More Middle School Chronicles with Educator Emily Boyle

Do you remember your favorite teacher? The one who not only taught you academic knowledge but also shaped you into a better individual? Our guest, Emily Boyle is an experienced middle school teacher who embodies these qualities and more. Her knack for building a meaningful relationship with students and parents alike is both heart-warming and inspiring. She gives us a peek into her classroom, sharing some laugh-out-loud anecdotes, particularly a humorous story involving a creative writing assignment.

Technology and education, a match made in heaven or a recipe for distraction? 
Ms. Boyle shares the pros and cons of technology in the classroom. We delve into the tricky task of striking a balance between using technology as an innovative learning tool and its potential for distraction. We discuss strategies to ensure students are engaging with technology in a productive and responsible manner. 

Teachers have an immeasurable impact on a student's growth, both academically and personally. Ms. Boyle shares her experiences of this profound influence, reinforcing the importance of truth-telling, character-building, and fostering a healthy culture within the school environment. Stories of connections she's built with her students, and the positive feedback she's received from parents and students, are testament to her commitment and passion. Tune in to our conversation for a fresh perspective on the joys and challenges that come with being a teacher. Join us on this journey and perhaps you'll find a bit of your favorite teacher in our guest.

Transcript

Joe Boyle: 0:05

Welcome to Stories in Life. You're on the radio with Mark and Joe. We share stories that affirm your belief in the goodwill, courage, determination, commitment and vision of everyday people.

Mark Wolak: 0:19

Our goal is that through another person's story you may find connection. No matter your place in life. The stories we select will be inspiring and maybe help you laugh, cry, think or change your mind about something important in your life.

Joe Boyle: 0:37

Join us for this episode of Stories in Life.

Emily Boyle: 0:46

And now they're all sweating a little bit and so I leaned in a little more. Because they're in middle school. I thought it was really funny in class. Like what's so funny in it, let me in on the joke. And at this point they want to die. And they're all looking down at their feet. And I'm leaning into it now because I'm having a little fun and I'm like come on, you guys, let me in on the joke. Like, just tell me what's so funny about it. Like you all that was so funny when you turned it in. And finally I just say, wait a minute, is this a joke? I'm like I'm not kidding. And then I just say, wait a minute, is this inappropriate? And that one kid who was panicking from the start looks up at me and just quietly nods his head and I said, yeah, it is inappropriate. And they are all just red face looking down and I said, yeah, it is inappropriate, that's the deal.

Mark Wolak: 2:32

What would you like in general, the parents at large, to know about you and your work as a teacher?

Emily Boyle: 2:40

Yeah, I think the biggest thing that I want parents to know and that we try to tell parents or I try to tell parents as a teacher and we as a school try to tell them is that we're on your team, we are your ally. We also want only the best for your kid and we love your kid. And I think oftentimes and it feels like more and more recently that parents see us as another obstacle, somebody that's working against them in some way. And it's difficult as a teacher when you have all these other things that you're doing and you feel like you're working so hard to prioritize the kid and get them where they need to be and not only teach them the academics but help them to be a better person. And then you get a fired off email from a parent that just cuts right to the core of almost sometimes like who you are as a person.

Emily Boyle: 3:33

And I'm thinking like, . There's no way my friends in an accounting position are being attacked for who they are as a human when they mess up the numbers on something and the idea that teachers do what they do as hard as they do it for as little as they make for it, and then to have parents act like we're working against them and that we don't know what we're doing as a professional in the field is tough and it wears people down and it's to hurdle, and I think there's a lot of. I have so many wonderful parents, but those aren't the ones that stick out to you.

Mark Wolak: 4:13

Yeah, which leads me to this question. When you're in that kind of mess, what, what still inspires you?

Emily Boyle: 4:22

It this. It sounds cliche, but it's the students. It's like even on a hard day, if I have a bad conference or I get an nasty email, and then you get to school the next day and your kids still kids still come into the classroom with like some weird thing they brought in to show you. Or ask the my kids oh, Miss Boyle, did you watch the football game last night? Asked me on my fantasy football teams doing purposely not bring up the Vikings because they know it'll upset me. Little things like that, they want their. They're really great. And I think, like people always say, teachers are leaving the school and they must not have known what they're getting into or they didn't like their job. They knew what they were getting into and at one point they did like their job and they probably stuck it out longer than they wanted to because of the kids.

Mark Wolak: 5:17

So if I can ask one more question on that one, so if you were to describe the kind of leader that you want to work for, tell me who that what, what does that person do and how does that person behave?

Emily Boyle: 5:30

I want to work for a leader that has been in the classroom and knows what it's like to be a teacher and backs up her or his staff and knows how to help navigate tough situations, like tricky parents or hard family situations or behavioral conflicts, but also holds their teachers accountable, so that as a team and as a staff everybody's rising to the occasion and there's not certain people pulling the weight in areas while other people kind of skate by. And somebody that knows what it's like to be a staff as a whole and kind of creating like a healthy culture and like a familial almost atmosphere in a school as a teacher that I want to work for.

Joe Boyle: 6:19

So tell us about the feedback you get from parents and or the kids for that matter, assuming you do get feedback.

Emily Boyle: 6:27

Yeah, I know I said those, the tough parent feedback or emails or points of contact, stick with you, but so do the positive ones. And I do get feedback from parents and students, and I think more so especially in a middle school setting it's kind of conducive for that, because they can express themselves through writing and via email more so. But I really have. I've gotten some just almost it almost makes me want to cry just thinking about it some really really kind words from parents of the about the impact that I've had on their kids, and it's almost never about the academics, it's almost always about something along the lines of they were having a bad day and I did something, or I spent extra time with them throughout the year, or, you know, you really took time to get to know them as a student and they've told us that they're letting us know that at home and it's it matters, and so that's something that I feel really lucky to have heard from parents and from students in a few different ways, like our school is always really great about. Like certain teachers during teacher appreciation week, will have the kids write letters, or all of a sudden get a note in my mailbox, or at Christmas time my kids will write a card and at the end of the school year a letter, a thank you note, and I keep all of them because it's so special to hear from a student that you had an impact on them, especially when I was a kid who felt that way about my teachers and know what it means to them now, as a woman in my late 20s, and still feel that way. So I do feel really lucky.

Emily Boyle: 8:03

And in terms of academics, with feedback, I prioritize asking my students for feedback because if I'd spend a month on a unit, I want to know, like, what stood out to you, what did you like, what didn't you like, because I think students should have, especially at the middle school and heading into high school level, some autonomy over their education.

Emily Boyle: 8:24

So I'll ask, like, what was your favorite part of the unit, what did you find difficult or what was a challenge that you overcame from our unit? And I'll ask them that. And if every single kid says I really liked XYZ, but I hated this, then that tells me hey, mate, maybe next year I reconfigure how I do that part of the unit, because just because you did it one way one year doesn't mean you need to do it the same way the next. So I'm always changing stuff and looking for feedback and I think the kids appreciate that and see that kind of mutual respect of oh she's not just gonna do whatever she wants and we have to sit here and learn it. But everybody kind of gets a say and as a teacher, one of the first things you learn in school is the kids will buy in more if they have some choice. And so giving them some choice and incentive yeah incentive and power over what they're gonna learn.

Emily Boyle: 9:19

Gets that buy in.

Mark Wolak: 9:20

I remember when I first met you and having had a long career in education, I was listening for what brought you to teaching and I think you're telling us and the entire listening audience why you teach. And it's about connecting with these children in middle school now, but connecting personally with them and making a difference in their lives, which is really powerful. I think I would want you to be my teacher if I was a little kid. I would, because I can just tell how much you care about how they're doing. And I want to come back to that character piece because I think that one of the things in our culture right now we witness a lot of bad behavior on the highways, bad behavior in large social events, bad behavior in our communities and it's unregulated. You know it's almost like why is you know? So there's a passion you have about building character in these children. Where does that come from?

Emily Boyle: 10:22

Yeah, I think it comes from. That's a great question. I think a lot of it comes from the fact that I'm fed up with how a lot of things are going in the world right now, and if we can invest time and energy into Building character and young people, then not too far down the road we might see a change, because we're gonna have people of character Holding positions of power and so if we can get as many Kids in a positive situation as possible now, it won't be long until we see some positive change.

Mark Wolak: 10:57

That's great. So this this leads me to ask Do you have a funny story that you could share? With our listeners about being a teacher and helping students build character.

Emily Boyle: 11:11

Absolutely like I said, I feel like I have a funny story every day, um, and some I probably can't tell on here, but my co-workers and I laugh about them for years to come because of it, one that stands out to me and I've I've told it Into a number of people, so it's kind of become a trademark. It was my first year of teaching so everything was new to me and Kind of intimidating and I was working really hard on planning all my lessons and we were gonna do a creative writing piece where the kids had to write a friendly letter To a character in the book. So I was doing writing and I was doing literature and it was interdisciplinary and my students were focused and working so well and we talked about all the different parts of a letter. And Part of a letter is having an address at the top of return address and then on the envelope an address that you're sending it to. And it was a creative writing piece. So I said you know you can make it up, think about the setting of our story, what, what, what should the city be?

Emily Boyle: 12:17

And as they were writing, I had a group of boys, you know, that are all whispering to each other, chuckling and I'm thinking to myself bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, first-year teacher, like they're having so much fun on my creative writing assignment, they're loving it and and they're chuckling and we revise and we edit and they hand in their papers. And I'm thinking to myself as I'm collecting. I'm like I can't wait to read theirs and see what's so funny. And so I start reading and grading these assignments and I pull aside the group of six or seven boys Assignments and I'm like what's so funny? And their letters look good. And then I realized that all of their addresses have something in common and for the sake of not being too crass on On the podcast, I'll say it once every address had 69 in it return address, sender address, you name it. It was there as many times as they could put it. And the great thing, objectively it's hilarious.

Emily Boyle: 13:24

You can't fault them for it to an extent. But the thing about middle schoolers is they're really funny, but they're not super good at being really funny, so they're not. They weren't discreet. If they hadn't all been whispering and giggling for three days of writing, I probably wouldn't have like put two and two together because their papers were all separated. But I wanted to be in on the joke and then I was. So then I'm thinking again, first-year teacher, like oh no, what do I do? And so I'm like I could talk to my principal or I could email their parents. But like I'm feeling uncomfortable, I have to do something. So I pulled them out in the hall before lunch one day and I brought their papers and I said, hey, you guys, you did a great job on your writing assignments. But I noticed like all of your assignments had something in common and I handed them back.

Emily Boyle: 14:15

And you know, there's always gonna be like the weak link in a group. And so there's the kids that are fully committed. They are taking this lie to the grave. They're looking over each other's shoulders at their paper like, oh no, I don't see anything. Huh, what scan in each other's assignments. And then there's the one kid who's breaking and he's head down. No, I contact and I'm like this is the one. So I just keep. I'm like, no, you guys like you don't see it there in the address. And Then they're sweating a little bit and I'm like, wait, all of you guys had 69 in your address and Now they're, they're all sweating a little bit. And so I leaned in a little more because they're in middle school.

Emily Boyle: 14:59

If this was little kids, a, it wouldn't have happened, but be, I would have been a little more tender about it. And so I just said like you know, you all thought it was really funny in class. Like what's so funny in it? Let me in on the joke. And at this point they Want to die and they're all looking down at their feet.

Emily Boyle: 15:16

And I'm leaning into it now because I'm having a little fun and I'm like, come on, you guys, let me in on the joke. Like, just tell me, what's so funny about it. Like you all, that was so funny when you turned it in. And finally I just say wait a minute, is this inappropriate? And that one kid who was panicking from the start looks up at me and just quietly nods his head and I said, yeah, it is inappropriate. And they are all just red faced looking down and I said, yeah, it is inappropriate. And here's the deal. You knew it was inappropriate and you made it obvious. And either we can call your parents and you can all explain why it's inappropriate to put it in your writing assignments, or you can never do something like this in my class again. And they all said we'll never do something like this in your class again. And they never did. And that was the end of that. And I had them again two more times in my teaching career and they were delightful and we had positive relationships.

Joe Boyle: 16:25

You didn't have to get the principal or the parents.

Emily Boyle: 16:27

Yeah, I was I don't wanna call your parents and talk about this either. No one wants to have this conversation and I think it built character and I think it taught them a little something on how to execute a bit.

Mark Wolak: 16:38

Yes, I think you taught them a lot about responsibility, being truthful, certain level of social appropriateness. There was no capital punishment no.

Emily Boyle: 16:53

No just the sheer embarrassment and discomfort for about four minutes in the hallway.

Joe Boyle: 17:01

Good story, that's a great story, and now it's time for Stories in Life. Art from the Heart, deep Thoughts from the Shallow End. Each episode, we bring you a poem, a song or a reading, just for you.

Mark Wolak: 21:29

u That really is a great, really a great story. So technology people are really concerned about it, especially for children, middle school, high school. What are your thoughts about that? What do you want listeners to know about how you're using technology in school?

Emily Boyle: 21:51

Absolutely.

Emily Boyle: 21:52

It's interesting because I grew up with technology but also technology is an advanced, so much in the time that I've been in high school, college and now in my professional life, so I'm kind of like a one foot in, one foot out with technology.

Emily Boyle: 22:12

But also, so I'm kind of like a one foot in, one foot out with technology, I'm really getting into the mindset now of it's not going anywhere. We're only going to get more of it and it's only going to be more prevalent. So now it's really that fine line of how can we utilize it, how can we make sure we're not over utilizing it, but also how can we teach our students to use it responsibly and usefully as a tool, not as a crutch, which is a conversation that's coming up a lot right now because AI is so big and the chat GPT is so prevalent. We see students using it, we see students turning assignments in where it's obviously been used, but again, it's not going anywhere. We just found out recently that it's got to the point now where you can take a photo of a worksheet and it will complete the worksheet.

Emily Boyle: 23:04

Oh, my gosh, so it's kind of-.

Joe Boyle: 23:06

That would have come in handy back in the day.

Emily Boyle: 23:08

Yeah. So it's kind of getting to the point now where what's our policy going to be on it? We're working on developing that, but we're also working on we only have so much control. We don't have any control outside of school. There's really no way to prove it yet, so it's more. So what are our policies in place and how can we find the balance of students understanding what it is they need to do in order to learn versus how are they utilizing it as a tool to be successful in their learning, which is really tricky, and I don't really know where I fall on the side of that. I mean, I'm one of the younger students on our staff and I still have to have a student help me, like once a day, with my smart board and how to find apps on the iPad. So every day it's something new with technology and just when you think you've got it figured out, it changes or it malfunctions.

Emily Boyle: 24:05

But a lot of people must be in the same boat and a lot of people are in the same boat, yeah, and schools now all have tech aids and people where that's their whole role and ours is amazing, and I mean the thing about working with middle schoolers is usually they can fix whatever it is that's going wrong because they are so fluent in technology. I mean it's great in a lot of ways we're cutting down on paper and we are it's great because it makes it hard for students to have excuses as to not getting work done because they have a version of their textbook on their iPad. They could email me their assignment. There's really no reason that they shouldn't be on top of everything. It's tricky and it's hard to get kids to stop holding their iPad on their lap and playing games while you're trying to teach.

Mark Wolak: 24:51

So I think that would probably be the most difficult part of it is when they're not engaged and they're using technology to distract themselves from what's going on. That would be really tough.

Joe Boyle: 25:03

Do you allow them to have their cell phones in the classroom?

Emily Boyle: 25:07

We don't. They turn their cell phones in in the morning when they get into the classroom. I have little cubbies for all of them and then at the end of the day, once their backpacks are packed up, then they get them back and we, like their students with Apple Watches and stuff. Now we collect those. They put them in their cubbies. So the only technology they have on them during the day is their school-issued iPad, and that's only six, seventh and eighths has theirs that they like bring home because they'll do assignments on it. Lower grades have like a classroom set that they'll use for different things.

Mark Wolak: 25:40

There's an interesting connection between one of our prior episodes with Daryl Mann, who said that the future, with AI, is telling the truth, and it's also interesting that your character building is around truth telling you know and that the future really is will you tell the truth?

Emily Boyle: 25:59

Yeah.

Mark Wolak: 26:00

And you know that's about character, Yep. So how about a story that's inspiring for you, that something that our listeners would understand the power of you being a teacher?

Emily Boyle: 26:13

Yeah, I used to teach when I started at the school that I'm at. I taught in upper elementary and then I moved into my role as an eighth grade, seventh and eighth grade teacher. So my, when I was still in upper elementary, I had a student who was new to my class, new to our school, and he was tricky layered is the words I would use. He was full of energy and he was. He had big feelings and he was bright, but he was distracted and he was explosive and he was competitive. We weren't the first school he had transferred to. He had wonderful parents who were really upfront with us about it. I said like we really just want him to be successful and he's confident in a lot of areas, but he's not confident with school because he's been getting the message that he's naughty and distracting and bad and we just want him to have a positive school experience. He and I just kind of clicked early on. I feel like I kind of saw that as a challenge. I was like the fact that other people teachers weren't seeing that. I was like, well, I'm going to find it. And we spent a lot of time together because a lot of things came up fights at recess and explosive behavior in the classroom and we got to the point where he and I and a few other students in similar boats were having lunch together once a week to talk about how can we navigate recess well, how can we navigate recess football well, how can we be? Take a step back and think about our actions.

Emily Boyle: 27:48

And then that year we switched is when COVID happened and we switched to distance learning and we had to go to Google Meats and I continued with him and the rest of those boys to eat lunch via Google Meet once a week and they would go out, they would get their lunches and they would all like have their, like yell at the teachers mom, can I have a pop? And like chug their sprites and goof around on the videos and just like feel normal for a little bit when they were cooped up at home. And then I taught him. When I moved into middle school. I taught him again in seventh and eighth grade and I saw a lot of growth. But there was still room to improve and I was in constant communication with his parents. But they said you know he doesn't feel this way about teachers, but he's kind of latched on to you and he feels like he can go to you with stuff and you get him. And so we just kept pushing, pushing, pushing with that and he grew so much and he became a real leader in his grade and turned a lot of things around.

Emily Boyle: 28:50

And then in eighth grade his mom shapped around a field trip with us and she pulled me aside in the field trip and she said you know I? She said you know, I talked to her son last night and he was talking about you and I said you know, what is it that you like so much about Miss Boyle? And he said Miss Boyle is the only teacher, or the first teacher that ever just saw me for who I was. She really makes me feel like I can be myself and feel seen, and that's good enough. It just makes me feel like I'm excited to go to school. I'm like crying on the field trip with this mom telling me this because that's they had never been as experienced before and it's hard to know that some kids go until they're 12 or 13 or 14 years old before they feel that way in school.

Joe Boyle: 29:39

And some kids. A real breakthrough. That was a banner.

Emily Boyle: 29:43

Absolutely, and some kids go longer than that without feeling that way. So when all the when you're on your 10th email about directions you already gave that day and nothing goes right in your technology breaks, those sort of things are like you know what, that's not that big of a deal. Let that go try again tomorrow. It's the, the breakthroughs that you're making like that and the connections that you're making that matter, and last big picture big picture, absolutely, and it's hard to see sometimes, but it's there.

Mark Wolak: 30:14

Yeah, good for you, while you just continue to sound like such a great teacher. To me it's really been fun. So favorite music give us, you know we're a couple old guys. We want to know what's your favorite music. We're going to play it.

Emily Boyle: 30:30

I'm glad you asked. I have a few favorites in the classroom. I'm a big Taylor Swift, Harry Styles person. We'll get some singalongs going, some karaoke going. I'll take zero Taylor Swift slander and room in my classroom. I also like to introduce my students to new stuff, so I do like to play music in the morning. Some of my favorites Camp, the band C A, a, m P, mount Joy. I do like to go old school Sometimes John Prine, Jerry Jeff Walker that's a little nod to Joe, how do they react to that?

Emily Boyle: 31:04

They're usually never negatively, but usually just kind of like confused and then I'll go like they'll know. You can tell the kids whose parents play music for them. They'll know some of the classics and the oldies that I'll play. But I do like to do, on extra credit questions on my test, I like to do finish the lyric and I'll put the first part of a lyric and then the kids have to try and finish it for an extra credit point on their tests. And it's funny to see what they'll come up with, cause if they don't know what they'll still try to like I'll just put something that rhymes. So it's always fun and you can tell the ones. So I'm like, oh, dad's playing Bob Dylan at home for him Cause he knew the lyric. But those are some of my favorites.

Emily Boyle: 31:47

I'm like oh, a little homage, you must also be enrolled in the college of musical knowledge. That's what I always thought it's the college of musical knowledge.

Joe Boyle: 31:57

Either you know it or you don't.

Emily Boyle: 31:59

I've got my bachelor's degree, I've got my master's degree and I've got my degree from the college of musical knowledge.

Mark Wolak: 32:05

Yeah, that's great, that's great Well, thank you, Emily. It's been really a remarkable story. Really appreciate you being here today and sharing everything that you shared.

Emily Boyle: 32:16

Oh well, thank you for having me and thank you both for always being big supporters of educators and wonderful educators yourself, Mark, and letting me come and chitchat.

Joe Boyle: 32:27

Thanks for coming, honey. Well, that was an interesting two part interview with a current veteran teacher. First off, how long have you been in education, Dr Wolak?

Mark Wolak: 32:39

Yeah, I've been in education 35 plus years and you know it's the kind of career that once you're in it, in order to last, you got to love what you're doing.

Joe Boyle: 32:50

Okay, so based on that 35 years and your professional background, what's your take on Emily Boyle's story and her approach to education?

Mark Wolak: 33:00

Yeah, I've told her this. If she was an applicant in the school I was in or the district I was in, I would hire her. She's a natural. She's got tremendous aptitude. She loves what she does and she teaches from the heart. You can hear it in her stories, in the way she thinks about teaching. I would want her to be my kid's teacher and my grandchildren's teacher.

Joe Boyle: 33:24

I'd insist on it, especially if I sent my kids to a private school like hers.

Mark Wolak: 33:28

Yes, yeah, remarkable person. And again, you know she's already beat the odds. She's in her sixth year of teaching. She's reached a level of mastery. I'm sure she's getting a lot of additional responsibilities, right? People see her skill set and they want her to be helping them make the school better. So just a lot of really good things came out of her story.

Joe Boyle: 33:50

She just told me that she's going to be coaching the eighth grade boys basketball team this year. So yeah, she's got some added responsibility.

Mark Wolak: 33:58

Well, we'll have to keep in touch with her and maybe bring her back for some additional stories. Maybe go to a couple of games.

Joe Boyle: 34:05

Yeah, there we go, I'd like to see that.

Mark Wolak: 34:07

That would be great! For our listeners, next up is a story of a friend of ours who's been doing some work in Chimbote, Peru, and so we're working on that story.

Joe Boyle: 34:19

We'll have that out soon. Music on this episode "e're going to be friends with the White Stripes, the White Blood Cells album from 2001. What about us? Is a song by Pink sung by the One Voice Children's Choir, and you've got gold from John Prine. The album was the Missing Years from 1991. We hope you enjoyed this episode. Please join us again next time on Stories in Life on the radio with Mark and Joe and visit our website at storiesandlifebuzzbrowcom or email us at storiesandlifepodcast at gmailcom.