"Stranger Things": Connecting Education and the "Upside Down"!

Welcome to Hawkins PE Nation!

Today we turn fan joy into teaching fuel, using Stranger Things as a lens for building classroom culture, designing our own teaching genre, empowering teams, and fighting the daily “demogorgons.” A real-life tour from Detroit to Vecna’s house sets the stage for practical PE strategies and a call to legacy.

• building Hawkins as a strong, inclusive classroom culture
• blending genres to design a unique teaching program
• small-sided, game-centered learning with music and movement
• defining team roles inspired by the Hawkins crew
• practical team-building games that include every student
• strategies to fight exhaustion, disengagement, negativity and doubt
• reflecting on legacy and the impact we want to leave

Take care,

Dave/"Dustin"

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Shoutouts
• 1:16 Why Stranger Things Matters
• 2:55 Travel Detour To Detroit
• 4:10 DIY Stranger Things Tour
• 6:47 Vecna’s House In Real Life
• 8:30 From Fandom To Teaching Ideas
• 8:57 Build Your Hawkins: Classroom Culture
• 11:02 Create Your Own Teaching Genre
• 14:20 The Power Of The Team
• 17:35 Fight The Demogorgons
• 21:18 Finale, Legacy, And Reflection
• 22:48 Cowbell Tip And Support

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:10

Hello, and welcome to the Super Sides for Sad Podcast. My name is Dave, and today let's talk Stranger Things. Yes, Vetna, Mike, Will, Levin, and all those other characters that I can't think of right now. Oh yeah, Dustin and everybody. So without further ado, here we go. All right, all my friends from PE Nation. I'm glad you're tuning in today. Thank you so much for doing that. And I want to thank everybody from uh all the countries and all the cities and all the places everywhere around the world. Again, when I look at the um the stats, the the everything that's going on, I was like, oh my gosh, I can't believe people actually listened to me. Little old Dave Carney from Fort Myers, Florida. I'm not that little anymore, but anyways, um, I'm glad you're here and I thank you so much for that. So today, let's talk Stranger Things. Now, if you've never seen Stranger Things, you need to. It's on Netflix and it's really, really good. It's uh about, you know, some kids trying to save the world, and they're always into something. There's always some kind of monsters going on or some kind of a little bit of magical stuff going on too. So um just very cool. It's it's a little gory at times and vulgar. So definitely not with like little, little kids, but it's really good. And if you haven't seen it, yeah, definitely check it out. It's really good. So they're about to start um the final episode or final season. It's coming out actually on Mine and My Wife's 20th wedding anniversary, which is November 26th. So definitely um send us a gift to no, I'm just kidding. Um, but anyways, it's uh yeah, it's the final season, the fifth season, and we actually got a late start on Stranger Things. We started watching it um a couple of years ago, which is actually good because what that meant was we'd have to wait for all these seasons to drop. Uh, this is the only one we've really had to wait for. The other ones were already kind of already done. So we're really excited about this one. And a couple of years ago, we went to uh we did a little Stranger Things tour, and it was kind of a uh just a surprise impromptu thing we did with the kids. Since we have a lot of people from different parts of the country and the world, um, I just need to explain real quick, quickly, why that what just what happened. So we bought tickets to see my favorite team where I grew up, the Buffalo Bills. We were planning on driving to Charlotte, North Carolina, where we used to live for four years, and also where my best friend is. Shout out to Rick. So we were gonna stay at his house and then go to Buffalo and stay at my parents' house, which is like uh it was, well, it still is, I guess, a summer slash winter house. It's on a ski resort, which also uh is a golf course, which is really cool. And unfortunately they sold it since then, which I'm really upset about because that was the best place to go in the summer and in the winter for skiing and golf and all that good stuff. And we take the kids, it was great. So the plan was to go to North Carolina first, then go stay there at the place in New York, and then go to the Bills game. But what happened was there was a huge storm and the game got moved to Detroit. And if you're not looking at the map, that's okay. Let's go through this a little bit. So we actually did go to Charlotte and we stayed an extra day there because we weren't sure about the the weather in Buffalo. So we stayed an extra night at my friend's house, and we made uh immediately when I saw I heard the game was getting being moved, I immediately made hotel reservations in Detroit, Michigan. So the plan got changed. We went, we drove from we had to be the farthest family away from the stadium. I'm not kidding you. So again, Charlotte, we live in Fort Myers, Florida, drove, drove to Charlotte, North Carolina. That's about uh, I can't even remember now, 12, 13 hours. And then we drove to Detroit, which was another, I just I can't even remember. It was it's a long drive, probably again, another 13, 14 hours. I don't, I'm not sure. And then we went to the game there in Detroit. It was, it's actually, it was actually a technically a home bills game, which was in Detroit, which is kind of funny. And it was during Thanksgiving week, like the the Sunday before uh Thanksgiving. So we had the that week off. So we weren't in a big hurry except to get back to home to our pets. But what we did was instead of going to my parents' place in Buffalo or near Buffalo, we decided on the way home to make a different trip to uh through Atlanta, which is or the suburbs of Atlanta. That's where the stranger things, uh, all the places are, basically. And I'm sorry, I'm making a long story short here, or long story long, really. So my wife just looked up all these places, and we decided, okay, when we were driving home, and we stayed the night in um in Nashville, or no, not Nashville, we stayed in Memphis, I think. Or no, we stayed, I don't know where we stayed. We stayed somewhere in Tennessee. And then the next morning we decided to do the whole tour of Atlanta, just looking at Stranger Things stuff, like going to the houses, going to we went to like Mike's house, and uh, I don't know, I can't remember. I always get this wrong, the house we went to. This one we couldn't go to because it wasn't listed, but we went to most of the kids' houses. We went to the the high school, which they had they filmed at, which actually they just recently tore down. Um, I guess after they filmed the final season, they tore it down and they're building a new STEM, like a state-of-the-art, like I don't know, school. And we visited all these places. I don't know, we visited the town hall and things like that. But the one place we visited that was the best. Oh, actually, that we also visited where uh the supermarket, where Elle blew up the place and and she got her, she stole egg or waffles uh because that was her thing. And of course, my daughter had to buy egg of waffles from there. I'm sure, trust me, I know this place with this place is great. It's just a small town uh grocery store, real small store, and very nice people. And they get people from all the world because there's a book, like a sign-in book for people who are doing the Stranger Things tour. And it was really cool. And yes, I'm sure they had a stock up on Ego Waffles after that, like just a ton. They probably just the company they order from is gonna be like, what is going on there? Because again, it's just a small store. But the the the main place we went to, and I have I wrote an article about this, so you could see the picture in the article, is we went to Vecna's house. Now, if you've never seen Stranger Things, you don't know what I'm talking about. But in season four, which is the final season so far, like the last season on Netflix, there's a character, like the bad guy, his name Vecna, and his house is so cool. And it's actually in Rome, Georgia. It was, it was the farthest away from all the places we went to. And we kind of surprised the kids. We're like, I don't know if we're gonna get time to see Vecna's house. I'm not sure. But we're like, oh yeah, we gotta go see this. And it was so cool. It's so surreal. It's a very, um, especially on the show, it's a you know, very creepy house. And it's just so surreal. I'm not kidding, I don't know how to explain it. When you're walking, you see it on TV and then you're walking up to it, it's like, oh my gosh. And um, it's just it's it's really cool. It's in the middle of like a regular old neighborhood, too, which is the best part. It's not like in the suburb, like in the like country or something like that. It's just right in the middle of a main, like a main, not a main road, but like a side road. So, anyways, very cool stuff. Um, that's a long story to just to set this up. But what I thought of is well, there's so many cool things about Stranger Things. And, you know, I always try to connect things to education. So, and I actually watched a masterclass. Uh, if you if you're a member of Masterclass, there's the Duffer brothers. They they have a masterclass on there. So I watched their whole thing about how they created it and just the stories behind it and all sorts of things, and it's just really cool. And it got me thinking, like, how can I connect this to my teaching? And maybe it's a stretch. I don't know. I just I enjoy this stuff. And I really thought of well, how what can we do to incorporate Stranger Things ideas into our education or into our teaching? So let me give you five things, five ways to connect, and I'll use uh, you know, actually four things, uh kind of five, of how we connect Stranger Things and Teaching. So let's make it a boomer. Here we go. So number one is building your Hawkins. So Hawkins, Indiana is the setting for Stranger Things. It's got ordinary people, but a lot of strange and extraordinary things. There's mystery, missing people, and I don't say we want that for education. Uh action, adventure, magic, mad scientists, uh, stories to follow, crazy stuff. So why is this important? And why why was why is this show so successful? What's the culture? It's the culture they have there that makes it so intriguing and so important. So it made me think of the culture in your classroom. Building your culture is the most important thing you could do in your program, in your classroom or your PE program. Without it, you you have no learning, no respect, no fun, no nothing. Teaching without set boundaries, rules, and expectations is just pure chaos. And believe me, I know I was not a good young classroom teacher. I wasn't even a very good first-year PE teacher. And everyone's heard the first two weeks of school, you're most important, to establish the positive, inclusive, and kind culture you want. However, even the middle of school year, your Hawkins can be reimagined at any time. I've implemented new ideas and rules in the middle of the year, or even new ways of getting students' attention, things like that. It can be done. It just has to be reinforced and reinrehears a lot. Just ask Eleven, which is also known as she's also known as Elle. She came into a new world from being in the lab for years. She didn't know anything about regular society. The boys and girls taught her how to act, talk, and dress. She slowly began to assimilate into society. So think of your Hawkins. Your Hawkins wasn't built in a day, so you need to build your culture slowly. And that is number one, again, build your culture, build it slowly, and build it what how you want it. Okay, it it will take time, but it's so rewarding. And that is number one. Number two is create a new genre of teaching. So the Duffer Brothers didn't try to fit into like a specific genre. They didn't, they were they actually had trouble with this because they didn't try to make a kid show. And they actually had a different it was tough. It was like a gory, like kids' show kind of thing. So they actually had trouble pitching this, and many studios turned them down. Because the producer, like, well, wait, this this is a violent kid show or series. Um, or you know, was it was it for adults, was it for kids? You know, but because you know, adults aren't gonna want to watch kids, you know, that kind of thing, but kids aren't shouldn't be exposed to this kind of violence. So it's like, well, how does this fit in? And it really didn't. They they almost created their own genre. So they combined multiple genres to create their own. Here's here's the formula they used. So they had a coming of age adventure, that's one, supernatural horror, that's two, 1980s, like nostalgia, which I love by the way. That 1980s were where that was my that was my teenage years right there. So that's number three. And it was science, it's science fiction. So that's number four. So it's they they kind of mixed that all together and made their own thing. And that's it's a perfect blend for a smash hit. So the question is, well, you what about you? For me, I don't want to fit in a box. I want to create my own program, which I have, and I constantly am building upon it. I'm always looking for new ideas, new inspiration, just in just things that'll fit, not things that I'm just like, oh, it's cool. It's on the internet. I want to do it. No, it's something that has to fit within my what I want. And some teachers focus on fitness, some on team sports, some on skills, some on everything off the internet. Who knows? I don't know. I take it all in and make my own magic. And here's some of the things, like what I consider my recipe. So, first of all, I make fitness fun by incorporating music and movement. So a lot of times, well, most of the time, we do we do warmups and they're like, I play music and we just dance and do exercises. And the kids don't even probably realize they're exercising. So I make I make movement fun. The other thing is, or more things, we teach like hybrid games with game-centered approach. Now, I don't always do that, but for a lot of this the units, I try to do that where it's like, you know, it's not exactly, or when I say hybrid games, it's it could also be small-sided games, but with a twist. You know, there's times when we play games that are just not team sports, by the way. They are, you know, every kid gets a ball, or every two to three kids gets a ball. And we're working small groups, small groups. And we want it as a game-centered approach, not like as a um, you know, we're not playing 11-11 soccer here, kind of thing. Um, and the next thing, and that's a whole nother thing, but the next thing is we I focus on skills over team sports. And that's actually one of the reasons why I left my former school. My teacher, my principal uh wanted me to do more team sports. And I want to teach skills, and you know, I'd like to think I'm the expert in PE, but you do you. I'm just saying, I wanted to focus on skills over team sports. I consider middle school more team sports and elementary school. And yeah, I teach up to fifth grade, so that's a little more, yeah, some some team sports there, things like that, of course. But skills over team sports, and my other thing is fun always. We should be having fun. The kids should be having fun. And that is my like that's kind of my formula right there. So, for you, how are you gonna create your own genre within your classroom and and to make your program the best it can be? So, my my suggestion is to teach in the upside down. It's called the upside down, so it's just a different dimension, a different part, a different world, basically. Don't fit in a box, create a new box, and that's number two. Number three is the power of the team. So the kids in Stranger Things make the series what it is. I mean, really, they're the ones who we we we root for, we cheer on, and there's a couple ones I don't like. They all have unique talents and personalities that make the team strong. And somehow they always find a way to come together and solve the problem and save the world. I know they save the world a couple times, that's how it is. So here's our starting, starting lineup for Stranger Things Mike is like the leader, Dustin is creative, Lucas is very logical. Will is the heart, he's the he's the got the empathy, he's got the heart. Eleven has got the courage and the power. Max has got confidence, and Steve is the protector. And he's shown growth too. He's changed a lot in the series. So, how can you use the power of the team to encourage your students? So I would say definitely make the beginning of the school year all about team building. And I know we're in the middle of school year, or sort of middle, but building your Hawkins includes finding out who your leaders are, like the mics, and allow them to shine in the roles. Create teams with all the character characteristics above, like make everybody feel part of the team. Every team needs a Dustin, Lucas, Will, Levin, Max, Steve, everybody. Give them tasks to complete that involved everyone and make every child feel special and needed in their roles. And I know you don't know, hey, who's gonna be the Dustin in this group, who's gonna be, but I'm just saying like a good mix of students per team. And I do this by playing a lot of games that rely on the team, quote unquote, well, not really, quote unquote, but the real team to complete challenges. Games like Cross the River, Defend the Pin, uh Hulloop Challenges, and more, like just games that involve the whole team to be successful. So we want to give every child a chance to help the group and succeed. And um, I I do have a copy, I'll put in the show notes of team building games that I that I have, a small ebook that if you haven't got that, definitely uh grab that if you get a chance. But that is number three. All right, number four is fight the demagorgons. So the demagorgons are ferocious monsters the team encounters. And it's been it's more than once in the series. They encounter them a few times. They you but the team uses their wits, persistence, and knowledge to destroy the monsters and save the day. Again, multiple times, of course. Can't save the day just once, right? The team unified their strengths to overcome the demons attacking them. So my question is, how about you? What are your demagorgons and how can you face them? What challenges you do you need to stare down and face? Here are some and how you can fight them to save your day or career. So the first one is the demagorgan of exhaustion. So again, I don't have to go into all this in great detail, but yeah, it's you need you need rest. It's hard sometimes. Right now I'm working seven days a week. You know, I'm I'm working basically three jobs just for Christmas, trying to get a little extra money. And it's been hard. So I definitely say for this that to fight the exhaustion, set time boundaries, rest, meditate, journal, pray, you know, read, set time for yourself and also for your family, and make those non-negotiable. Next is the demagorgon of student disengagement. So sometimes kids just are bored, and it happens to me, it happens to everybody. They just don't want to do what you want them to do. They don't want to, they don't see the value, they don't see your vision of the lesson or game or whatever it is. So I'd say plan for more creativity, connection with students, and something new to be excited about. And I'll I'll give you a quick example of right now. I'm kind of fighting this demigorgon. So I can I'll put this link in the show notes. And I've I've I've done a podcast on this, and I've also written about my uh leadership, my next level leadership um program that I started with uh wristbands basically, as like almost like belts, like white belt, black belt, well, all the way up to black belt. And some of the students they said they want to do it, and now they're not even wearing the wrist belts. And this is literally today. And it's I was kind of like, I don't know, I put all this work into this, and now they don't want to do it. So that's something I'm dealing with right now. Um, and I'm not saying everybody, but a lot of the kids are just like, yeah, we want to do it, and then they don't show me they want to do it. So, you know, that's my plan going forward is trying to figure out what will motivate them more to want to do this. And that's a whole nother story, but I'm just telling you, I've I've these are things I face all the time. So the next is the demagorgan of negativity. And I'll tell you what, a lot of times it's it's the adults. It's the adults, not the kids. So I I focus on optimism, kindness, positivity. There's times when I I don't know, it really is the adults. Um I just I do the best I can. I'm trying to be as positive as I can, trying to um verbally tell people they're doing a good job, or the even the kids, if it's the kids, you know, rewarding them. Um I don't like negativity. I even though my I I've heard that I can't be very negative, um, I don't like it. And I don't like it, you know, coming back to me. Like, so I definitely want to focus on that. That's tough. So I'd say the say the fourth one is the demagorgan of doubt. And, you know, I have a lot of doubts in am I a good teacher? Am I doing the right thing? So definitely reflect and and nurture relationships with with your students, and you know, because maybe uh you'd be surprised. You'd really be surprised that the kids who really, really, really care about you are the kids that you need attention, or the kids that you'd least suspect, just really just care about you, love you. And hopefully it's everybody, every child, but I'm just saying, like there's times when I'm like, man, this kid must hate me. And then, you know, they they they don't. They they they respect me, like me, maybe love my teaching, whatever. And, you know, just know that you're doing a great thing by by teaching children. So don't give up on these demo these monsters. Don't give up the fight, fight the demagorgons, and that's number four. All right, we're gonna call number five that well, because it's kind of four, kind of five. Just the finale. So the finale is coming up for Stranger Things, and again, I'm we're gonna be sad. It's like getting to know this characters, getting to know the storylines. It's gonna be difficult to say goodbye. And I know this by watching Lost. From watching Lost, like, man, we I loved Lost. My wife and I, and then we rewatched it with the the kids not that long ago. Um, and it was, yeah, it's sad to say goodbye to characters that you've come to really enjoy. And we all want a fitting ending to the story, one that's memorable and will stand the test of time. So my question is, what about you? Whether it's stranger things or your years of teaching, how do you want to be remembered? Some of you are just entering, you know, like you're a young teacher, some of you are in the middle, some of you are a little bit older like me. Don't worry, I still have time. I, you know, I still have, I'd say at least 10 years. So, either way, make it an amazing career. You know, fight those demagorgans as hard as you can to do the best you can for your students. Leave a legacy of fun, creativity, learning. That's what I want to do. I want to be known as a great teacher who cared for my students and gave them my all every day. So I figured I'm a little bit of Dustin, a little bit of Mike, a little bit of Will, um, and those kind of things. Creativity, you know, hopefully the heart and a little bit of leadership, things like that. But it'd be really cool to have 11's powers now. That's my favorite thing, right? A few of the L's powers, 11's powers, that'd be pretty cool. And that is the finale. And now it's time for your cowbell tip of the day. All right, so your tip of the day is one of two things. Either grab a copy of my ebook if you haven't already. I've I've done one for team building and actually one for kindergarten activities, my go-to's, my best ones. That'll be in the show notes. Or even just support the show however you can. However, you can support the show. Leave a review. It takes three and a half seconds, maybe more. I don't know. Something like that. Or support it by buying, you know, one of my products, one of my books. Uh, anything you do to support the show, just get the word out there. I love seeing new people in my episodes, my feeds. I love seeing new countries. I love seeing new uh, yeah, not faces, but I'd like to. Hey, hi out there. Love to meet all of you. Um, but anyways, that is your cowbell tip of the day. Thank you everybody for tuning in today. I really do appreciate it. As always, go to supersizedfizad.com for more information and definitely check out everything in the show notes, the episode notes, because I have lots of links in there, free courses, free stuff, and some other quick little tiny things, little ebooks, things like that, and my own personal book I wrote, which should have the sequel out next year. So looking forward to it, and I thank you very much. So have a great day, week, weekend, whenever you're listening to this PE Nation. You guys and girls are awesome. Let's keep pushing our profession forward.