Episode 61: The Whole School in One Room. What Could Go Wrong?

In this episode, The Stunt Brothers kick things off with Martin unpacking the meaning of Occam’s Razor, a phrase he seems to enjoy saying almost as much as, “How do you like them apples!” From there, the conversation turns to the end of spring break and British Columbia’s move to permanent daylight saving time, sparking mixed reactions from After the Bell listeners. Roy and Martin share some of the most spirited and thought-provoking responses. Roy then recounts a substitute teaching experience that took an immediate and unexpected turn: arriving at a new school only to be told he’d be escorting a class to an assembly. That moment triggers a series of flashbacks to past “assembly traumas,” including the time he had his students hand over contraband before leaving the classroom. The haul? Pencils, paper airplanes, erasers, markers, a Rubik’s Cube, a tin of slime, a deck of cards and even a pair of scissors. The episode wraps up with a reflection on the role that assemblies play in the social fabric of schools, along with some stories of assemblies gone wrong and right, and that unforgettable rite of passage: the moment Grade 7 students finally ascend to the pinnacle of elementary school seating the wooden bench. This episode will make you laugh, or at the very least, have you thinking about your own assembly experiences. Do you remember Mr. Doobee, Sparky, or the North Vancouver firefighters?
Learn More at stuntbrothers.ca

Key Takeaways

• The importance of school assemblies in building community and celebrating achievements
• Common assembly challenges: technical issues, student behavior, timing, and engagement tips
• Eleven top assembly killers, including technical fails, disrespect, and poor planning
• The Stunt Brothers’ ten tips for more effective school-wide assemblies
• Creative ideas to start assemblies with a hook and keep engagement high
• How role-playing students and using storytelling enhance participation
• Managing assembly logistics: space, timing, respect for teachers’ schedules
• The significance of ending on a high note and reinforcing school pride
• Unforgettable assembly stories illustrating chaos, humor, and lessons learned
• Reflection on how assemblies contribute to student development and school culture

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Transcript

STS With The Stunt Brothers

Martin 0:05

Good afternoon, podcast listeners everywhere. Welcome to After the Bell, a Stunt Brothers production. I'm Martin Stuible.

Roy 0:13

And I'm Roy Hunt, and we share your pain, having taught a combined 70 years. 70 years. 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. 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.

Martin 0:36

Well, I always show up for a free meal. Occam's razor, my friend. Occam's Razor. You ever heard me say that before?

Roy 0:47

Oh, yes. I've heard you say how do you like them apples a lot, too. Uh yes, you have some you have some special ones. I do. Special sayings.

Martin 0:58

We were having technical problems here, right? We were not hearing the sound through the headphones. Right. And it turned out I had the USB plugged into the power part of the device that keeps us all connected and happy and ready to do a podcast. Trevor Burrus, Jr. So what does Occam's razor mean? Trevor Burrus Well, it means the simplest answer is usually the reason why. You know, it's like when those tech guys get a call from someone and say their laptop's not working, right? You know, it's not working and they're expecting some complicated answer and they go, Well, did you turn it on?

Roy 1:30

Did you unplug it? Yeah, right. You can plug it back in. Is it plugged in? Occam's razor.

Martin 1:34

And you know what? It actually goes back to a 14th-century friar.

Roy 1:39

Oh.

Martin 1:40

William of Ockham. William of Ockham. William of Occam is a hero of mine. Right? And Carl Sagan, who I mentioned, that's who first got me onto Occam's Razor in a book I read of his. And usually the simplest explanation. Humans tend to go for the complicated, but usually something simple like was it even plugged in? So how do you like them, Apple?

Roy 2:02

It sounds like we had a complicated explanation on Occam's razor.

Martin 2:10

Well, here we are, my friend. We're at episode 61. Everyone's back from spring break. Yes. And episode 61.

Roy 2:19

And that would be 61, so that it would be uh uh season two? Yes, season two. Episode thirty-one. That's correct. There you go. There you go.

Martin 2:29

How do you like them apples? I love those apples. And I hope everybody loved their apples of spring break and they're back into it and they're uh they're realizing spring is here. The clocks have gone forward. Yes. Another one of mine, right? You've jumped ahead, daylight savings time, so you've got that extra hour in the evening, and it's gonna stay with you.

Speaker 2 2:50

Ah.

Speaker 2:51

Right.

Speaker 2 2:52

Well, I I I noticed as as I walk through places, uh the places that have analog clocks haven't changed the time. No. I'm I'm looking up here in our booth here, and I'm seeing it still says uh it's 1256.

Speaker 3:09

Yeah, and we know it's 156. But that that's that's gonna be a thing of the past. Yes, it will. And I would imagine everybody's happy about it because people have been talking about this for seven years and they complain every year, oh they're going forward this time, but we have to turn them back in the fall.

Speaker 2 3:27

But no one told me about this. Now here it is. Seven years ago, it was started as a discussion. And now you got it. And what was it, 93 percent uh of the people voted for it? Trevor Burrus, Jr. They did.

Speaker 3:41

They did, but they don't seem happy now. Aaron Ross Powell, but they're not happy. We found some comments. Well, we we did a little TikTok video, right? We asked for people to make comments and they did. They did. It's kind of like our FSAs. We'll get into that in another episode sometime, but this one certainly got some traction out there.

unknown 3:58

Yes.

Speaker 3:58

Interesting what gets traction. So I know. Yeah.

Speaker 2 4:02

No one told me about this. Uh-huh. You have to be constant reminders.

Speaker 4:06

It's a lack of understanding of science. Yes, it's going to be dark in the morning, you non-scientific people out there.

Speaker 2 4:13

There you go. All right. So here's first the first comment is I'm super happy we're staying on daylight savings. I've always hated the sun setting at uh 1630. So depressing. Uh with an extra hour in the evening, I can walk my dog after work. Coming home in the dark after work is horrible. I also love the long evenings in the summer and would hate to lose that.

Speaker 4:35

They are nice. Yes. I think that's why people don't want the standard time. Aaron Powell And that's from Sean. Um Boundless Boreal, who follows us on TikTok. She said we don't ever get the time back. And yes, I am all over this. I have now jumped one hour closer to my 60th birthday, which is coming in April. I was expecting to get that back in the fall. Now I'm one hour closer.

Speaker 2 4:59

You have extra gray hair.

Speaker 5:01

Yeah. Am I going to have that extra hour at the end of my life? Yeah.

Speaker 2 5:04

Maybe.

Speaker 5:04

Okay. I hope so. I'm about to go. Let's turn it I'm going to turn the clock back. I'll be there.

Speaker 2 5:10

I'll be there. I'll turn the clock back an hour for you.

Speaker 5:12

I got another hour for you, Martin. Okay. You're a good friend.

Speaker 2 5:17

Okay. When sunrise happens at 9 a.m. in the lower mainland on the 49th parallel, and no one else in the neighborhood is on the same time as you, you will regret it. Let's move to Edmonton. Big Bro Davenport.

Speaker 5:33

Big Bro Davenport. Wow. Well, Safety Bob. Safety Bob said, I think with this change, schools should consider an hour-late start for the safety of children. That might not make such a bad idea to start school an hour later.

Speaker 2 5:48

That opens up a can of worms. That's not going to go over yet.

Speaker 5:53

That's not going to go over. I can hear it now. I can hear it now. Oh my gosh. What else? What have we got here?

Speaker 2 6:02

Trevor Burrus I agree with getting rid of changing the clocks, but it should have been to standard time. Standard time is more aligned with human algorithms and Kardashian patterns.

Speaker 6:16

Circadian? Oh I don't know about the Kardashian patterns. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

Speaker 2 6:21

Kardashian patterns. I can't figure those out.

Speaker 6:26

I do not want to know. But it's true. That morning light, I know that's going to be a thing. But uh you wanted it, people. You got it. You asked for it. And Mary, she said, finally my car clock and other electronics will forever be correct. It's true. And in fact, when I picked you up for today's podcast so that we would get here not at 12-10 at the right time, I realized, oh, I've got to change that clock. I don't want Roy to think I don't keep up with the changing time. So there you go.

Speaker 2 6:55

Trevor Burrus And from Sarah, uh we have so for those of us in the Peace, I guess that's a Peace Valley.

Speaker 7:04

The Peace River Valley.

Speaker 2 7:06

Sounds like a song to me. Yeah. It means we will always be on Vancouver time instead of Vancouver time in the summer and Alberta time in the winter.

Speaker 7:15

Aaron Ross Powell There you go.

Speaker 2 7:16

Never thought of it that deeply.

Speaker 7:19

No. I never thought I had to. So may this forever be put to bed, but I know it won't be.

Speaker 2 7:26

Trevor Burrus And another 10 years will bring they'll bring it back and say, oh, we need to change it. Kids are complaining about walking in the dark.

Speaker 7:34

They will. Yes. You heard it here first, folks. But they don't walk in the dark. They don't even walk. That's the thing. They're complaining about being driven to school in the dark. And they're all got their devices to light their faces up anyway. Wow. What are they saying? So are you getting up early enough? Because you're probably TLC, right? So did that mess with your Kardashian rhythm?

Speaker 2 7:57

No, no. Not and it didn't mess with my circadian.

Speaker 8:00

Okay, good, good. So you're back in class working hard.

Speaker 2 8:04

And uh getting lots of work, more work than I want. And so there's some times when uh I just say I'm busy.

Speaker 8:14

Yeah.

The Theme Develops: The School Assembly

Speaker 2 8:14

Yeah. Yeah. But you know, it's uh strange to uh I'll get called early in the morning sometimes because something will happen and maybe someone can't make it in. So I I've had sort of an emergency call half an hour before school starts. And I did have one where I was called to the school and they were having an assembly.

Speaker 8:38

Ah, the old school assembly.

Speaker 2 8:41

And so not your class. Not my class. So you know, it's one thing uh you know, I like to go in and I have to claim my space and make connections with the students. And I know that, you know, depending on the age group, this is a grade five, six group. So, you know, you really have to sell it. Yeah.

Speaker 8:59

Lay down some rules too, I guess. Right.

Speaker 2 9:01

But then it's an assembly. And then I'm like, oh my gosh, I had a flashback about all those things I had to do to prep my class when it was my class for an assembly. And it and that was a you know, so I think the the average person just thinks you just say, okay, let's go. And you go.

Speaker 9:22

Trevor Burrus, Jr.: And they sit there like little angels.

Speaker 2 9:25

No work entailed. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: First of all, you just talk to them, okay, we're going to an assembly. This assembly is about and if you know what the assembly is. And you read the email. Or do you think that's a good one? You know what it is? It's not necessarily that uh it's someone looked at a schedule and said, Oh my gosh, there's a group coming in today. Right. And it's a like, you know, it's like push the push that panic button. It's a we have an assembly.

Speaker 9:53

And it's like, okay. And often it's uh it is an announcement like that, too. It's like you're in the middle of math, everyone, time to come down to the assembly.

Speaker 2 10:00

Uh and then the class goes, uh So then because uh I'm I'm in this classroom preparing for an assembly as a as a TTOC, but then having this um this stress come from remembering my past experiences where I I would look at my students and I would say, okay. PTSD. These are the these are the expectations, my expectations. So you did that you you did this with the class? So and but you know, instead of coming off, you know too strong, I said, okay, so what are the expectations that your teacher and that the school has for your behavior? We don't have any. So can can can you can't like bring our toys. Yeah. Yeah. And said, I noticed some of you are chewing gum. Is that okay? Yeah. Right? And what but I remember um I mean ha short of calling in someone to do pat downs on my students, and it's like I remember just saying, okay, I want you to stand in line with someone uh that you know that you can um sit beside a i in the auditorium and be quiet. They they choose a best friend. And then uh I look and see what they have in their hand, right? And and I have confiscated rulers, of course.

Speaker 11:24

Erasers, um anything can be a toy.

Speaker 2 11:27

Handmade airplanes, uh paper airplanes.

Speaker 11:30

Fidget toys.

Speaker 2 11:31

And I can remember uh a student in line ready to go with a pair of scissors in their hand.

Speaker 11:38

Yeah. I had a student with uh some slime. They were bringing slime with them, right? They had slime. So you did all this with your class, this this TLC class where you kind of went over all the expectations. Thinking about what you had to do for your own class when it was yours. So I guess it went really well then in the assembly. I guess it was just perfect.

Speaker 2 11:58

No, no, it didn't. And uh so the sound was horrible. Yeah. Uh the the students were well, because the regular teacher wasn't there and they're you know moving around and squirming and waving to friends, and uh those students who be uh become easily dysregulated. Became a couple students rolling around on the floor, and uh then trying to get everybody to be quiet. Uh oh yeah, the teachers are looking at you. The teachers are looking at me that I should control the class that I've never been in before. And then and then there's you know, there's always the teachers that they they take on the guard stuff. They do, they do. There's no emotion in the face. Yeah. Right? Yeah don't show fear.

Speaker 12:48

It's stallock 19.

Speaker 2 12:50

And look left and right and just look left and right, scan the crowd, right? Point at someone, yeah, and they know you're pointing at them, but they don't look in your direction because they dare not look. Because then you give them the wave. Uh I I you give them the wave to come come to you, and then they put their hands up and they go, me? Who and they and then they point at the person beside them. It's not me. Yeah. Right?

The Nugget

Speaker 13:19

And but they them all that you're trying to have this conversation in the middle of the assembly. Right. Yes. Yes. So I think we've got our theme. I think we've got our episode 61 theme. Assemblies. I think we've got to talk about assemblies. Yes. I think it's a good one. I think it's a fun one. Let's get on and talk more after the nugget. Okay. There's that sound. Yes, that's a lovely nugget.

Speaker 2 13:44

I haven't heard that for a while. No. No. That is the sound of the nugget. Yes. Nugget is a takeaway, something that you can use in the classroom, something that can help you in just looking at uh improving your teaching or something that can be something that the stunt brothers say, hey, this might help you.

Speaker 14:05

And we're talking about assemblies, right? So we're gonna we won't get to any nugget right away. We'll just kind of feel it out. We're trying to get to like some of the fun stuff with assemblies, some of the things that you I think if you think about can make you appreciate them. And like why why do we even have assemblies? Right.

Speaker 2 14:21

The big thing is it it's where students and staff come together, they hear the message all together. So it's a common uh platform that everyone is listening to the same message. Yeah. And it c usually reflects the goals of the school. Yeah. Something that they want to have done or it could be an environmental message, something like that.

Speaker 14:43

And I think back to COVID times where we didn't have them for a couple years. And some of those kids first of all, they were some of the kids, I guess, in grade one and two probably was grade three before they even had a school-wide assembly. But i sometimes it was nice. It was like, oh good, I just get to be in my class and worry about that and not have to suddenly remember there's an assembly. But you lost that school spirit, right? That idea of having this setting where you're there as an entire school and you don't you don't often get that anymore. So I think we missed that during those times.

Speaker 2 15:12

Trevor Burrus, Jr.: and and I know that during those dark times. The dark COVID days. Some people use Zoom platforms. Yeah, yeah. It just it wasn't the same. Trevor Burrus, Jr. And even having guest speakers or having guest speakers that uh you would connect with them and then uh I can see you, can't hear you, right? Yes, I'm I can hear you, but I can't see you. And all of those things. And and i it's interesting because there are times in uh a large assembly in the uh gym, there are all kinds of technical issues that pop up, which we will talk about. Yes. And it seems that when we were using technology that those problems became amplified. They did, right. They were ten times worse and and uh almost impossible to solve. I I know for a fact that there were at least, I'm gonna say, two guest speakers that I had uh lined up on Teams for my class that uh after about five minutes of trying, uh we'd both decided just to cancel. Yeah.

Speaker 16:31

You know, I I'd almost rather have a kid in an assembly that's happened before who throws up and you've got to deal with that in person in the assembly than deal with some of the technical problems when you have a guest speaker, right? Occam's razor, my friend.

Speaker 2 16:48

Oh my gosh. No. Are you kidding? Have you never heard that happen? Have you had a student before? Oh yes. I have. And and what happens is that, first of all, it's um the in in fact, uh it was during an assembly where a student uh came up to the teacher and said, Oh, I'm uh I'm feeling sick. And uh then the teacher, realizing that something should happen soon, got up and the student just threw up on their feet. Okay, so that's that's one thing. So that would be simple if it was just that one student and the one teacher. But no. When you have a gymnasium of, I don't know, on average 500 students or more. Uh at Ridgeway. Oh, usually at Ridgeway we had 700 students, and we that does not include the staff and the support staff. Right. So 750 and the the smell and I don't go into much more detail of the Trevor Burrus, yeah, it says so.

Speaker 17:51

The fire marshal thing on the door usually says there should be no more than 300 in this gym. And somehow I don't know how we get that.

Speaker 2 18:00

The the idea is just with that student throwing up and then the other students around obviously reacting to that right away, students needing to leave because they felt sick from what they saw. So I would rather I would rather have a technical broke. See what I'm talking about?

Speaker 18:21

Oh you can have that any day, but I would rather be there in person than that technical issue. But the other issue, I mean, you when you say that it reminds me of, you know, there's always that student who wants to go to the washroom, right? And you you know you determine that you think, no, I I you do your best, right? But you think they're not clearly looking like they're gonna pee their pants or something, right? Tragic, right? So you're you you know you want to be sensitive to that. So you say no, you do your best, because you you know it's only 10 more minutes, and you think they you know because you know the moment you let that one go, you've got gates really open, literally, right? And often I've said no, and then suddenly I mean another class starts letting them go one after another, and then before you know it knows the school is going.

Speaker 2 19:05

And and then it's always that that fine line. I mean, the student that you know that just wants to leave. Yeah. You know, because i if it's your class, you know those things, you know the predictable patterns of engagement or disengagement or regulation or dysregulation. You know that. Because I I mean I have always felt that if it was a good time where it wasn't in the middle of presentation because uh they weren't walking in front of the the presenter or anything like that. I I never want to stop someone from going to the bathroom. I don't want to get a a letter saying that. No, that's the that's the dilemma with that.

Speaker 19:49

Right.

Speaker 2 19:50

But you also know this so it it's a it's a tough one. Yeah. There can be this mass exit going on, right?

Speaker 19:57

And you feel for the person who is presenting in that situation. So one of the challenges. I know one of the highlights for a lot of students, I don't know if other schools do this, but in elementary or in uh in BC, our grade sevens are part of elementary, so they're the final year unless they're in the middle school, but we have mainly K-7 schools. And so often the grade sevens would get to be on the benches. Yes. Right? The rite of passage there.

Speaker 2 20:22

To leave a hard wood floor for a hard wood bench.

Speaker 20:26

That first assembly in September, when the new grade sevens, who are just grade sixes, get to sit on those benches, it's probably the best behaved they are in that first one, because they're just they've arrived. They have arrived.

Speaker 2 20:38

Right. And and they're it's like they're on a throne and they're looking down at all the other students, and they have their piece of wood and they're looking at the others and say, oh, our piece of wood is much better than yours. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

Speaker 20:51

But by June, they've been on that throne all year. They take advantage of that. They've become quite different creatures. Yes.

Speaker 1 20:58

Yes.

Speaker 20:59

But assemblies, fantastic, way to go. And um I to me I think they're an important part of school life, right? They really are. And I think we we've saw what it was like when we didn't have them. There are challenges, and what we're gonna later on in the episode talk about some of those challenges, some funny stories, some things that have happened to us. But to me, uh the nugget of all this is, you know, even though you hear that announcement from your principal and you remember, oh, I forgot about the assembly, and you kind of have a little panic attack. Usually it's this wonderful chance to be together. And I think we are a village. And I think when else do you get that chance?

Speaker 2 21:34

It's building that community. It's reminding you that you're part of something larger than your class. Yeah. And oftentimes there um the uh topics are connected to uh school school wide theme. Yeah. Um I know we've had some amazing uh farewell assemblies for teachers who who were in service for you know for Many, many years and then retired from the school. And just for all the students to show their appreciation and and and the care that they have towards that teacher.

Speaker 22:12

And where else do you get that? And I think where else will s children learn to deal with those situations, right? When they're suddenly in an event, right? That is a public event, and they've never had a school assembly to kind of practice those things, right? They're at a loss as a human being, I think. So that's why it's important. And sometimes I think I I think of like they're kind of like assemblies when you've had performances, right? School performances, maybe the Christmas play. And I see some of the parents who I think maybe they didn't have any assemblies when they were young, because they don't model it either, right? Yes. They got their cell phones out, they're leaving to go to the bathroom, right? Have you ever had this too when the say it's it's a many classes are doing some Christmas event and the kindergarten class is finished, and suddenly, you know, five of the parents who were in that kindergarten class just walk out. They don't watch the rest of the production. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

Speaker 2 22:59

Right. I just saw my my uh my child perform, I'm done.

Speaker 23:04

So I think it kind of goes back to that. Everything I learned in kindergarten, I kind of learned about life, right? And I think some of those didn't get that chance. So that's why I do think we're lesser for when we don't have these opportunities to meet as a as a whole school. And that's kind of what we're saying. Our nugget is is to we know they're a challenge. It's good to have a laugh about things that maybe don't always go right, but at the end of the day, I think we should celebrate those moments. And I would not want to live, especially in our world of online world where we don't connect anymore. I wouldn't want to live in a school that didn't have school-wide assemblies.

Speaker 1 23:39

What's that sound?

Speaker 23:40

What's that sound? And there's the sound of the homework board. You sound pretty enthusiastic for something you don't like. It's been a long time though. So I'm I like it again, right? You like the homework board. We've had guest after guest after guest, so it's kind of nice to be able to do that. I am. I yeah, I've had an easy ride. Yes, you have.

Speaker 2 24:01

Well, I'm hoping this homework will be fun for our listeners. And uh the question for our homework.

Speaker 24:07

Yes, because we we want we know you comment when you when it's when it hits a nerve, like the clocks going back or the FSA. Suddenly we get lots of comments. So maybe this will be chalk a block comments is what we're looking for.

Speaker 2 24:21

Trevor Burrus, Jr.

Speaker 24:21

Yeah. Because even listeners, if you aren't a teacher, you were in a classroom at one time. So you probably have memories of assemblies, right? Aaron Ross Powell So I would like to know.

Speaker 2 24:30

We would like to know what is the most unforgettable assembly moment you've ever witnessed.

Speaker 24:36

Aaron Ross Powell Yeah. And that could be the best assembly ever, the worst assembly ever.

Speaker 2 24:40

Trevor Burrus Funniest assembly fail?

Speaker 24:42

Aaron Ross Powell Yeah. It could be things that went right, things that went wrong, right? Just moments that you know might give a chuckle we could learn from so we don't repeat those and we can avoid your mistakes, right? It's always good to learn from others. That's your homework.

Speaker 2 24:58

How easy is that?

Speaker 24:59

That's an easy one. That's an easy thing. That's a fun one. Wow. And uh I think it's in everybody's memory. You don't have to plug it into AI to get your answer. I think you can get this one on your own. So share. And where can they share? There's many places. Wow. We have our website. We have the website? We'll have it up on the homework board, stuntbrothers.ca. We have our Facebook. Facebook page? Right.

Speaker 2 25:23

Facebook group.

Detention Hall

Speaker 25:24

It's after the bell stunt brothers, right? You can join that and we have the link on our Facebook group for all our areas of social media, right? We also have a link on our stuntbrothers.ca page for our social media. So if you look for stuntbrothers.ca, that usually is a hub where you can find a place to make a comment to tell us what you think. And this time the homework is to tell us what you think about assemblies and give us your stories, right? Tell us what's the most unforgettable assembly moment you've witnessed. Ah, the lovely detention hall sound. I think we've got some uh assembly killers we're gonna put into the detention hall, right?

Speaker 2 26:05

I think detention hall assembly killers would be really good. These are the things that just make your assembly stop.

Speaker 26:16

So what do you got? It loses the energy, it loses the impact. It does.

Speaker 2 26:20

So the first one, the end of the assembly.

Speaker 26:24

You think it's over.

Speaker 2 26:25

And so and the guest speaker says, are there any questions? Usually it's like noon, too. Right? Everybody's g wants to get out to go, get ready to go for lunch. And are there any questions? And no one's been prepped. No. Uh no students have been asked beforehand to ask a question. And then all these left. They're usually and the kindergartens are in the front. And they go for the closest student, and the guest speaker says, Yes. What's your question? And the student goes, Do you have any brothers? And the guest speaker goes, Pardon? I can't hear you. I'm sorry.

unknown 27:12

Do you have any brothers?

Speaker 2 27:16

And then the person beside that student said, Do you have any brothers? And then they answer it. And the answer is no. And then are you married? Are you married? Do you have a dog? Right? And this is the person who has climbed Mount Everest. Exactly. Someone who has made this amazing contribution or has pulled off an amazing feat.

Speaker 27:41

Not what were you thinking when you were at the top of the Himalayas looking out towards Nepal. What were you thinking? It's like Do you have a sister?

Speaker 2 27:50

Do you have a dog?

Speaker 27:52

How old are you? How old are you? Oh, so definitely an assembly killer. Trevor Burrus, Jr. That's a killer. Sometimes when you do have these guest speakers, and it's the never-ending guest speaker, right? And they said, Oh, 15 minutes, that's all I need, right? And 45 minutes, you're looking at the clock, and the kids are looking at each other and they're still going on.

Speaker 2 28:13

Trevor Burrus And and again, and those students who are doing their best to be regulated, they they start laying on their back and start rolling.

Speaker 1 28:24

Oh some of the teachers are doing that too.

Speaker 2 28:28

Number three, the microphone that hates everyone. Squealing. It's squealing feedback. Microphones that have batteries in them, but no one checks to see if the battery is fresh and works for about 30 seconds. Yeah. And then goes dead.

Speaker 28:48

And then the poor student presenter they have up there says three words before the mic cuts out, and teachers thinking, oh, we just tested this five minutes ago. But maybe you did, maybe you didn't. But that is just a killer for the same thing.

Speaker 2 29:00

That's an assembly killer. That's right.

Speaker 29:02

Trevor Burrus, and then how about this one? I think we all know this one. I call it the sit-down shuffle, right? You get to that school gym, 500 kids have to fit in that gym. You bring your class down, and there's that sign where your class is supposed to sit, division four, and there's no room.

Speaker 2 29:20

All of the division signs are put out there. And it's like the teacher before you just said sit where you want. That's right. And then you have to do this Tetris game where you're like Tetris game. Shuffle back. And they look at you, right? Shuffle back. Move back. Move back. Move back. And then they stop. And they said now you have to move shuffle to the left. It's a dance.

Speaker 29:44

And then you're shuffle to the left. Your class is now intermixed with the other division and you can't tell where everybody is. And then now they're totally right up to where the band was going to play. There's some kid sitting with the bass drum.

Speaker 2 29:57

Number five.

Speaker 29:57

Number five.

Speaker 2 29:58

The video that refuses to play. You have every and I know I I've seen our administrators and I've seen teachers who are doing presentations and presenters. They get everything organized. They're toggling between two things. And then the grade five student from the back row sees what's going on, gets up, walks over, and fixes it.

Speaker 30:35

Please check your stuff before you start. Yes. Oh my. Okay, and the last one, number six. I think we've all had that assembly that's in June, and it's often it's the farewell assembly, which are often beautiful moments where the grade sevens go off, but it's the hottest day of the year.

Speaker 2 30:51

Hottest day of the year.

Speaker 30:52

In the hottest room in the school. Right. With 600 bodies that are already heating up.

Speaker 2 30:58

Like sardines. You have the doors open, the heat's not escaping. Actually, the heat's coming into the gym.

Speaker 31:08

Right. Right? Yes. Teachers are fainting, right? Oh, those are those are assembly killers. But that's the reason why we need we we've looked at these assembly killers, and I think the stunt brothers have there now what we call the top ten stunt brothers tips for better school-wide assemblies.

Speaker 1 31:27

Right?

Speaker 31:28

So what are what's one of our tips? I'll start with number 10. Number 10.

Speaker 2 31:32

Start with a hook. If the first five minutes are boring, you're in trouble. Yeah.

Speaker 31:36

You've lost that, Jim.

Speaker 2 31:38

Start with something unexpected, music, uh funny story, a quick video, something to connect with your crowd.

Speaker 31:46

Yeah, challenge your crowd, right? They'll be they'll be doing fine. But you gotta think of those. Okay. Number nine. Keep it short. I think that's just you know number one, keep it short, right? Assembly should feel like a highlight reel, right? Not a director's cut, right? Where you feel, okay.

unknown 32:05

Mr.

Speaker 32:05

Stuba wanted all this in here, but really? Did he have to include, you know, his slide to Europe last year and his trip to Europe last year? Okay. Keep it short.

Speaker 2 32:15

Great. Number eight, give students a role. Yeah, really. I really like this. Students are far more engaging when they're involved. Let them speak, let them host, let them run the tech and uh introduce the speakers and lead some activities. But to do that, you have to front-end load them. You have to give them the opportunities to practice the role before you follow them making a lot of people.

Speaker 32:48

Yes. Yeah, please practice it. Number seven, use the power of story, right? Story. People remember stories far more than speeches. A personal story, a student success story, or a funny school moment really sticks with everyone in that assembly.

Speaker 2 33:07

So yes. Number six, have one clear message. Right? The best assemblies focus on one big idea or one big takeaway. If you try to cover too many, students remember none. Yeah. Adults remember none, right? Teachers remember none.

Speaker 33:27

Exactly. Number five, break up the talking. Oh, yeah. Don't make it one of these assemblies where there's one talking head after another and we're all just falling asleep, right? Mix things up. Get some music in there. Short videos. Make sure you've prepared your videos before. You've got some student helpers that know what they're doing. Audience participation where you can, but also again a plan for that. Quick demonstrations, but you put on a show. To me, it is a show, right? You gotta think about that show. So you gotta do some planning, make it engaging. So there you go. Number five.

Speaker 2 33:59

Number four, make the gym feel smaller. Now this is interesting because in my teaching career at Ridgway, the gym always felt smaller because we had 700 plus students.

Speaker 34:14

Packed in there, and you wish it was bigger, right?

Speaker 2 34:15

Trevor Burrus, Jr. But there were times when we had presentations that were uh uh primary classes first, and then the after that there were intermediate classes, and then the gym did seem big.

Speaker 1 34:27

Yeah.

Speaker 2 34:28

And having the the audience at one end of the gym and the presenters at the other end of the gym uh didn't really work. And the acoustics in a gym are horribly. The worst place, right, for sound. So of course get that audience up close to where the presentation is happening so that it feels like a uh a more personal close.

Speaker 34:52

I agree, yeah. Number three is respect the teacher's time. And we've all talked about in this podcast. We recognize the importance of assemblies. We think they're a culturally important place to meet and to learn skills to be in a group, but you also have to respect teachers' time, right? They should know exactly how long it's gonna be. There should always be a heads up, not an announcement half hour before, right? Or even the Monday of that week. Scheduled in advance. Scheduled in advance. I know some teachers don't read the emails that explained it, right? But still, you can put that on them. But make sure it's part of a staff meeting. There's certainly information that goes out to teachers well ahead of time. Yes.

Speaker 2 35:30

Number two, end with energy. Yes. Yes. Don't let the assembly fizzle out. Finish with something memorable, a challenge to the students, a celebration, a great uh moment for applause. Uh send everyone back to the classroom energized.

Speaker 35:47

Aaron Ross Powell Just don't end with the questions. Right? No questions. And the number one, which is really back to our nugget again, is make it about school community. The best assemblies remind students that they're part of something bigger than their classrooms. Celebrate achievements, kindness, teamwork, and school pride. And it's just it can be that for any kind of presentation, but I think it's just that celebration that we are Ridgway, we are Cove Cliff, we are you know Roy Hunt, secondary, whatever the school may be. Celebrate that and celebrate being part of this place that's bigger than yourself.

Speaker 1 36:21

Yes.

Speaker 36:22

So there, that's our detention hall. And this time we came up with kind of a response to the detention hall.

Speaker 1 36:28

There you go.

Speaker 36:28

So we don't just create problems. We don't just put people in the detention hall, we educate them to become better citizens.

Rearview Mirror

Speaker 2 36:34

We are and now it's time for the rear view mirror. There we go. Right? And I know we oftentimes we use the rear view mirror so we look in the back to see where we've come from. Right. So it helps us to understand where we're going for it. That's what we always say. That's what we always say. But in this case, we're gonna have the rear view mirror for um stories from assemblies that have gone wrong.

Speaker 37:00

Aaron Ross Powell Yeah. So we've we you know we've we've thought of our own past, but we've also talked to other teachers, and we've curated some of the best stories we could find out there in the World Wide Web. And all names have been left off to protect the innocent on these stories.

Speaker 2 37:13

Aaron Powell So what do we have?

Speaker 37:15

Well, the first one is we've got this one elementary assembly where the principal handed every student a glow stick, asked them to be responsible. What does that mean? When the lights were turned off, chaos, of course, broke out. Students started throwing glow sticks everywhere.

Speaker 2 37:33

Yes. I have pie throwing chaos. Okay. How about that? We had an assembly fundraiser where students whose names were drawn got to throw a pie in the principal's face. What could go wrong? The students on the floor could not see what was happening at the front of the gym. Everyone stood up. By the end of the assembly, the staff had escalated things, and more than the principal got pie. The yearbook photos were legendary.

Speaker 38:01

That reminds me of the dunk tank we used to have when I was at one school. And I think you did the dunk tank in your school as well. And uh man, the lineup when I was sitting there in that dunk tank. I think there was an announcement made. Mr. Stewart's in the dunk tank, right? And remember that one principal we had, Bryn Roberts.

Speaker 2 38:20

Who wore a suit.

Speaker 38:21

He wears the whole suit in the dunk tank. And again, long lineup. So the dunk tank, that was always a great fundraiser. Trevor Burrus, Jr. And chaotic.

Speaker 2 38:28

Yes.

Speaker 38:29

So here's this just made me howl when I read about this one. This is the How Many Fingers Kid. At a presentation about a guide dog, a visually impaired speaker explained how her service dog helps her navigate the world. In the middle of the talk, one student kept asking out loud, How many fingers am I holding up? A teacher moved over and sat with a student to get them to stop.

Speaker 2 38:53

During a wildlife presentation assembly, a small animal escaped its handler and ran across the gym floor. Hundreds of kids started shouting directions at once while the teachers tried to catch it. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

Speaker 39:08

I think that was a real thing at one time, bringing in wildlife. Even like TV shows on you know Merv Griffin show, he'd bring in some raptors. There's a few things that do come back though.

Speaker 2 39:28

Okay.

Speaker 39:28

And I somehow I it about 2005 or six, I guess it was it came back. And so our school principal brought in this yo-yo expert, right? To come and do all these yo-yo tricks and everything and had the kids dancing around crazy music. But it was one of these things where you kind of wonder what was the purpose of this. Because after at lunchtime, he had a table all set up for people to buy his yo-yos, right? And I guess the parents had knew this was because the kids brought money to get those. So it was a bit of a marketing exercise, and I don't I didn't I didn't I didn't stomach it so well seeing that.

Speaker 1 40:02

Oh, yeah.

Speaker 40:02

Misuse of the public funds to sell your yo-yos. Kindergarten wave. Have you ever experienced this?

Speaker 2 40:09

Oh yes.

Speaker 40:10

During one assembly. The youngest students were often at the front, and they often are the kindergarten kids. One started one of the kindergarten kids starts waving at his buddy class at the back of the gym, right? Oh, there's there's George. Hey George. Within seconds, the entire kindergarten class started waving, turning the assembly into a giant greeting session. And I've seen that even during performances when someone's watching their older brother on stage and they're waving like mad, and the older brother doesn't he wants to do his role, but he starts to wave back and talking about floodgates opening up, right? Yeah.

Speaker 2 40:46

Yes. And uh the last one I have is the wait time. Okay. Uh huh. Right? Trying to find a way to get everyone's attention. Without yelling. Without yelling, right? Uh we've had principals who who would uh uh go like this, they'd go like shh don't do that. Well, to the entire 700 plus student population. Don't do that. It was a little it's like air being let out of a tire. Anyways, this principal tried the classic strategy of standing silently at the front of the gym until everything went quiet.

Speaker 1 41:20

There you go.

Speaker 2 41:21

Yeah. But uh it did work, but it took about three minutes. Yeah. And I know uh at our school, uh our principal would stand at the front of the room and raise their hand, and then the other students would follow, and then the idea would be everyone would follow like that.

Speaker 41:42

Common practice, right? Yeah, common practice.

Speaker 2 41:44

But I I noticed that when there were times during the assembly when it got loud, the younger students would put their programs up. At first I thought they had questions. But they're putting their hands up because they wanted to be quiet.

Wrap Up With Roy and Martin

Speaker 42:00

Yeah. So there you have it, listeners. Our episode 61 on assemblies. And I know someone is going to be happy because his episode is going to be under 45 minutes long. Yes. Uh Robin, if you're listening, he says he loves listening to the podcast, but he stopped listening when we started to get over an hour because we've had guests on. And obviously, we have a lot of people. Exactly. He likes to listen to it in his car, and it just would always work perfectly. So we've created this. There we go. We will dedicate this to Robin. Right. We've made an episode that's 45 minutes just long enough for you to get in your car after your hard day at work and listen to this, and then it'll be done when you get home.

Speaker 2 42:38

You know you've started something here. We're going to start get finally getting comments. Could you make a podcast 20 minutes? Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 42:45

It's going to be a good one.

Speaker 2 42:46

And so we'll be making podcast segments based on the amount of time it takes to get at home. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

Speaker 42:53

We're going to have to have like a hundred different versions, right? Here's the 90-minute version. I just like the two-minute version. I'm glad we're done. It's a great episode. I'm glad everyone had a good spring break, and I hope everyone does well getting through this week. And as always, we wish you just and tell you to stay healthy, happy, and fit, and do the best you can to get through every day.

Speaker 2 43:14

And I know you have at least one assembly coming up before the end of the school. Yeah, we know.

Speaker 43:21

We know you do. So take our tips and hopefully you'll have a good time at that one. This podcast is organic, taking shape with each episode, building resiliency for teachers everywhere.

Speaker 2 43:33

That sounds great.

Speaker 43:34

And our website is stuntbrothers at dot ca.

Speaker 2 43:37

That's stuntbrothers at dot ca.

Speaker 43:40

We will chat again after the bell.