Episode 58: The Uninvited Guest

While recording the final instalment of The Manning Park Sessions, the return of a red squirrel sets the stage for the Stunt Brothers to explore the curious and hilarious world of uninvited guests. From parents dropping in unannounced, administrators wandering into your classroom, to sudden adventures that turn an ordinary day upside down, these unplanned moments teach flexibility, patience, and creative problem-solving. Join Roy and Martin as they share personal stories from handling a surprise visit from a superintendent to dancing in the rain with a Russian musician showing how unpredictability can foster connection, engagement, and even joy. Whether you’re a teacher, parent, or someone navigating the unpredictable twists of life, this episode will help you see uninvited guests not as disruptions, but as opportunities that can be turned into lessons, laughter, and unforgettable memories.
Learn More at stuntbrothers.ca

Key  Topics

• The concept of uninvited guests in life and teaching
• Personal stories of unexpected visitors and experiences
• Strategies for managing surprises in the classroom
• The value of flexibility and adaptability in teaching
• Building relationships through unexpected encounters

Keywords
uninvited guests, teaching surprises, classroom management, unexpected guests, teacher stories, school anecdotes, adaptability, guest speakers, parent interactions, platooning

Get Involved

• Rate & Review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/after-the-bell-a-stunt-brothers-production/id1788804386
• Rate & Review on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0OD77C1YjJOjwwBfsnnu1u
• Follow the show with our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/941827558047720/
• Visit our website: https://stuntbrothers.ca/

Transcript

Good afternoon, podcast listeners.

Welcome to After the Bell, a Stunt Brothers production. I'm Martin Stuible


And I'm Roy Hunt and we share your pain, having taught a combined 70 years. Seven. I know, wow. So get out your marking, organize your supplies or just pour yourself a coffee. 

I think I need something stronger

That's okay. And listen, engage and interact with After the Bell, a podcast for you, the hardworking, dedicated teacher who wants free lesson plans, free advice and a free meal.

I always show up for a free meal.

speaker-2 (00:39.406)
Well Mr. Hunt, there's the bell that tells us another episode is on here. Episode 58.

speaker-1 (00:45.294)
is going on.

speaker-0 (00:48.536)
That would be season two, episode tw-

speaker-2 (00:50.776)
You're right on your hand again? Yes.

speaker-0 (00:53.102)
I wrote your forehead.

Okay. Great. It's when you're sleeping.

speaker-2 (01:06.52)
Well, how's it going? How's it going? Good.

speaker-0 (01:09.858)
Good. We're into March already. can't believe it. Spring is coming.

speaker-2 (01:12.524)
Yeah, spring is coming. know people are tired, right?

speaker-0 (01:18.254)
I've been into some schools. Right now they're just finished up report cards. They're in the middle of parent-teacher interviews.

speaker-2 (01:29.998)
the people are just yes. Not even the finish line, but crawling to the, I don't know. What do call spring when it's not the summer, right? So it's not the finish line, but it's just, they wish it was the finish line. I think is what it is, but it's expected. Summer is expected.

speaker-0 (01:32.508)
They're exhausted.

speaker-0 (01:43.758)
So what?

speaker-0 (01:47.954)
expected.

speaker-2 (01:48.494)
And spring is expected, even though you look at the garden and it's still got the brown, the dark, and know winter just the doom of all that has been over us. But suddenly there's an explosion of growth and I that expected growth at just a lovely time.

speaker-0 (02:03.916)
that expectation, rain. Because we need the rain for that growth to happen. it does bring you down at times. It's good. The weather is getting better and rain. Rain's not as cold as you, as our usual winter rain. It's a little warmer, but it's still rain and it's gray and it's cloudy and we can complain all we want, but that's.

speaker-2 (02:08.494)
We do,

speaker-1 (02:19.982)
It's hard to know.

speaker-2 (02:32.43)
It's to be expected.

speaker-0 (02:34.626)
But last night, there was something that was on it.

speaker-2 (02:37.39)
There was, you are correct. And I didn't even really register it until this morning when I heard people talking about it. I heard it, I knew there was a bit of a boom, something went on around nine, but I didn't say out loud to my wife or anything because I thought, I think someone just closed the car door kind of louder than usual. It wasn't like an earthquake that I felt a year. But what happened? It was something. It was.

speaker-0 (03:01.166)
Well, I've heard it was described as a sonic boom for some people. And I've heard people describe it as an earthquake that their home shook, but something entered our atmosphere.

speaker-2 (03:13.326)
The meteor hits the atmosphere and then becomes a urite and created a

speaker-1 (03:15.374)
I mean, a bright flash, have actually a video of it.

speaker-2 (03:19.308)
And now I think over maybe Coquitlam is pieces of it. You know, the rock has probably got particles that have fallen to the earth. So there'll be some unexpected journeys, right? To find those pieces. So it's quite exciting. But I think of spring and I think it's coming. And I know people do it a little too quickly, especially in the garden. People start planting tomatoes because you get two days of sun, you know, winter, it could change tomorrow back to winter.

speaker-1 (03:36.12)
jump into.

speaker-1 (03:44.77)
the end

speaker-0 (03:45.086)
expected part

speaker-2 (03:48.258)
help us get the spring break, we do one of our Manning Park sessions. Yes, summer sessions. Yeah, we have one left right from the Manning Park session. September and it kind of fits with what we're talking about. does.

speaker-1 (03:56.088)
that we did at Manning Park in September.

speaker-0 (04:00.652)
because in that session, something unexpected happened.

speaker-2 (04:04.076)
Yeah, and made us think about the uninvited

speaker-1 (04:08.478)
That could be where you're teaching and then suddenly

speaker-2 (04:10.796)
Something

speaker-0 (04:12.216)
Someone, something, something unexpected happens.

speaker-1 (04:15.232)
So to help you get ready, to help you get through this last week.

speaker-2 (04:19.086)
Let's have a little taste of summer. The days are getting brighter and let's check out our Manning Park session and have a little warmth. Wow, that sounds nice. That wasn't nice? Okay, there you go. Thanks listeners. Let's go to Manning Park.

speaker-1 (04:35.118)
Hello Mr. Hunt. We are having another Manning Park session. So these dropped, who knows when, this might be Christmas, it might be February, it just might be September because we had to be lazy. Oh, no, sorry, I can't say lazy. No, you can't. I discovered that in the second Manning Park session. That's right. I have to say we're extra hard at work. This is Sorry, I feel ashamed. It's extra. These are times that we got together, we did our little camping trip.

speaker-0 (04:56.974)
Thanks

speaker-1 (05:03.82)
but they might be dropped sometime throughout the year. So thanks for listening listeners. We have this episode here and here we are. You know, it's nice because no matter what time of year it is, you get to have a little piece of September. The summer's still on. It's September 11th today when we did this Manning Park session and the weather is beautiful and it still feels like summer.

speaker-0 (05:08.706)
Yeah

speaker-0 (05:29.806)
Things are pretty chilly.

speaker-1 (05:31.106)
They are chilling. As they would say in Game of Thrones, winter is coming.

speaker-0 (05:36.398)
is coming and so the the temperature by time we get to the afternoon is quite nice right now. we've got a

speaker-1 (05:43.373)
and you had some good

visitor the red squirrel has returned so if you listen to a previous at manning park session you know this fellow who's staring at my keyboard again yes stood all over my watch book and he did some sound engineering of his own and i had to figure out how to undo that i would call him an uninvited yet

speaker-0 (05:56.491)
Once the jump on the table

speaker-2 (06:03.095)
And he

speaker-2 (06:07.746)
Yes.

speaker-1 (06:09.59)
You see the stellar J over there? He keeps wanting to squawk at me because he wants me to feed him some chips. No, sorry, you're not invited either. And Mr. Red Squirrel, please go. Trying to record a-

speaker-0 (06:20.034)
And you know why they're here is because someone feeds them. And so they come uninvited.

speaker-1 (06:27.758)
can't believe how close, oh my god, look at him, okay, stay back. That is just... We saw a red squirrel earlier, little hike around Lightning Lake and he was getting like bushes and twigs and he understood to stay away from us and understood how to forge for his own food. Yeah, this guy eats bacon every day.

speaker-2 (06:35.406)
or who had forlorn.

speaker-0 (06:46.507)
organic food

speaker-0 (06:51.547)
I think so. Or bacon scrap.

speaker-1 (06:54.638)
And you're not invited. what about-

speaker-0 (06:57.102)
about you? Could you bring up as... have you had any uninvited guests?

speaker-1 (07:03.374)
I have, have. Interesting. Yeah, I remember a few years back I visited a friend in Fort St. James, good friend Kevin, if you're listening, I know he listens sometimes to the podcast.

And I was visiting him and I, was a nephew of someone who lived in Fort St. James who needed a ride back to Vancouver. So I offered, mean, I kind of invited, but I wasn't, it was unexpected, right? It was a surprise. And so he drove with me back to Vancouver and he stayed the night at my house. And that was kind of a, turned out really nice. He, I believe he was British. He was a British, yeah, he was a British man in his early twenties. He was a, he had been going to UBC for a special summer session, but was going back to a,

a degree to finish in england at the time and it it was quite unexpected unexpected unexpected but it was a really neat moment

speaker-0 (07:53.506)
I'm

How about you? Well, not that long ago, my brother and my niece were in Seattle, taking in a Seattle football game, Seattle Seahawks, and Air Canada went on strike. And they looked for an opportunity to buy a ticket to Canada, and it was not.

speaker-1 (08:12.225)
Yes.

speaker-1 (08:19.384)
Ten thousand dollars?

speaker-0 (08:24.158)
a price that they were willing to pay. So they hopped on a bus and took a bus from Seattle to Vancouver. I got a call and said, hey, how you doing? Can you put us up? And you know, my brother has never been to BC before. I said, of course. I was happy to have him come. I was so excited for him to be here and have him in our home and my

niece and it was exciting because it actually was his birthday. So, maybe he planned it that way, I don't know. So, we went out for dinner and celebrated his birthday and then my niece, has just recently become engaged and so we had a little celebration for her. So, it was really nice to connect with them and then the next day I drove them to the airport.

speaker-1 (08:59.154)
perfect timing.

speaker-0 (09:22.102)
and they flew back to southwestern Ontario. that was the, my brother's always invited, but it was a.

speaker-1 (09:30.936)
Yeah, and that's the thing, those uninvited guests can be a surprise, but it actually turned out to be great.

speaker-0 (09:37.678)
hoping next time that he comes that he can stay longer and we can maybe come to Manning Park.

speaker-1 (09:42.69)
Yeah, I have one uninvited guest that I'm not going to mention the name of, but my wife Charlene, you listen, you know who I'm talking about. And we'll just keep that one there. But that's an uninvited guest. That's a surprise that is not always so easy. Right? Have you ever had any, like I find traveling often produces the uninvited guest or the moment where you stay with someone that was not expected?

speaker-0 (10:06.594)
guess I was the uninvited invited guest. when I started teaching in Japan, the story goes I graduated from University of Queens University and I couldn't find a teaching job and I decided to go to Japan.

speaker-1 (10:24.212)
go to japan you and you were there for years i was there before

speaker-0 (10:26.862)
Four years. And so I was in Japan and my first stop before I became a teacher with the Chiba City Board of Education, my first stop was a language school teacher in downtown Tokyo. And I go, I could say downtown because why would I say downtown? Because it's a big town.

speaker-1 (10:46.382)
30 million people or something, right? Is it not the largest city in the world? I believe it is even bigger than Mexico City.

speaker-0 (10:54.008)
So anyways, I was at the language school and there was another teacher there, an Australian teacher, and we had our students and we taught. And the first hour when I was in the school, I taught this one older gentleman, he was a businessman. And so he had one hour with me and then there was a break and then he went and had another hour.

with the Australian teacher. Okay. That was interesting. But you know, I mean, I just, hadn't been in Japan in Japan for very long. Right. And then he, he finished his class. I finished my class. I think we was like four hours. And then the, the, the gentleman, the businessman who had been taught by both of us said, I want to take my sensei's out for beer. Okay. I said, okay.

right as a hand like this i can and i don't know

speaker-1 (11:55.502)
You can't say no, right? To those moments? Isn't that awkward?

speaker-0 (11:58.762)
say no to beer. anyways, we, we went out, we went to, an Izakaya and we had beer and we had food and we laughed and it was great and time went on. And again, I'm new to Japan and I knew that they had an amazing transportation system. course trains and I my way on the train a little bit. Okay. Right. So

I turned to my Australian teaching partner and I said, what time is the last train? And he said, you missed it about an hour ago. What? He said, yes. you can't get a train until five o'clock tomorrow. got like, what? What do I What do do? I said, okay, I kind of have an idea. What would it cost to get a taxi to drive me back to where I live?

speaker-2 (12:43.928)
So

speaker-1 (12:44.174)
What do you do?

speaker-0 (12:55.662)
And he just turned to me and said, you can come and stay at my place. so, and it was, it was great. And he ended up being a really good friend of mine after that experience. But, know, those.

speaker-1 (13:10.478)
I of him, was uninvited because it was unexpected and was surprise. No, I had a similar story in terms of travel. I once took a boat trip from on the Volga River from St. Petersburg, from Moscow to St. Petersburg. So 1993, which was an amazing time because, you know, the Berlin Wall had just fallen. Boris Yeltsin had just overcome, there was a coup.

Gorbachev had been taken over by the coup, so was like this crazy time in Russia. it was a hopeful time, where we're at now with Putin and stuff. So it was a very hopeful time. So I'm on this boat trip going from Moscow to St. Petersburg, and we dropped off and we're in Irma in Russia, about halfway between the two towns, the two cities. And it's a place where they have lot of dakhas, which is like the...

the Russian country house, they have a lot of cottage. You know, think of Ontario in cottage country and that kind of thing. This is kind of like the Russian cottage country. So we got off the boat, we had all day before we had to get back to the boat. So we're in Dhaka country and I met these two Russians just shortly after in their twenties. We were in our twenties too. And they said, come, come with us back to our Dhaka, right? They didn't speak much English. We spoke no.

Russian, other than yet. And, but we went and went with them and they got out the vodka, right? We were, so we were invited, but it was just a surprise for them. Right. And I remember singing Beatles songs, which the universal music, right? The guy got out his guitar and I'm singing, drinking my vodka with these Russians. And then the storm came like you wouldn't believe just a

massive thunderstorm and lightning and rain and then this Russian, this guy who's been playing guitar, he suddenly takes off his clothes except for his underwear, beats his chest and said, we go dance in the rain. So what did I do? I took everything off of my underwear and I danced with this Russian guy in the rain and then I remember walking back to the boat after this, just like to me it's one of the highlights of my life and there's a double arc rainbow, right?

speaker-0 (15:13.998)
You too!

speaker-1 (15:29.718)
It's just this wonderful thing about this moment where I was an uninvited guest, mean, a surprise guest, and then it has this moment that has stuck with me forever. So I think uninvited guests can be great, actually.

speaker-0 (15:43.734)
Yes. Well, and I think that's going to be our topic for this episode. I think it is. The uninvited guest.

speaker-1 (15:50.478)
Good. So we have our theme, the uninvited guest. mean, sometimes they're kind of invited, but they're really a surprise for sure. And they kind of send everybody scurrying because what do we do now? Right? Have you ever had an uninvited guest at school?

speaker-0 (16:03.946)
I have a good story about that. Ridgway had just finished their renovation and as a historical building over a hundred years old, did an unbelievable job in the renovation. so when the position that I had at Ridgway for temporary time was to teach kindergarten PE and you know, PE in my wheelhouse.

speaker-2 (16:06.272)
stories.

speaker-1 (16:28.558)
Okay.

speaker-0 (16:32.906)
Kindergarten, not so much. And so I went downstairs and I went to the classroom to pick up my students and I said, Hey, how you doing? good. We're going to go and we're going to go. And then I was told that the gym was closed. What? And I yes, the gym is closed, but you can use the library. And I said, okay. And so the recommendation from the teacher was to read them.

speaker-1 (16:50.99)
Okay.

speaker-0 (17:02.678)
some story, not what I was planning. I, because I know deep in my heart, the best way for me to be able to control the kindergarten students through movement. Right. I say, okay, I can do this. And so I took my students up to the, library and I wasn't given any books, I had to find some books. So I found some books that seemed interesting and I had the students sit down.

speaker-1 (17:03.243)
Now at your plan.

speaker-0 (17:31.592)
And I was just starting to read the story to them and in through the library doors, it comes the superintendent.

speaker-1 (17:41.164)
Great straight thing, good timing.

speaker-0 (17:44.238)
And I said hi, cause I knew him as John Lewis was the superintendent at that time. And he said hi. And so I was hoping that was just a, the formalities would be done and then he would get out the door and he sat down in a chair.

speaker-1 (18:02.378)
good. He to what he's trying to do.

speaker-2 (18:03.182)
Thanks.

speaker-0 (18:05.39)
Now I'm taking care of these kindergarten students for 40 minutes. Never had before for 40 minutes. I, and you know, I'm a positive person. optimistic that things will happen, but in my brain, I'm going to, Oh my gosh, this is going to be tough. So I started reading, uh, the first story and, uh, I read the story and I used my, my best voices for the

speaker-1 (18:09.697)
never had before.

speaker-0 (18:34.84)
for the characters in the book.

speaker-1 (18:36.632)
can have a man teacher i had said we're excited

speaker-0 (18:39.192)
I had them in the palm of my hand for the one story. I'm not sure, but I reached for the second one. I asked some questions and there was no response. And then I started to see that little wiggly squirming. One student reaching out and grabbing another student. And then one student getting up.

speaker-1 (18:41.39)
Mercy did.

speaker-1 (18:45.742)
Okay. And so I had to go on to that.

speaker-2 (18:59.214)
No. Duh.

speaker-1 (18:59.406)
with the sun.

speaker-0 (19:07.06)
and moving around and I'm bored. And I'm like, okay. And then I tried, I tried a few, I tried a few games with them and they just did not respond. And so the superintendent's still there. I'm like,

speaker-1 (19:14.894)
Our teacher doesn't do this.

speaker-1 (19:25.723)
He's still there.

speaker-0 (19:27.01)
And so I, okay, so I looked at the clock. I said, I can't do 40 minutes and not look like I can't handle this class. So after, I think we're 25 minutes into the, a non-instructional time for the teacher and knit time, we call it. And I said, okay, everybody line up. So I got them all lined up and, and so we went for a little walk around the school.

speaker-1 (19:37.256)
the pressure.

speaker-1 (20:02.456)
He was spending the two- on, on, And- Wow.

speaker-0 (20:07.489)
And so I went back and I got to the classroom and there was 10 minutes left and he was at the end of the line and I remember walking in the classroom and the teacher said, well, I still have 10 minutes. said, the superintendent of the district is at the end of the line and I can't.

speaker-1 (20:08.398)
Maybe he should go away.

speaker-1 (20:30.69)
control these kids!

speaker-0 (20:33.53)
And she said, no problem. I said, I'll pay you back 10 minutes later. And so she took them in and all the kids came in and I knew her well and I had taught her children. So I was in good hands and she sat them down and the superintendent came in and sat down with them. And that was.

speaker-1 (20:56.094)
my god.

speaker-0 (21:04.704)
I would say he's the uninvited... uninvited guest.

speaker-1 (21:07.288)
Absolutely. Yeah, no. I'm gonna tell a story that it's not really about invited or uninvited, but I just feel when you talked about having to teach a younger grade that you weren't expecting to do, I do have to tell this story about when I platoon with this other teacher and that's part of being, you're kind of guests in their classroom, right? And of course you're invited, but it's still, feel like you...

are bit uninvited because you have to show that you're really up to what you're doing and you want to make sure that they are happy with the job you're doing. But it was the very first day where I was going to switch with this other teacher who was a grade one teacher. I had grade five, I think, at that point, and I was going to do her PE and I had not done grade one PE, know, and it's kind of like kindergarten, right? It's a different level.

problem was Mr. Hunt and I do honestly say this and many listeners may question this but it's true. It's probably the only time where I had to go to school with a really terrible hangover. It's the one time. I don't think honestly I have ever had to but I had been out the night before drinking to celebrate someone's birthday and I had I remember the I think the name of the beer was the Angry Young Scot.

speaker-2 (22:15.864)
Really

speaker-0 (22:30.324)
hahahaha

speaker-1 (22:31.918)
And oh, were they angry the next morning. They were so angry and my head was just aching. And then I had to go and take these grade ones and into the gym and the sound and their energy. And I just felt uninvited at that moment. That was a definite.

speaker-2 (22:52.984)
challenge, right? That was...

speaker-1 (22:55.135)
For me a very uninvited moment that yes was uninvited to my head anyway, right?

speaker-0 (23:00.172)
The angry Scott beer was uninvited.

speaker-2 (23:04.142)
Yes, totally was.

speaker-1 (23:05.838)
I do not recommend that and I have never done it since. But, you know, are there other moments like when we have people in the class that it's a surprise? Because we've talked before in previous episodes, this job is very lonely because even though you have 20 to 30 young little people in front of you, you're the only adult in many cases. Yes.

But actually there's many times when animals do suddenly appear and those aren't always good moments or they're challenging moments, right?

speaker-0 (23:36.206)
We have our EAs who work with students here in our district. And I know oftentimes the EAs that we have, they're assigned to one student. And so that that EA comes in the classroom, they're really the invited guests because they're invited for sure. we have, you make a connection with them, you share your teaching style, you ask them about what they know about their student.

speaker-1 (23:54.03)
for their united there

speaker-0 (24:05.908)
and how we can work together. But then there's times when there's no EA. And then someone knocks on your door in the middle of your class and says, hi, I'm here for so-and-so. And you were like, Because I think one of the things that we learn as teachers is that you kind of expect the unexpected, learn to be able to adapt to changing, the changing environment.

speaker-1 (24:17.6)
I'm here for Sonsai.

speaker-1 (24:35.118)
But I think the problem is with many of us, we have another adult in the building and we suddenly feel judged. And they're not judging you. Not in every case, it does happen where you can tell someone, they're judging me. But that puts a lot of pressure on people because classrooms today are not the quiet 1950s classroom of desks, everyone and the teacher at the back marking. So there's a lot going on. So it's not silent, it's not quiet.

There might be a kid having a blow up here or there and sometimes people feel really uncomfortable when another adult witnesses that even though that's the reality of today. It's not, it's not.

speaker-0 (25:11.916)
And it's not in your control. You can't control it. yes. So then that EA is working really hard to say, okay, how can we fit them in, find out who the student is, put them in a direction to help them do their job. And then, you know, when you have a break in the time, when you're not teaching, then you could work with them a little more and say, okay, these are the specific things that like,

speaker-1 (25:40.032)
And I prefer the way it was in the 90s and the early 2000s when usually an EA would be assigned to a student and that would be your EA for the year. And they could really develop a system and a rapport with both you and the student. Lately I find there's a lot more movement and it's all about the flexibility of the district trying to coordinate often a shortage in EA's which I sympathize with but I don't think that helps you as a professional in that class.

or the student when it's constantly someone new and they're working with different people, especially a student with high complex needs, it takes two or three months to really get a handle on the program for that student and get a handle on working with the teacher in the classroom. So I much prefer when it's done that way.

speaker-0 (26:25.539)
What do you think about guest speakers in the club?

speaker-1 (26:28.142)
Because that happens, And we, more and more so as we maybe get away from field trips, we do have guest speakers. And I always find that a little awkward when a guest speaker comes in and they're not really managing the class, right? And you're quietly doing it. Yes. So what I tend to do is I usually ask and I say, can I jump in here? If I see my class is not acting the way I expect them to, I don't just jump in and do it because to me that right away the students go, okay.

Mr. Stubble's the boss here. This person in front here isn't really in charge. So I don't want them to lose that authority. So I ask permission, is it okay if I jump in here? And sometimes they'll say, no, no, no, I got it. It's all good. Okay, then that's fine. This is how you want the group dynamics to be. I'm fine with that. Or they'll say, please, thank you. they, great relief on their face.

speaker-2 (27:18.254)
How about you?

speaker-0 (27:18.88)
I like to look at the guest speaker as a facilitator. There's someone who's coming in and they're delivering a program. They're providing something for the students. that's their position. That's their job. That's what they're doing. Their job is not to manage my class. That's for me. But I like to discuss that with the guest speaker and to say, okay, you just do what you do and you do well.

I'll do what I do.

speaker-1 (27:49.442)
Yeah. Do well. Don't you find they kind of, you can see them relax with that because they don't always face that situation.

speaker-0 (27:56.942)
You know, the competence and the skill level of...

speaker-1 (28:02.572)
You probably can hear when the stellar J's wants to hear it be heard.

speaker-2 (28:05.462)
The comp-

speaker-0 (28:07.246)
competence and the skill level of the speakers vary and they agree with me. They vary. then why not do what I know best? Because I know the students best.

speaker-1 (28:10.647)
Yes.

speaker-1 (28:23.598)
Exactly, and they don't know right all the nuances that have to be dealt with for sure. What about parents? Parents can be a real challenge. found especially on field trips sometimes where you have some parent helpers and to me an awkward moment is when their child is just acting out not listening and the parent is like la dee da dee da dee da whatever you know and so you have to discipline their child in front of the parent who you're thinking why aren't you just jumping in here like that.

Like, what do you do in that moment? Right? Like that to me, I would not let the child misbehave. So I would deal with it. But it's awkward because sometimes the teacher might get a real stern look from that parent. Right? Yes. And so those are kind of that invited guest moment that could be.

speaker-2 (29:13.752)
really hard.

speaker-0 (29:14.382)
Cause I've had a number of parents to, you know, I had my go-to parents in the, in the year. go, this one really want to on them. And sometimes you can't get that parent, they're busy. And then you get another parent and you talk to that parent. I, you know, there's the forms and everything you fill out. But I could remember one parent loading up her car with the students from my class and we did the field trip and they came back.

speaker-2 (29:22.775)
Delam.

speaker-0 (29:44.16)
and only the students in her car, they came back with donuts and ice cream. What? And they walked in the classroom eating your ice cream, the bag of donuts. And the mom said, well, they said they were hungry. So I just bought them something. And I went, what about the rest of the...

speaker-1 (29:49.217)
Yes, I had that happen.

speaker-1 (30:01.986)
Don't you think there really should be a code of conduct for parents, right? That lays out clearly, you know, don't buy donuts off.

speaker-0 (30:10.648)
in the way. my gosh. Well, even on field trips where I can remember some field trips where we had the parents with the students and they were, you know, we always had, especially when we were driving, okay, this parent, these students, and usually, you know, it's the parent and the son or daughter with some friends in the car because, you know, want to facilitate that. But then we would go someplace and then all the parents would get together.

speaker-1 (30:39.064)
Yeah. Yeah.

speaker-0 (30:39.63)
And they say, I've done my job, right? And I've my job. Let's go for cocktails. then what? you're part of this. I need you to be here.

speaker-1 (30:49.876)
No, no, I know

speaker-1 (30:55.458)
The ideal situation, I find it's harder because I found getting parent volunteers to become more more difficult lately, right? I think parents are busier, they have less time. But when you, like a list of, say you needed five parents, and it was so nice when you had a list of 10. You could choose which five, right? These are my stellar parents, these are the ones I go to. And like I've had parents too, it's the opposite of the,

speaker-2 (31:14.574)
Okay.

speaker-1 (31:23.118)
of not disciplining your kids. I had this one mom, her big thing, I think she was a girl guide leader, and her big thing was, Mr. Stubble, it's all about the whistle. And she had a whistle with her, right? She said, this is the best disciplinary tool. And she'd be tweeting her whistle all the time at the kids. And it's like, that's not how I do things. This isn't what I signed up for, right? So those are definitely uninvited guests that can be a challenge in the class. you just, you know.

Ideally, if you have a group that you can choose from, choose ones that work for you. You know, you just kind of go with it sometimes and realize at the end of the day, 99 % of the parents are so impressed with what you do for their kids. Don't let the 1 % ruin it for you, right? Because they're the squeaky wheel. They're the ones that do say something. Just try to ignore that noise, right? Most parents are so appreciative of what you do, for sure.

speaker-0 (32:16.718)
And so the next one, I think I'd like to talk about a buddy classes and I'm not saying the buddy classes are uninvited.

speaker-1 (32:25.134)
Mr. Hunt doesn't just show up to the kindergarten. Hey, we're doing buddy.

speaker-2 (32:30.318)
activities.

speaker-0 (32:31.192)
I think buddy classes add a of social cooperation, responsibility.

speaker-1 (32:40.174)
So important, think they're so good.

I love when you get like maybe a student in grade six or seven who was not a strong reader and then working with a grade one level reader and he can read and the car was it was always such one of those joyful moments to see them working together and reading together. Yes

speaker-0 (32:58.188)
So those kinds of matches are amazing with the buddy class. guess the same thing. You're looking at the other teacher, is this someone that I can work with? Do they have a way that if I were to give, for example, half my class to this teacher, and then teacher would give me half of their class and the buddies and then so, and that works out. But can I work with that person? Do they have the same sort of,

speaker-1 (33:20.878)
we'd often do that

speaker-0 (33:28.45)
values that I have and the kind of respect that I show to my students that do they have the same kind of respect.

speaker-1 (33:36.202)
When you were talking about though, you don't just show up at a class and do the, you know, here's, I'm here to buddy class. But often as a, as a April Fool's Day prank, would actually have my class go in pairs and they would be uninvited guests throughout the school. would work, we'd go through all the lists and I'd assign to students for every class and they would just show up at nine five and they would act like they were part of that class. They would, they would come with their bags.

speaker-2 (33:50.008)
They would just.

speaker-2 (33:57.1)
all the class.

speaker-1 (34:06.09)
They would come in with their coats and they'd say, okay, we're here, right? And you'd get such a different reaction. Some teachers would go, no, you're not in my class. Get out, right? But some would just play along with, okay, yeah, hang your bags up. Come join this grade one class, even though you're in grade seven. And you know why it was such a April Fool's joke? Because for about an hour.

speaker-2 (34:11.214)
.

speaker-0 (34:28.62)
You didn't have anybody in your class? That's not even- ARGH! That's brilliant! Exactly. Okay.

speaker-1 (34:32.14)
Isn't that brilliant? And then platooning. That's to me another time where we're kind of working with people. We're bringing other people into us, into the program. have you done platooning? We've done it together, you and I.

speaker-0 (34:44.462)
We've done platooning together in our career. And I think one of the most important things is what I love about platooning is that you can teach to the thing that you feel best skilled at or teach to the thing that you're passionate about. I did science. I know that I did science many times. When we platoon together, you did socials. And so that was great. But in that platooning,

It's about, know, again, do I feel comfortable with the way you're going to teach the program? Do you feel comfortable with the way I'm going to teach the program? Then there's always the how do you grade students?

speaker-1 (35:26.094)
Yeah, and you to be on the same page and kind of work that

speaker-0 (35:28.81)
So it's not that you're, you are uninvited. It's that you were invited because you had a skillset that I, that I saw was something that would work with me. And I believe it was the other way around that. And then we had that respect.

speaker-1 (35:47.554)
Yeah, and I did it the opposite of Mount Royal where actually the last year, my last year before I retired, where I took this other teacher and I did science. And it was so nice. I would do science back to back. And then he took my class and did social studies, especially things like science. It's so nice if you're doing an experiment to have your room all set up back to back. yes. The next class comes in and it's, you've made your science room because our classrooms.

have to be so ready for anything. Art, science, math, right? That we often, my God, the setup and that kind of thing to get ready. So when you can do a topic, a subject back to back, it's really nice.

speaker-0 (36:23.052)
And I do like at Bridgeway, our principal would always, there would be guest teachers that would wander through the district. We had some guest teachers from Japan. We had some guest teachers that came from China and they were doing the tour of BC. But we were always asked first if we were willing to take this visiting group into the classroom. So I love that heads up.

speaker-2 (36:41.646)
me.

speaker-0 (36:52.334)
I have had a few times where in my career where someone just showed up and said, and asked if they could come in the classroom. again, you you just say yes and said, you know, this is the, this is how I teach my.

speaker-1 (37:07.63)
I think a lot of teachers have a problem with say there's a student where they're trying to get a designation or some support and then the district sends someone in to observe that student and they watch them and maybe the student doesn't show certain things when they're being observed or else the person comes and watches and makes all these suggestions which are like either unrealistic for a classroom.

or things the teachers already try and they feel insulted because they just want the support for that student. So that's another kind of unexpected guest. That's a bit of a challenge. And I also find with administrators, many of them will come in and say, okay, my theme this year is to get everyone to team and work together on Platoon. Right? I really want teamwork here, which is all very well. We all want good teamwork. But don't you find you can't force it on people?

speaker-0 (37:58.702)
Thanks

speaker-1 (37:58.99)
It's a magical formula that makes a good team work. I've seen some amazing teachers, they're far better than me, but I could not team with them. I just couldn't. They just didn't have a personality that would gel with my personality. That's all it is. It's not an attack on them. It's just like, don't think there's certain people one can work with. That's just a magic formula that it's sort of a je ne sais quoi. just happens, right? Sometimes. Je ne quoi? I don't know what, right?

speaker-0 (38:27.094)
You

speaker-1 (38:29.806)
That's like one of our place names, Jacques-O-Lan. So there we go. Unexpected guests working with them. Let us know. We would love to get, give us feedback. We'll put a question out on the Facebook page and on our website, stuntbrothers.ca and here's some of your feedback.

speaker-0 (38:46.862)
have an unexpected guest's story.

speaker-1 (38:49.666)
Yeah, there's some stories we can share in future episodes. Are there things we left out that you go, well, how about this? You guys didn't think about this. Well, please let us know and we'll make it part of this organic part podcast that we.

speaker-0 (39:02.926)
So we are inviting you to be again.

speaker-1 (39:05.614)
We are inviting you to be a guest. We welcome you anytime. And I'm looking around, Red Squirrel has seemed to know his place right now. He's over in the trees. So that's good. Stellar Jay isn't squawking at us. And I think it's the perfect time to say an end to this Manning Park session and say, everyone stay healthy, stay happy, and we'll see you next time. Bye bye. This podcast is organic, taking shape with each episode, building resiliency for teachers everywhere.

speaker-0 (39:34.99)
That sounds

speaker-1 (39:35.394)
Great. And our

speaker-0 (39:38.996)
stuntbrothers.ca

speaker-1 (39:41.048)
We will chat again.

speaker-0 (39:42.974)
after the bell.