Playing Teacher

Send us Fan MailThis week we're joined by special guest Jamie Vedder, former PS 239 teacher and current assistant principal, for a conversation 26 years in the making. Jamie takes us through her full career arc in the DOE — from teaching a first-grade class of 37 students (yes, thirty-seven) alongside an ESL co-teacher, to earning tenure, moving to third grade, becoming a literacy coach, and ultimately making the leap into administration. She's candid about how scary that transition felt, why she's turned down principal offers to stay in the AP role she loves, and what 12 years in the same building has taught her about leadership and team.There's a fun twist, too: Jamie and Robert attended the same elementary school as kids, decades before reconnecting as colleagues at PS 239. Jamie now works in that very building — the old St. Pancras, since renovated and reborn — and shares what it's like walking the halls where she was once a student.If you've ever wondered what the path from classroom to administration really looks like, or you just miss the glory days of the DOE, this one's for you.Support the show

Send us Fan MailGraduation is supposed to be about the students—but anyone who has worked in a school knows the ceremony often comes with a backstage show of adult politics, bruised egos, seating drama, award rivalries, and exhausted teachers trying to hold it all together.In this episode, Matthew, Brugge, and Doc celebrate Dr. Robert Monahan officially earning his PhD in Education before diving into the strange world of school graduations: kindergarten milestones, sixth-grade sendoffs, stage seating power plays, graduation practice chaos, Teacher of the Year tension, and the emotional moments that somehow survive all the nonsense.From Doc walking his son to kindergarten a week after a heart attack, to Matthew reflecting on Dylan’s school experience, to Brugge calling out the politics hiding behind the pomp, this episode is funny, reflective, and painfully familiar for anyone who has ever survived graduation season in a school.Support the show

Send us Fan MailIn Episode 28, we catch up with Ms. Henriquez, though longtime listeners will understand why she will forever be known to us as Slagle — which, yes, rhymes with Bagel.The episode begins with a 20-year-old grudge involving Rob, Matt, and the mysterious school-wide fly infestation that reached its horrifying peak when Slagle discovered a fly floating in her cup of tea. From there, we investigate the truly important matters: her secret brownie recipe, who made the legendary “day-brightening” brownie list, and why some friendships survive only because baked goods are involved.But beneath the laughs, this episode turns into a heartfelt conversation about what it really takes to survive and thrive in education. Brugge reflects on the importance of honest relationships with colleagues, especially in a profession that can test even the strongest people. Slagle shares what she has learned from years in the classroom, including the challenges of difficult classes, the power of strong work relationships, and the deep commitment required to support students in an ICT setting.Slagle is one of the good ones: a veteran educator, a trusted colleague, a dedicated teacher, a loyal friend, and forever our favorite Bagel.Support the show

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Matt, Rob, and Brugge pull back the curtain on one of the least-discussed realities of working in schools: teachers are not only instructors, they are also emergency managers, crowd-control specialists, traffic directors, social workers, field-trip logisticians, and sometimes the last line of defense between students and danger.Using a recent Oklahoma school shooting incident as a serious entry point, the conversation moves through the lived realities of school safety: lockdowns, shelter-in-place drills, fire drills, evacuation protocols, dismissal chaos, field-trip transportation, custody complications, and the impossible split-second decisions educators are expected to make under pressure. What makes the episode especially compelling is the contrast between formal safety protocols and the messy, human, unpredictable reality of school life. The hosts show how much of teaching happens outside the lesson plan: blocking traffic during fire drills, remembering which adult can legally pick up which child, managing 30 students on a subway platform, and trying to stay calm when the stakes are very real.The episode is serious, funny, reflective, and deeply teacher-centered. It captures the emotional labor, physical demands, absurdity, and courage embedded in everyday school work—before ending, naturally, with wrestling names, old school stories, and plans for a future guest.Support the show