When a CI classroom gets too comfortable, strong community can quietly slide into chaos—and managing chill without losing control is a skill every language teacher needs.

Take the CI Proficiency Quiz to see where you land and assess your comprehension-based teaching at https://imim.us/ciquiz.

In this episode of Comprehend THIS!, we unpack how to reset expectations, hold boundaries, and lead with warmth and authority—without becoming the fun police or killing classroom morale.

Need ready-to-use CI lessons, routines, and systems that support structure and joy? Check out the CI Survival Kit at https://imim.us/kit.

#comprehensibleinput, #languageteaching, #classroommanagement, #worldlanguageteachers, #teachingspanish, #citeachers, #teacherpodcast, #proficiencybasedteaching, #teacherburnout, #classroomculture

Hosts:

1. Scott Benedict - https://www.instagram.com/immediateimmersion
2. Kayla Velasquez - https://www.instagram.com/Srta_kaylavela
3. Jackie Deming-Plunk
4. 
   

Resources & Links:

1. Assessment Academy: https://imim.us/academy
2. CI Survival Kit: https://imim.us/kit
3. 
   

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Good morning and welcome everybody. How

is everybody doing this Sunday morning?

The first, well actually it's the second

official Sunday of 2026.

I hope everybody is having a good week

and had a good start to the new year.

You are watching the comprehend this

webcast and we are today talking about

what if they are too comfortable. So you

know that moment when your

CI class feels too comfortable

like they have upgraded from safe and

supported to we live here

now and make our own rules?

Yeah that moment. Today on comprehend

this we are talking about what happens

when chill crosses the line

and how to reel it back in without

turning it into a villain

in your own classroom story.

I am joined by Kayla Velasquez and Jackie

Diving Plunk is back with us.

Jack Kayla who literally builds familia

level community with music, movement,

reading and Spanish TV.

And Jackie we all know who also knows the

delicate art of keeping class fun without

letting it turn into a

Spanish language sitcom.

We are unpacking boundaries, vibes,

leadership energy and why fun does not

mean do whatever you want

while I slowly lose my soul.

If you've ever thought wow they are way

too comfortable maybe even more too

comfortable this episode is for you.

We'll be back after these short messages.

Pop quiz. Are your assessments align with

what you're actually

teaching? No? Cool. Let's fix that.

The Assessment Academy is 10 pre-recorded

lessons that help you ditch the scantrons

and actually assess what matters.

Like proficiency, performance and whether

your students are

still breathing by Friday.

Watch on your time as many times as you

want for a whole year and no there's not

a single lesson about bubble sheets or

grading 72 essays at 11pm.

You're welcome. Go over to mm.us slash

academy and start assessing

like you actually mean it.

Welcome to comprehend this real talk for

real language teachers. No drills, no dry

theory, just honest stories, practical

ideas and a reminder you're not alone in

the CI trenches. Let's dive in.

Good morning. How are we

all doing this morning?

Doing great. Awesome, awesome, awesome.

Kayla it's your first time with us so let

us a little know about if I can speak

English this morning. Let us know a

little bit about yourself.

Sure. I am in my 11th year teaching and I

always like to say I hate working but I

love my job. So if I have to work I would

only want to do this job.

I teach in Western Wisconsin at a small

rural school. I am a Department of one.

So I'm the only language teacher in my

district. I teach exploratory middle

school and then all levels

of Spanish at the high school.

And I'm super proud that when I came into

this school that there was only Spanish

one and two and my fourth year there I

graduated a class of 15 Spanish for

students and I've been using CI ever

since my first of my second semester of

my first year teaching because I thought

that I was I just thought that it was

unsustainable otherwise.

So I dove into my CI teaching journey

kind of right away. And I use textbooks

for literally maybe four months and I

haven't looked back since. So my room is

filled with books and we do class novels

and we do FVR and we do music every day

and we do dancing on Fridays and calendar

talk and we laugh and we have fun and I

cry because I'm so proud.

And it's great. So I live here with my

husband and my two year old puppy and our

two cats one who is the grumpiest one

you'll ever meet and one who's the

sweetest you'll ever meet.

I know I have a dog that's just almost a

year and a half. So yes going through

those terrible twos getting ready there

with her. And I'm like you I only did

textbook for the

first four months of mine.

Once winter break came and I came back

while it was actually second semester

which was shortly into January. I started

with CI back in 2001 and I haven't looked

back since so I kind of like the view I

did not do the textbook I would not be

here today if it were

for the textbook at all.

Not absolutely at all. So thank you and

welcome for being with us. Jackie is a

semi regular with us so welcome back from

what part of Tennessee

is it northern southern.

Eastern western and southwest. I'm about

two hours from Memphis but still on the

state line still in state line. Well

welcome welcome back.

She wasn't able to be with us last week

because illness be struck her household

but we're glad to have her this week. So

today we're talking about what if they're

too comfortable managing

chill without losing control.

I'm going to say one thing just to start

it off because it's a double edged sword

for me. I like having continuity I think

there's a benefit and a negative to for

kids to have the same teacher for their

whole you know their whole time their

levels one through four.

And I've only had that one time where I

had all I had like a handful of kids I

had levels one two and three because we

only talked to level

three in middle school.

And it was really wonderful because I

could see where their progression went

and I really like that. And then I also

know this is kind of sounds selfish and

conceited but I know that where they got

to from level one to level three was all

because of me because there

was no other teacher in there.

Because when you have like all there with

me for level one and then they went to

someone else for level two and they're

back to me for level three how much of it

was their level one experience how much

of what they know is from

their level two experience.

You don't really know but when you've had

them all along. So I like that. But then

there's also that negative is when you

tell them the class rules and everything

they're like oh yeah you know push over

here you know they they're get too

comfortable and they want to break that.

And it doesn't happen. It's like I taught

11 years in one school and it happened a

lot because I had a lot of repeat

customers. And so I was like trying to

train my new kids that are in there but

the old kids are like bringing up their

old bad habits and kind of teaching the

kids the bad things.

And then I moved to a new school two

years ago. This is my second year there.

I went back to high school and so last

year everybody was new no repeats first

semester everybody was new no repeats but

now I've got a Spanish to this semester

and I've got out of half my kids are

repeats and half my kids are new to me.

And there's that comfort ability there

that they are way too comfortable already

like on the first day of school they are

already like it's already been six months

into school year already that they're so

comfortable and and play the games that

they play not necessarily in a bad way

but they know the buttons to push and

they know what they can get away with and

what they can't get away with.

And if you try to change anything like I

change some things up this semester

they're like still going with the old way

of doing things so there's a double edged

sword I like seeing familiar faces and I

like that continuity and I think it also

benefits the kids in some ways to have

that continuity because they don't have

to spend time learning all the ins and

outs of a new teacher in a new class.

I can just focus on the input but there

is that double edged sword sometimes. So

what do you guys think any opinions.

I would totally echo that I have said for

years because I've always been a

department of one my entire 11 years and

I've always said it's a blessing and a

curse and I say it's a blessing for the

same reason that you do because I get to

see exactly where they start from and

then where they end up regardless of

wherever they decide to end whether it's

just one year or two years three years

four years and like that sense of pride

that I get as an educator of kind of

being like oh my gosh look what they can

do after being in my room.

And then this program and it's amazing

and I mean that's that's priceless. It's

also makes it really easy as far as

lesson planning unit planning long term

planning because I know exactly what they

know. I know exactly if they've learned

this structure before. I know if I can

use Shakira and Bizareps Distract with

this group because I didn't do it last

year with that group like it's it makes

it so easy to plan for things.

But I totally echo that as far as

expectations and classroom management go

my Spanish one is the easiest to do that

with because they're brand new to me or I

mean my eighth graders but I'm talking

about like full time 65 minute year long

courses my Spanish one when we do those

classroom norming things together that's

all fresh for them and it's really easy

to stick to those expectations from a

brand new Spanish one crew.

Spanish two it's still somewhat easy

because they're still you know it's only

been a year in class and they come back

and they're excited but you know you

revisit expectations and you go over

things again and it doesn't seem like

Spanish two is one of my harder spots to

control but it's when I get into the

threes and the fours that it gets tough

because they're super

comfortable which I love.

Like I wouldn't trade that for the world

but they're so used to being that room

they're used to me they're used to the

routines and the procedures and I mean

how many I feel like how many times can

you do the same classroom norming with

the same students and without it feeling

like an eye roll or you know you're also

getting older students at this point

they're 17 they're 18 and I feel like I

get a little bit of

pushback at that point too.

So I guess one strategy that I tried

starting last year that I found kind of

started to work was really being explicit

about our proficiency goals and like

their their growth goals like their

personal what they want to get out of

this class and where they can expect to

be by the end of this you

know Spanish three Spanish four.

So then when we come back to expectations

it's like if this is for you if you want

to get to intermediate mid on your on

your speaking this is why you you have to

follow these classrooms expectations.

So I've been finding that having those

personal goals tied to proficiency has

kind of helped in a way and we revisit

those goal sheets and we have those

individual conversations and class

conversations in those upper levels.

And I feel like that's something that's

helped me a little bit.

I also want to say that I, I feel like

there might be a little bit of of shame

in this whole like idea out there of like

it's okay that our classrooms sometimes

like run into too comfortable and we

shouldn't feel shame about that.

Like, see I teachers are amazing at

making classroom communities, and I know

that, like, as teachers as educators we

don't sometimes want to admit that you

know we've, we've lost control or things

aren't going our way.

And I feel like that's something that we

maybe don't want to admit but it's okay

that that happens. And we just have to be

able to talk about it and then talk about

what we do to move forward and so that it

continues to be like a

positive, safe, productive

space for us and for our kids and so I

just would want to remove any shame that

anybody feels like they have from that

idea. If you feel like your classroom

sometimes does feel a

little bit too comfortable.

If I can just piggyback on that.

Absolutely. I love what you just said

there because I was talking to Kayla

before we started this morning about my

second period last semester which just

was not buying into any of it.

And that community building just couldn't

happen it didn't happen they kept butting

heads all along the way. And I would much

rather have too comfortable, then that

coldness where I walked in the classroom

and I could like walk in

from, you know, in the beginning

of the school year started I'm in

Sacramento so it's 110 outside and I walk

into a class that's like 54 degrees

because they are just not into it. I

would much rather have that and you are

so right that we as CI teachers work

really hard to build that community.

I'm there for the kids and I like to get

to know the kids and who they are and use

what they bring to the table to teach

them and if I was just teaching like cold

math or you know those types of things

where I wouldn't have that relationship.

I don't think I'd be here anymore. I mean

it's that that relationship with the kids

that building that community is so well

so you're right. It

shouldn't be a shameful thing.

We obviously want to manage it so that

it's not complete chaos. But as I said I

would much rather have too comfortable,

then offstand ish type of thing where

you're constantly

butting heads along the way.

Absolutely,

absolutely what you just said.

What about you Jackie.

Yeah I mean I mostly agree. I'm I have

never been a department of one that's

kind of the only difference in my story

so far but it kind of ends up being a

department of one because the current

school that I'm at and the last school I

was at tried to keep all of the students

with the same teacher between

semesters because we are on a four by

four block so the kids take Spanish one

in the fall that takes Spanish two in the

spring and they try to keep them with the

same teacher unless there's some extreme

circumstance that requires them to move

to a different class.

And so yeah semester two they tend to be

very comfortable with me. They do get

shifted around so they don't have all of

the exact same classmates but they do end

up with a mostly the same class.

There'll be some new people and that kind

of shifts the balance a little bit.

But yeah I almost take pride

in having a chill classroom.

My kids are very comfortable talking to

me about stuff and I

feel like kids do need that.

They need an adult they feel like they

can talk to. And so to some extent I

enable the chill to happen because there

is some important stuff happening even if

the Spanish takes the

backseat for a minute.

And I think overall it leads to more buy

in in when we're doing

things that aren't fun per se.

So and really it's it's about learning

how to start that balance and it's about

learning quick moves to regain the

control in the situation

and pivot where you need to.

And if you can learn to strike that

delicate balance then you know things

don't get too chill usually.

Absolutely. You said something that

brought to my mind right away that when

kids kids want to talk to me you know

they they want to share things.

But sometimes it's a little too

comfortable about what they want to share

and it's not one of those things like the

self reporting stuff that you have to

report not that kind of stuff but like I

had a kid who I like made a joke about

something about Target and he's like oh

I'm banned from Target.

Well oh my gosh I don't know why I asked

thinking that it was like shoplifting or

stealing but I asked this is so how do

you get banned from Target.

I mean because he's got a lifetime banned

from this Target he cannot go and they

got a picture of him in the security ring

and he's not allowed in and I am so

regretful that I asked and then he told

me and I it's not it's not appropriate to

talk about here it's that bad.

And I'm like oh my gosh he goes well you

shouldn't have asked the question if you

didn't want to know the answer I'm like

yeah but that answer was so out of

nowhere I was not expecting that at all.

I thought maybe you don't want to know.

Yeah it should have been not the NSFW not

safe for work comment beforehand you know

sometimes they just share.

I'm like oh my gosh I did not want to

hear that and not and it's funny because

I had that kid last semester in a non

Spanish class and now I have him again

this semester in a Spanish class and I

can't look at him the same way.

It is just I'm like there is just too

much information that I know now and I

didn't want to know about that.

So it's kind of you know sometimes they

over that's the word I want to use they

over share they get too friendly and they

think of you like a friend and they share

that kind of information they share with

a friend and I'm like

I ain't your friend.

Nope nope nope nope we're not going over

that boundary that boundary you know keep

it a little bit a school appropriate you

know you don't have to be church like but

we do need to be school like you know

there's something just because it goes to

your head should not come out your mouth.

Yep, and that was one of the things I say

a lot is I don't want to know. Don't I

don't want to know don't

tell me I don't I don't I.

You know what once he told me the start

of it I'm like I don't want to know

anymore stop I don't want to know I don't

want to know yesterday yesterday was

Saturday Friday had a kid.

I had him the year before and his name is

junior and he's like up I gotta take a

dump I need to pass and you to go take a

dump I'm going to explode the bat is like

going on and elaborate and like we don't

need to know this you can just say I need

to go to the bathroom what you do in the

bathroom we don't need to know the

details then he comes back and he tells

us all the details and I'm like we don't

need to know this you

went to the bathroom.

Hopefully you washed your hands you came

back there is oversharing we are in

Spanish and at least if you're going to

describe what you did please do it in

Spanish at least at least.

Yes do that.

Yeah, I have very selective hearing

sometimes I'm like I especially between

bells. I'm like, oh, I'm just gonna

pretend I didn't hear that.

But I do use the between Bell things. It

was so funny, especially I taught middle

school. I'm always listening because they

are always talking. And so, I'll bring it

up like they'll be talking about so and

so is now dating so and so, and so I like

throw that into a story, and they're

like, how the heck did you know that.

I'm like, I'm everywhere I see everything

and really like you just said it outside

in the hall as you're walking into class

I mean I was just paying attention.

And so I use that information to make the

class more fun and interesting because

they think I know everything like, oh

yeah, and I go up. Well, john and

Melissa, you know they you know they're

not talking to each other today they

broke up and then like that just happened

like 10 minutes ago how

do you know that already.

It was kind of, you know, just keep your

ears open so there are things you want to

hear that you can use appropriately in

class, and there are things that oh my

gosh, I wish I always

tell the kids sometimes.

There are benefits to being deaf and

there are benefits to being blind.

Sometimes in class that some things I

don't want to see in some things I

definitely don't want to hear.

We had a kid, we were playing. We were

doing colors and body parts we play

Twister, and I have

two giant Twister boards.

So they can fit more people on them

they're really really big so I takes two

of them and it comes up with a good two

thirds of my classroom, and we had a kid

who was trying to stay up and bent over

and his pants came down and is under a

rush on I'm like, oh my gosh.

Benefits being blind benefits being

blind. So that's that was a class joke

that whenever he bends over that his

pants come down. It was just kind of

funny. Those kinds of

things that happen in class.

And the inside jokes though like talk

about community, right? Yeah, like I was

there some of those are some of my

favorite parts and then you know

something will be one year we were, I was

doing buska and something with Komeida

and so I was hiding like

plastic food around the room.

And I hit a fry like a plastic French fry

and so I was like buska papa frita. And a

kid came back with like an actual French

fry and I'm like, where did you find this

and they found like an actual old gross

McDonald's French fry like in my library.

I'm like, that's disgusting and I did put

that in there. Who knows when that's been

in there since but then that old French

fry got taped up on the boat on the

whiteboard for the rest of the year which

is like a piece of tape.

And then it just was called my papa

frita. And then it just became like an

inside joke and the other classes didn't

get it and they're like, why is that

there and I'm like you had to be there you had to be there.

But like, you know, when we talk about

classroom community like that is the type

of stuff that I love and you can only get

it if you're in that

if you're in that crew.

And so you're on a typical day I have

like six, six groups of

inside jokes that I'm also better.

Yeah, I did the same thing except I kind

of spread them around because I like to

call my classroom or one big family who

can't sit at the same

dinner table at the same time.

So I share stories from one class to the

other. And so we were just in our first

week and as I get new students every

semester I'm like Jackie on the four by

four so I got brand new students and in

my level one class in period one we have

this kid named Nikolai and Nikolai we

already we got we established on the

first day that he was not normal.

Because when I asked him what kind of

music he listened to he said he listened

to experimental pop. None of us had heard

of that genre of music not once and then

we went and looked it up on Spotify and

listen to a song and we're like, what?

So we tell him he was not normal because

he listened to this experimental pop. So

it's kind of like a little joke. Well

then the next day we were still talking

with him and he talked

about how he shaves his legs.

And we're like, what guy shaves your leg?

I mean, if you're a swimmer I understand

but it wasn't swimming season and he's

not a swimmer. So we were laughing about

that he goes, Yeah, my mom makes fun of

me for shaving my legs.

I'm like, and rightfully so.

We kept a vote how many boys shave their

legs. Nobody in the class did. So we did

that and then next period period two we

started I started the class

guy class you won't believe.

Remember we talked yesterday and I didn't

tell them the name I go that kid is even

more abnormal than he was yesterday. And

I said, Can anybody guess what he does

now and nobody could guess because nobody

that was not an anybody's bingo card

right and I'm like, he saves his legs.

He doesn't wax them. He shaves his legs

and I'm like, how many boys in here shave

their legs and no boy raises their hands

and one of the kid recognized it was his

friend. I could see it in his face. He's

like laughing and then I go and I'm not

going to mention any names and they go

Nikolai and everybody starts laughing and

the other kid laughs. I go,

Are you Nikolai's friend? He's like, Yes,

I go. You're just as strange then for

being Nikolai's friend. And then we went

on with another kid and Eli and Eli was

talking about he likes to play video

games and he plays

video Fortnite every night.

And so then I asked him, Do you have a

girlfriend? He goes, No, I go, Well, it's

obvious because you're playing Fortnite

every night instead of trying to get a

girlfriend. And so we were talking about

that a little bit. And

then he goes on and he says,

I said, because he's in our I'm going to

I teach at a career technical academy. So

he's in the culinary program. I said, So

what's your specialty dish? He says

spaghetti. And I go, Oh, poor Eli.

Unfortunately, no girls can experience

his magnificent spaghetti because he's

playing Fortnite all the time. And then

we started going and the kids go, Oh,

yes, but he feeds his spaghetti to his

game controller. So I did that.

And we found a little picture of him with

his game controller and we have a

Valentine's Day dance coming up in, you

know, next month. And so I'm like, class,

he doesn't take his a girl to the game

because he doesn't have a

he doesn't have a girlfriend.

So guess what does he take to the dance?

And they're like his game controller. So

we we had so much fun with that. In fact,

I'm going to show you because then I use

I use chat GPT in my

classroom all the time.

Let's see. Eli with spaghetti. I'm

getting that. So I can show you. We made

this image. And my first period, they

didn't hear this because

this happened second period.

But I wrote a story for our reading time.

And they're going to hear the story then

so I can share it with them. And it makes

it really funny. Let me pull up the

pictures here real quick here that I made.

So this is the first one with Eli making

spaghetti for his game controller. And

that looks just like Eli because I

uploaded his school picture to get that

picture in there. And then here he is

taking his game controller

to Valentine's Day dance.

So this is going to become a funny story

that you know, endeared all of us in that

first week of Spanish one, the kids were

all laughing, which tells you they're

understanding what's going on.

And they're now this is going to become

this like little class mythology that

we're going to be working on. And at the

end of class, Eli with a smile comes and

goes, Profa, you did me

dirty. You did me dirty.

And that picture should be framed and be

on your wall somewhere in that room. Oh,

that's a great I should definitely I'm

going to print them on Monday. Now that

you said that I'm going to print them on

Monday and put them up.

Laminate for Valentine's Day. You can do

little Valentine's cards with those on

the front. You can print a five by seven

through Walmart for like 17. Oh, no.

They put in color color copy machines in

our school. So I can just print it on a

copy machine, put it I can laminate it.

We'll keep it up. And at the end of the

semester, I'll give it to Eli saying

here, here's your president

for the end of the semester.

I usually I make stories about my kids

every year. I make four stories a week

and I put different kids in them. And

what I do is I take all the stories of

that they're starting and I print them

out for them and give them a little

booklet so they can remember Spanish with.

But now I can do these pictures because

I've been having so much fun that chat

now does pictures. I started it last

spring, making pictures of kids in the

stories that we do that come up because

it does takes a couple minutes. I put it

on there, put my prompt on there. We

continue talking in Spanish and then a

couple minutes later, it pops up and I can show it to them.

And they are just funny and some of the

kids are like, Oh, you can't use my

school picture. I'll send you a picture

that you can use because I don't want

that school picture to be the one that

chat TVT uses to make my

character. So it's funny.

So moving back to our little conversation

about being too comfortable. When do you

realize what makes you think that all of

a sudden this is gone to the

one side of too comfortable?

I feel like I have some non-negotiables

and I guess there's three things. I was

trying to think of when, like the

difference between a lively classroom

community versus a chaotic classroom

community because I love lively.

And I also love chill and I think they

both can live within the same space

either at the same time or within the

same room, just maybe on different days.

But on days where it maybe seems lively

and I'm trying to decide, okay, is this a

good lively or is this a chaotic?

I think chaotic is when things seem

either unproductive or uncomfortable or

unsafe. And I have some non-negotiables

for those three

things that I look out for.

And I mean, the easiest one, I guess not

the easiest, but the least threatening

one is the unproductive. So I don't care

if kids, I have flexible seating in my

classroom and I don't care if kids are

laying on the floor during, if they're

working on something or if

they're doing a group game.

I have rugs and bean bags and stuff and

so if they're physically laying out on

the floor, I know other teachers don't

like that, but I don't care about that.

But if they're laying on the floor and

rolling around, then that's an

unproductive type of laying on the floor.

So I feel like that's one example of a

non-negotiable as far as a physical type

of thing that I could see that gets into

that unproductive territory.

As long as they are doing the thing that

I'm asking them to do, I'm okay with it.

As far as uncomfortable goes, if I see

things happening like exclusion or

insults, excessive swearing, I say

excessive swearing because I do like to

teach the kids like meercolists and like

some of those like cute little like, you

know, fun little like Spanish, like the

shiitake mushrooms, like

those versions of things.

Just because language is real and

language is communication and I swear in

my real life and they probably are going

to want to too. So I do give them some

things that they could use within the

classroom context that can allow them to

express frustration.

But if it goes it like if it's English

swearing, like that that makes me

uncomfortable and then I tell them that

and I'm like that I don't care if you do

that on your time, but like I don't like

hearing that. So that makes me

uncomfortable and I'll

just share that with them.

And then unsafe things would be like not

following like our big school rules, of

course, like, you know, like violence,

threatening, bullying, I mean, any of

those things and I don't I don't I've

never had issues with those.

But I feel like those those three things

are the difference for me in between the

type of lively and or chill community

that I'm okay with and one that I'm not.

And I love what you said, the

non-negotiables that that's a really good

word for that. And yours are the same as

mine, the unsafe, you know, because like

in my BFFS class, my building foundations

for success class I taught last semester,

which was not Spanish related at all.

It was all in the kids were on their own.

It's like I describe what activity they

were working on today and they were on

their own. They got rambunctious,

especially because I had 17 boys and two

girls and all the boys knew each other.

So they were slapping each other, you

know, doing all kinds of stuff that that

progressed into the non safe. And so I'm

like, we got to be safe in here. We can

have a little bit. You can sit where you

want. You can do what you need to do to

get your work done as long as you're getting your work done.

So I am right there with you. They need

to be productive. They need to produce

something by the end of that period or

that time slot that we're working on some

activity. They've got to do that.

And exclusion is a big one for me that we

don't exclude anybody from the classroom

that everybody is welcome. You may not

like them outside of class, but at least

in class, you're going to treat them with

respect and moving on.

You don't I'm not asking you to hang out

with them on the weekends or have a

sleepover with them or do any of those

kinds of things. But at least be

respectful because in real life we have

to work with people we don't necessarily

like, you know, you may have to work, you

know, even as teachers, we sometimes get

put into groups as teachers that we have

to work on a project like we're doing our

WASC accreditation right

now. We're working on that.

And so we're put into groups and there

might be some people you work really well

with and some people you might not work

really well with, but we still have to

work together in a professional thing.

And I think it's a really important skill

for kids to understand that, you know,

we're not excluding anybody.

Everybody's got to be included.

But that doesn't mean you have to like

them. You just have to respect them as a

human being. So I think those things and

swearing is a big thing. I came from

middle school for the past. I taught 11

years in high school and

swearing wasn't as big of a deal.

Then I taught 11 years in middle school

and COVID happened. And then we came I

came back to high school and swearing is

a really big deal at my school. They do

it a lot. And I'm like, oh, my gosh, I'm

like my poor virgin ears, all the

swearing that I hear on there.

So that's another one that I'm working on

with them too. So it's been a problem.

And I like your thing with the miracle.

That's a, you know, those kind of things

are the euphemisms kind of funny and

brings culture into real life culture.

And I always explain to my kids because

they want to know the swear words. I'm

like, the swear words are 10 times

stronger than they in in Spanish than

they are in English because a lot of them

have religious backgrounds.

And if you walk down the street and start

using these bad words, some strangers

gonna slap you across the face because

they're not used like they're using

English. And they're like, well, my

Hispanic friends swears just as much as I

do. I go, that's because he learned that

from you that it's acceptable in America.

But ask him if he'll do that in Mexico or

Guatemala or that and they'll say, uh,

uh, you know, and where nudity is a

little bit more freeing in other

countries where it's not so much here. I

say it's kind of like the opposite thing.

Nudity is okay in other countries more so

than swearing in here, you know, swearing

is more okay than nudity. So it goes,

it's kind of like that. Now bring that

cultural point to them that they won't.

And if I see some random Hispanic kid

walking in the hall, I'll say, come in

here for five minutes and let's ask these

questions about the swearing and they'll

say, oh no, my grandma will slap me if I

start saying those words.

But you swear here and she goes, well,

that's because all the Americans do. So

I'm used to doing it that way. Right?

When in Rome. Yeah. And to bring in that

cultural, you know, component of it too

and just educate them about it.

And I think kids appreciate that. Like

they, they don't know that. So they like,

they, I think they genuinely like hearing

that. And I, I feel like I'm going to

bring that now next time that

conversation comes up. So

I'm glad you mentioned that.

And I should. And back in our day, we

couldn't look the words up. They weren't

in the dictionary most of the time, you

know, stuff. But now I say you really

want to know what I'm, go ahead and look

them up when you go home.

You know, you can find them online if you

really want to, but I'm just letting you

know that most of the words have a

religious connotation. Like when you're

using the B word that's referring to

Mother Mary and people are not going to

think that is a fun word for you to be

using on a regular basis.

You know, the, the, the F word has to do

with the goat, but the goat is the devil,

the representation of the devil on the,

you know, in the Bible. So, you know,

just be mindful of your

audience when you use some of this.

When you use some of this, because I

remember in when I was in high school in

the eighties, I know I'm old, I had my

Spanish, Spanish story had this kid who

was Mexican and he taught me this song

that I still know today and it's full of

swear words, but it's

to Bippity Boppity Boo.

It's to that music.

So, but I still know those swear words,

but I knew the context in which it was

okay to use them, because he was really

hesitant to teach me that song.

Because of the American way of, you know,

using swear words and back in the

eighties we did not use swear words like

they use the swear words now. Not at all

we would never swear in front of an adult

not ever ever ever ever

would that ever have happened.

But nowadays they just don't care. So

yes, I like your your idea of non

negotiables I think that's a really good

word for that that's the

way they go over that line.

Absolutely. What about you Jackie.

So, for me, I do have some non

negotiables. Unlike you guys, I am not as

bothered by swearing.

You don't just say yeah you can say

whatever you want in my classes totally

cool and fine and whatever like I

definitely emphasize the idea of time and

place. That's another thing I say a lot

in my classroom is like hey you know

there's a time and a place.

This is not the time and this is not the

place, you know, just to start getting

them to think about, oh, you know, there

are things that are appropriate in

certain situations and there are things

that are not in others you know and I

tell them like you know there are things.

Y'all are not my friends. You are

children I'm not friends with children,

it's just never going to happen. You

know, I like you guys I love you guys I

care about you guys but you are not my

friends and so the way that I talked to

you and the way that I talked to my

friends is different.

The way I talked to you and the way I

talked to my friends is different than

the way I talked to my family.

You know, and you need to learn that

there are times and places for certain

things, you know, and, and my thing with

whenever they asked about cussing as I'm

like, number one, cussing in Spanish is

not like cussing in English.

It's a lot more illustrative.

You know, it's, and it's not something

that is done the way it is here, it's not

as casual. And, and then I also I'm like

an ethically and legally I'm not allowed

to teach you those words.

Like, I am by law, not allowed to teach

you that. And they're like, what, I'm

like, yeah. And, you know, and I go over

that with them like you know there are

rules and laws and ethics that guide what

teachers are not

allowed to do with you guys.

So if there are teachers who are doing

these things, then that's a problem, you

know, and that kind of goes back to a

safety thing for me. And that's a lot of

it for me is like, are we being safe,

physically and, you know, mentally and

emotionally with each other?

And, you know, are we, are we being

productive, you know, because there's a

point where, and it's always about

finding that line like, you know, it's

fine for them to express frustration to a

point, but then it gets to a point where

it's no longer productive.

And that's what I'm like, okay, and we're

going to move on. Thank you for the tea.

Let's move on. And, and just kind of

going that and usually it involves if, if

it won't go anywhere else than changing

activities is a good way to recalibrate

the pacing and just kind of go all right

and pivot and you know we

go into a different activity.

And that's something I got from john

coward with his packet method he's he was

teaching in Memphis, which when I first

encountered his work I was teaching in a

Memphis light kind of situation.

And so it was it that was very helpful

for me to kind of learn how to make those

shifts into how to get

into a more productive space.

Absolutely. And you hit about a couple of

things that I that I was thinking as

you're going through.

Oops, if I hit the wrong button on the

wrong screen I'm trying to take notes as

you're going through so I remember

everything and I'm on the wrong screen.

The swearing. I'm going to rephrase, I'm

not offended by the swearing because I'm

not one of those prude type people not at

all, but I always just joke

about that with my students.

But my thing is like you like say time

and place and when they become too

comfortable with using these words.

They're going to use them in the wrong

time in the wrong

place outside of school.

I mean, in school, it's low stakes, they

get in trouble, they get written up, you

know, nothing really big happens. We

protect them. But let's say it's a job

interview and they let out the F bomb

because they're so used to

saying the F bomb out there.

You know, that's that's a job

opportunities now lost. Or let's say they

got the job they made it to the

interview, but now they're

cussing a little too much.

And some people are getting offended and

putting this under harassment. And now

they're getting into more because they

don't know the audience that they're

doing so that time and

place is a real thing.

And when they become too comfortable,

they don't even know that they're doing

it. And when they're doing it, I taught

with she's gonna hate

me for calling her out.

But Carmen sent Carmen Andrews from Las

Vegas, I taught with her for many years.

And we always used to have to remind her

because we'd be talking in the hall right

at the beginning of the school year.

And she has forgotten to turn off her

summer mouth and moved it to her school

mouth. So we're in the hallways and she's

like cussing up a storm like we're in

school, we're in school schools.

Because I keep forgetting I haven't

gotten that mode to switch back into

school mode where you know, you're

filtering what you're saying. And that's

the that's the big thing

with me with the swearing.

It's more about them being mindful of

time and place. And they don't really

understand that schools a different time

and place because they hang out with

their friends. That's the reason for

being school for them.

They do not think about it as education,

it's a place for them to hang out with

their friends. So that's not there's no

difference in place between

the mall and school for them.

But I want them to realize in the real

world, that's good, that can be a

problem, you can get in trouble for

cursing too much in the job place. If

you're offending other people. So I like

that that time and place is really there.

And that is key. Always have a backup

activity in the back of your pocket for

when anything goes wrong.

I have backup activities, but sometimes I

use them too much. So I have what I call

a thinking activity, not for them to

think, but for me to think how am I to

get myself out of this hole

that I just dug myself into.

And it's usually I have backup videos

that I can play, whether it be a senior

wooly song that I've got three or four

minutes to think of

some activity I can pivot.

Or I have some funny animated shorts that

I have that are there and it gets the

kids to pay attention while I'm

scrambling for an

activity to do in the background.

Like what haven't I done? What can we do

that's a little bit different that I can

transition them to because what we're

doing right now isn't working just

because it's not that

day for that activity.

Or it went so far down the rabbit hole

that I can't get it back. So I need to

find something else.

So I have some of those.

Back up activities or what I call teacher

thinking activities where the kids are

doing something like watching a video

that I don't have to grade later.

And I can just go ahead and while that

video is going and maybe takes two videos

for me to think of something that we can

pivot to to do right away

that was really helpful.

So I like that to the backup activities

really really important for that.

Jackie do you have some go to backups?

When in data make them right.

Because it takes a while to.

Yeah. And it also like it's because

usually what ends up happening is they

get to piling around a

little too much and like it.

If I change modes and get them to start

writing then they have to focus on the

writing and they can't they can't focus

on the writing and keep running around

the room like a bunch of goofballs.

You know and it's something that it's

recenters them and focus on that focuses

on them down to a single point.

And then I can transition them into like

reading or something like that where it's

individual and they're having to be quiet

and focus on something.

And that usually works as like a reset.

Is it work for me sort of.

The only way it's it's really worked for

me is if we haven't really done anything

that we can write about but I can always

find us something to write.

You know even if it's just the discussion

that they were having that took us off

the rails or you know because a lot of

times that happens when we're in calendar

talk or they're getting too crazy with

their story and trying to come up with

really elaborate complicated things.

To put into it and then I'm like you know

that sounds great that in

your version that you write.

Which is something I got from I think Von

Ray is the one who

said that in a conference.

He might have gotten it from playing. I

don't know but it came from that world.

And it just kind of like

cuts the tension and we move on.

And they get a reason for it. And

essentially later on if they really want

it. I'm like yeah it's just we got to

keep it a little simpler for the sake of

you know like progression.

Exactly.

Do you have any backup

activities you use Kayla.

As we're having this conversation I'm

trying to think of some that I've done

and I do feel like I tend to go to

writing but I also like to

find that I still like to be.

Give the illusion that I'm like up in

front and in charge. So I

like to do the 1310 rights.

So then it you know it kind of it's like

the independent but then I'm also still

there like leading the activity. So it's

like I did plan this.

This wasn't this wasn't a fallback for me

this was actually in my plan.

You know and then it just makes it seem

like it's a little bit more of a you know

of a structured activity.

I really like the idea of the thinking

breaks. I last year I bought all of all

I'm gonna be so sad that I can't remember

who wrote who wrote the books all of the

in case by Pensando all of the what am I

thinking about riddle book in Spanish.

And so those have been a good fallback

for me where we'll do riddles of like you

know guess who I'm thinking of and we'll

you know read clue by clue and kind of go

through those and that it's a reading

activity but it's a you know we'll do it

on the dot cam and we'll go one by one.

And you know they they fill

time but it also allows me to.

They need to really focus on what the

clues are and then I have to explain the

clues and so it's a good kind of reset

type of activity because they have to

really be focused on it.

And I have all of I think there's seven

books out now I got them all on Amazon.

And so I have taught of

them so I have not run out yet.

So I feel like those are

two that I've that I've done.

Yeah.

When I say when I say

writing I mean writing discuss.

So turns into a whole class conversation

but I have them writing while I'm typing

it up on the screen.

Yeah because then and I make them write

it by hand as well because that that

physical act of writing means that

they're remembering it

more and it's pushing them to.

It's a way for them to help internalize

the structure of the grant.

And you know the

diacritical marks and stuff like that.

So I do think it's important

to have them writing as well.

I also find it's a very my classroom is

always very calm when everyone is writing

and I don't know if that's it's probably

just a coincidence because everyone's

literally focused on pen to paper but it

those are all some of the

most focused moments in my room.

And those are some of the I mean that's

when you can really get your great pop up

grammar in you know that's

really my only time that I do.

I feel like I get my best type of types

of pop up grammar lessons and you know

chats about like meta language and all

that type of cool stuff that

those kids want to know about.

So yeah absolutely those are

some really really great ideas.

We're getting close to the end so I want

to ask what routines or phrases help you

reset expectations without killing the

vibe killing the morale without going

into that you know the Snoopy want want

want want want teacher.

When things get close to that point where

I'm about to lose it I will I will say no

me molestes porque me están molestando

don't bug me because you're sure me and

they all know what that means.

And then if it gets past that point with

the particular students that are the

offenders then I switch to English and I

invite them to take a walk and then they

know I mean business because when I

invite someone to leave my room then it's

like become an issue.

And I think everyone who knows me just

knows like if she tells you to leave like