Teacher Misery

We briefly discuss the ruling on Nex's cause of death; we take a deep dive into the proposed bill in Missouri that would make teachers who "support" transgender students have to register as sex offenders; Is there anything in the bible about gender identity? What it's like being black and gay in America; what it's like when other teachers are racist; should students who see another student with a...

Episode 24: Behavior Expert/counselor Zack Kasabo We talk with school counselor and behavior expert Zack Kasabo about kids relying too heavily on accommodations and not learning to adapt, schools not having the resources to give a lot of the suggested accommodations, parents of younger kids refusing to accept IEPs, kids who play the system and use IEPs/504s not to do work, admin not wanting teache...

We discuss recent news stories involving schools, such as the naked high school student who tried to kill an elderly janitor, how challenging working in SPED has become, parents who don't want their kids in SPED, kids who take advantage of accommodations, whether or not you should tell your own kid's teacher that you are/used to be a teacher, the mom who snuck into her kid's school to beat the cra...

For something a little different, Lauren reads a few chapters from my second book More Teacher Misery. These include Chapter 2: Disgruntled Debbie & Other Teachers You'll Find in Any School; Chapter 5: "Your Ass is Getting Huge" & Other Things Kids Said to Me during Pregnancy; Chapter 6: Butt Chugging & Other Fun Activities; Chapter 12: Interview Questions & What They Are Really Asking; and Chapte...

Lauren has nostalgic feelings about teaching for the first time in a year... how graduation used to make us feel important and emotional, but is it really honorable anymore considering all those kids who shouldn't graduate? Is teaching college any different/better than secondary school? Is eaching grad. school the answer? What it's like being a corporate trainer and how the money outweighs the bor...

Lauren welcomes Jaclyn Kirby, author of Teachers Are Human Too. They discuss why she decided to leave the classroom after only two years, how there need to be a lot more opportunities for natural SEL to occur in the class, how teachers cannot have any reaction to trauma, how they destroy the things we spend money on, the time a fart made Lauren cry; there's no right way to handle a student fight,...

Lauren and DeAndre discuss the most useless and humiliating professional development sessions they had to endure, such as a 4-hour-long training on Microsoft, including how to send an email, country line dancing, and reading from a kindergarten book while in a parrot costume. They also discuss batshit crazy teachers who are completely ineffective yet can't be fired and students who look up their t...

In episode 19, Lauren and DeAndre review various slang terms provided by middle and high school teachers and try to identify them. Then, we discuss some of the dumbest and weirdest sex education questions that students had the audacity to ask their teachers. This is a very inappropriate and hilarious episode! If you like what we're doing, you can support us by rating us 5 stars, subscribing, and t...

We talk with Dr. Julia, a former school counselor and psychologist, who runs the @sarcasticschoolpsychologist Instagram. We discuss teacher stress and anxiety before and after COVID, how bad admins keep their jobs in a state with no tenure, the lack of options for teachers outside of the teaching field, how much SPED teachers are expected to do and keep track of, the lack of creativity in teaching...

Nightmares about school, what DeAndre learned in his educational leadership classes and, more importantly, what he didn't learn, kids in mainstream classrooms who have violent outbursts and how there is no protocol or solution other than evacuating the class, the 1st grader in Virginia who shot his teacher and how that situation unfolded, a creepy kid who gave Lauren's kid a bloody nose and how to...

We recorded our first podcast in February of 2020, and didn't record again until the middle of 2023. Here we talk about teachers in elementary school who had a positive impact on us, the lack of options for handling badass kids, how kids get expelled and reenroll in other schools, why teachers aren't allowed to know a student's mental health history, how frustrating negative observations are, and...

On this episode, Lauren and DeAndre discuss ridiculous grading policies they have had to implement and other rules that Teacher Misery followers have shared. These policies include the very popular no student gets a zero rule, low scoring assignments (or non-existent ones) getting rounded up to 50% , a 20% passing rate, 50% equaling an A (yes, you read that correctly), incentives other than grades...

Charlene Lynch, part-time teacher, and career coach, joins us to discuss the ten different districts she worked for, gossipy coworkers and how to avoid them, ways to save your sanity at school, the problem of tenure, ways to protect your energy at school, and how to navigate the world outside of teaching.  Support us by rating us 5 stars, subscribing, and telling a friend! Also check out teachermi...

Lauren tells one of her worst teaching stories where admin. moderated a debate between students about whether or not she is a bitch (spoiler alert: she's not!); DeAndre tells of his first teaching gig, which was a bait and switch of the worst kind; odd places kids put their poop; teachers buy the supplies and the kids destroy them; kids who put a teacher's head on a porn star's body and don't get...

Mike Beyer, the co-author of Pencils Down: Career Journeys of Educators Who Left the Profession and What We Can Learn from the Crisis in Education, joins us as we discuss why teachers are leaving droves, what motivated him to write the book, his journey from teacher to principal who was then fired, to non-profit work to the corporate world; the history of teaching in our country and how it's been...

In Teacher Misery Podcast Episode 7: What Happened to the Teacher Misery Show? DeAndre, Lauren, and MaryAnne discussed the show they thought they were a part of, which turned out to be a scam by the Teach Your Heart Out organization. Part of the scam was making the whole thing feel legitimate by funding a panel discussion about education in NY. This scam has been perpetrated by countless people wh...

Lauren and DeAndre are joined by Daphne Gomez, Founder and CEO of Teacher Career Coach, a program and community that helps teachers transition outside of the classroom; we talk about what prompted Daphne to create the course, the crappy advice people give teachers who are unhappy, how you know if you will like working alone/from home all day long, how you know what career is a good fit after teach...

Lauren/Jane and DeAndre discuss 5th-grade teacher Katie Rinderle, who was fired for reading the book My Shadow is Purple to her class. This a book that is recommended for ages 3-5 and was being sold,d at the school's book fair that day. We talk about why people are so concerned about introducing the concept of gender identity to kids, if bathrooms and locker rooms are really as big of a threat as...

Lauren's sister Julie talks about a positive relationship she had with a teacher and how a vocational school saved her life; we discuss the utter lack of diversity in our schools growing up and the homophobia; we tell the story of Lauren's friend growing up who was bullied by kids and adults yet found enormous success; DeAndre's experience with a racist teacher in 3rd grade and the homophobic form...

Back in January, Jane/Lauren announced a live comedy tour and a cruise, too! The show was going to be in major venues in large cities around the country with very talented people including Doug Williams, Nanny Maw, Tyler Regan, Karen Cassidy, MaryAnne Piccolo, and DeAndre Rashard. And then suddenly, it disappeared. Well, in this podcast, Jane/Lauren, DeAndre, and MaryAnne tell the entire story, bi...

College isn't for everyone A lot of people would be better served to jump into their industry and to learn that way DeAndre's first day in a gross classroom with wild kids and how he turned it around Lauren's first day, which she thought she messed up so badly it would be her last What Lauren will miss and what we both will definitely NOT miss about teaching!   Don't forget to subscribe, like, rat...

First days anxiety, we hate Harry Wong, school itself is outdated, plusses and minuses of block scheduling, do kids with learning differences want to be in inclusion classes? Lauren can't do 5th-grade math; we both became teachers for the same reason; it's harder to be a caring teacher versus a hardass; we need separate counselors, psychologists, college advisors, etc.; FEED ALL THE KIDS!, absente...

4th-grade teacher Karen discusses why she wrote a book and started an IG (@hilariouslyinfertile) about infertility, and the emotional struggle of not being able to get pregnant and working with kids who aren't being taken care of; we discuss gossip and inappropriate/insensitive comments made by coworkers and even students; getting shamed by admin for using sick days; funny, inappropriate names tea...

We welcome Milly from the ENM podcast and discuss why she left teaching; how her principal was a psychopath; what a "dark triad" personality is; the guilt and lack of support teachers are given when they want or need to quit; whether or not we were willing to hold our pee all day; and the psychology behind why certain people are drawn to service jobs like teaching and if it is connected to childho...

Lauren talks about when an administrator tried to teach one of her worst classes and the time a student unknowingly had a private part fall out; we discuss the uselessness of the dress code, how vicious girl fights can be, and bait and switch after you're hired; DeAndre talks about how kids bullying others with no consequences was the last straw for him, and the Chapter 37 law that says the teache...