Meet Melissa Victorick. FHS SpeechTeacher, PALS Sponsor and Coordinator, Fine Arts Team leader, lover of students, and long-time A&M football season ticket holder. This lady will warm your heart and give you the confidence to speak in public. What else does anyone need?
Meet Melissa Victorick. FHS SpeechTeacher, PALS Sponsor and Coordinator, Fine Arts Team leader, lover of students, and long-time A&M football season ticket holder. This lady will warm your heart and give you the confidence to speak in public. What else does anyone need?
Speaker 1 You gave those tickets away or do you used to have tickets? That has to get us. And you was he actually was did he charge the field? He did not. No, he did. Whenever we went in the seven stadium. In the team? No. Did you have you heard what they were fined for? 400. Speaker 2 Thousand. Speaker 1 Right. Hundred thousand dollars for charging the field. Speaker 2 But you know that. Did the boys get the email? I mean, hours after that game, an email went out fundraising through the 12th man for the. Oh, that's right I did They were going to get the fine. Speaker 1 And they they raised them They raised. Speaker 2 It within hours. Speaker 1 Wow. That was that was an incredible event. Did you watch it on TV? Speaker 2 No. Addison had softball tournament. Oh, did you recorded? No. Speaker 1 You never saw it. Oh. Oh, I'm so sorry. That. I mean, you do. Sure. Well, they. Speaker 2 Are doing fine without us, so I'm superstitious. Speaker 1 Well, whenever I knew you and I were going to be visiting us, I. I thought, Oh, my gosh, I've got to ask her about the A&M Alabama game. Speaker 2 And I even see a down. Speaker 1 I'm so sorry. Well, hey, listen, we took the show on the road today. We're actually at Friendswood High School. We set up Melissa, who we have with us today, Melissa, Victor, Rick. She's quite a busy lady. So we said, we'll come to you. That's how bad we want to talk to you. Melissa. Speaker 2 Thank you very much for that. Speaker 1 I appreciate it. So Melissa's speech teacher, pal, sponsor, coordinator, fine Arts team leader and A&M football season ticket holder with great seats. Basically as my intro for her, we already visited a little bit about that. So welcome. I really am excited to talk to you. Speaker 2 Thank you. I'm excited to be. Speaker 1 One of my favorite people. Melissa. Speaker 2 You're one of mine. Speaker 1 Always have been. Thank you. Speaker 3 And don't mind me over here. Speaker 1 Oh, okay. Kelsey Wheeler, Kelsey, Kelsey, Melissa will become one of your favorite people after. Speaker 3 I have a feeling. Yeah. Speaker 1 Yeah. So earlier we were talking about. And I asked you to wait because this is a great topic. I feel like for the podcast you were talking about. So you have students who they get to come up with their own topics. Tell us about what you were saying. Speaker 2 So we're starting a persuasion unit and yesterday in class we had everybody jot down some topics and just at random I pulled one. I didn't know what it was going to be because I didn't preview them beforehand. It probably should have. And the first topic I pulled out was that schools should have more involvement or schools should do more often for students mental health. Speaker 2 I can't remember the exact wording, and so we divided the class into prior to the topic choice. We divide it into class and to agree, disagree, strongly disagree, strongly agree. And then kids got to, you know, find their corner and then take a seat and then they would have a discussion. Quote of the day yesterday was we can disagree without being disagreeable all and that was the focus going into yesterday is just how to have these difficult conversations no matter what it is, without being disagreeable with each other. Speaker 2 And that topic overwhelmingly had the majority of the class on the agree side and three or four on the disagree side. And so it was eye opening for me to have this discussion. I was really looking for something more like sugar cookies or chocolate chip cookies. Speaker 1 It's it was big and straight out. Speaker 2 Of the gate. That's what we discussed. And it was it was moving. Speaker 1 Well, don't look like you said. We you should have prefaced, you know, you should have read all the questions beforehand. Not like you would have pulled that one out because you're such. Speaker 2 A not. Speaker 1 You're such a big believer in. Speaker 2 Student voice. Speaker 1 Student voice and talking through those subject matters. And now is this. Speaker 2 Should not have been topic number one, though. Speaker 1 True, right. Right. Speaker 2 You have warmed up the sugar cookie or chocolate chip, right. Speaker 1 To show them. Right. But how great to obviously they were passionate about it when 98% do your job go to and defend. So those three people or those people off on the side. Speaker 2 I let them begin. Every corner gets a moment to explain why they're there. And then you have the middle that are the neutrals and those neutrals. If they hear something that pulls them to one side, then they get up and move their chairs. And so as you're in these corners, they're fluid. Oh, and so you can move as you hear something that makes you go, Oh, well, I didn't think about that. Speaker 2 And but yesterday the topic was so deep that no one really moved, but yet everyone was listening to each other. Speaker 1 It was one of my best classes. And is this your speech class or are these powers? Speaker 2 These are speech class, these classes. Speaker 1 And how do you. Oh, I was going to say, how do you come up with topics? Do you put any topics in there that you specifically want to. Speaker 2 I didn't do that yesterday. Speaker 1 Okay. Speaker 2 That was just a day one activity. Yeah, I didn't do that. But sometimes whenever I have the final presentation topics, I will put a few in there that I've already research that I know would be good for students to do. Speaker 1 Would there be any questions? How would you handle this? Melissa This would be interesting for me. Would there be questions that if you read it, you wouldn't read it out loud? Like what would be your. Speaker 2 What's my stop? Speaker 1 Yeah, what's your stop? Speaker 2 There are some topics that just speech teachers in general avoid based on the age that we teach that it's a public school. So anything that would be religious, you cannot, you know, persuade someone to come to your church. You cannot persuade someone to or you could do that. You just can't do it in a public school. You could do it and I tell my students all the time, this area is public school and you have freshmen in the same class as seniors. Speaker 2 So because of that large age gap where that's what the state of Texas does, it kind of helps us out a lot as speech teachers. But then once you go to college and you're paying for that education, then you have more flexibility and freedom to speak about those subjects and that that usually they understand that. Speaker 1 So there are subject matters. Speaker 2 That, yes, yeah, we don't get into abortion, we don't get into legalizing drugs, we don't get into, you know, why people should go to church or why people shouldn't go to church. We just avoid those topics and they can debate it later. Speaker 3 Whenever I was in college, I had a class where we would have professors come in and kind of give a preview of their classes to encourage us to take them. And one was a psychology professor. He came in and did a very similar. Speaker 2 Activity. Speaker 3 Activity with us. And the question I remember I was the only one on my side was if your best friend and her boyfriend broke up and you got to talking to the boyfriend after the breakup and realized he was the love of your life, would you act on it or not? And I was adamantly against that. I said, No, there are too many people. Speaker 3 Your loyalty has to be with your friends and every single other person. Speaker 1 Wow. Speaker 3 I was I was heated that day, Let me tell you. I was like, you are. Speaker 1 All horrible people. I thought they were the worst. Speaker 3 I could not believe that I was the only one. Speaker 1 Who was on that side. Okay. But that's a great conversation, because if it was your best friend and if that was the love of your life, which I don't believe, you would know that in that instant. Right or not, we're not going to get down into those details. But if you're someone's best friend, you want them to be happy. Speaker 3 You can be happy with way more people. There's no way that one person. Speaker 1 You don't believe that that there's one person for you. Speaker 3 I think you could probably be with many. Like you could probably get along and make it work with me. We've had this discussion. You know, there's a there's arranged marriages and people make that work. I mean, I do believe. Speaker 1 That the person I mean, to was the. Speaker 3 First for me. Speaker 1 But what if we would have said beforehand, hey, I think I think I'm in love with him. Speaker 2 Goodbye, Bri. Speaker 3 No more, Bri. No more Sean. Goodbye, both of, you. Speaker 1 Know, little betrayal. But you had just met him and you thought you were totally in love with him. And so did she. So you're going to let your friends at. Speaker 3 The same time say that? Yeah. Oh, I think that he's just off limits for both. Speaker 1 Okay. Speaker 3 I don't know. I'm just what. Speaker 2 Is very educational. Speaker 1 I know I'm going to. Speaker 2 Coach this. Speaker 1 Powells. Look, I was the it's a great question to put out there with your with. Speaker 2 Your speech glasses. Speaker 1 Glasses. That was be interesting just to see what they're. Yeah. Speaker 3 Oh, I always hate it. I left that class like blood boiling. I don't know why it was so unfair to me, but it was like, you're all horrible friends. Like, I will never be friends with any of you. Speaker 1 That's a good topic, though. Speaker 2 That's a great topic. And that is something that I would want in my class that would get, first of all, the energy that I brought you. I wish you could see her face as she was still talking about that however many years ago. In the last. Speaker 1 Yes. Speaker 2 And so I would want something that has energy. I would want something that would declare a side, you know, and that would have that discussion. Speaker 1 But then, yeah. Speaker 2 Did you get anyone to move or was that even an option? Did anyone see? Yeah, that's a good point. Speaker 3 Oh, I don't think so. I think I was too emotional. I didn't make too many factual like arguments in that moment. I was just like, You're all terrible people. Speaker 1 Okay? I that is a great that's a great part of that though, to allow people because I'm that kind of person. I have a stance, but then someone will say, well, wait, what about this, this and this? And then I start to go, Those are things I never really thought about, which is why we have debates right? And which is why we. Speaker 2 That's why we talk. Speaker 1 Right? That's why we talk to hear other sides. Speaker 3 Yes. Speaker 1 Yeah, It should be fair. Speaker 3 There were other there were other topics that day that was just the last one that got me very I mean, I don't even remember any of the other ones. So clearly that one just that one sat with me. Speaker 1 Yeah. But that's Yeah, that's a good. Speaker 2 And that's funny because yesterday in that particular class, that's the one we talked about, but I couldn't tell you what we talked about in the other two classes because that one about schools doing more for their mental health. That one stuck with me. Speaker 1 Mm hmm. So, So to me, that is such an important subject, mental health. And, you know, it's at the front of all everyone's minds, parents especially. But teachers, you know, it's one of those things that teachers lives are so it's teaching is hard enough. It's difficult. It's challenging for me, the challenge was not being able to reach those kids that I wanted to reach. Speaker 1 In my mind, I just never felt like I could reach those. And they literally it would set me back like and I meant to do this is just forget the subject matter. I mean, pick the subject matter, you know, that's what weighs on teacher's mind. But so the challenge now for teachers is mental health, worrying about where the kids are at. Speaker 2 I don't I believe I believe that. I think we've always had that concern. And I've always said, you know, I can't with pals, a student will come to me and say, oh, my pal is having this issue or my pal is having, you know, is is concerned about this or concerned about that. And I will need to go and look that kiddo in the eyes. Speaker 2 For me, it's all in the eyes. And I try very hard to when I speak to someone, I want to make eye contact with them and I want to it's I mean, it's. Speaker 1 It's everything. It is. Speaker 2 Yeah. And I do. I think that mental health making a connection with students is has always been first and foremost for me. It doesn't matter what I teach. I want to connect with you about sports or I want to connect with you about, you know, whatever you're doing makes you happy. Speaker 1 Yes. Yeah. Speaker 2 And I think that that's step one. But then now, you know, coming out of COVID, mental health has been brought, you know, closer to the forefront. And teaching is still important. But now it's, you know, did I make eye contact with him or her that day or yesterday? And did I speak and did I talk to them? You know, and I want every kid to feel loved and valued in my class. Speaker 2 But, you know, when you're when they're 32 in the room, at the end of the day, you're like, wait a minute, did I do that to every single kid? And some days I'm better at it than others. Speaker 1 And you're the type of person, Melissa, that and it it just oozes out of you. I mean, you just you know that when I'm around you, you have a heart for truly wanting to know. Speaker 2 How they're doing. Speaker 1 How they're doing, or, or did I make contact with it? How did they feel when they walked away? You know, that's so important. So the weight of that, I think, for teachers now is is even another factor. You know, that makes it so difficult because you only have so many minutes with that kid a day and you say divided by 32, but then you divide it by how many kids you actually have. Speaker 1 So I mean, 130. Speaker 2 Yes. Speaker 1 Yes. So that's a lot and that's a lot weighing on you. You know, explain for everybody out there what powers is, because we kind of brushed over that really quickly. And it's a big part of what you do. Speaker 2 Pals is my favorite part about my day. I actually have a lot of favorite parts. You'll hear me say that a lot. But Pal's is Oh my goodness, it's so much joy. Just in in 2 hours pals there a group of seniors who mentor kindergarten through eighth grade students on on paper. That's what they do. But in reality, they end up mentoring more than that. Speaker 2 They they mentor their friends, they mentor their siblings and their parents. You know, they just have a heart. They also have a heart for kids and for service. And it service beyond self. Speaker 1 What does that look like in a classroom? So a senior gets with a, say, a second grader. How does that explain a couple what that looks like? Speaker 2 A counselor sets up that pairing the seniors, Right. You know, this is what I enjoy doing. These are the classes that I enjoyed taking. These are the things that I struggled with whenever I was in elementary school or middle school. And then we try to use those experiences because that's it. They've grown through whatever it is that that they struggled with. Speaker 2 Or maybe there haven't successfully gone through it, but they're closer than they were. And that's what Powles is, is taking those experiences and helping someone else who might have shared or similar experiences and just using their personal knowledge pals gets Oh, I was saying that they get paired with the the counselor pairs them up and then they spend 30 minutes making their day. Speaker 1 So they or they get in their car, they drive to a campus and then they sit with that kid for 30 minutes. Speaker 2 Or they're classmates. So sometimes if the second grader is at recess, they become a class pal and so they play basketball or they play kickball. And I have some seniors that, you know, dress really nicely on a normal days, except when they're going to Westwood or Klein and they the hair is up in a ponytail and there's very limited makeup because they know that on a very nice day they're going to be sweating. Speaker 3 Yeah, my my husband actually had a pal whenever he was little, so his his dad passed away right before the start of school when he was seven. And so he's like he still talks about like, how awesome he thought it was being that age and having one of the football players come through the football with him and how he just thought it was so like he just thought he was so special and cool. Speaker 2 I love that. I love that. And I love it even more that a lot of times they remember it so well that when they get to the high school, I have to conversations. Usually they come find me when they are. If they hear that I'm the house teacher, they will come in my room and say, Hey, can you help me get in touch with my pal? Speaker 1 Oh, that's when I was going to ask you, can they get attached to this? Speaker 2 Yes. Pals come back for their high school graduations. They come back for special. And now with social media, I'm kind of taken out of the middle. Unless they've gotten married and changed their name or something. But I keep all of their phone numbers. And so when they come back and say, Can you help me find my pal? I sure can. Speaker 2 And I will text him or call them. Speaker 1 And that's amazing that I love that it says something about you that you keep up with all of those kids and you know how to contact them. Speaker 2 And like said, I love that's my favorite thing. And I have in my room, I have pictures of that. If anyone has given me a picture, it is up on the wall in my classroom and there is no rhyme or reason to how they're put up. They're just up there. And so the other part of that is, can you help me find my pal? Speaker 2 But then is my pal in any of these pictures? And you have a 17 year old senior. Speaker 1 My God. Speaker 2 I love this. Speaker 1 Room. Speaker 2 Looking for a picture of the pal that he had in the fifth grade. I love it. And I can tell you something that just happened a couple of weeks ago. One of my former students is graduating in December, and he came by to say hello and, you know, talk to me. He had three different job offers and he said, you know, and he's asking a lot of his former teachers like, what do you think? Speaker 2 Like, these are my job offers. What do you see for me? And I was one of those teachers that he asked my opinion. Of course, I did not give it. I just asked him questions to help him make his own decision. And that's what we do. So after his conversation, he said, Hey, I think my pal should be a senior. Speaker 2 Now, the problem that I had in the eighth grade, do you think he's still here? So using Skyward, I pulled it up, looked up his class schedule, and I knew he was still here. I just didn't know if he was actually in attendance. I called the teacher's classroom. I asked if if they could put him on the phone. Speaker 2 And so he got on the phone and I said, Hey, I have someone special sitting in my classroom right now. And it was, it's your pal. And would you like to see him? I'll be right down. He did not ask permission. He did not. He just grabbed his things and the former student was outside so that no one in my class knew. Speaker 2 And they talked. And it was like old times. Speaker 1 How do you not cry telling that story? Speaker 2 No, I because I have a dozen of your story. Speaker 1 Probably 100. Speaker 2 That was just the one a couple of weeks ago. Speaker 1 Have you ever thought about a pause reunion? Speaker 2 We used to do that. Speaker 1 You did this. We used to do that. There would be so many tears. Speaker 2 There would be a line. Speaker 3 In my throat just listening to that. Speaker 1 It's so sweet. Like, has he kept in touch to see? Speaker 2 Probably. Speaker 3 I don't think so. Speaker 2 It was harder. You know, they didn't have the social media component to it. And the younger they are, they don't remember names. They don't even remember always like what they look like. They remember how they made them feel. Speaker 1 Right? Right. That's it. Yeah. Speaker 2 They remember throwing the football. Yeah. They remember being happy, throwing the football or whatever it was that they were doing. But they very rarely remember names. Speaker 3 And that's what Sean will say. He'll, he'll say, you know, I didn't even realize this awesome, cool football player was coming to play with me because I needed a friend or help, he said. I just felt like I was cool. I was special. So that's that was just so, so sweet. Speaker 2 Absolute. Speaker 1 Which he is cool and special, but. Speaker 3 He is cool. And I guess. Speaker 1 That's part of the recipe, right? Is you just want the kid to feel loved because they're going through something or, you know, they need a power. Speaker 2 Absolutely. They just need a buddy. Speaker 1 Which we all need a power. Right. Speaker 2 And you would be surprised at the number of high school students that show up at my door asking, hey, I had a pal in the fifth grade. Any chance I could get a pal this year? And there are sophomores and juniors and they don't need anything more than someone to help with homework or listen to them. And the thing about Powells is that they are a trusted friend, so they will listen to you. Speaker 2 There's no judgment. There's no there's just someone that is not going to give you advice. They are just going to listen and they're going to help you through whatever it is. But, you know that they're going to be there every week. Speaker 1 Okay? Yeah, That's what we are. Speaker 2 We all to. Speaker 1 Consider. We all. Speaker 2 Need. It is a constant. Yeah. Until they graduate and then at the end, you know, pals always say they want my number. They, they want me to, you know, babysit them or they can they contact me on social media. And our rule is no until the graduation, you know, an after graduation. Then you can do whatever the parent wants and and a lot of them go to their graduation parties or they babysit it afterwards or they go hang out and a lot of them go off to college. Speaker 2 And I'll talk about one young man. I don't want to use his name, but he would send his he played football in college and he would send his pal things from college. So either a bracelet or a pennant for his room. And so they have they those that want to keep in touch passionately do. Speaker 1 And you're exactly right now with social media and not just with social media, but with that age group and social media, that's all they know to do. That's what you do. That's it. That's how you keep in touch. You know. Speaker 2 This year we had a little girl I don't know how old she is, maybe fourth or fifth grade. She got very clever because she asked her pal for the number. The pal said, No, my teacher won't let me. So she created a Google doc. Speaker 1 It was great. Speaker 2 And I get to read this Google doc because it's so funny. It's it's dialog between them. And so it's texting without texting. Oh, so they've she created this Google doc. She shared it with her pal and the poll was actually in class in my class that when she got it and she said I think my pal is sharing a document with me. Speaker 2 So she opened it. Hi, so-and-so, how is your day? Let me tell you about mine. And that that warmed the hearts. Speaker 1 Melissa Do you remember when we were in junior high and you would take a notebook? Yes. And you would write a note in the fold over half of the paper. You changed it to your friend. And even there were groups of friend. And then you'd pass it around to be able to do. And teachers like Jimmy? Yes, Yes. Speaker 1 And you book Oh, for God bit we were writing. Yeah. You just kind of said about that. It's right now they're creating their own Google Docs. It was sweet as I was clever. That's a smart that's that is a smart kid. Speaker 2 And I never had that before. And the pal was like, is this is this okay? You know, they're very concerned about making sure that they're following the rules and, you know, is this okay? And like, sure. Just, you know. Speaker 1 Oh, I love it. I do, too. And we've talked already about so many great things. You know, one of the first things that I wanted to talk to you about, which I feel like isn't even that interesting. Now, after the conversations, but you have to work with public speaking and teaching kids public speaking. That's a big part of speech, right? Speaker 1 It is. And so many kids forever. I mean, this is nothing new. So many people, adults, people do not want to, you know, speak. How do you what are some of your tricks for people that don't want to, you know, speak in public? What are some things that you use with your high schoolers to kind of get them to relax? Speaker 2 Oh, my goodness. Well, the same things that I use for myself, because when I tell them that I am also terrified of public speaking, they look at me like you're lying. I'm not lying. I would rather send an email than to speak right in public. Yeah, but we don't get that option all the time. You know, we have to. Speaker 2 I have to do this. I didn't have to, but. Oh, I. Speaker 1 Know. You weren't very excited about it. I was. Speaker 2 Excited. Speaker 1 Just like. Speaker 2 Can I just write a book? But so in speech we have to address the elephant in the room, right? So everyone is has a little bit of panic about public speaking. And then that panic kind of, you know, what's the word I'm looking for it. It's magnified in others. So my goal is to build a team first. And that's probably because my dad was a coach. Speaker 2 It's probably because I used to coach. So I want to build a team. And so it's we use the classroom like a practice field or like a court, and this is where we practice so that when it counts and you're ready to play, you've made all of your mistakes in here, you've learned from them. You've grown from them. Speaker 2 This is where we mess up so that when you're getting paid for it, you're like, everyone is thinking, Oh my gosh, you're an excellent public speaker. Yes, I am. Thank you very much. Because you have practiced so much you no one got better at or no one is perfect. The first go around right. And no one is is going to be an expert after 18 weeks. Speaker 2 But you're better than you were the day before. And that is my mission. I start your the year on day one, talking about my mission, my philosophy, and what I want to see in them at the end of the semester. So we start small and then we end big. Speaker 1 Which I always thought it was interesting for a different dynamic. In your classes though, you have freshmen and seniors in the same class, so that must make it even more difficult for us. But you say that do you find that the seniors walk in feeling like it's like, I don't know, more relaxed or more at ease, or are they just as nervous? Speaker 2 They are. They're just a lot of them. Yeah. Not all. Yeah, no, but because by the time they're seniors, they've already done presentations. The difference is they're doing presentations based on information that they've learned and they're just presenting that information. Me, I'm listening to the information, but there's another component now. I'm looking at eye contact. I'm looking at how you're saying certain things. Speaker 2 I'm looking at how you're using your hands, all of that. The delivery side of it is equally as important as what you're saying. Actually, for me, it's more so I you will never get asked to speak in my professional opinion. You will never get asked to speak about something that you know nothing about. People want to know your your expertise in in a certain area. Speaker 2 So the the knowledge is going to be there. It's how you're delivering that message that I'm working with with students. And so freshmen are nervous, but they don't know any better. So they are like, well, this is what she's asked me to do and I'm just going to do it. And seniors are juniors and seniors actually, they have a lot more knowledge, but there's also more fear of judgment. Speaker 1 Mhm. Right. Speaker 2 Yeah. They're too cool, right. Speaker 1 Yeah. I could see where a lot of it is. You're not afraid to speak on a subject matter as much as you're afraid of being judged by your peers. Speaker 3 Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I actually, I was the weird kid in college who took an extra speech class than what was required just because I knew I was going into the field of public relations. And I'm like, okay, this is something I have to do. I need to get more comfortable with it. And I would consider myself a pretty outgoing person. Speaker 3 But it's so it's different whenever you're giving a speech. And there were classmates, so there was one girl I sat next to who she would she would skip class the days she knew we were going to give speeches, like she would push it off for like weeks, and she'd ultimately still have to do it and end up kind of drawing more attention to herself and doing that. Speaker 3 But like it would break out in hives. Like she it was a she was terrified of it. But I did notice for sure, like the first speech I ever gave in that class, and it was the second speech class I had taken. I like could not get my voice to stop quivering and then by the end it was like a just totally new level of confidence, just from struggling through it a little bit. Speaker 3 And I like one of the best activities I think we ever did was we all had to write down. We had two pieces of paper and one had to be a taboo subject. So it was all just one word. And then the other piece of paper, you had to write down a household item, and then we put them into a laundry bag. Speaker 3 And then we had a drawer and we had one minute, Oh my gosh, you went up there, you drew you had one minute to think about what you're going to say, and you had to talk for 2 minutes about it. And it was like such a great it was such a great activity, I thought, because it was like, okay, you have you just kind of have to go like on the fly, which I feel like you do have to do sometimes in especially special situations. Speaker 1 Absolutely. Yeah. Speaker 2 I do that Impromptus Speaking at the end though, so at the beginning I have them talk about themselves and talk about what they know how to do and I get I do the reverse. So I have them getting comfortable. Speaker 1 Just. Speaker 2 Up in front of their peers. But they're not just peers by this point, they're friends. And so I spend a lot of table talk time and getting to know each other because it's easier once you know the names of everyone in your room or you're comfortable with everyone in the room, then it's easier to get up and speak. Speaker 1 I could hear a lot of teachers saying, Well, we don't have time for that. I mean, we got to get it, we got to get into curriculum. But I don't think what they realize is when you do that, everything else flows. Speaker 2 You actually have more time. Speaker 1 You have more time because you don't spend a lot of time. I mean, they know each other. They they're safe with each. Speaker 2 Other and they're helping each other. And that's it, too, is that when you create that team environment, then you're not I'm not answering a lot of questions because they will go to each other instead of coming directly to me. And they only feel like that I'm the safe person. I will answer the same question 25 times, but when they're comfortable with each other and I have tables in my classroom so they collaborate with each other, they will ask each other, Hey, how did you do this? Speaker 2 Or What do you think about this? Or help me with this transitions. And it's so then I have a team working together as opposed to me directing that group of students. Speaker 1 Which how much stronger? Speaker 2 Oh my gosh. Speaker 1 Final products do you Because it's a whole witch's work, by the way, should be work. You don't typically work on your own as a professional. You're typically working with teams of people in groups of people and partners. And so, you know, that's getting them ready for for life. Speaker 2 And I sit, you know, I'm not a teacher. I've never been a teacher. And I don't understand teachers who leave students in the same spot, in the same table or in the same desk all year or all semester. So every two or three weeks, they're changing my room and I want them working with different people. So I do fun things, you know, maybe I might put them all together because they have the same hair color or me, but everyone whose name starts with a at the same table. Speaker 2 So initially it's just random stuff like that. But as we go through the semester, an informative speaking table time, I will put someone who's I think is really good at the visual side of things. I will put someone who's a really strong writer or that I think is a really strong writer. I don't know. I'm just guessing. I'll put someone that I think is a pretty good public speaker that can recognize that strong introduction and those three main points in that strong conclusion. Speaker 2 And then I'll put someone who is a really detail oriented person that can look over the entire thing and make sure you haven't missed a step. So those four people, even though they're all speaking on different things, they're working as a team together. Speaker 1 On the team. Yeah, yeah. Speaker 2 And then by persuasive speaking time, in fact, they haven't gotten their new seats yet, but by persuasive speaking time they are. I'm now putting people that will not agree with each other and I will purpose. They try to do that. I mean, it doesn't always work out, but I will try to put people that I think are going to say, no, I don't believe that's true. Speaker 2 Tell me why you think that. And they're going to push a little bit. And that way you're not you don't have the headquarters at your table going, Oh, yeah, I think that's a great argument or I think that's a great claim. You have someone. Who's going to question? Speaker 1 Yeah, not that you have time for this, but anagrams. Are you big on anagrams or knowing. Speaker 2 Your know them. Speaker 1 Or. No, but how great would that be in a class? You could have an entire class just of anagrams and knowing who Melissa is, No one who Dana has known who Kelsey is and what my weaknesses are. But what and while we may butt heads or why we may work together better just knowing that about people. So one of the things I've said forever is I see in general, I like 98% of people, maybe 95, just in general, because I see everybody as Saturday Night Live characters generally. Speaker 1 So the most annoying person to me, I set people just see them as a Saturday Night Live skit, like, are we all like, can we all take our own really bad habits or characteristics and just blow them up to a character? Speaker 2 Absolutely. Speaker 1 Don't hate them as much. You just kind of laugh at them more than you know what I'm saying. But I think knowing those things about me that might drive people crazy is just as an important of a skill is to know absolutely. You have to analyze yourself and know, yes, what may annoy other people. Speaker 2 And this is when pals and speech merge a little bit at the beginning of the year is that we do spend time. Sure. I spend time grouping students and and having them work with the other people. But you cannot work with someone else's gift until you know yourself. And so we spend a lot of time analyzing, you know, what have I been through and who am I? Speaker 2 What do I stand for? And just really understanding that foundational component to panels. And then I do something similar in speech when I have them do the true colors personality test. Speaker 1 Oh, okay. That's yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Speaker 2 So I don't go as I don't there's a lot of time involved. Yeah. But I do a snapshot personality test and then I talk about the four different colors and what's great about them and how to work with that color and how to, how, you know, they always want to know, well, does a blue can a can a blue and an orange like do you see them dating? Speaker 2 And we start talking about people in colors as opposed to Dana and Kelsey. You know, we oh, you know, my friend is an orange and she likes a green. What do you think about that? And like, I have no comment, you know? Speaker 1 Right. And so it's. Speaker 2 That's how I open up. That's probably day three or four of classes, personality test. Speaker 1 But what a great way to kind of see or understand that like we're all human and that it's easier to say, like if there's something about you that may annoy me, but that's, that's much more harsh than saying like, Oh, you're a green. So I get why you're more likely to be a certain way. Yes, that's more understanding of human beings or I do you you said something earlier that like, do y'all ever talk about, Oh, I just lost my train of thought. Speaker 1 Sorry. Speaker 2 Working with someone else's gift. Speaker 1 Yeah. Oh, I know. So, do you ever spend the time talking about when you're afraid of something? I'm almost 50 years old, and it literally has been within the last ten years that I've realized. I would say I'm really not. I don't have much anxiety at all, but I've. I've now realized that when I put things off, like what? Speaker 1 You were talking about that girl in speech, when I put things off or, when I don't want to go there or do those things, it's really a fear. Do you all spend much time talking about, first of all, recognizing, wow, that's fear around this thing and I'm addressing it and figuring it out and then facing it. Yes. And if you can face fear, which would go along with speech, you may not be speech for some people. Speaker 1 It may be entering a room. It may be I don't know. But if you can face that fear quickly and kind of cap that fear, yes, you're able. So that's something that your. Speaker 2 So on that first speech, right? Not the babies I call the baby speeches, major speeches. So on that first intermediate speech, I warned them, my speech students that as they're walking up the stairs to my room, the heart is going to start beating a little faster. The sweat is going to you know, their palms are going to get really sweaty. Speaker 2 They're going to have that internal dialog with themselves. Do I really want to do this? Oh, my gosh, I've got a headache. Oh, I don't feel well. And, you know, that's a total open house, parents, you know, that I'm not in a COVID year, in a non-covid year. Those symptoms are, you know, that that public speaking moment of fear. Speaker 2 And then I want you to push through it and come up the stairs anyway. Come up the stairs, have a conversation with me, but come up the stairs. And then once you get up the stairs, walk down my hall, keep coming, because I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Speaker 1 Yeah, I love. That's it. Thank. But how great that you that you have that conversation. Yes. With the kids like this is normal that you're going to feel like physically they may not feel this way, but just walk into the room. And if kids could see that's overcoming something, right. Yeah, it's huge. And the more you walk into the room when you're afraid, the less you're going to be afraid, the easier it's going to be. Speaker 1 And that just extends into life in general does. Speaker 2 So that's well, then they turn around and after they've given their speech and I don't look, I don't know how your college speech teachers did it or even your high school speech. I will never point to a kid and say, okay, you're up and we're just going to randomize numbers and we're going to go you're going to go first, you're going to go second, you're going to go third. Speaker 2 I don't do that. I want them when they feel confident to get up and speak. So they sign up for the day. They tell me where they want to go, because some of my and I have guinea pig speeches and those are the ones that we learn from. So those are the first five people to volunteer to go. Speaker 2 I'll I grade easier, I give them extra credit. I'm going to coach them through it. If there's something that needs to be improved upon, I'm going to mention that so that we're all learning from these five kids who are so brave to sign up to speak once they get into that rhythm in that routine. Oh, my gosh. You know, they're so proud of themselves. Speaker 2 They look it at you know, they look at me or they look at their classmates and they're like, I just did that. Speaker 1 MM Do you find that those first five kids that sign up to speak more than likely move on to be more successful. Speaker 2 In the class? Speaker 1 Well, maybe in the class, but I'm talking about going on and just being professional. I wonder if they're they tend to be more successful, They're more risk takers. Speaker 2 They are definitely risk takers. Speaker 1 They believe in themselves more for whatever reason. Speaker 2 They're more prepared. You know, they've given other speeches and other classes. Some of them just want the points. But most of them have already given a presentation like this before and they don't mind being coached. They understand. They know my heart. They know where I'm coming from, and they allow me because they want to get better. Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah. Speaker 2 And that's what I love. I don't I can't coach 30 kids, you know, every speech like I do those five. And so when those five sign up, I will find something that each of can work on and work toward and then that we're all growing from. And that's why speech is different every semester, because it depends on the clients in the room. Speaker 1 If you could give your students three skills. No, just three. What do you think are three of the most important skills that every student needs to leave friends with high school having? Wow. Yeah, that's a deep one. But it's a you made me think of that when you were Melissa. You're given these skills that these kids, whether you know it or not. Speaker 1 But I'm just interested in what do you think are the top three. Speaker 2 Leadership being able to either lead, you know, and be in that accept that leadership role or are willing to work and follow a leader? You know, and we're all leaders differently. You know, leaders aren't always the most vocal the room. Yeah. And so however you use your personality or your voice, however you use it, use it to lead. Speaker 1 I don't know. Well, you said coach ability, coach ability. And I think that's a huge one. I mean, you have to be those kids that want to know how to get better. Speaker 2 Right? Speaker 1 I mean, don't we all want kids like that? Hey, Mom. Yeah. Hey, Mom, Mom, listen, I have a I have a struggle and something I'm struggling with. Can you talk to me about how to get better? Don't you imagine if all of our kids said that to us? It would be. I mean, first of all, their life would be easier, whether they know it or not. Speaker 1 Because so many times you've said multiple times we don't give advice because there's really no point in giving advice. Speaker 2 What if you're wrong? Speaker 1 Well, but what if there are people like me who don't really think they're they're wrong. You're not with your kids. Typically, we want to give advice like, Oh, listen, that friend is not who you need to be hanging around. Speaker 2 Are we talking about parents or teachers? Speaker 1 I'm sorry, I'm going to parenting, but. Speaker 2 In parenting, you're going to give advice. Speaker 1 Yeah, but in general. But in general, people, no one really takes advice. It's it's giving them those questions to get them to discover the right answer. That's parenting to right. But to have kids that are just coachable, whether students are your children. And that's a skill. Speaker 2 And lifelong learner. Yeah, I would want them to I would want our students to understand that learning doesn't stop when you graduate, right? Learning doesn't stop whether it be from high school or college. Learning is constant or I would want it to be and I would want them to want to be better than they were the day before. Speaker 2 Yeah. And so whether that's coach ability or through leadership or however it is, just be better today than you were yesterday. Speaker 1 Which is a great I mean, it's important as a teacher, as a student to know that there are so many subject matters that we can all learn and be better at, even if that's even if it's a subject matter that we are majoring in, we're never we're never going to know it all. And so the quicker we can admit that, you know, well. Speaker 3 The better off you're going to be. Like it takes to say, I don't know at all, and to learn from those who came before you, those who are coming after you and learn in the moment. Speaker 1 And in maturity. I think maturity is a big part of it, too, to be able to speak that, know that and be okay with it. Speaker 2 And I think this group of students that we have now, I think they're they're I really do. I see more of that now admitting that I don't know everything. Right. And I want to learn more and I want you know, they might want to learn it from YouTube versus, you know, having a conversation in a class and and that's okay, too. Speaker 2 But they have that drive. I see it. I see it across the board, freshmen to seniors. I see it and I love it. Speaker 1 So you're not going to believe this, but we're I know you have to get back. You're done, but you're not done because I always in the podcast with random questions. Okay, So we're going to knock out these random questions. So I guess. Speaker 2 I'm just excited we're done now. What is what has been fun? Speaker 1 Hasn't it been fun? It has. Well, enjoyed talking to you. What is one thing people would never guess about you? Speaker 2 Oh, they usually don't guess that I'm a farm girl. So I was raised in a very rural community and I raised pigs and chickens and lambs and we have cattle and they don't. My FFA students, when I say that I was a life, I was for H from the time I was eight years old, their mouths are like, What? Speaker 1 You are? A Do you miss that? Speaker 2 I do. Speaker 1 Yeah. Speaker 2 I do. Speaker 1 I think as we get older we want to go back to that sort of saying if people suddenly got paid for bad behavior, what habit would make you a fortune? Well, this question. Speaker 2 I have to actually I crunch ice. Speaker 1 And hair on the Dana. Speaker 3 But Dana cannot be around anymore. Speaker 1 I could not be around that. I crunch. Speaker 2 I do, but I don't do it around others. Speaker 1 But I do it out loud. And, you know, it's a bad habit that you enjoy. Like, do you do with your mouth open? No. Oh, because some people do. Yeah. Okay. Speaker 3 I would not a complete psychopath. Speaker 1 Okay. What was the other one? Speaker 2 Overanalyzing, Overthinking over. Just extra being extra. I see you don't say I'm extra. That's never a compliment. Speaker 1 If you could donate $100,000 to any cause or charity organization, which one would you choose and why? Speaker 2 Oh, anything with kids. Speaker 1 Mm. You'd probably, you'd probably be the kind of change it up every. Speaker 2 Oh for sure. I yes. Yeah. So you know, we work a lot with Texas Hospital, we work a lot with Shriners. Speaker 1 Anything you guys that cannot make Melissa's face, her eyes are instantly tearing up just thinking about her being able to donate $100,000 to kids and thinking about kids. It. I love your heart. You're so sweet, but I'm not going to make eye contact because I can't cry. I have more questions asked. Okay. If you won the lottery, what is your first purchase? Speaker 2 Oh, I'm a saver, so I'm not a spender. And that's if I won the lottery, I would invest it. Speaker 1 You would invest it? Speaker 2 I would. I. I don't see me. I re-use plastic bags. Speaker 1 If. Speaker 2 That's what people don't know about me. Is that how how frugal I am? Speaker 1 So that comes from being a former of it. Speaker 2 So yeah, yeah, yeah. Speaker 1 Do you know the number one purchase from lottery winners in Texas? Oh, guess. Speaker 3 Is it something obscure. Speaker 1 No, it would. It's obvious a Texan in. Speaker 2 A tree and. Speaker 1 A tow truck. Okay. Yeah. Do you have a quote that you live by? Speaker 2 I have. I do quotes of the day. Every day. I put a quote of the day up and Aristotle, you know, excellence is not a and it's not an act. It's a habit. And it's something that you strive for. And that's always stuck with me. But I have many quotes. John Wooden, you know, Bobby Knight That's that basketball influence, that Coach Yeah, influence. Speaker 2 But lots of them. But those guiding principles are just do your best every single day. Speaker 1 Which I think is what makes them great, right? Especially the coaches. That's what makes them great. What do you think your younger self would think of you today? Speaker 2 I think she would be very surprised. No one ever got wise by not making some mistakes along the way. And that's the other thing that I share with my students is that I wasn't the best student myself, and that's why I can that's why I know what you're going through because. Speaker 1 Oh, yeah, and you're going to be okay. Speaker 2 Yes. You're going to turn out just fine. Speaker 1 Yeah, you'll be just fine, right? Keep. Keep moving. Speaker 2 Keep going. Yeah. Speaker 1 So last thing I always in the podcast with is one thing I know for sure is. Speaker 2 One thing I know for sure. Oh, man, there's so many options. One thing I know for sure is that family first. My family and it's school, Family, home, family. Just be where your feet are. Barbara Gruner always said that. Speaker 1 Is it. Speaker 2 Be present. And so one thing I know for sure is that I'm working at that. Speaker 1 Well, one thing I know for sure is I love you, Melissa. Victoria, thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you for. Speaker 3 Spending time with us on the. Speaker 2 Podcast. You That was fun. It was.