Back To School Pt 5: Best Advice for New Teachers

5 Pieces of Hard-Earned Wisdom for New Teachers (And Why Every Teacher Should Listen!)

This episode is part five of our special Back to School 2024-2025 series, designed to set you up for success with the best strategies, attitudes, and boundary-setting tips.

Whether you’re a brand new teacher or a seasoned educator, today’s episode is packed with wisdom that’s taken a lifetime to earn. I reflect on my 20-year journey and share five powerful "do's." I wish I could go back and tell my younger self—insights from which every teacher, new or experienced, can benefit.

Tune in to Discover:

• 🎯 Why these “do’s” are far more valuable than the typical “don’ts” you hear.
• 🧭 The importance of embracing your moods and making peace with the ups and downs of teaching.
• 🚀 Why waiting for things to get “better” is a trap—and how to thrive right now.
• 🛑 How setting boundaries from the start can transform your teaching experience.
• 🕰️ The crucial difference between urgent and important tasks—and why prioritizing with intention is key.

You’ve got this. Whether you’re stepping into the classroom for the first time or the fifteenth, this episode will remind you that every day is a new adventure in teaching—and you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.

To thrive in teaching WITHOUT sacrificing your personal life, visit www.gracestevens.com/elevate

Want to truly thrive in teaching without sacrificing your personal life? Check out the Elevated Teacher Experience here
Check out the best-selling Positive Mindset Habits for Teachers book here
And the #1 new release for educators Beat Teacher Burnout with Better Boundaries book here

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Transcript

  Okay, teacher friends, here we go. This is part five in my Back to School  2024 2025 season. Five curated episodes just for everybody going back to school to set you off on the best possible vibe with the best strategies, attitude, boundary plan, all the things. So this week we're looking at what is the best advice I have for new. 

Now wait up, do not like tune out if you're not a new teacher.  Let me tell you, this wisdom has been hard earned. Okay, over 20 years in the classroom. But a lot of it has just come with wisdom and age. When I write a book, somebody asks me, how long did it take you to write that book? Listen, I'm coming up.

Two, I've been working really hard on finishing up my empowering mindset habits for teachers. So when somebody asked me, how long did it take you to write that book? Okay, well, it's a follow up to another book I wrote six years ago. So did it take me six years to write this book? No, it took me almost 60.

I'm almost 60 years old. It took me a lifetime of wisdom. Okay, so the strategies I am going to give in this podcast episode, which is the advice I would go back and give myself when I was a new teacher. Now wait, there's a plot twist. These are all do's, they're not don'ts. Usually when people do these reflections, or five things I'd go back and tell myself, don't do this, don't do that.

These are do's.  These are things you should be doing. And let me define new teacher for you. First off, if you are new to education, you're doing your student teaching, yay for you for finding this podcast early. It's going to serve you well. If you are one of those impact students, which is just learning how to be a teacher while still going to school to get your credential, oh my word, you are for sure a new teacher.

My heart It's for you. That's a lot to take on, uh, but you're strong and you can do it. What if you're new to a school district? If you just changed districts? If you just changed schools? You are a new teacher. Even if in the same school you significantly change grade levels, that can give you that new Teach a vibe and I want to say every year is a new adventure in teaching.

That's one of the things that I loved about it. Every year was a new adventure. Okay,  so, um, that's exciting, isn't it? So I feel there's wisdom for everybody in this episode. Again, it is going to be the five. pieces of advice I would go back and tell myself. Now remember when I started teaching I was already in my late 30s.

I, I had some life wisdom. Um, I still, um, would double down on these five things. So I'm going to share them as soon as we get into the episode. Let's do it. Welcome to the Balance Your Teacher Life podcast, where we talk all things avoiding educator burnout, setting healthy boundaries, and achieving better work life balance. 

If you're passionate about education, but tired of it consuming your whole life, you have found your home in the podcast universe. I'm your host, Grace Stevens, and let's get going with today's show. Okay, 

I promised you do's, not don'ts. If I was to go back and give myself a beautiful hug, I found a photo recently of my first day of teaching. Oh my word. First off I had dark hair.  It was cute. I had dark hair and I was wearing this lovely dress. Oh my gosh. I remember being so excited, picking out that, oh my gosh, picking out that dress.

I went to Mervyn's if you're old enough to remember Mervyn's being a thing. And, um, I got a dress and it had a very nice little cardigan that went with it. I remember wanting to like, okay, well, I don't want to overdress. I didn't feel like I should wear a blazer. Remember, I came from the corporate world.

Some of you may not know that I wore a suit every day. And, um, for me, that was, you know, casual was a dress and a pair of pumps. Um,  and this nice, um, little sweater. And then I was, you know, I was holding my bell works, teaching the kids. I remember that we did not have enough time.  So I would just Xerox it onto a transparency and project the transparency and the kids would have to write a, B, C, or D down on a piece of paper.

I mean, we were born on a budget that, that never changed with that school I was at for 16 years. We were a title one school. Um, yeah, we were just always a little under resourced, but never mind, we had spirits. So anyway, I found that, that, um, that picture. If I could go back and give that lady a hug and the first thing I would tell her, now this isn't the five things, but I'm just, this is an aside as I'm saying this, I'm getting choked up. 

Okay. I would go back and tell her,  you are going to be fine. You know, it was a bad day. I've got a big risk for me to become a teacher. I, I really just turned my home life upside down to do that. Okay. Um, it had a very deep financial impact. Um, I had a very supportive family at the time, um, but it was still a risk and I wasn't sure I had substituted for a little bit before I went back and got my credential, but I wasn't really sure like, what if I've really just messed this up?

I was passionate, so passionate about teaching. public education and passionate that I wanted to be a public servant for 20 years. Um, I had kind of opted out of corporate values and I would just go back to that girl who was so worried. She was a grown ass woman, but she was still so worried about what am I wearing and what am I saying?

And do they understand my accent and will people like me? And I would just go back first off and just give her a hug. Give her a hug and say, you know what? You are going to be okay. This was the best decision you ever made in your life. You are going to have a blast. Not every day. No, no job is fun every day, but this job, this job you were, you were born to do.

And I know that's kind of a little, you know, bordering in the, we don't want to go into the toxic. This is a vocation. This is going to be your whole life. It wasn't my whole life. But I want to tell that woman who was nervous that day, you know what, you're going to crush this. You are going to love this career.

You are going to have a positive influence on so many  adults as well as children. And you are going to grow so much. You are going to grow into your gifts and really become the person you're supposed to be. And now with that perspective, having been out of the classroom a few years, honest to goodness, it was the When I was teaching and I had a classroom community, I just loved that.

We created magic in the classroom and I have lots of interests and lots of other passions in life. Um, but there is nothing, there is nothing that has come close to that. So I am joking up now.  Said I wasn't going to do that. But there you go. So if you're a first year teacher and you're really worried, did I make a mistake here?

Um, I'm giving you that same hug. You are going to be okay. All right, you're going to be okay. It's going to be, to me, like when I, my children ask me, my own children ask me, what's it like being a parent? You know, they're at that age where they're starting to think about it. Do they want in? Do they want out of being a parent?

I kind of love that about young people these days. When I was growing up, it was just a given, right? You needed a compelling excuse not to have a child really is how it felt here. Like it's really a choice. They're really giving the matter some reflection. And like I told my own children, Oh my goodness.

The biggest adventure and joy of my life, being a parent. Now, you know, best of times and the worst of times. You better, you know, you better, when, when, when you give birth  and that's the same as when you're holding that brand new teaching credential, right, what you don't understand is you will never go to bed again  for the rest of your life without something to worry about.

Okay. That's the same as being a parent. Listen, my mom's 89. I still think she worries about me. If I don't check in with her, um, every day on FaceTime, she wants to look at my face and see what's going on with me. Um, she knows I can't lie to her face. I can't say I'm great looking at her, right? She still worries about me.

So, um, anyway, I want to tell you, if you're a new teacher, you will be fine. Yes, it will be challenging, but it will be the greatest joy of your life. And if not, then leave. Okay. That's what I will tell you. We get into that. That's number five. Let's get to the list. All right. What would I tell myself? The do's.

You know what?  Do embrace your moods. Okay, some days are great, some days aren't great. Some days you have the same kids, the same classroom, the same curriculum you had yesterday, but you have an amazingly different experience. And it's not just the kids, it's this whole idea of co regulation, right, the energy that you're bringing.

To it is coming back to you. That is a scientific fact. We've had episodes on that. So just understand that sometimes your moods lie.  Some days you have all the same raw ingredients and you have a really tough day and other days with the same raw ingredients, you have a great day. Okay. So just accept that.

Accept that every day will be different. Not every day is going to be easy. Just because you've had a few tough days doesn't mean that you're a bad teacher.  It doesn't mean that you have the worst kids. It just means you're having a few tough games. Okay, stay away from social media. Um, do not, I said it was, this was about a do, but still I got to tell you, do not play the comparison game.

Okay, it is easy to get caught up when you see, oh my gosh, all the pressure of these beautiful classrooms, lesson plans. Um, Cozy corners, calm down corners, convenience, um, cupboards that, that some teacher has spent hundreds of dollars on, you know, um, all these things that you see, do not compare yourself to that.

People are showing their best day in their classroom and then on the other side of social media they're showing the worst day in teaching with the room clears and the ripped up, um,  classroom and all the trauma that comes with that. Okay, you've seen two extremes. The very best day teaching, the very worst day teaching.

You know what? That's like two, three days out of the year. The hundred and other 175 are pretty monotonous some days. Okay, you got to embrace all of it. Understand that kids learn every day on the good days and the bad days. Okay, you're growing every day on the good days and the bad days. Don't get too caught up in your moods and just let it go.

Understand the best advice I can give you with everything in life is be gracious when it's going bad. Just try and handle it with a little grace and just be grateful when it's good, right? This too will pass. I always thought that was about when things are going crappy, you would tell yourself this too will pass.

You know what? That is equally true of when things are going great. This too will pass. So enjoy it. Okay, when things are going great and you have that magical moment, that tangent that you went off that turned out to be hilarious, that teachable moment, just enjoy that. Embrace that. Okay, find ways to really hold on to that.

Okay, so that's number one. Okay, just, you know, just embrace your moods, embrace all the days, the good, the bad, the tedious. It's all part of it. It's not supposed to be any particular way. Don't get caught up in that. All right. Number two, what I would go back and tell a new teacher is do get over that thinking of it'll be better when. 

It'll be better when, I remember I started teaching, it was brand new, had young kids at home, I was still trying to clear my credential at night, and lo and behold I was given a split class,  one, two split, okay, it was a lot y'all, and I kept saying it'll be better next year, it'll be better when I know the routines, it'll be better when I know the curriculum, it'll be better when I'm not the new teacher, it'll be better when I have a better teaching partner who can contribute Equitably.

It'll be better when I have a better behaved group of kids. It'll be better when I have a different administrator. It'll be better when when I move to the bigger, brighter, cleaner, more modern classroom that's closer to the teacher restrooms, you know. If you know, you know. Okay. How important that is. Get over that thinking.

There is no dream class,  right? There is no dream class. Oh, stop living your life for the weekend, for the weekend, for the next spring break, for the next summer break, right? It'll be better when I'll be happier when it's the weekend. I'll be happier when it's spring break. You know what your life is happening.

I  know that might be an overworked trope, but it is so true. Your life is happening now. Your whole life is stringing together a whole bunch of nows. Why would you not try and make the best of now? Not delaying happiness, not delaying being satisfied. You don't need to be happy, skipping, sparkly every day, but that deep kind of satisfaction that comes with I'm doing what I want.

Want to do where I want to do it with the people I want to do it with you. If you have that deep satisfaction in your life, that is enough to get you three. Do not delay being happy. If you think of anything you have ever wanted in life. Anything, a different condition, a different health condition, a different job, more money, a different relationship, whatever you have wanted.

It's because you thought you would be happier in the having of it, right?  Find a way to be happy now  with the kids you have,  in the room you have,  with the curriculum you have, right? With the resources, the co workers, the administrators, the parents. The school board that you have. Could things be easier if they were different?

Absolutely. We're going to talk about that in number five. Hold on to your hats, but don't waste today hoping that tomorrow will be better. Okay, that's really just, like I said with number one, embracing all of it. Number two, to get over the it'll be better when thinking, right? There's no dream class. It's not coming.

It's not coming and  nobody's coming to save you, darling. You got to have to take responsibility for feeling more empowered and more happy. Uh, you've got to take responsibility for that yourself. Okay, and I'm super proud of you for being on this, listening to this podcast right now, because that is what this podcast is all about.

Teacher empowerment,  being more balanced, having more joy in your life. So let me ask you now, even though we're right in the middle of point two and point three, because I always forget to say it, Why don't you share this episode with a colleague? There's gotta be some teacher friend in your life that you think would benefit from this information.

Come on, be a friend, share it with them. Okay? Share it with them. It's easy to listen to a podcast. So easy. Oh my god. So easy. Easier than reading a book.  All of it. Just put it on and go. All right. So number three. New teacher advice. What I would go back and tell myself is,  and I tell anybody who listens, let me tell you, I talk at conferences,  I talk at PDs, I talk incessantly it seems like on this podcast, I teach at my membership about this, it's a focus of a lot of our community calls where we just chat and get coaching and help and that is I'm Desi Ramadan, I'm the president and a co host of PDs.

I've had the honor of being a member of the community and I will continue to lead the Set better boundaries.  Set boundaries at the beginning, as soon as you can. And if you haven't set boundaries yet, if you have already begun to be known as the teacher who says yes to everything, the teacher who will take on everything placed on her shoulders without complaining, it's okay.

You can change your mind. You can change that opinion of yourself. You can learn to set healthy boundaries. Such a big topic. Um, go back through my catalog. Let me direct you to two episodes in particular,  but then let me tell you there are plenty of others on setting boundaries. So on the five steps to saying no in a student focused way, okay.

Episode two. Go all the way back to that. It has the script, the framework, the proven formula for saying no. Now, this is two things that are above and beyond, um, your scope of duty. Okay?  Somebody asked you to be in a curriculum committee. Somebody asked you to be in the safety committee. Somebody asked you to coach basketball.

You know, whatever. It's not your actual job. It's something else. You want episode two. Now, If you need to set  boundaries on your time with something that's in your area of expertise, so let's say you're the science teacher and you've got to put on science fair, science camp, science olympiad, raise money for science camp, all the things, how are you gonna  set boundaries?

And I call this yes, With limitations. You can't say no to all these things because they are technically related to your job. But how do you say yes with limitations? Yes with setting boundaries to make sure you don't burn out. You're gonna want episode 48. Okay, go back to episode 48.  How to decline professionally things that are within your area of expertise.

Okay, now if you go back through my catalog of episodes, there's how to set boundaries with your family over, over, um, Over breaks, like of summer break. How do you set boundaries with toxically negative co workers? Like there's a whole bunch of them. But really, for setting boundaries on your time, saying no, you want episode 2.

Saying yes for limitations, episode 48. Okay, go back and listen to those. All right, so, so far, here are my three pieces of advice for the new teacher. One, the comparison game.  Don't get caught up in it. Don't get caught up in your moods. Embrace all of it. Number two, get over that. It'll be better when, or I'll be happy when, thinking.

Okay. That's kind of an epidemic, uh, throughout our culture. So  work on that. Number three, set boundaries. Even if you haven't set them yet, never too late. All right. Number four, get intentional with your time and choices.  Get intentional with your time and choices. Listen,  first part of that is, is never going to get done.

There is always going to be more to do than you have time. Then you have mental energy, then you have capacity to handle. It is never going to get done. So get intentional. Okay.  Understand the difference between urgent and important. Urgent is usually somebody else's priority. When urgent shows up in your email box. 

As somebody else's agenda,  truly. Okay, it's, it's, it's data they need. It's reports they need. It's psych reports they need filled out. It's stuff that's needed for a meeting tomorrow. For this, for that. That's, it's always on somebody else's agenda if it's suddenly urgent. Okay, so you got to learn how to prioritize those things.

Versus what's truly important. And you know what's important. Okay. Or you should know what's important, but get intentional, right? Make a not to do list, right? Of all the things you need to do, start scratching stuff off, right? What can be delegated? What can be, go back and listen to my whole episode on glass balls and rummables,  okay.

A new paradigm for balance. Like what is mission critical? That would be a glass ball. I need to keep that ball in the air. What can I come back to later? Or can somebody else do, or, or I really think won't be for me. Stinkin important a week from now, even though people harass me about it. Wouldn't call that a rubber ball and let it roll away.

Okay, so be intentional with your time and your choices. Have some kind of framework that you use, some kind of tools to make sure you are not just reactively trying to get everything done. It is never going to get done. Make peace with that. There is only a finite number of time. Make sure you're working on things that have impact and that move the needle forward in areas that you consider to be important.

Okay, so that's number four.  Number five, in new teacher advice. Now this has changed since I started.  I struggled with it.  Don't struggle with it, baby. Don't struggle. Struggling is optional. So number five is do let go of that gold watch mentality. Now, what is that?  The gold watch mentality. Now, depending on how old you are, you might not even be able to relate to this.

At all, but if you had parents who you so proud were teachers, grandparents, so I come from a whole line of teachers. I hear that quite often. I certainly don't.  Okay, but I hear it from other educators. You know, there was this mentality. Certainly, you know, my parents, Parents generation was that you got a job, you stayed with it for life, you retired and you got a gold watch when you retired.

Okay,  so let's say maybe you worked for, you know,  one corporation your entire career and after 40 years, 50 years, sometimes 60 years, people retire,  um, and get the gold watch. Okay, now, when I first started in teaching, it was that way. You started teaching at a school and you were like, there are still some teachers at that school who aren't institutions at that school.

Um, the teacher who was my, um, mentor teacher when I was a student teacher, she had been there her whole career, um, from when she was 22 until she retired. So she put in 40 years at that school. Um, there is one teacher there who has been teaching  50.  years, matriarch of the school, okay? Um, there are many others who have been there 20, 30 years.

It's the only school they've ever taught at.  And that idea is really kind of an old one. We've moved on from that. This generation, um, Um, maybe even the generation, um, before what we have coming up also did not feel, um, you know, this kind of loyalty to a school that they know if they ended up agonizing about, you know, giving their notice, they know full well that job would be on, you know, ed join. 

By the end of the day, before they even, you know, handed in their keys. Okay. So this notion that we go to one school and we stay with it our whole career. So we need to move beyond that. And so, um, there's a couple of things I want to say about that. One, don't be intimidated about being the new teacher.

Okay, so that can be being intimidated about being a brand new teacher. You look around and let's say in my previous example, there were these matriarchs at the school or patriarchs, people who've been there 20, 30, 40 years plus, right? And they think they like, you know, rule the school. Suddenly it's middle school and you know, they're kind of like the, the eighth graders.

They're in charge. Okay. No. Okay. Do they have things to offer? Absolutely. 100 percent wisdom experience. All the things that come with age and come with all those years in teaching. What a wealth of experience. You know what they don't have? They don't have um, the um, The new attitudes, the new proficiency with software, the new understanding of social media and how important it is to a kid's life.

You know, kids are addicted to their devices. I have a hard time relating to that. And, you know, newer teachers coming in, you know, also some of them I have observed addicted to their devices, but it makes them more relatable. Okay, so if you are a brand new teacher and you are young, yes, is it really annoying that you feel that, um, maybe the parents don't have, you know, immediate respect for you just because of your age and your experience, right?

Um, but at the same time, you have so many gifts to offer, new ideas, Proficiency with AI, open to, to new technologies, all these things that some older teachers really don't have. Okay. So don't be intimidated. And so where that comes in, don't be intimidated to change school districts. Okay. Let's get over this idea that when you're in a district, you're going to stay in it for your whole life, right?

If it is a toxic environment.  Get out, right? Try and fix it first. I just said, you know, bloom where you're planted, but at the same time, if it's deeply toxic, then you have options. There is a teacher shortage and it is not going away for a long time. I promise you that. Okay. When I first came into teaching there, they were cutting back teachers.

Okay. Lots of reasons for that, but it was, it was hard to get a job and you were constantly nervous, um, for years about not being tenured in. So when you got tenure with the district, you just literally wanted to hold on with all your life, right? Okay, so those days are gone. You have options, right? If you feel that your growth is being stifled, Right.

If you're in a very small campus and there's very little opportunities, you know, maybe you don't want to go the administrator path, but maybe you just want some, you know, good feedback. You want some curriculum coaches to work with you. Maybe you want to be a curriculum coach. Maybe there's other opportunities.

Okay. So if you really want to stretch yourself and grow, and you need to move districts to do that, do that. Don't be afraid. Do it. Just be informed, know what your contract is, know how many, you know, units, um, and how many years of service are going to be accepted at a different school district. Okay, some districts will give you the maximum of, you know, 10 years credit or 12 years credit.

Maybe even five years credit. So if you knew it in year five, you're miserable. Don't wait till year 15 to do something about it. Because then if you go to your neighboring district that only gives you credit for the first five years, you know, on that pay scale, um, then, you know, you have just messed yourself up.

Like it's a big deterrent. It's made to be that way. There are incentives for you to stay in a district.  In the spot you're at. You know why? Because teacher turnover is expensive. Right? And so, they set it up, incentivize like the longer you stay in this one classroom, doing this one job the more money you're gonna make.

Right? Even though sometimes those raises hardly even keep up with the, the COLA. Right? The cost of living adjustment. Okay? So, just move beyond that gold gold. Watch mentality. You are never stuck. You have so many and if the time comes where you really want to leave education Don't get caught up in that idea that you're just a teacher.

You have so many skills. So many skills that other corporations will encourage and welcome And need. Okay. All right. So let's go over new teacher advice. What I would go back  We know what I would go back and tell myself. Got a little choked up about that. It's gonna be great, darling. It's gonna be great.

Um, but what would I tell other teachers? My top five pieces of advice. Now, of course, there are lots of ticky tacky stuff, right? Things that I feel we've evolved. You know, like, okay, I wouldn't line kids up, girls and boys, right? Okay, I would get rid of the clip chart, okay? It's not a good idea to shame teachers.

Children into behaving better. Okay. Those were all fads. Um, okay. So I'm not talking about those things. I mean, like on a deep level,  here's five things. that I think are of value to you no matter where you are in teaching, but especially if you're a new teacher. One, don't believe your moods, okay? Some days are going to be good, some days are going to be bad.

Don't start telling yourself a story about all of that. Just try and embrace it all. The good,  the bad, the mundane, right? Stay away from social media. It's never going to make you feel good about yourself and your teaching. People are either showing the bad, Best day of their teaching life, the best lesson plan they've ever done, or else they're showing a trashed room.

And the reality is.  There's a huge spectrum in the middle that is just you and your kids doing what you need to do every single day. All right so that's number one. Number two is get over the it'll be better when thinking. Okay that whole idea of I'll be happy when. Now figure out a way to be if not happy at least satisfied now.

This constant wanting things to be different that constant yearning that is what is exhausting you and And, and leading your burnout and your stress is the constant wanting things to be any different than they are. It's not to say we don't work and wouldn't don't feel empowered to improve them, but not just kind of. 

Thinking we can't be happy until everything's perfect.  It's not going to get perfect. All right, number three piece of advice. Set those boundaries. Set them often. Set them early. If you've fallen into a habit of never setting them, that's okay. Set them now. Two episodes to really help you out with that.

Episode two, how to say no to duties above  and beyond your scope of duty, right? And episode 48. Yes, with limitations. How do you set them? Set boundaries with things that are expected of you because they're in your area of expertise. Okay. So do a deep dive in those two. All right. Number four, be intentional with your time and choices. 

You cannot get everything done. Make sure you're working on the things that move the needle for students, things that bring you joy, things that protect your energy, all those things. And then number five, move beyond the gold watch mentality. I don't think that you need to sign up for a school and be there for the rest of eternity.

Okay, you have choices. Don't be intimidated.  Value growth over comfort. Um, but be You know, educated, know what your contract is, know what, um, what the neighboring contract is, you don't want any, you know, surprises, you don't want to go over thinking, Oh, I have, you know, 60 units, I have my bachelors plus 60 units on the pay scale.

I'd be at this step. And then you go to the new school and they don't recognize all those units. Oh, some of those were CEUs. We only value those at 0. 45.  of a unit. Like, there's all kinds of games that get played, so be educated first. All right, that's the advice I would give the new teachers. Remember, you're all new in some capacity.

Um, I am still  thinking of that photo of me on day one. What an adventure. I am giving myself a big hug and at the same time a big tap on the back. Um, yay me. I did it. I enjoyed a lot of it. Not all of it, but really a lot of it. And again, I'm being honest when I say, um, that was the best of me. And, um, I really have been thinking long and hard myself about what it means to be outside of the classroom and, um, trying to reconcile  The idea, is that what I want for, um, the rest of my career or not?

I thought I was done with teaching. I said 20 years as a public servant and then I would invest all my time and energy in empowering teachers. Um, but I think I got to find a way to get back in the classroom. So more to come on that. All right. In the meantime,  go crush it. Okay? Go crush it. And even if you're not crushing it, just, you know, be satisfied.

It's good. It's a pretty good way to spend your day. There are people out there in the, in the heat, digging ditches, you know, all kinds of objectionable jobs out there. You know, we're hanging out with kids. It's, it's, it's the good stuff. All right. I believe in you. And until next time, create your own path.

Bring your own sunshine.