The central theme of this podcast episode revolves around the impactful insights shared by Mr. Funky Teacher, who emphasizes the vital importance of fostering strong relationships within educational spaces. Through his engaging discourse, he elucidates the transformative power of creativity and hard work in empowering both educators and students alike. Additionally, the episode delves into the significance of mental wellness in the teaching profession, highlighting how activities such as wellness walks can enhance both physical and mental health. Mr. Funky Teacher reflects on his experiences at the National Teacher Leadership Conference, where he engaged in meaningful discussions with fellow educators about navigating the challenges of contemporary teaching. Ultimately, this episode serves as a clarion call for educators to embrace their roles with passion and commitment, striving to inspire greatness in their students while also advocating for a safe and supportive school environment.

Engagement with educators is essential in fostering a nurturing and effective learning environment, as evidenced by my experiences during the National Teacher Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida. The event served as a platform for collaboration and inspiration, emphasizing the importance of community among teachers. The day commenced with a wellness walk around the picturesque Disney Yacht Club Resort, an initiative that not only invigorated the participants physically but also provided an opportunity for connecting with fellow educators. This activity underscored the significance of maintaining one's health and wellness, especially within the demanding field of education, where the physical and emotional challenges faced by teachers are considerable. As I engaged in discussions with my colleagues, I was reminded of the collective strength we possess as educators, a sentiment that was reinforced throughout the various presentations and workshops I attended.

The conference included a poignant session titled 'Books Not Bullets,' led by Abby Clements, a Sandy Hook survivor and advocate for ending gun violence in schools. The gravity of her message resonated deeply as she shared not only her personal narrative but also the collective experiences of educators grappling with the stark realities of school shootings. This dialogue illuminated the urgent need for actionable change in our education system, particularly concerning the safety and well-being of both students and teachers. The emotional weight of the discussions was palpable, as we contemplated the profound impact that gun violence has on our educational environments and the imperative for advocacy in promoting safer schools. The session, coupled with a powerful documentary, served as a clarion call for educators to harness their voices in the fight for change, highlighting the critical role we play in shaping the future of our students.

Concluding the conference, I reflected on the overarching theme of hope amidst adversity. The closing remarks encapsulated the shared experiences of educators navigating the complexities of teaching during tumultuous times. As I prepared to transition to a new teaching position at Winnebago Public Schools, I felt a renewed sense of purpose. The discussions held during the conference not only equipped me with practical strategies for enhancing my teaching but also instilled in me a profound appreciation for the resilience of the educational community. I am committed to honoring the legacy of kindness and support that has been foundational in my journey as an educator. As I look forward to inspiring my students and fostering a nurturing environment in my new role, I carry with me the lessons and connections forged during this remarkable conference, reaffirming my belief in the transformative power of education.

Takeaways:

• The engaging dialogue highlighted the transformative power of educators who inspire creativity and foster positive environments for learning.
• Emphasizing the importance of physical activity, the discussion underscored the benefits of wellness walks for mental and physical health during educational events.
• The poignant narrative surrounding school violence illustrated the profound impact of gun violence on students and educators alike, necessitating advocacy for safer environments.
• An exploration of social emotional learning initiatives revealed their significant role in enhancing student well-being and academic success within educational institutions.
• The podcast articulated the necessity for educators to maintain strong relationships with students to identify and address potential issues before they escalate.
• Concluding reflections from the conference emphasized the collective strength of educators in advocating for systemic changes to improve the teaching landscape.

Links referenced in this episode:

• beafunkyteacher.com

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Be a Funky Teacher
• National Teacher Leadership Conference
• Teachers Unify To End Gun Violence
• Codman Academy Charter Public Schools
• Prince George's County

Yeah, he's Mr. Funky.

He's Mr. Funky Teacher.

Mr. Funky Teacher inspires greatness, makes you feel good like your favorite playlist.

Keeping that fresh and funky.

Yes, he does.

He got some funky cool ideas to share for all you teachers.

He can empower others, students and teachers.

It's all about hard work and creativity.

He brings out the kindness in everyone.

He's got the passion to teach.

You hear it when he speaks.

He knows how to build strong relationships.

If you're seeking the best bunkiest, he is it.

He will empower you to improve.

He'll be helping others and loving it too.

He's Mr. Funky Teacher.

Yeah, he's Mr. Funky Teacher.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

This is Mr. Funky Teacher with Be a Funky Teacher dot com.

I'm coming to you with another Be a Funky Teacher podcast.

Well, day three is in the books.

Day three was a spectacular day.

I just have to say it was a spectacular day because of the fellowship, talking with fellow educators and of course the presentations and not cannot forget one other thing.

Food.

Food was delicious as well.

Well, so let me kind of go through and kind of reflect on the day.

That's what I want to take some time right now.

Just kind of reflect on the day and talk about what the day looked like.

You know, we started the day now I was tired the night before and I started day three of the conference doing a wellness walk.

This wellness walk was at 7am around the Disney Yacht Club Resort grounds.

They have a boardwalk that kind of goes around and kind of by the pool area and through the grounds by some shops.

It was really a neat area.

And the conference had organized a wellness walk.

Now I think There was about eight of us, nine of us who were there and met at 7am for an early morning walk.

That was cool.

I enjoyed the time with these, these professionals.

I enjoyed the time of just being outside before it got super hot.

It wasn't cold at all.

It wasn't super hot either.

It just, it seemed like the weather was just, just right mid-70s and got a chance to get outside, move my body leading into this.

Day three.

What a great day.

What a great way to start today.

Now it's, it's interesting because I was just listening to actually a podcast not too long ago that was talking about the importance of walking.

Now they cited some research and I don't know the research source.

I might have to do a future podcast where I talk specifically about just Walking.

But, but this podcast was talking about how people who are very purposeful about walking, if you do it like, is it like a micro habit microchoice where you just a small thing every day, a small thing being walking every day, you get big results in the longevity of your life.

Where they said if you do it day after day, week after week, month after month, just a walk every day, that you can add something like 11 years to your life.

And once again, I don't know offhand, I cannot remember.

They mentioned the research.

I can't remember where the research came from.

I'd have to look into that.

I know there's research on it.

I know a lot of fitness people, I know a lot of doctors and medical professionals promote the health benefits of walking.

And it was just interesting to hear this podcast that I was listening to talking about walking.

It's.

I'll have to dig into that more.

But it fit really nicely into yesterday with doing a wellness walk.

Starting they at this conference, one of the big things that they've been really pushing is, hey, we, we as educators, teaching is, is, is really hard on our bodies.

It kind of beats our bodies up and we got to take care of our bodies, we gotta do some walking, we gotta get out there, take care of our bodies.

One of the ways, not only through physical fitness, but through taking care of our mental health too.

But you know, and I actually would argue that going out for a beautiful walk is not only going to benefit your physical fitness, but your mental fitness.

I felt very relaxed starting my day.

I felt relaxed, I felt charged, energized.

Being out there that, that know that impacted my mental health.

Got to talk with top notch professionals just about teaching, talking to them about life, early careers.

Just some really good conversations we got to have that added to my, you know, my mental health, you know, just social connection.

How powerful is that?

And then, and then of course getting the physical benefits of just being out walking, being out enjoying the, you know, exploring a little bit, getting, getting some physical fitness, but then, then getting to explore some of the yacht club grounds that we were on, that was pretty cool.

So then I went back to the room after that.

We were out there, I don't know, 45 minutes for a walk.

Then I went back to the room, got showered, cleaned up, took my stuff too, and get checked.

I was able to get checked out of my room and then went in and did another very important thing.

Eat some delicious food.

That's right.

This conference had such amazing food and I have to give it up to The Disney Yacht Club Resort.

They delivered food, they kept us fed.

We were not going hungry and it was really delicious food.

So I'm happy I got have another great breakfast.

Then, you know, after that we, we kicked off our first session of the day, which was Books Not Bullets, Activating educator voices for safe schools and communities.

And this actually was led by a woman named Abby Clements.

She's executive director.

She's an executive director for the Teachers Unify to end gun violence.

And she was a Sandy Hook teacher.

She just retired just recently from teaching, but she was a handy, a Sandy Hook teacher.

I think it was almost an entire first grade class that was killed.

That teacher, that survivor of this school shooting was there and talked about, talked about the Teachers Unify organization she started.

But more importantly, she shared a.

Well, she talked about this organization, Teachers Unified and gun violence.

She actually introduced two other people who were presenting with her.

Sydney Chaffey and Sydney Chaffee.

She is a humanitarian teacher, instructional coach out of Codman Academy in Boston, Massachusetts.

And then also with, with them was Nicole Green, who is a teacher out of White Plains, New York and a big ambassador when it comes to the Teachers Unify to end gun violence.

You know, thinking about their talk, they, they were talking about some of the statistics, some of what we're facing as educators in schools when it comes to gun violence, when it comes to comforting students, when we have to do drills and lockdowns and practices and how jarring that can be for young people, how that's our reality, that we go to school to teach and to learn and we could go to bed that night and our lives could be changed forever.

So at this presentation they actually showed also a documentary called Death by Number.

It was from a Parkland shooting survivor.

Let me see.

I wrote down her name here.

Death by Number.

I wish.

I, I don't, I didn't write down her name.

I.

The Parkland shooter survivor she met.

She, she was, it was kind of through her eyes though, and I'm trying to look up her name here to see.

I think, I think, oh, Samuel Fuentes San Fuentes was her name and she was, you know, she, she was.

I, I don't, I think, I don't know if she, I mean, a big.

It was kind of through her.

The whole documentary was through her eyes and her experience and how it impacted her life when she.

And actually it took us through the trial even.

And what was going on with the trial and how she had to testify and the chain, the pain in that, but also the empowerment in being able to testify and face the young man who changed her life and her friends lives and all of the family's lives forever with this horrible act of cruelty.

Well, any school shooting is just cruel.

An act of cruelty, an act of hate.

I really enjoyed getting to see it through this person's eyes.

Not.

And I don't say, I don't know if enjoyed is the right word because how can you enjoy watching a documentary about school shooting?

I think it's more, it gave me more.

It gave me another dimension of perspective of what someone who's really been through it because I, I haven't been through a school shooting.

I hope I never have to go through a school shooting because.

But, but there's no guarantees a school shooting could happen anywhere across America.

And that's the reality of being a teacher in the United States of America.

That's the reality of being a student in the United States of America that disproportionately there's more school shootings in the United States than anywhere else in the world.

And that's our current reality, unfortunately.

And it seems to be just getting worse.

Well, it's, it's.

So this documentary was shared.

I found that empowering in a way where it gave me that kind of, that another dimension to kind of see it through the eyes.

Getting to hear from Abby, who had been a teacher in an elementary school where she had fellow teachers of hers, friends of hers get killed and students that she taught.

She was a second grade teacher and I think a lot of them, well, I guess, you know, these first grade kids that were shot were gonna be in her classroom the next year.

I'm happy that they were there.

I'm happy that the N stoy brought them in.

So that way we could hear from Abby and we could hear from the other two speakers, Sydney and Nicole, to talk about such an important and relevant topic that we're faced with.

It's one of the things they had mentioned in the documentary was being aware of the world and its surroundings.

And boy, as educators we have to do that very much so being aware of what's going on at a, at a hyper focused attention to detail in terms of like safety and doors being shut and being prepared and having students be prepared if something bad happens.

And when you have a school shooting, the grief and the trauma that come with that, the mental health challenges that can come for a lifetime after that, the families that are impacted, it's really tough to think about.

You know, Sam Fuentes in her, in that documentary said when she addressed the shooter in court, she said that she is stronger than the hate that you give.

She told the shooter she is stronger than the hate that he gives now that survived.

That's, that's poetic.

And, and I, I hope healing in a way for her to have that perspective after years of trying to heal, trying to, I don't know if you ever get back to a.

Something, a normal life after that, but, but she's trying to heal.

One of the questions that was posed after the documentary was how was the, how was the lasting impact of gun violence portrayed in a film?

I would.

And that just goes back to, hey, there's going to be mental health challenges for a lifetime that are left.

There's going to be not only mental health challenges, but, you know, families that are still.

Grief, I don't think goes away.

We think it changes and it evolves.

But there's going to be families that are going to be changed forever.

There's going to be kids that are never the same.

Now, it doesn't mean life is over, but it's.

Life has changed and life is in some ways maybe a little bit darker.

For those children who experience a school shooting, another question they portrayed in or another question that they had asked is what evidence does the film provide for the impact of higher teacher student relationships?

What evidence does the film provide for the impact of higher teacher student relationships?

Well, so I think there, what that question is asking is, does the film provide for the impact.

I think it's important to know our students and to know if they themselves are struggling.

You know, if you have a child in your classroom who prone to violence or prone to, or drawn images of violence or there's, there's some things that are.

Don't seem right.

It's so important to advocate to get that child some help, you know, that teacher student relationship advocate to get that student some, some, some help and be that squeaky wheel until you can really draw attention to a student who needs, needs help.

And, and unfortunately, because of the system that we're in, sometimes it's still not enough, but it speaks to.

We still need to try as educators, don't we?

We can't just say, we just throw our hands up and say, oh, it's a broken system and we can't do anything.

No, we got to keep trying.

And you Know, the, The Sandy Hook teacher, Abby, you know, said that, hey, we still have to be that voice and report stuff.

And then also just connecting with all of our students.

I think if you have a student, I think that I, I struggle.

I'm struggling with this just because it's.

It's.

When we have.

This is such a tough topic.

It's an emotional topic.

It's just thinking about fellowship, fellow teachers getting harmed or my students getting harmed makes me want to continue to lean into relationship building with my.

My students.

Every student try to, if I see something's not right, lean into that.

But also connecting with.

With other students too.

You know, the.

I know South Sioux City where I was teaching for 22 years, they.

They were, you know, see it, say it.

If there's something not right, speak up.

If you see something that seems off, would.

We would tell the students, hey, speak up and say something.

And that.

That is pretty powerful because they, they need to be our eyes and ears.

And, you know, that speaks to the relationship of, hey, we got a connection here.

And if something seems off, we can speak up.

Now.

Is that going to end school violence?

Nope, it's not.

But it's at least doing something, isn't it?

We're.

It feels kind of powerless in a way, but we're not powerless.

And I think that's why Abby was there, was kind of trying to convey to us that, hey, we're not powerless.

We have power.

And one of the things that they talked about is that we're not evaluated in our rapport with students, but maybe we should be here, right?

If I remember right, Abby was talking about, I think an administrator who had just connected with her, and actually they were talking about rapport and talking about student connection.

And that was her last conversation with that administrator, because that administrator, from my understanding, how I understood her, what she was saying was that an administrator died in a shooting.

That.

That Abby also said that educators are not valued on our expertise that we have around kids.

And boy, there's a lot of truth to that too, that we're not.

I think some people value it, but as a whole, it's not quite there yet.

And that even speaks to talking out and speaking up about what these school shootings and what these drills, how the impact that they have on kids.

Abby created School Unified to end gun violence.

And there this presentation was books, not bullets.

It's one of the things that she promotes and this, this teachers Unify promotes is securing storage, secure storage practices like store your ammunition and store your guns separately in Houses, they don't need to be stored together.

I think they said two out of three.

I have to look at my notes here.

I think two out of three guns that are used in school shootings come from households where, like the guns and ammos are stored together and kids have access to them and kids should not have access to the guns and ammo.

And but, but you add one layer of challenge if you storm separately too.

So or either storm separately or store them, you know, lock them down so, you know, kids can't do not have access to them.

It's.

And I, I, from my take, it doesn't sound like the teachers Unify is out there just saying, like, hey, we want to get rid of guns all together.

You know, I think she, they.

That's not what she.

And this organization is promoting.

There's.

They're promoting, hey, let's be safe and the way we store guns and ammunition.

And I think is fair.

And that, that, that is not necessarily.

That is not a political view.

That is more of a.

Who can argue with that?

Who can argue if it's about keeping children safe?

We're not asking people to get rid of their guns.

You just need to store them safely.

And because too many of them are being used in school shootings when they're not stored safely or the kids have access to them.

You know, Abby spoke at the DNC not too long ago and talked about safety in schools.

Abby also said when she was up there, well, so when she.

I'm just kind of reflecting on what she said.

One of the things that she said when, like trying to like, make.

Get politicians and be advocates for, like, safer schools doing handwritten notes.

And I think that was said also in day two as the power of handwritten notes and postcards.

And they gave us opportunities, if we wanted to, to write some handwritten notes to policymakers or decision makers where we could voice our concerns around school safety.

We.

Yeah, here I'm looking at my notes here.

Two thirds of school shootings and get their guns from home.

Yep.

I just came across that statistic in my notes here.

And, and Abby says we need to normalize sending out information about this public health crisis.

It's not a partisan issue and 100% agree.

Just kind of going through here and looking at my notes here.

It was actually so, so this was like two sessions in one because the, the books, not bullets was two sessions and ones because they had the keynote first and then they had a breakout.

Now, I didn't go to all of the sessions.

I couldn't possibly go to all of the sessions, but I went to as many of them that I was able to.

And I, after hearing Aquino, where they focus on the documentary and then afterwards kind of went more into advocacy and reaching out to policymakers and what approach should be taken to be impactful.

I found that to be very impactful and doing nothing, really, as teacher leaders, doing nothing is not an option if we want to be a part of trying to end this humanitarian crisis that we have on our hands right now.

Abby and the other speakers talked about the importance of storytelling and being real and trying to impact policymakers using stories.

An interesting thing that they had said is, hey, if hospitals and polling places can keep guns out, then we as a country can keep guns out of schools.

And it was interesting because we have actually there's a Vermont teacher who was at this conference and at this, listening to the presentation, who actually is in the legislature, part of the decision making for her state.

And I thought that was really cool.

In fact, she kind of worked, kind of partnered with her principal to come up with a draft of a bill around gun safety and school safety.

So I found that super fascinating.

Teacher at Teachers Unified.

Yeah, what a one they asked.

One of the things they asked us is, like, at the end of the conference, like, how do we feel?

I think conflicted would be the word conflicted, because it feels like an uphill battle, but yet it's a battle worth taking on.

Being advocates, being a teacher leader, advocating for safer schools and safer hallways, safer classrooms.

When it comes to keeping guns out of schools.

And as teacher leaders, we have to use our voice for that.

And so I want to do more advocating for safer schools, safer gun laws.

And so I. I'm interested in.

I'm gonna have to do some more podcasts, maybe focusing specifically on this topic.

I would love to talk to Abby or some other advocates also on this topic, but I do appreciate what Teachers Unify is doing.

It's.

This organization specifically is focused on making schools safe by keeping guns out of the schools.

And just to reidify, they're not saying, get rid of everybody's guns.

That's not what they're saying.

Let's store guns safely.

That's one of the things that they're really trying to promote.

All right, so I. I'm gonna pivot and look at and talk about another presentation that I went to.

It was.

It was awesome.

I'm looking here.

It was such a good session.

It was on Social Emotional Learning.

The name of it exactly was Social Emotional Learning for School leaders.

The speakers at this were Dr. Brianna Ross, she is a friend of mine.

And actually she was on, I did a fellowship a year ago with her and she was actually the lead is around equity and she was leading that fellowship a year ago.

And I so appreciated getting to know her through that experience.

And I was so excited to see her here at the conference.

She's very big into like mental health of students, social emotional learning.

And this was the topic around social emotional learning.

So it was great to see her, give her a hug, kind of catch up with her, let her know what I'm up to, let her know that I'm still excited and fired up about the work she's doing.

And then they also had Dr. Tisha Holly there, we had Jonathan Shurovic there, Elizabeth Fazion there, and Jamel Coase there.

All top notch individuals.

And they, they were inspirational because they were talking about, they had some fun at some fun games for us, like a first letter, last letter game that we played kind of just to kind of build connection and get us laughing and working together.

And then they, they talked a lot about social and emotional learning.

They talked about what they're doing in their area.

I think it's a, let me look here.

Social emotional programming, educating hearts, inspiring minds.

And they.

Oh, here we go.

Prince George's county is where they focus at Prince George's county, that's in Maryland where they built this social emotional learning program there.

And that school system serves 132,854 students.

So just think about that.

All those students are benefiting from this service or this social emotional learning program that they built and implemented and are rolling out widespread in this Prince George's County.

Yeah, this is the 18th largest school district in the USA and the second largest in their state.

And they partnered with some college or colleges to make it.

They implement some graduate courses to develop these super SEL teams.

I've been a fan of social emotional learning from really from the start, even though it wasn't talked about much when I first became a teacher.

Not like it is now, but it was refreshing to hear about it being promoted and seeing what this group of educators are doing for this school district and how they're prioritizing social emotional and how it's impacting students directly in the classroom.

That gets me super, super excited.

Their, their profession, their professional learning that they've developed around it is providing impact, as impactful as it's impacting young people.

So yeah, I just, you know, schools, they have such an important role in developing students social, emotional and academic growth.

And so like I think about, like, well, we might.

I, I don't work in a district that supports 132,000 students.

But is there some form of that?

Is there some aspect of that that I can bring into my classroom, maybe even bring into the school district and maybe lead an initiative there, build some stuff around it.

The areas that I think they really focused on for the kids are self awareness, self management, relationship skills, responsibility.

I'm sorry, responsible decision making and social awareness.

So once again it's self awareness, self management, relationship skills, responsible decision making, social awareness.

And they talked.

One of the ways that they kind of collected data was through collecting some.

Oh, they had teachers do some micro journaling who were implementing it and agreed to keep some notes.

Mount Haleak College, it looks like they're partnered with.

They talked about the importance of like even like keep it on top of mind of educators.

Like, hey, this isn't just another thing for us to do.

This is what we're doing in this particular district.

What I gathered is it's woven into the stitching, the seamwork of this district that holds this district together.

That's what I gathered.

Kind of reflecting on that.

It's prioritized.

It is such an important thing for them and it's just not another thing that they do.

It is it, it's.

It's truly makes.

It is kind of a foundation of their, their culture and how it impacts the climate with.

Because teachers are on board with it.

Students are, you know, have a clear understanding of like what their.

What is trying to be developed in them around social, emotional.

So way to go, Way to go.

Prince George's County.

And it just, it just made it even better that I got to see my friend Brianna there presenting and hearing her present with her fellow educators about something she's so passionate about.

She's in a, she's a principal in, in Maryland there.

And so, you know, she, she, she and and her team just did a phenomenal job.

So I'm thinking about the, the other sessions that I went to.

You know what?

I think actually that was my last presentation I went to.

I actually then went to the.

After that we had lunch because they feed us, right?

We talked about feeding.

They gave us lunch.

And then I went to the closing session where I wanna, I won a prize I think because I've been tagging on social media.

I've been tagging and posting some stuff on social media and I went into a drawing for that and I got, I got a Couple books and, oh, it's fun to win something at a conference, right?

And at that, that closing, they, they had, they had a speaker, had multiple people kind of speak at the end.

It was, they kind of tried to bring things to a close.

It was fun.

It was fun because the speaker was talking about, hey, she did a throwback to my presentation about being a funky teacher.

We all learned how to be a funky teacher.

She mentioned at the closing.

And that made me smile.

That little acknowledgement of my presentation there, my solo presentation made me smile because, you know, I, I, I've just, I, I appreciated that little nod, throwback nod there.

And then they just brought it to a close.

They, they had some guest speakers who talked about the, the, the national hall of Fame, the National Teacher hall of Fame, who is a sponsor of the National Network of State or of the National Teacher Leadership Conference.

They're a sponsor of the National Teacher Leadership Conference that we were at along with.

There's many other sponsors as well.

We got, the organizers kind of expressed that they thought it was a successful time.

I 100% agree.

We kind of reflected.

We kind of all reflected together.

And actually, they asked for three volunteers to share any final words at the end.

And I was one of the three.

I raised my hand right near the end and had just said, hey, you know, here's my takeaway that I'm leaving with the conference with my big takeaway from a conference that there is hope.

I go back to the very first day of the conference where John King spoke, and he talked about how, you know, if there's a dark time going on or a challenging time in history, we can get through it.

There's been challenging times before.

And, you know, I think that every teacher there could agree that we're kind of in a challenging time right now in education, with some policy decisions being made, with the way that public schools are being treated and that the way that teachers are being treated and viewed and that it's a trying time.

And I kind of reflected on what John King said and I had said, I leave here with hope that no matter how dark of a period that we're in, there is hope that we're.

There is light in darkness and that we will get through it together.

That's the key word.

We're in it together.

We'll get through it here and, and we'll move forward.

We'll move through it and we can lead going through it.

It's hard work, though, isn't it?

Right?

It's hard.

It's hard Work, I mean, teaching is tough work.

Teaching, you know, I mean, we.

Things are tough right now.

Teachers get.

It's brutal work.

It's amazing work though, too.

But the kids are worth it and teachers are tough.

And that was.

My point is like, we're going through a dark time right now, it seems like, but in that darkness, there's light.

In tough times, there's tough people.

Those tough people are these educators out there.

Every teacher at that conference who is a tough teacher there.

And we have many, many thousands upon thousands of other educators out there who are tough teachers doing the hard work and that we're in it here together.

We're not operating in a silo.

We're in this.

We're truly in this together.

And we will get through it.

And we have to get through it.

Why?

Because it's worth it.

The work that it takes because the students will come out better in the end.

We want our students to be the recipients of our hard work of, of standing strong, standing tough, getting through these tough times, because our students are worth it and the students will benefit from it in the end.

So.

And actually after the conference, the speaker or the kind of the closing speaker said, hey, I appreciate you sharing that.

That was a great kind of closing remark from.

From you at the end.

So I'm glad I said that because I, you know, I get sometimes when I'm just kind of.

If I'm not presenting or if I'm not teaching, I get a little, I don't know, a little shy, I guess sometimes.

I don't know.

It's you.

You might not.

The Funky Mr. Funky Teacher gets shy.

Yeah, a little bit.

But I was like, yeah, I'm gonna raise my hand and share, share.

And that's what I wanted to say.

That was.

That was kind of written on my heart that I wanted to share.

It's.

Boy, it was after the comp.

Oh, and then they had to sing.

I, I cannot remember the name of the song I should have written on.

They had us do this song.

They taught us the kind of.

The official wrap up wrap up was they had us dance to this song and we had to use like these paper.

Paper fans.

I wish I could remember the name.

But they taught us the dance and it was so much.

Oh, it was fun.

I'd love to teach that to my students too.

It was just a riot.

Just had a great time with that.

This.

Because we gotta have fun together too.

I think that was the point.

There was, you know what?

We've addressed some very heavy stuff.

Some Tough stuff.

But we, we, we can also have fun together, we can also learn together and we can also play together.

And you know, that's right up Mr. Funky Teacher's Alley, right?

I just referred to myself in the third person.

I'm sorry.

But it was, that was a fun way to officially bring things to a close.

And then, boy, I gave some hugs, I took some pictures and then I boogied out of there because I took a, I did my Lyft ride was going to be there.

So because I had to go, I wasn't going to the airport.

That's the thing is, you know, conference is over.

But I was, I am not done here down in Florida.

I'm staying a few extra days here to go do some stand up paddling.

That is one of my favorite things to do.

And I'm doing some stand up paddling.

So I jumped in a lift car to take me to.

I rented a minivan.

Until Sunday.

I rented a minivan.

I.

So I went and picked up my minivan.

I and I drove to, to the, to the west coast of Florida where I.

Well, one of the things I wanted to do for years is really see some cool bioluminescence in the water.

And Titusville and Cocoa beach area is supposed to have some of the, the best around.

And so I actually went at the end of the day.

I mean I was tired, I was good.

I was tired, but I was empowered.

I was tired, but empowered.

And with that, you know, then I got to do some, do something that I love.

Stand up paddling.

Stand up paddling.

Like is this like it affects me mentally, it affects me physically and for the, for, for the better in so many ways.

So my wife was very supportive of me staying some extra days to do some paddling down here.

So yeah, so I ended up in Titusville or outside of Titusville to do some bioluminescence kind of checking out.

And there were some tour groups that were going and I got to, they were around, but I was kind of doing my solo thing and it was, it was pretty impressive.

It was pretty exciting to get to see that I'm actually, what I'm doing right now is I am this morning I woke up, I slept in the van.

Oh yeah, I'm doing car camping.

I slept in a van in a Cracker Barrel parking lot.

I also brought like a sleeping bag.

And it was funny because I had, I had a carry on and my personal item had like my clothing in it for the conference.

And then my two checked bags.

One of them was a paddleboard in a suitcase and the other one had like my life jacket and other paddling gear, which is so.

But I slept in my minivan last night.

Oh, and my sleeping gear.

And so this morning here, I drove over to Cocoa beach from Titusville.

Titusville is where I slept in a Cracker Barrel parking lot.

I'm out on Cocoa beach right now.

I is really important that I spend some time in Cocoa beach today, the day after the conference, because this is Cocoa Beach.

And one of the places we went was Cocoa Beach.

And I remember I'm sitting in the beach right now in a spot where my.

It was the first time I came to the beach with my parents.

I had been to the beach before on a high school trip, but it was, it was important that I visit the beach because I love the ocean.

I love, love, love the ocean.

And I just, had literally just accepted my first teaching job in South Sioux City.

And I ended up going there teaching 22 years, but I wasn't.

I didn't even had my first classroom yet, but I had, I was just given, hey, you're gonna teach first grade down here in South Sioux City.

And so I was like, I want to go on a trip.

Because my parents said, do you want to go anywhere?

I said, yeah.

And so we went to Florida, came to Cocoa beach, sat.

I remember sitting on the beach here.

Got to do, got to hang out with my mom and dad and brother and my, my Aunt Julie, My Aunt Julie came to, who lives over in that, the Tampa area.

She came, she was here too.

We just sat in the beach, hung out.

I rented a surfboard and my parents got to see me and brother got to see me out surfing.

I may have to go out there with my stand up paddle board and try to surf and have a little bit of fun on the water.

The waves are calling my name.

They don't have crazy waves like in California or in Hawaii, but they got some fun little surfable waves here that I may have to get out there in the water kind of as kind of reminiscing.

But is this neat being back here?

20, you know, after 20.

So it's what is.

Was.

That was 23 years ago because I've taught for 22 years.

That was 23 years ago.

I was here a little over 23 years ago and just thinking about how life changes here that I. I completed 22 successful years of teaching in South Sioux City, teaching fifth grade at three different schools.

There have multiple mentors been recognized at the city level, the school level, the city level, the state level, the regional level, and even at the national level here for being, you know, where I was a runner up for, for Nebraska Teacher of the Year.

But being recognized here on stage this weekend or this past couple of days, rather presenting and just thinking about going from that brand new teacher to now being a recognized teacher leader in not only in my state, but in the country, and thinking about the kids that I've impacted, the students that I've been trusted to teach, the lives I've changed, the fellow educators I've had the privilege to work with, boy, it doesn't get much better than that.

And the excitement that I have going to Winnebago Public Schools in the fall to teach fifth grade, it's wanted to change.

I just wanted to change.

You know, after 22 years, I was just looking for something, a little bit of a change.

I'm still teaching fifth grade, but I wanted a change and how excited I am for the opportunity to go to Winnebago Public Schools.

The community is actually a.

It's on a reservation, one of three reservations in Nebraska.

And just the honor and privilege it will be to get to work with those students and what I get to learn about the native culture, the Ho Chunk culture, and then also try to help give those students a better start in life.

That's what we're doing here, right?

Giving students a better start in life.

So as I sit here on the beach, looking out at the ocean water, looking at a crab kind of crawling around next to me in the beach, I am thankful.

I'm thankful I'm privileged to teach.

I'm thankful that I have an amazing wife, three kids, my wife Christine, my kids, Maya, Carter and Gavin.

Thankful for my dad, Doyle, my brother Tim.

I'm thankful that for the years that I had with my mom when she was alive, because, you know, she died a year and a half ago.

And you know, it's been a tough go for me because she was one of my biggest cheerleaders in life.

She's throughout my entire life, just a huge cheerleader.

My family's that cheerleading mentality where we cheer each other on.

Well, boy, my mom was so good about cheering me on and encouraging me when things were tough.

And I miss that.

And to be at this spot here in Cocoa beach where I was with her for the first and only time at the ocean with her, you know, it's meaningful.

I don't know if meaningful is quite the word that I want.

It's.

It touches my heart.

It touches my heart because I want to go on to honor her legacy of love, her legacy of the kindness and smile that she put into this world and ultimately the legacy of love that she spread to anyone she got to know.

I want to bring that legacy of love to my students in the new school district that I'm going to in the opportunities that I have for the years ahead of me as a teacher and through the teachers that I will meet, the teachers that I will mentor, the teachers that will, and educators that will still mentor me through the years as I still continue to grow.

Because I don't know everything and I still want to learn and grow.

So just humbled all around, touched, my heart's touched all around.

And it's just very meaningful to be able to sit here in Cocoa beach and kind of reflect on all of that as things kind of bring, kind of come kind of circles back here.

The only thing that would make this moment better right now is if my wife and three kids and my dad and brother were sitting here on the beach with me right now.

That's the only thing that would make it better right now, this moment.

I don't know if you can hear the waves in the background or if the mic is kind of washing them out, but.

But it's a beautiful day, the waves are rolling in and life is good.

And I'm going to make the most of what I learned at this three day conference.

I'm going to make the most of the opportunity I have to work with my students in a new school district and the teachers that I'm entrusted to present to, to talk to, to share, to inspire.

While I'm also look for inspiration to, through my students and through the teachers that I get to work with too, in all areas, whether at a conference or just working right in a school with them.

So life is good.

Even in the challenging times in this world that we have, in the darkness there is good.

And I just.

If you kind of followed me through the journey of reflecting on this conference, I want to thank you.

And if you've not attended the National Teacher Leadership Conference through the National Network of State Teachers of the Years, it is not just open for State Teachers of the years and State Teacher of the Year runner ups.

It is open to anyone who wants to go, and it happens every summer for three days.

So I want to encourage you to check it out, to go.

To go to it and attend it.

You'll not be disappointed.

And in fact, it may very well give you the shot of energy, the shot of hope, the shot of.

The shot of power that can supercharge your teaching like it has mine.

As I leave here at the end of the weekend after doing some battle boarding here, to go back and.

And get ready to inspire greatness in young people.

Go out there and inspire in the work that you do.

Inspire greatness in young people.

And remember to be a funky teacher.

Bye now.

He's Mr. Funky Teacher, yeah?

He's Mr. Funky teacher, yeah, yeah.

Y.

Sam.