Let's Talk to Some Teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week

In this episode, Zach Nelson chats with Carter Berkelman and Terah Knutsen about their experiences in teaching, the evolving classroom environment, and what keeps them motivated. Discover heartfelt stories, insights on building relationships, and the importance of community in education.

00:00 - Welcome and episode overview
00:26 - Introduction of teachers and their backgrounds
02:12 - Moments that inspired their choice to teach
04:24 - Heartwarming student interactions and reflections on the school year
08:44 - Classroom evolution and relationship-building over the years
16:34 - Changes in teaching from past to present with personalized learning
20:49 - School culture, support systems, and collaboration among staff
28:17 - Building relationships with families and community engagement
30:54 - Fun rapid-fire questions about teaching myths, talents, and favorite foods
35:03 - Words of encouragement for fellow teachers as the school year ends

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Welcome everyone to the next episode of the Inside Wise A podcast. Today we are talking about teaching. And we thought no better way to talk about teaching than to talk to teachers. So joining us today, we have Carter Burkelman, who is a fifth grade teacher at Birchview Elementary, and Tara Knutsen, who is a literacy specialist at Plymouth Creek Elementary. Carter, Tara, thank you for joining us. We appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Thanks. Thanks for having us.

SPEAKER_01 0:32

Yeah, great to be here. So I'll start with you, Tara. How long have you been teaching?

SPEAKER_00 0:39

Well, I started my teaching career uh a long time ago. Um, and I put in uh four years of teaching and then 15 years of being a stay-at-home mom. And then I've been back into teaching since 2007. So I've been a teacher on and off for quite a long time.

SPEAKER_01 1:01

What about you, Carter?

SPEAKER_02 1:02

Uh, this will be my eighth year. I also took some time off from teaching when my oldest daughter was born, and this is my first year back here and first year at YZ, so I'm just kind of getting back into things and relearning. But yeah, I I've been teaching for about eight years now.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

So both of you teaching left for a little bit and then you decided to come back. So that's a good sign about being a teacher, right? Yeah, exactly. I think so. Yep. So, Carter, what is one thing on your desk right now that would immediately tell us what kind of teacher you are?

SPEAKER_02 1:38

I have a lot of artifacts that students have given me, and so different gadgets or I actually have a big thing of brownies. It's my birthday tomorrow. So I think my my biggest thing is wanting to be connected with my students and to share interest to get to know what makes them tick. And so I think when they give you something to have it out on display is is important. And I think that that's just sort of it's right behind me. So I'm just peeking over my shoulder. But yeah, I think um hopefully evident that they feel close to me, that they um are connected with their teacher.

SPEAKER_01 2:11

What about you, Tara? What would we find on your desk that tells us what kind of teacher you are?

SPEAKER_00 2:16

Well, I always have a can of flare markers, preferably smelly flare markers, which is, you know, it's just fun. So I think learning can be really fun for kids. And then I always have a roll of this fix-it tape. So it's just a way of, you know, we we put in a lot of effort and we make mistakes and we try hard and we fix our mistakes and then we move forward. So I always have fix it tape and smelly markers.

SPEAKER_01 2:42

I love that. So, Tara, what was there a moment that you decided, hey, I want to be a teacher? Was it a lifelong dream? Was it kind of a happy accent? How did you get into teaching?

SPEAKER_00 2:55

I I just always loved school. I loved it since I was in kindergarten. My sister taught me how to read, and she knew that was her passion, that she always wanted to be a teacher. But for me, I think I just loved school and just wanted to stay in it. So I never left. I just kept into it and I, you know, went through college and I thought this is what I want to do, stay in school. So here I still am.

SPEAKER_01 3:21

Here you are. What about you, Carter? Do you always want to be a teacher?

SPEAKER_02 3:25

No, um, definitely not. I'm actually I ran into uh one of my friends from high school, his his daughter goes here as a first grader at at Birchview, and he saw me, said, Do you're teaching? You know, we kind of fallen out of contact and said, Yeah, yeah. And he's like, I I thought you would go into business or nope, teaching. It it actually surprises me, but I I always wanted to make a positive impact in the world. I always knew that piece. But I I think really when I was became more reflective and started volunteering and things, I had some experience coaching, and so I volunteered coach some soccer teams and just loved working with kids. And that was sort of the moment where I felt, hey, I can really connect with kids and what a special opportunity to make a difference on a small scale. But then that grows as these kids get older. And so that was something that really appealed to me and kind of drew me into teaching. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:18

Can you think are there a specific moment in like the last year that's like kind of affirm like this is why I do this? Does anything jump out to you?

SPEAKER_02 4:28

Yeah. I mean, I I think students wanting to have lunch together a lot of times, but I I think the parent-teacher conference, I think having the the communication with with parents is so important. I had a conference in the past year that one of the parents had said to me, You're a teacher that my student will always talk about. And this is a student who I didn't necessarily know that I had that impact on. And it really kind of caught me off guard. I remember just sitting after the conference, just sort of like with my jaw dropped, like, wow. I mean, you want that, but I just felt like, man, this is really this is really happening. And having taken some time away from the profession, you're worried, can I can I pick this thing back up? Am I am I really good at this? Is this really working? You don't always see that. Sometimes you see these little light bulb moments, but sometimes you're like, I really hope what I'm I'm putting in here is is can is clicking. And when the parent said that, it really hit me. I mean, even still when I think about it, it kind of I'm like, yes. So that I think that stands out, that interaction at conferences this year.

unknown 5:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

What about you, Tara? Is there a moment this year that you're like, yep, this is why I do this?

SPEAKER_00 5:40

Well, I am a teacher of reading, and so for me, unlocking reading for kids and knowing that that is a skill they need for life is my passion. And each child is so different, and you know, for some reason it's not really clicking in their classroom, so trying to unlock exactly what it is that this child needs to open up the world of reading. So there was one child in particular at Kimberly Lane I was working with. He was a first grader, and he was just working so hard, and he was doing his very best, and we were working on sounds and blending and working on high frequency words, and he was just having a hard time, but it was coming slow and steady, and all of a sudden some of it started to come together. His hard work was paying off and he knew it. He turned a page and he saw all this text and he started to it started to come and he was reading and he started wiggling like this. And he was wiggling and he was started bouncing, and he said he looked up from the page and he said, I'm doing it, I'm doing it, Mrs. Knutson, I'm really doing it. And so that's why I knew it. It's you know, it's just the joy when you can see that they can put together that their effort, their hard work, all of that comes together for them and it pays off and they have that success. That's it. That's that's the joy.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

That's so great. I mean, we have a four-year-old at home, and he's starting to, you know, he'll start kindergarten in the fall, and but he'll do things, and this like the feeling you get inside you as like a parent, I'm sure it's it's similar as a teacher, right? Is is they do something like write his name or whatever it is, and you feel so happy for them, and you see like the joy on their face, and that that's something that you just like can't replicate.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

It's such a cool when you come alongside, and yeah, and they've done the success though, right? You've come alongside, but they've done it and they feel that joy, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

It's almost like the investment has paid off, right? Like you're investing time and energy. Carter, for you, do you experience a lot of those like light bulb moments that kind of come and go throughout the school year?

SPEAKER_02 7:53

Yeah, absolutely. Um, I one of the things I love most is circle up time where we're sharing about our personal lives. And I have this uh expression that my mom quote, how we spend our days is how we spend our life. And I share this with my students. And one day the students started singing this, they started chanting it and singing it, this how we spend our days is how we spend our life. And I just thought, oh my gosh, like they're really taking this stuff in. And but really buying into this idea of choice making and and showing up every day and giving it their best and showing up for each other. And so, yeah, I mean, I think that there's moments where there's this community in our classroom where I'm like, wow, this is um it's just special to be part of. I always say I learn more from my students maybe than they learn from me, and and that's something where you're like, yeah, they're really taking this in, and and it's it's special to be a part of.

SPEAKER_01 8:48

And do you do you think that the evolution, like we're closing in on the end of the school year, which is crazy, but do you think that's like an evolutionary thing like over time? Like from the start of the school year, September, there's a lot of like wide eyes, maybe not as much in like fifth grade as say like kindergarten, but there's still like this newness and you're kind of getting to know each other. Do you find that that changes over the course of the year too, as you learn more about each other and build those relationships?

SPEAKER_02 9:15

I mean, I I'm a big quotes person, but nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care. And so I think those first weeks of school where you're you're just really telling the kids that you love them, that you are vulnerable, that you have feelings of fear or doubt, or sharing your own school experience. I share how I couldn't pronounce my R's, and so they're looking at their teacher like you struggled too with math or with reading, or so they they want to relate and that you need that trust, but it doesn't just happen, right? You're new, and they I tell the parents, like, you didn't necessarily pick me as their teacher, and I feel so blessed to be in this position, but I want the kids to feel that that I'm really here for them. And so, yeah, that you're with them so often, you need to establish that trust. And by the end of the year, you hope that you've done it, and it evidences itself in them breaking out in song when you share a quote with them. You see the community, you see them caring for each other. Yeah, it's it it does take time though, and it's something that has to evolve naturally too. They need to fuel and really believe what you're saying. So, yeah, it takes some t some time sometimes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

I'd piggyback on that in the area that I work on. I work with kids, you know, well, this year, first grade through fifth, that we have to develop that relationship because we are asking kids to be really vulnerable, that we are working in an area that is their hardest area, that it's something that a lot of times kids have developed a lot of coping strategies, kind of ways of hiding that reading is an area that might be difficult or hard. And so I'm asking them to come in here and like lay it all out here with me. And so they have to trust and they have to be vulnerable, and I have to be vulnerable with them too. And that's how you do it. You start with this uh you belong here, I care about you, you care about me. I had a a girl today when I was walking her back to class, she said, I had a dream last night that I I'll start getting weepy. I had a dream last night that I got to spend it instead of a half hour, I got to spend an hour with you every day, and it was the best dream, you know, that that she she comes to the area to work on something that is hard for her. But yet there's this positive relationship, and so she's willing to come and work so hard because she feels good when she's here. So you can't ask them to do something so hard unless they feel safe and they feel like they belong and that you care about them and you want this for them so they'll partner with you to work hard.

SPEAKER_01 11:52

What are some of the modern challenges in today's classroom? So obviously that has shifted a lot, but Tara, what do you see as some of those challenges in 2026?

SPEAKER_00 12:04

I guess I would say I think that the rise in technology has made it harder for children to have extended attention span. So I would say things have shifted a little bit that children haven't had practice with extended attention, sustained effort on tasks. So they just haven't had as much practice doing things for longer periods of time. They're used to like really fast feedback, really quick, like I don't like doing this. I shift, I shift, I shift, I shift. And so things like reading and things like math, those things take sustained effort. But I think kids are still kids, you know. I mean, they're the same, they have the same kinds of need for love and connection. I think kids are still the same at their heart and their core, but I do think they need more practice with sustained tasks and sustained attention. And I think technology has made that a little more challenging.

SPEAKER_01 13:02

What about you, Carter?

SPEAKER_02 13:04

I'm still thinking about that, what the student said to you, Tara, about um the hour long. I think I'm gonna remember that for a while. That's so special. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

Thank you. I know it meant the world to me.

SPEAKER_02 13:14

Yeah. I, you know, I I agree with what Tara is saying. I think that the sustained, and again, this is my first year back, so I'm sort of relearning some of these things and picking up and and you're really trying to be observant. But I think at the end of the day, when I think about my time as a student, it felt like we were doing a lot of the similar things that we do today. But I think the difference is, and again, I go back to the relationship piece, and this is probably gonna just keep coming up with me, but I think that we have so much structure now, and we talk about needing to be vulnerable with kids and give the opportunity for them to be vulnerable that when the schedule is so packed, maybe sometimes less can be more, if that makes sense. And so I think for me, it's how do I as a teacher become really clear with what my expectations are and what I want students to be able to do at the end of a lesson, but then structure it in a way where I'm allowing for the mistake time because kids are going to make mistakes, and then the learning happens through those mistakes. So, how can we talk through these things and be open with each other? It just feels like at times the challenge can be we want high achievement, but we also need kids to know that they feel loved. And so I don't know if that is making sense, but there's not a lot of time for this circle up. You're always feeling get to the next thing. And I think the kids pick up on that. And so, how can I, as the adult in the room, control? Yes, we have a lot to get through, but I want to shield these kids and let them know that as we're ready, we can move forward. But I'm feeling also we gotta go, right? And so it's this balance, right? And like Tara was saying, you have 30 minutes or you have 45 minutes to accomplish something, and you feel like I've got to press. To me, that feels like the biggest shift today than from when I was in school. And Tara, I don't know if you can relate to that, but it just that to me feels like there's just we're really packing in the schedule, and so that feels like in every district I've worked at, that's been the shift that I see.

SPEAKER_01 15:18

We talked to um your principal Ashley Farrington on this podcast. I think it might have been the first episode we did in this past August, and it was about kindergarten, but I think what you said, Carter, reminded me of that episode. Ashley talked about allowing kids to make mistakes in in like that controlled environment and and using that as a tool to help kids learn. Um, and I think that's something that has kind of stuck with me, especially as like we think about like our four-year-old starting kindergarten is school is that space where you do so much growing, and like that growth doesn't happen without mistakes, right? And how can you empower kids to and students to make those mistakes and help them learn and become better people? So that was I I appreciated that, Carter. That kind of reminded me of that that episode we did with with Ashley. So, Tara, we kind of talked about this a little bit, but you know, you've been teaching for a long time. How in terms of the classroom changes, like, you know, I don't maybe you can touch on a little more like how the classroom itself has changed since you started, and perhaps how your joy and energy in teaching has ebbed and flowed over that time.

SPEAKER_00 16:38

You mean you want me to talk about how we chipped away on the tablets when I first we don't have to do that anymore? No, no, no, no, no. Well, I um I think that a really positive vibe uh that has come about is that education is so much more personalized. I think that, you know, uh when I first started teaching, I taught first grade and I had this chart, you know, and I just read the words and children read the words on the chart, and then we flipped the chart and it was just kind of teach to the middle, and that's the first grade curriculum, and that's what we did. And, you know, it it it just kind of that's what we did, and we didn't really worry too much about kids on the higher end and kids on the lower end. We just taught to the middle. And I think we've come a so far from that kind of teaching. We know every child so well, we know every skill. Do they know it or do they not know it? And what do we do if they haven't gotten it? And what do we do if they already know it? I mean, we think about so much about each child. And so I think we worry or we focus on helping everybody succeed. And I I just think that's such an improvement and um in overall. And I also think that comes with a lot of pressure to push children. I think kindergarten isn't learning how to line up and how to be a good friend, you know, it's very academic, so I think there's just a lot of push early, and some kids it's a lot when they're maybe not as ready for it. So yeah, I think kids have more pressure and there's a lot more structure earlier for kids than when I was teaching before.

SPEAKER_01 18:23

Have you seen that shift at all, Carter, since you've been teaching? It's more the supports and specialized services, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 18:31

I think so, yeah. I think you know, we talk about each and every, and I so even to echo what Tara, what you were just saying, I I see that, and I think you feel that as a teacher, and you feel the energy that's required to really get to know your students on an individual basis academically, but also just personally, because you know that you need to tap into that to really make sure that you're getting the most and and connecting with the kid too, because again, the relationships, you have to have those as well. And so when something is really hard, how do we dig deep? You have to connect and know what they need. And I have a five-year-old preschooler, and I see she's bringing home work, and so it's become structured from a very early age. And as the parent, even we're feeling hey, we need to be on top of this stuff, right? And staying organized. So, yeah, there it there is heightened pressure, and with that, I think as a teacher, you feel that you're spending a lot of energy meeting everybody where they're at, as as you should, but it's heightened, yeah, absolutely, because you're trying to, if you have students being pulled, or you need to know where everybody's at and where they're they're being and get all their schedule, even just having their schedules is an art in itself and where everybody's going. And so, yeah, that you feel yourself sort of being pulled, and you try to just be as flexible as possible and and do the best you can to meet their needs and be okay yourself with making mistakes too, and learning from those and trying to serve your kids as best you can. But yeah, each and every it's been a huge shift since I first got into this.

SPEAKER_01 19:59

I think when, you know, and this could be a good pivot to kind of the support systems that you all may have in place. When like I think at the core of like what we think of school, especially like elementary school, we think of students and students go in classroom, they learn in classroom, they you know, do lunch recess and they go home. For you working in our school, you know, why Z is a big district, and you're part of big teams and big schools. How does that school culture like what is your experience with that and your buildings? And how do you lean on the support of your peers, your your teachers and colleagues to kind of work through days that are challenging and celebrate days that are are more joyful? Maybe we'll start with you, Tara.

SPEAKER_00 20:53

Well, I literally physically share a desk with the other literacy specialist and we share a classroom space, and we had a long discussion about if we wanted a wall between us, like a little portable wall. And we decided no, like it's complete vulnerability for the two of us. So we lean on each other there so much, like a a group will come in, we kind of listen to each other all the time, and then the students leave. I'm like, hey, I need help with this. What do you think about that? Or hey, will you help me with this student? Can you take him next time and give me some ideas? Like, I guess I have found that that partnership is invaluable to me. When I was teaching before years ago, kids came into my room, I shut the door, they were my 25 kids all day long. I had to figure out what to do, or I didn't really know what to do, and I did my best, and then they went home. It's just I I need my partnerships now. I rely on them and I'm I'm completely vulnerable with people to ask for help. So So I think that's that and we celebrate the wins together and we work through the difficulties together. So she's like my I call her my work wife, you know, she's my my full-time partner. We all need our teams. We really do. It's a it's a team thing now where we used to really work alone by ourselves. You know, we we followed a curriculum with a group of people that were teaching at our same grade level, but we didn't really work together like we do now. So I I rely on it. I need I need my partner.

SPEAKER_02 22:31

Yeah, uh Birchview, it actually scared me a little bit at first, but uh we have all fifth grade in one room, and so we we call it a pod, and so there are no walls, and so we're constantly peeking over, seeing what we're doing, seeing how kids are responding to different things, bouncing ideas off of each other, and so we're really in this shared space. And then also, I mean, Mr. Farrington, my principal here, is always bouncing in. He'll put an index card in my mailbox saying, I noticed you teaching this, or that here's what I observed when I came through your space. So we're always getting and giving feedback. But to speak about culture, our our saying here is you matter, and I think it really starts with the staff. I mean, I have felt from the second I walked in here that I mattered. I came in, I couldn't get here, I was moving back from Arkansas, I was out of state, and so I came back and school had just ended. So teachers are gone, and right, it's it's the beginning of summer. They came back to meet me, and I was blown away. I said to my wife, I said, Honey, they they really made me feel like I met like from the moment I stepped foot in here, they were back, they wanted to meet me, and they they've just been supporting me the whole time, and and so it's just been awesome. We do a men's breakfast here for for staff, and so we put on a breakfast. And I mean, there's just so many different pieces that our staff feels close. I think the kids feel that too, that the staff really really is really vibes with each other, and it really starts from our leader, uh, Mr. Farrington. And I think when you walk in this building, you can feel that people are close and communicating. Um, all the staff. It's it's really special. But yeah, our fifth grade, it's all one big space, and it scared me a little bit at first, but yeah, it um I've I've grown a lot and I can't even think of having my own room anymore. So it's it's like we just share this space, it's it's special. It makes a big district feel really close, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 24:29

Yeah, I was gonna ask about that. I mean, there's been a lot, you know, especially lately with the referendum about the size and the growth. And I think, you know, I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin, so like anytime I go into really, you know, if especially if I end up at the high school, I get lost and overwhelmed. But I think it's it's amazing to me when you when you actually go into some of these buildings how personable it feels and how much you do feel welcome. And that's whether you're, you know, staff like me, parents, students. How do you think like what is the secret sauce to making a district that is big and growing feel so small and so personable like it does?

SPEAKER_00 25:15

Well, I think it starts at these elementary buildings when you know my own children went to a smaller district, and I feel like our elementary buildings feel just like the elementary school they went to. You know, you have the same kind of feeling. Everybody knows everybody. There's people standing at the front door welcoming children by name. In fact, we do these belonging surveys at our building, and kids have commented that they feel they belong. One of the reasons they do is they people say good morning to them by name. And that, you know, that that means something that they they feel recognized, not just by their classroom teacher, but by everybody in the building knows who they are and cares about them. The recess people know their name, the lunch people know their name as they walk through the hall, people that their sister's teacher knows their name. You know, it's you create us a community within the greater community of people that care about you. So I I think that our district does a great job of focusing on that feeling of belonging and that people feel that every people know you and care about you in these smaller segments in these smaller places. So I think it's been a focus of the district that you belong, you matter, you belong.

SPEAKER_02 26:33

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I I can't say it any better than that. I mean, the the word that came up right away, Zach, when you said that was love. It's like I I think when when parents, when I know that my teacher loves me as a student, I feel that. And I think as a parent, you can sense that. And so when when parents know that you are on their team and on their side, I feel like it just brings it's like automatic community, right? Like they're entrusting us with their most prized possession, their child, and and you can feel that. I mean, I I don't know. I've I said it to everybody in this building, I've never been a part of such a great tight-knit group of of teachers. And I I think you can just feel it. It's it's it's this tight knit feeling of we're all in this together. So no matter how big the district is, I think when you get the right people together, and you can just you just can feel it in in in the building. It's pretty special.

SPEAKER_00 27:26

Well, even when you're talking about, you know, all those fifth grade, not just teachers, but students, right? They're intermixing and those kids know each other. And at Plymouth Creek, we have buddy classrooms. So we have fifth grade classrooms paired with second grade classrooms. So those kids know each other and those teachers know each other. And so those, you know, we're building these relationships across age groups, not just, oh, this teacher knows who I am. But children across grade levels are getting to know each other, which you know, so we make decisions to do these things to help build and bridge those relationships.

SPEAKER_01 28:01

Yeah, and this might be a good chance to bring in the partnership, the idea of partnering with with families. And Carter, you mentioned earlier the the parent-teacher conference, feeling that connection. How important is that partnership with families and and how if if families are listening, how can they best support that partnership?

SPEAKER_02 28:20

I mean, I I think similar to the student in those first weeks of school, we need that opportunity to connect with with parents and let them know where we're coming from. I mean, they need, I think open house is a great first step, but I tell parents at Open House, this door is open anytime you want to meet with me. It's not just a conference thing because truly that might not be enough to really develop that relationship and let them know where I'm coming from, what my expectations are, you know, why we're doing the things we're doing. And so I think their openness and willingness to communicate, but also to just know that we're here and we're spending our time and energy because we really love their kids. I mean, it's this is something that you really need to love and be able to put all your energy in. That's why I stepped away when my daughter was born. I was like, right now, I have to put this, I can't split this right now. I need to just be all in on as a as a dad. And and now I'm back and I feel like I've had four years away to really reset and I'm ready. I'm I'm all in here now, right? And so it's a tough thing to just have parents trust you without having those conversations with you. So I think just really opening the door and hopefully having parents feel open to coming into the building and attend these different things like international night or the different events that we have so that they can see us with their kids and and have more conversations with us. I think that's so important. What'd you say to that effect, Tara?

SPEAKER_00 29:44

Yeah, I think that communication is super important. I think um, you know, parents building um a respect and a love for school with their children and building up the school by coming to events and by communicating. You know how valuable it is for I think they know how valuable it is if they get a positive note from a teacher saying, you know, this was really great. Your kid did this or that today. It feels great on our end if they send one back to us too. Like, hey, my kid said this today about something that happened at school. You know, those things go a long way both ways. You know, we work hard and we know that um that they are also working hard and they're busy, families are busy. But, you know, just building this bridge between home and school and having it be a positive. They love their kid, but we also love their kid, and we all want the same things. We want their kid to be successful, but we also want their kid to be happy and to enjoy school and to be growing and learning, not just the academics, but to be growing as a human being, right? As a little person. So we we have that same goal in mind. We all really do. And so, yeah, let's work together to achieve that. Communication is so key. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:58

Okay, so we're gonna do some rapid fire, some fun questions before we're done. Card, I'm gonna start with you. What is one thing people think teachers do that isn't actually true? Gosh.

SPEAKER_02 31:11

I think honestly, celebrate the last day of school. I think like that is a misconception. I think that it's actually a pretty heavy day for teachers who are gonna be missing their kids too. So I think that that's there is a little bit of like, hey, we made it, but for sure, like it's there's so there's a lot of emotion there. It's um it's it's a heavier day.

SPEAKER_01 31:32

All right, Taro, what's the answer for you?

SPEAKER_00 31:35

I think people think teachers really all take the summer off. I think a lot of teachers don't. Most of them don't. There's a lot of people tutoring and doing other jobs in the summer, and the summer is just shrinking and shrinking and shrinking. We're back in the middle of August this year, and so people are busy in the summer doing a lot of educational stuff, taking classes and courses and working on their improving themselves. And it's a it's busy, it's busy in the summer. We're still working.

SPEAKER_01 32:04

I'll go back to you, Tara. What's a skill that you have that your students would be shocked to learn?

SPEAKER_00 32:10

Can draw. I you you put something out that I can sort of copy and I'm I can draw. I'm I'm good at drawing.

SPEAKER_01 32:20

By you, Carter.

SPEAKER_02 32:21

I'm actually pretty fast, and so every now and then I'll have a student challenge me to a race, and it's actually a little bit I kind of get off. I'm like, I I'm athletic. Like, why are you so surprised? They're like stunned when I have a little speed. So I don't you know, I teach fifth grade, so as they get maybe I don't know, seventh grade, I'm probably not safe anymore. But uh yeah, I think they're always a little surprised to see that I still have still have my wheels.

SPEAKER_00 32:50

You gotta stretch though, don't pull a hamstring.

SPEAKER_02 32:52

Yeah, I know it.

SPEAKER_00 32:53

You are getting older, you know.

SPEAKER_02 32:56

These are short races. These are short races.

SPEAKER_01 32:58

All right. Um, Carter, do you have a favorite school lunch item?

SPEAKER_02 33:03

I mean, here the orange chicken is is probably if you're talking school lunch.

SPEAKER_01 33:13

Even the Wiseetta Cafes podcast we did, they were like, Oh yeah, the orange chicken.

SPEAKER_02 33:18

They had it today, and it was, yeah, I didn't get it today, but yeah, the just the smell, it's really good. Yeah, that's a good item. What about you Terra?

SPEAKER_00 33:26

Chicken tenders. I'm a chicken tenders gal. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:29

That's funny. Favorite. Um, and this has probably changed a lot too. Favorite thing to do on the playground. Start with UTERRA.

SPEAKER_00 33:36

Swings. I like the swings. I brought a kid out after MCA testing, and I'm like, let's go on the swings. I want to go He's like, Really? Yeah, I love the swings.

SPEAKER_02 33:46

I think just playing tag is is really classic. Um, here at Birchview, it's it's playing this game called Thunder. We call it the lightning when I was a kid, but basketball game. Yeah, I think that's really fun and get a get a long line of kids and just shoot hoops, so it's fun.

SPEAKER_01 34:01

Okay, last question, and maybe it's more of for you to give your fellow colleagues. What is some words of encouragement you would give to your fellow teachers as we close in on the end of the school year? Tara, you want to go first?

SPEAKER_00 34:15

I guess it's just I'm just so proud of Wise Out of Schools and the work that we're doing for kids. It's just uh such important work. And I think that we are we're doing it. We are banding together and we are raising up the next generation. I think we work so hard, we really do. And I I think sometimes we lose sight of the big picture. You know, we're in the day-to-day grind, we're thinking about the next thing on our list, but it's really important sometimes to zoom out and think about the important work we're really doing. And I am so proud of IZA schools and the work that we're doing together. And yeah, I'm proud to work here and work with my fellow colleagues. So it's a great place to be, and I think we're doing the right stuff here.

SPEAKER_02 35:07

Yeah, just um we're in these final weeks, and I I think every day is an opportunity to make such a huge impact. I think we've all had teachers that have made impact in our life, and this these last few weeks, it it can feel like you're tired or that maybe you're in the home stretch, but this might be that big opportunity for you to connect. And so just continue to dig deep and and find that extra gear because right now is when we've established those relationships, and so really uh these kids feel so connected to us. And I think we need to really acknowledge that and continue to show up and really make this end of the year special, something that they'll remember for years to come because ultimately you you probably are that teacher that they're gonna talk about without even knowing it. And so just know that and continue to just make it a great, great rest of the year. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:03

Well, Carter, Tara, thank you for everything you do for our students um and making the district what it is, and more importantly, thank you for taking time to come on the podcast and share some of your stories. And best of luck as we close in on the end of the school year.

SPEAKER_00 36:21

Thanks.

SPEAKER_02 36:22

Thank you. Thanks for having me. Thanks for that.