.

We had friendship bracelets. We played basketball every day together. And he like, I don't know. It just couldn't remember me, and I'm like, oh no.

Andrea: You're like, cool. Yeah. Cool. Love that for me. That's so brutal.

Devin: Yes.

Andrea: So once you, once you got into the classroom, what was different from kind of what your expectations were?

Devin: Oh boy. Um, so I had a very difficult transition into class. That's what people, um, I guess, my, my jump off was, uh, a point that I'd never wish on anybody. I agree. I was 21 when I graduated college. I got hired to teach intensive reading to seniors that had failed our Florida state exam two or three times.

I was 21, and there were students in my class that were all 19 and 20. And the first, I mean, as soon as I found that out, I grew a beard. Like my first year, I, I was like, cause I was like, how do I, how do I discern myself as the adult in the room? Like I can't go in there and be like, you know, Hey guys, we need to learn.

And I wouldn't take myself seriously because I'd be like, dude, you just, you're a year older than us. And so I never told them my age. I pretended like I, um, had been teaching for forever. I had a big, long beard and I just tried to play it off as super old. I dressed in, I had suit and tie every day.

Because I was like, no, I'm the professional. Like it was so hard to set that groundwork. Then I went and taught middle school the next year because it was a recession and they, they were laying people off left and right. And I got, I was lucky that I didn't get, I got laid off, but I got immediately hired at a middle as a middle school teacher.

And that was, uh, that was way different. So I, I went from high school in 1920 to sixth grade and sixth grade was. Such a learning curve. The kids personalities, I just wasn't ready for how much energy they were gonna throw at me. And how to, how to really like absorb it or, you know, like you get energy thrown at you.

And if you're a curmudgeon kind of teacher, you try to push back against it. And I was like, no, I like the energy. I just don't know how to creatively use it to my advantage. So that was a massive learning curve is like, how do I get the kids energy to do what I want it to do? And so it took a while to set a bar with them and especially because I don't know if there's any teachers that can relate to this, but, you know, I taught at a school that was K through 18.

So I think it's almost a disadvantage because the kids and the teachers and everybody, the whole community has been together for so long and they go into sixth grade and they already knew the sixth grade teachers, but somebody quit. So now I'm the fish out of water. It's not like a new school where they're just coming there and they've never met us before.

They had, like, a rapport with the teachers already there, and all the students already knew each other because they were all, just came from Pyth. There weren't new kids coming from out, it wasn't like a mishmash of all the elementary schools, it was just, they moved up. Yeah. So, it was like, okay, I have to try to fit in to this ecosystem that is very well developed, and everybody has roles, and I don't know where my role is, and it was, it was difficult for sure.

Andrea: Can you share some stories from that year of like, where it just went awry and that energy instead of being put to like good use instead just spun out?

Devin: Um, well, I volunteered myself, um, because I thought it would be great, um, to like, make a connection to the kids. I volunteered myself to be pied during a, uh, like a festival type day.

They had a dunk tank. And the dunk tank, like one teacher was in the dunk tank and he, he went right for it. And then the principal was like, Oh, I'm going to do, you know, I'll run the pin, the tail and the donkey. And they're like, we need somebody to be pied. And I was like, I'll, you know what? I'll be pied.

I'll, I'll let them throw some pies at me. Let me tell you right now, those kids had aggression. I think like, I, I literally thought a pie broke my nose like seven times. There's pictures of them. I've got tons of pictures online of them literally just smashing me in the face. Kids that I, I'm like, do I even teach you?

You know, you're

Andrea: like, how can you have beef with me? I don't know you. They

Devin: were getting like running starts to throw just because it was the one chance they had to be like violent with the teacher.

Andrea: Right.

Devin: The throwing of the ball, you know, they couldn't hit the teacher of the ball in the dunk tank, you know, they weren't, they weren't involved.

But this one was like, we can, literally assault a teacher and it's fine. And I'm like, and I, I just thought it would be funny, harmless. I'd get some whipped cream on me. No, I got obliterated. And I was like, never doing that again, ever.

Andrea: Now, did you still have the beard during that time?

Devin: Uh, no, I got rid of the beard.

Yeah, I was clean shaven for the most part. Otherwise I would've been, yeah, that would've been even worse, uh, but, or maybe I could've used it to protect my face, I don't know. I was,

Andrea: yeah, I've, I've been there. I, so, at the last school I was at, actually, they would do something for, like, a spirit week, and they would have the teachers there, and they would, do the pie in the face things, but it wasn't just one of us, that we would all line up and like, put our face through the holes, and then the students could walk by and just chuck it at whichever teacher they want, which again, like, I guess it helps them.

school culture.

Devin: Or, or I don't know, or just the principal wanted to see us get, you know, hit with pies. It was so much aggression in these children. Yeah. And

Andrea: it's horrible because it gets into your hair and is like, because at least at the oily because they use like, they don't actually use a full pie because that would be expensive.

They would just take tins and fill them with like foamy whipped cream that then they shove into your face and it just gets in your eyes and it like, at first you're like, oh yeah, I'm whipped cream and then it starts melting and like really congealing on your clothes. Oh, it is foul.

Devin: Absolutely. I remember every second of it.

I think I'm still cleaning shaving cream and whipped cream out of my hair from that.

Andrea: Yeah. Right. But you know, we, it's, it's about the relationships, right? We're just out there building relationships.

Devin: Whatever you call that.

Andrea: Right. So how long did you teach middle school then?

Devin: I taught it for three years and I got really lucky.

That was my only, like, I, I, I was originally just going to do one and done for middle school because I really wanted to be with high school kids. But, um, sixth grade, they had me teaching sixth grade, uh, cause the guy quit. He just like, he literally like up and left immediately. Like I'm telling you, there was coffee still on the desk.

Like he wanted nothing to do with that class. And, um, and so they, uh, they had me, uh, I was teaching sixth grade. Then the seventh grade teacher. And I moved up, and then the eighth grade teacher quit, and I moved up. And so every, all the kids were moving up. And so the second they got to eighth grade, I was like, all right, do I do this all over again?

I built these relationships with these kids. I had a lot of fun. Um, my school district required you to be in a, uh, a position for three years before you could sign a professional contract and get a tenure. So I was in there for 10 years, three years. I got tenure. I signed the professional contract and I was like, no, I was like, I really want to go for the high school kids.

And I wanted to follow Mr. Murphy. You know, Mr. Murphy was a high school teacher. I had ideas of what my class was going to be like. And I was not fulfilling them in middle school. Middle school was so much chaos and it was more just managed, managing the chaos rather than, uh, building the relationships that I wanted to, to have in high school.

So, uh, so yeah, I, I went over to high school for a bit.

Andrea: Okay. So how long were you teaching high school then?

Devin: Um, I did high school my first year, three years in, um, uh, middle school, and then nine years in high school after that. So.

Andrea: Nice. And what, what grades did you teach?

Devin: All of them. Uh, literally all of them at once sometimes, because, you know, like they would have you teach, uh, I taught, um, I started off in, with seniors.

I know it makes me sound like a terrible teacher, but I was highly effective every year. But they just lost so many teachers that they kept moving me. And, and they were like, okay, one year I took my first year, I taught government and economics. The next year was U. S. history, psych one, psych two, law, human geography, world geography.

Um, back to psych one, AP economics. It was literally everything. And so it was all over the place, multiple preps, three or four a year. And sometimes like the psych classes were weird. I love psychology. It's one of my favorite things to teach. It was a catch all class for kids that didn't have room in an election, an elective course.

And they threw ninth through 12th in against their will. Nobody ever signed up for it. They, they signed up for like soccer, but soccer would fill up. And so they were like, we're giving you psych. And so that was, that was, that was one of the, my, I was so passionate about it. It ruined me thinking, uh, I, you know, this is something that I loved.

I've already gone to college for this and I can share it. And, uh, the kids were not into it. So it's hard when you're passionate about your, Subject and you're given kids that aren't wanting to be there. What do you do?

Andrea: Yeah, exactly. I, I remember my first year teaching, I was teaching English 12 and it was remedial.

Um, and so these kids had failed the previous, like the state test 11th grade. And so they were in my class. And so I'm up there trying to teach them. Uh, I, I have a vivid memory of trying to teach them the wife of baths tale, um, from Canterbury tales. And I'm like trying to pitch every single time we did it, like trying to pitch to them, like this is the most exciting content you're ever going to get.

in your life. And I had, like, there was one kid, as I was reading The Wife of Bath's Tale, and the whole thing with her is that she had lots of husbands and she killed them all, and she's very curvaceous. And so I'm reading that, and I had one student that raised his hand after I read the story. And I was like, yeah, he's like, so what you're saying is the wife of Bath, she was a big booty hoe.

And I was like, uh, you know what? Yes. Yes. Right. We'll let it stand. Yes. Yes. If that's how you want to translate it and, and make it work. Yes. Cause like when you've got kids who hate the content and you're just trying anything, you're like, sure. Yep. That's exactly who she was. Now you will remember for the test.

Devin: Yep. You put that as an answer. D. Big booty. Yeah.

Andrea: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Oh my gosh. Now, when you were, um, teaching high school, did you ever have any, like, really embarrassing moments as the teacher?

Devin: Um, you know, I don't know. There, there's so many times where I was like, what am I doing? Uh, there were, I mean, I, my, my most, um, the one that came to my mind immediately is I split my pants in the parking lot and I was like, okay, you split your pants.

No big deal. I had time to go home. I went change the next morning. I wore the split pants, forgot that they were split, just wore them. So like 10 minutes into class, the kids are like, um, we can see your underwear. I'm like, what? And I was like, Oh no. And I was like, good thing I wore underwear, but you know, but, uh, yeah, it was, it was, uh, so split pants is quite a big one.

And then there was another time where I, um, I was sick and I was like throwing up in, in class, like, and it was hard because we didn't have any subs. We didn't have anything. And I had, uh, just had a kid. So I had used up all my time and I didn't, I couldn't just go away and stay home. And I knew it wasn't viral.

It was something that I ate the night before. Cause I remember distinctly what it was. And, um, and I remember I was just in front of the class and I'd be like, so anyways guys, hold on. And I would take the trash can, walk outside the door and just, blah, then I'd come back in and be like, okay, so open up the books, you know?

Andrea: My gosh. And your admin, did they know that you were in there hurling or?

Devin: That, yeah, of course. There was, there's no hiding it. And it's just like, eh,

Andrea: at

Devin: least he's here, you know? Yeah.

Andrea: Oh my gosh. Yeah. I mean, well, and people, I think people who have never been in the classroom, they just, they don't understand like that element of like, if I don't show up, then I have to sit here and spend 45 minutes writing sub plans that the kids aren't going to do.

And then I'm going to have to come back and we're going to have to go back and reteach And you, like, deal with all of that and your admins probably pissed at you because they have to now suddenly either cover or find a sub or whatever. And so you just come and, like, just die in front of your class.

Devin: Yep.

And, and when you're out of days, too, and they're unpaid, people don't understand that when teachers are unpaid, we had something called holdback. So we would get paid 12 months out of the year, but really we were just, you know, Taking money from the 10 months we worked and they were putting it into a little account on the side and then paying us a normal check during the summer.

Well, when you run out of days and you have to miss a day, they take the money that you made that day and they just subtract it from your current paycheck. And the holdback money stays the same. So you take a huge chunk out of your paycheck. I mean, you could literally miss, you know, a full week of unpaid work and get paid almost nothing because your holdback is taking the normal chunk, not just a percentage wise of what you made.

And, um, and it always, it always hurts. So anytime I miss like one day, I'd be like, okay, well, the light bill is going on a credit card this month and, uh, gotta figure that out.

Andrea: Oh my gosh. Brutal. So when did you start doing standup?

Devin: Um, about, uh, 12, 11, 12 years ago, I was really, it was, it, it stemmed from, uh, the school because I was, um, my first year when I said I, I taught the, um, seniors and I was like, You know, about their age, I, we had like some weird year of bomb threats, like lots of bomb threats.

And when they did bomb threats, they would move us into like a separate room and we had none of our teaching supplies. And sometimes a group, like they'd say, okay, four classes are going in this room with this one teacher to look over them. And you just stand there and it would quickly devolve into chaos, like chaos.

And, there were fights sometimes, you know, there were, um, just kids yelling, screaming. And I was like, how can I, like, control this chaos? And I had a really funny story from college, and I knew it was a super funny story. And one day I go, guys, guys, guys, I said, I have a really funny story to tell you. And they all like quieted down.

And I said, you guys sit down. I'll tell you the funny story. And I told them a funny story and these kids cracked up. They thought it was hysterical. And we had like, like clockwork, like two weeks later, another bomb threat. And somebody was like, tell us another story. And I was like, all right. And I had a, quite a few stories from college that I thought were funny.

And I told them the story and they were cracking up. I, I had them like in the palm of my hand, quiet, organized listening to me. I was like, this is so awesome. And, uh, one of the students after the second time, he goes, dude, he goes, you should do standup. And it just was something that was, I'd never thought of.

And I was like, maybe I was. And I always wrote comedy. I've always been a writer, write a lot of humorous poems, stories, things like that, just creatively for myself. And, uh, I was like, you know what, maybe, and I, I, I took a standup comedy class and, um. It was awesome. And I was like, this is something I really like.

And it turns out, I was, I had so many good stories. And being a teacher, being, uh, teaching, teaching is a huge advantage when it comes to becoming a comedian. Because you, you know how to manage the silence. You know how to manage the, the kids. You know how to organize your thoughts. And, and It was a lot better.

So I, I made that transition and it was like natural right off the bat. I was really happy with it. So I did both for quite some time.

Andrea: That's so cool. I love that a student kind of, well, and especially when a student tells you stuff like that, like, you know, they're not just like gassing you up because they don't do that.

Like they would destroy you in a second, but sometimes they do that where they like say something that just is so meaningful and it, it changes us. Yeah, I

Devin: agree.

Andrea: That's so cool. Yeah, he's a

Devin: good kid. And, um, I used to really, really destroy him in Call of Duty, so I felt really bad about that afterwards. I'm like, dude, you gave me this awesome career, but man, I used to just wreck you in Call of Duty.

Andrea: Has he come to any of your stand up shows?

Devin: Yeah, he came pretty early on, and I was just kind of trying out some stuff. I haven't talked to him in a while, but I'll probably reach out to him. And, you know, he's, He's a good kid. He was, uh, um, uh, real, like, uh, Southern and, and repaired cars and started up his own, like, uh, business and things like that.

And so, and he, he actually, it was awesome. Cause when we came back from field trip, my car wouldn't start and he, he fixed it in the, in the parking lot. And, uh, and I got to drive off and I was like, man, this is awesome. This is why I teach seniors. Cause a fifth grader would never fix my car. They would just hit me in the face with another pie while we're waiting.

Andrea: Oh my gosh. All right, well, I think this is a good, uh, place to take a break, so we will be right back.

All right, welcome back. So Devin, I wanted to hear if you have ever confiscated any notes that were of particular interest.

Devin: Yes. Um, so I love this story because I actually posted it on, um. Uh, Facebook ages ago when I had like no followers. So like nobody saw it, but I was laughing hysterically. It was one of my funniest moments that I love, but I, I confiscated a note.

And it's one of those things where you, you ever seen the kids notes where they're like, do you like me? Yes, no, maybe, you know? And so it was, it was, it said, do you like me? I pulled this note up and it said, do you like me? And it said, yes, no. And she wrote, she responded by writing in maybe and then circled it.

And he then got the note and responded back and said, I didn't put maybe there. I would like a more definitive yes or no. And then she was

Andrea: not in games,

Devin: right? And then she responded, well, then you're too pushy. So no. And, and he responded, be like that. And it was like, literally them arguing back and forth.

about this yes, no, maybe, but she had a very valid point that he was pushing for a definitive answer. And she gave a maybe I would, I would have taken the maybe, you know, but there was at

Andrea: least a shot with a maybe

Devin: there was, and now you're, you're, you're out of it without the, the, now you're done. And I was like, but it was so funny because I, I knew the two and, um, it was just very typical, like kind of funny for them because they were, they had the personality And the girl, especially, she was like, you know, very hardheaded.

This is what I want. And he was very much a, this is what I want. And I was like, it's such a textbook. The two, uh, opposites attract. Two people that are alike. No chance. And it was, it was them battling themselves, you know, wanting definitives and not willing to give definitives. And it was, it was a great note to confiscate.

I think I still have it.

Andrea: Oh my gosh. Yeah. I definitely wouldn't throw that one away. I feel like most of the time now kids are just like sending each other Snapchats like under the table and all of that. So you wouldn't really like, I don't feel like I ever confiscated any good notes. I've, I accidentally texted a very, very long time ago.

I was upset about a breakup. I think I was still in high school? Yeah, I would have still been in high school. And I was talking about this boy who had dumped me and I was so mad and I was trying to text my friend and I was like, you know, fuck that guy, blah, blah, blah. And I texted him instead of texting my friend.

Devin: I've done that. I've done that. Yep.

Andrea: Like, it is the absolute worst thing you can do. But like, that's what you're thinking about. So you just automatically hit it. And then he wrote back and he's like, uh, okay, well, thanks for letting me know. And I was like, oh my God, I wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

Devin: So I can top your story by just a little bit.

She was in the room and I texted, I texted, thought I was texting my friend. Uh, it was during a hurricane. We were in Flagler College and I went to this hotel room to go see her. And, and she was my interest at the time, not girlfriend, but we were dating, you know? And I texted, I texted my friend. I said, this girl is so drunk.

I said, this is so unattractive. I, I have, I want nothing to do with her. Can you come get me? And literally texted it directly to her. And as soon as I hit send, I closed my flip phone and I like, I like put it down. And all of a sudden I hear her phone go. And I was like, what was that? And I opened up my phone and I was like, Oh no.

And I'll never forget this because it was one of the funniest, but dumbest things I did in my life. I literally ran over to her. And I grabbed her phone and I go, Oh my gosh. I said, I've never seen this brand of phone before. This is so awesome. How does it work? Little delete. And I was like, Oh man, this is cool.

Anyways, here's a back and I deleted it before she read it, but I was like,

Andrea: Oh my gosh. Oh, I

Devin: would have been mortified. Yeah.

Andrea: I can't believe you were able to save that though. That's insane. Yeah,

Devin: I, I, well, I was so lucky that it was, that I caught on right away because I was like, man, I just sent a text message to my friend and here's her phone.

getting a text message at the exact same time. How weird is that coincidence? And it, like, it registered. It was, oh no.

Andrea: Well, and I mean, thank God that it also wasn't during the era of, like, face ID and all of that, because you, like, it would have, like, shown up on the bottom that you're a texter. And yeah, I just opened up

Devin: and I was like, it's a new message.

And I was like, delete. Don't even want to read it. Yeah. Oh my gosh.

Andrea: I've, there was one time I had a district email sent to me from, he was like, he wasn't. I don't believe he was a fully licensed teacher. I think he, they had him in there supervising like, you know, but where they do credit recovery classes and so they just have like an adult in the room who sometimes actually gets to teach but most of the time you're just there saying, please do your work on the modules or whatever.

Right. Um, and he had been there for like two or three months and we all of a sudden got 16 emails from this guy linking to his YouTube channel where he is like, yelling about politics. And like, he was very clearly, very, very mentally ill and was losing it. And he had sent it to the entire massive district.

And it was, it was not on a weekday. I think it was like a Saturday night. And so I'm texting my co workers and I'm like, did you guys see this? And they're like, no, what? And so we all start looking at it. And then the district was able to slowly make them disappear. from everyone's email inboxes. So some people didn't see any of them.

I went through and watched every single one of his videos because they were just insane. I was like, I need to know because this guy worked like two doors down from me, not anymore, because that's why he was upset because he got terminated. Um, but yeah, and like, I was kind of impressed because the district was able to like remove it from inboxes, which I didn't No, it was even possible, but That is

Devin: interesting.

There was a, a, a lady in payroll that I did not get along. I did not get along with her at all. And it was just something that, I forget, there was like an error one time in my paycheck and I messaged her and she just acted like I was, uh, the biggest idiot and I didn't know what I was talking about. And I was like, no, I know what I'm talking about and this is where the problem and I proved her wrong.

And she was like, super smug, a jerk about it. Well, like Maybe a month after all that happened, somebody sent an email to her. She sent an email to everybody with the new payroll dates or something. And somebody sent an email and was like, um, oh, it looks like the district is slacking or something like that.

And she clicked reply all, and it went to everybody in the district where she said, yeah, par for the course. They pretty much treat us like crap. And I saw it come through and I was like, I literally went full on Mr. Burns. I was like, I was like, let's see how this plays out. You know, she had to send like a big apology email to everybody.

She kept her job, but I was like, oh man, as soon as I saw that come through, I was so happy. You know, you don't wish bad things on people, but sometimes it's okay. You know,

Andrea: but sometimes it just feels like they're just desserts. So

Devin: Yep.

Andrea: Oh my gosh. That would be so mortifying. I just, and the reply alls in general at schools are particularly bad.

Like I have never worked at a school where there was not several teachers that it doesn't matter what it is. If there's cookies in the break room, reply all, yum. Don't don't.

Devin: Right. Don't. Yep. The worst that I hate is happy birthday to such as such and they respond, Oh my gosh, happy birthday. I'm like, we just saw that it's their birthday.

We all said it's a happy birthday in general email. There's no need for you to send a message to all of us saying the same thing we just all saw. It just drives me nuts.

Andrea: The worst. That's, that's one that irritates me probably the most is when it's like either a congratulations one or a happy birthday or something like that, that everyone hits reply all because they don't actually care about like saying it to the person.

They want everyone to know that they have, they're like, this is actually about me now and how great I am for saying happy birthday to.

Devin: The sad part is, I bet if we did like a scientific analysis of all the people that have replied all like that, I bet they have like, I bet there's a higher ratio of district jobs and like cush jobs, you know what I mean?

Because they're like, they're the suck ups and they, they, they want the, the acknowledgement of who they are. And I'd be willing to bet that there's a higher ratio of them that, that move up into nicer positions.

Andrea: Yeah. For sure. Yeah. They get, you know, uh, what's it called? What is it called when you're like really bad at your job and then they just keep moving you up?

Oh. It's like failing up or whatever. Yeah.

Devin: Failing up. Yeah. I believe it. That

Andrea: happens. All too often. I feel like with administrators too, like I, there were a few assistant principals that were not great, and then they would just get moved to a different, larger district, and then they'd eventually, you'd hear like, oh yeah, they're a full principal now, and I'm like, for a school with children in it?

Devin: Yeah.

Andrea: Are you sure?

Devin: Alright, well. I was in all F& D schools, and literally, our principals would never get fired. They got reassigned. And a lot of times it was higher up jobs. And I'm like, how do you, you, you, you just got an, we have an F in this school. Like nothing worked. And they, they're like, you know what?

We want you. over top of people just never made sense. If anything, they should have been like, okay, you're back in the classroom. Uh, right, exactly.

Andrea: Yeah. I don't, I, I don't think I've ever seen that happen. Like where somebody gets like demoted back down and then like stays in the classroom. Like some leave education entirely, but I don't think I've ever seen like an admin go.

from like principal or AP to like, okay, now I'm going to like go back to teaching and remember what it's like.

Devin: You know what I've seen though, in, in rural, so I speak at a lot of, uh, I speak at a lot of rural schools and like when I go to like rural schools, what I've seen lately is their teacher shortage has caused admin to have to, and I've actually spoken a few schools recently where the principal has been like, so, uh, Uh, this is my office, and also my classroom is just down the hall.

And I'm like, your classroom? And they're like, yeah, I teach half the day, uh, second grade. And I'm like, what? And they're like, yeah, and then the other assistant principal takes over the other half. And I've seen it quite a bit lately where they have to be back in the classroom. Like, there's just no other option.

You have kids. They need a teacher and you're in the middle of nowhere. There's no options. So they, they, they teach again. And I think it's better. I think it reconnects them, you know,

Andrea: yeah. And I, and it's one of those things too, where, you know, it's been now, um, eight ish, nine months since I taught high school and I visited a middle school today.

And as I was walking through, I noticed there, like, a lot of them were watching movies. And I was like, why are they all watching movies today? And I was thinking about it, and I was like, it's the Friday before spring break. Like, how do I forget that this is the Friday before spring break? I'd be watching a movie for sure if I were still in the classroom.

Right? Like, a thousand percent. Like, I can't, I, like, one was, like, watching Finding Nemo. One was watching March Madness. Oh, see, these Like, but it was the math

Devin: Amateur teachers. Amateur teachers. Amateurs. What you do is you go with gods and generals. It's four and a half hours long. You have to start it on the Tuesday in order to finish it by the Friday.

You gotta, you gotta know these things. Yeah, always go, the run time is a big deal. I'm like, oh, this one's three hours. So we're gonna have to start that, you know, on Wednesday.

Andrea: I don't want to

Devin: leave them hanging, you know.

Andrea: No, that would be terrible for the children. So, um, were there any resources that you had that you really loved when you were in the classroom?

Devin: And so this, this one I really want to talk about because teachers don't know, students don't know, your school districts, the media center, has a massive, massive massive media community. catalog of journals, of, uh, online, um, research portals, of online textbooks, of, it just, if you went to any media specialist in your school and was like, Hey, can you show me?

What the school has to offer. They would light up first and foremost. And secondly, they would just open up this treasure chest that I didn't know existed. And, and it was one of the few PDs that I got something from where we went into the media center. And she's like, you guys don't realize, like, you have access to.

online versions of the New York Times in its entirety, the Wall Street Journal in its entirety, Junior Scholastic. We have every single issue dating back to like 1975. We have all this stuff and I was like, Oh my gosh. And I'm the only one like taking notes, paying attention. And, um, I went on there and like, um, I would have teachers go, where did you get this resource?

Where did you get? And I'm like, it's free. We have it all there. You just never utilized it. And the students, it would blow their minds too. Cause I'd be like. you know, let's go research in, in this catalog and through these journals. And they didn't know what they were used to Wikipedia. And so it was different for them to have to see like scholarly stuff, but also, um, the amount of videos that we had access to, like people, the teachers always think Netflix, Disney plus stuff like that.

There's like so many online, like I remember discovery classroom was really big and you could, we had full access to that. And I would find perfect videos. with a topic I wanted, with full printout sheets of lesson plans, of, of, uh, activities, you know, all with that four minute clip or 30 minute clip or whatever I wanted.

And I'd go, okay, so I'm teaching the War of 1812, and I want this specific, you know, uh, battle. And I would type in that battle and they'd be like, here's the video outlining the battle. Here's the, uh, the analysis of it. Here's what other teachers have said about it. And I, it just blew my mind and, and, and every single time we did a PLC, uh, learning communities, uh, I would bring up, okay, well, if we're going to talk about that, here's what I have.

And they'd be like, oh my gosh, you did this? And I'm like, no. And they're like, Oh, you bought it on Teachers Pay Teachers. I'm like, no, I'm like, it's literally free. And they're like, where? And I'm like, we have a media center intranet, like not internet intranet, and you never utilize it. It's right there. And all the textbooks too.

Um, you know, people forget, like you have a textbook, but a lot of times this, the textbook comes with. On online curriculum that is already there and it comes with Yeah. Uh, videos, activities, interactive, you know, graphs and charts and full on PowerPoints and it's all already designed. Yeah. But just, I, I just never understood, um, you know, the fight for information when most districts have so much already that they just subscribed to.

And, and you would just never realize it, but if you go to your media center specialist, it's going to be like, Oh wow. All that. Yeah. I mean they, they get access to like the national archives and national library and, and you need books, you know, people think today if you need a book, you go to your library and like if they don't have it, they don't have it.

But local libraries will literally ship you. The book, like the next day, like whatever book you want, people buy books. I'm like, why do you buy books? You can literally type in any, if it came out yesterday, you can go to the library, online thing, you go, I want this, here's my address done. And it's at your house.

And they have, uh, I live in Orlando. Our, our public library has a, has their own delivery service. And so they, they literally will come to your house in a little library bus and they'll, they'll bring the book right up to your door and set it on your front porch. And when you're done, you just click done and they come grab it from you.

It's like, oh my gosh, it's awesome.

Andrea: Fantastic. Yeah, the last school I was at was very much like that where, you know, they had everything and you're right. If you go to your, the media center or to the librarian and you like, say like, what resources do you have? It will 1000 percent make their week because most of the time you're right.

Like we just, I think a lot of teachers just forget or there's a very slight learning curve of figuring out where to get them. Um, and for some people that feels insurmountable, I guess, um, I, at my first school in Virginia, I, when I first started there, they were getting rid of all hard copies of books from their library.

The librarian that they had there had very passionate beliefs about how we were moving into a, how did she put it? She had like a mission statement and the phrase post literacy, post literate society was part of it. And I'm like, ma'am, you're a librarian. What, like, what is, what is happening? And she Imagine a doctor being

Devin: like, we're going to go to a post medicine society.

Okay.

Andrea: Insane. And she was, you know, she was kind of a little bit of a, of a goofy character anyways, but she, yeah, she fully passionately wanted to get rid of every hard copy of books. She had exercise bikes in. The, uh, in the library, um, fish tanks, a video game, like, set up where you could, like, go and play Dance Dance Revolution, and, like, all of these different things, and everything was gonna be online, and so there was just computers, and then exercise equipment.

And I was like, I think, I think we went too far. Like, I guess we need, like, we need to, like, embrace the digital world and use the resources. But like, we don't have to get rid of all the paper that we already have. Like, that is a wild decision. You should have gone to

Devin: her and be like, ma'am, vinyls are coming back.

Right. I don't think we're getting rid of books anytime soon.

Andrea: Unless you live in Florida,

Devin: we got rid of them a long time ago.

Andrea: That's true. Yeah, for sure. Pretty sure you get arrested if you have one there. Yeah. But it just, it blew my mind that she, like, like, I don't understand how someone in their life like matriculates to becoming a librarian and then goes, you know what we don't need?

Books. Right. Yeah. Okay. Wild. Yeah. Um, so one of the things that we always do on the podcast is I get questions from listeners and then you get to share, uh, your advice with, uh, the listeners on your take. So one of the questions was, how can a teacher stay defiantly hopeful and keep teaching if they are asked to teach for preps?

Given no content, have extra duties, and are given no collaboration, it seems hopeless. And this person's from California.

Devin: So that's hard. I mean, as somebody who taught literally for preps and had assistant coaching, it was, I mean, it was, Very difficult. I will say that. Yeah. One thing that I, I found that helped me is when you're not teaching the same material to each class, getting the other classes, I would set aside like five, 10 minutes and have them help me grade stuff from the other classes.

Because I, I'm like, they're not taking this material. They're not getting anything out of it. I just need you. I just would say, look, I got four preps. I need a little bit of help. The last five minutes of class, I'm just going to pass out the quiz. I just took with the period before, and I need you guys just to grade it for me.

And they were on board, you know, and they, they, you know, take out the red pen. I'd pass them out and they would help me. And it helped me tremendously to cut time out to where it's all about just adding like just an extra, like five minutes, 10 minutes here and there, small steps. Uh, my best bit of advice that I'll give for somebody who, so the question right then that you just asked.

The way you phrased it is the problem that a lot of teachers have is we see the big, and we see the huge job that we have total. And I feel, I always felt like I did it much better by breaking it down into little pieces and just saying from three to three 15 after school, I'm going to handle just this one prep.

I'm not going to go, Oh man, I got six classes. I I'm going to handle just this one prep three 15 to three 30. I'm going to handle just this one prep. I'm going to make sure to dead stop and then go into this and three, you know, 30 to three 45 dead stop. And then kind of divide up that planning time. Or you're going to let it bleed into the other.

And then your stress from not having enough time to plan for the other one will completely ruin all the planning that you did. For the one that you did plan for, like there's, it's, it's all about breaking it up into pieces. I'm really passionate about that, that mindset of going just a little bit at a time.

What do I have to do right now? How can I concept con concentrate on the task? At hand in the moment and go from there.

Andrea: Yeah. I think compartmentalizing is huge, especially with the four preps. I've done that before as well. And it is, it's a lot to wrap your brain around, especially if you ever have to take a day off and then you have to be like, okay, I need an icebreaker for four classes.

I need, you know, whatever. Um, and so, My first reaction when I saw this question was literally like, are there any other districts in your area that are hiring? Right. Because, because that, that system of, of the four preps and not given resources, plus the extra duty, plus not having collaboration, like, I'm not going to say that it's, it's hopeless for this person, but I would say, like, if, If it's been more than a year or two and it's been like that, before deciding to leave teaching altogether, I would suggest trying a different school or a different district that maybe is a little bit more collaborative, a little bit more supportive of their teachers.

Right. Because that kind of a, a school, it just, it, it drains you and it like sucks the joy out of teaching a lot of times in a way that like is very, very unsustainable. Cause I, I did it. I had a school that I, I taught out for three years like that. And it, I almost, like, at that point, wanted to leave the education field entirely, because I was just so drained, um, and I went from that to a very big school that was, had all the collaboration and very few extra duties and all of that, and it was like, oh, yeah, that's right, I love this, like, I love to do this, you know, so sometimes it's, uh, compartmentalizing and sometimes it's maybe looking to see if there's, you know, Other options that might treat you better.

Devin: Yep. I agree. And there's one other bit of advice that I'll give that worked for me. And I don't know if this, if you've ever done anything like this, but, um, my, my first few years in teaching high school out of middle school, I was mentally exhausted and I always felt Overly tired, always felt overly stressed, always felt like sick, like physically ill from so much to do.

And I just would be so tired, struggling to get through things. And then, um, one of the tennis coaches asked me if I wanted to play some tennis with him after school. And I said, sure, sure. I like tennis. And so I got back into it. And we would meet. For 30 minutes after school, we'd go out to the tennis courts and I'd exercise.

And I noticed that after I exercise, I, I'd go back to the classroom or go home. And I was just zeroed in, focused. Energy levels went back up. Um, I got stuff done quicker. I, I really was able to concentrate a lot easier instead of just feeling like, Oh man, I'm, I'm, Uh, I don't feel like it. I, I felt like, um, I made it, I made a point after that, even out of side of Tennessee's and every day after school, we had a big high school and I would go into the gym or I'd go walk the track for just 30 minutes.

And, um, get some, some energy back, let off some stress, feel better. And I felt like it really helped. I felt like that really helped.

Andrea: Yeah, I agree. Well, Devin, before I let you go, could you share with everyone where they can find you, what you have going on and all that good stuff?

Devin: Sure. Uh, so, uh, Devin, Comedy.

com. I also speak in schools. So teachersneedlaughter. com is, uh, is kind of the, the new speaking website that I've been steering people to. And, and, uh, my, I host the podcast crying in my car and also I'm on tour with the Board Teachers Comedy Tour. Most teachers, it's not that they find me, it's that I find them across their timelines at some point, uh, which is great.

I love seeing the teachers, love helping them, uh, laugh and ease the stress for sure. So, uh, hopefully I see them at a school or a function or a, or somewhere and, uh, we can share some laughter, some stories. So, yeah, it's great.

Andrea: Awesome. Thank you so much, Devin. We'll be right back.

Welcome back to Those Who Can't Do. I hope that you guys really enjoyed my conversation with Devin. I was cracking up that he was like, literally vomiting in his classroom. I I have, thankfully, even when I was dealing with morning sickness, with pregnancy, with kids, and all that stuff, I never actually got to that point, but I think all of us can appreciate and know what it's like to come to school when we really should just be home in bed with Gatorade and crackers and all of that stuff.

So, um, it was just so fun hearing from him, and I've seen him do stand up, and he is just amazing. Truly hilarious. He's one of those people that you're laughing so hard You feel like you're having to like catch your breath in the midst of his set So if you do ever see bored teachers coming through, I mean Devin is one of the ones who's there Almost every time.

So do not miss him if he comes to your city. So now let's move to hearing what your students are up to. Um, somebody submitted that a student got onto a golf cart that belonged to security and rode around the school with security chasing them on foot, which like feels like something that would happen in a Van Wilder movie.

Like it absolutely unhinged behavior, but. So classic. Like I know students that would do stuff like that. And usually they're not the students that are like, like you don't, you actually don't like because they're disrespectful or awful, but they're like goofy and silly. And then they push it a little too far by like stealing securities golf cart.

I just feel, I wish they had submitted video or photos of that because I feel like it would have been so funny. And one of the other ones that was submitted is that a student. started to twerk because they got an A plus on a 10 point assignment. And you know, if that happened in my class, I think I would probably tell them to sit down, but I would also just be glad that they cared enough to, to celebrate however they saw fit with their whole heart and soul and body.

Because some days it's really hard to get students to even turn stuff in, much less getting an A plus on something. So we're going to take the wins wherever we can get them. If you have thoughts about what we talked about today, or you want to reach out and tell me something that your students are doing, you can reach me on Instagram and TikTok at educator Andrea, or you can email me at Andrea at human dash content.

com. Or you can contact the whole human content podcast family on TikTok at human content pods. And this is still a new podcast, so I really appreciate you guys tuning in and listening and leaving your feedback and your reviews. I really appreciate it. And whenever you leave a review, keep an eye out for the end of the episode because we might do some shout outs and you might just hear your name.

If you want to catch full video episodes, they're up every week on YouTube at Educator Andrea. Thank you guys so much for listening. I am your host, Andrea Forkham. A very special thank you to our guest, Devin Siebold. Our executive producers are Andrea Forkham, Aron Korney, Rob Goldman, and Shahnti Brooke.

Our editor is Andrew Sims. Our engineer is Jason Portizzo. Our music is by Omer Ben Zvi. Our recording location is the Indiana State Bi College of Education. To learn about our Those Who Can't Do's program disclaimer and ethics policy and submission verifications and licensing terms, you can go to PodcasterAndrea.

com. Those Who Can't Do is a human content production.

Thank you so much for watching. If you're like me and you're thinking, gosh, I really need more Those Who Can't Do in my life, you can start your binging right now by clicking on that playlist button right over there. New episodes are out every Thursday, so please subscribe and join us each week on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.