Creating Space to Learn and Laugh with Julie Rudlosky 

Please note, this transcript is generated by AI and may include some errors. 

Spencer Payne: Okay, here we are with front of the class, real stories from real educators. Our real educator today is Julie Rudlosky. Julie, can you share with us a little bit about what you teach, where you teach, how long you've been doing it, all that good stuff that other educators are itching to learn?

Julie Rudlosky: Well, I am currently teaching high school English at Talmadge High School in Talmadge, Ohio. I've been at Talmadge for 10 years now, but in total I've been, this is my 15th year that I just finished, which is kind of crazy. So I teach mostly freshmen English, you know, everyone's favorite subject.

Most people kind of roll their eyes and stay like, I hated English or whatever, but we try to keep it fun. And I have enjoyed freshmen and that's kind of like my spot. I kind of found like my itch.

Spencer Payne: Well, what, do you, like, how do you make English fun? And also why is, why are freshmen your niche? Why has that become kind of your go-to? What, what, do you appreciate about that age or what do you do maybe differently from other people that that's, that that's become your niche? So two questions there. How do you make English interesting and why are freshmen your niche?

Julie Rudlosky: Yeah. So I try to keep it interesting by realizing off the bat that not everybody loves English class. I get it. That's not everyone's favorite subject. But I try to allow humor in the classroom. There was this book that I read early on in my career called 'If They're Laughing, They Just Might Be Listening.' And so I try to kind of play up the silliness a little bit at times and just try to like see the humor in everyday situations and let the kids show their personality too. And so we might be reading some classic work of literature that might not seem completely relevant to them at first glance, but the more we talk about it, the more their perceptions and their lives to flow into the conversation. It makes it a little more interesting for them.

And then freshmen, I've just, when I first learned that I would be teaching ninth grade, I was kind of panicked because I don't know, just freshmen kind of get a bad rep. But I have really enjoyed their outlook. They're new to high school, they're excited. They're still a little bit afraid of their teachers. So I feel like you can be a little more nurturing with the younger kids in high school settings.

Spencer Payne: Sorry, I was on mute. I'd love to get into this a little bit more of making freshman English interesting and fostering comedy, laughter and relating maybe classical literature to what it means for their life. Can you get into any like specifics of how do you do that? Like what's a book maybe that you and your class explored this past year and how do you relate something that was written 50, 100, 200, maybe a thousand years ago, whatever it was that you were you were reading? How do you relate that to them?

And get people to laugh. what's an example? How did you do that? How do you foster that?

Julie Rudlosky: So I would say one example of very classic work of literature that's kind of a rite of passage of high school is Romeo and Juliet. So it can be a really challenging play to read, Shakespeare's challenging language. So we do a little bit with working to translate some common words and phrases into something that the students would understand.

We tried to...I kind of try to gauge how the students are feeling in the moment. If they feel like they're getting it, then we kind of keep on moving. But if they're stuck, then we have options. We could watch a clip from the film of a certain scene. Another thing we do is act certain scenes out. don't do like the entire play acted out, but there's one scene in particular that comes to mind where it's like a sword fight out in the public square. And I'll call a few students up who I know are kind of like jokesters and stuff. And we kind of go through this fight scene in a way that they can understand. And I'm giving kids things like curtain rods and fake swords and trying to get them to act out what's actually happening. I think that helps them to understand.

The rest of the kids are kind of giggling because these kids are being put on the spot. Another thing that we've done is to make a 32 second script of the play. So I have to take the entire play and jam it down into a 32 second production. So it works on summarizing, finding like the main plot points and they can, you know, I've done it different ways, either use the text as it is, the early modern English version, but it's more fun to have them put it into modern-day lingo. And so some kids get very colorful with that and it can be quite humorous when they're doing that.

Spencer Payne: That's perfect. Thank you for getting the specifics because it's, it's always helpful. feel like to take the macro point, like, how do you bring that to life in the classroom? So the students actually enjoy it. And curious also on the, you know, the 32 second summary of Romeo and Juliet, compared to four or five years ago, there, you know, there was Google and there was, other things that summarize, but there was no AI summarization. How, if it all has that changed, made better, made worse, maybe some of those summarizations or the actual learning that you hope is going on with your students versus just the like typing something in and spitting out an answer. So curious, how has AI helped hurt, maybe not changed at all, kind of your approach, especially with those 32 second summaries of classic literature.

Julie Rudlosky: So I would say AI hasn't, it hasn't been too much of an issue yet as far as being a negative. I mean there are kids who try to use AI in ways to kind of skirt around doing the work, but for the most part we stay away from it. There are times when you have students use AI on purpose, you're asking them to do so. One student did a project where he needed a certain image for his project and he was able to create that image through ChatGPT. But as far as using AI for summaries, I try to force the kids to just do the work themselves, just so I know that they're kind of going through the text and thinking about it.

And so they're doing this work right in front of me and they're flipping through the play, asking each other questions. And I think they're able to do that work themselves without having to rely on AI summaries and what.

Spencer Payne: Perfect. And, let's back up a little bit. So you've been teaching for 15 years. said, what brought you into this profession in the first place? Is it something that you always wanted to do or like how, how, how did you actually end up, teaching in the first place? What, what drew you to this and what ultimately made you say yes to your first school and your first teaching experience?

Julie Rudlosky: Well, I always knew I wanted to be a teacher and it was before I even realized it, it was because I grew up in a big extended family of teachers. I had two grandparents who were teachers. My mom was a school counselor at the high school level for the majority of her career. So I kind of grew up with that schedule, whereas like my mom was off in the summers with me and that kind of just became what I assumed life was, that you go to school for the school year and then in the summer you have some time off and then you go back to school and I just always loved school.

I used to play school, I'd come home from you know third grade or whatever and set up all of my stuffed animals and I would steal extra worksheets out of my teachers recycling bins and I would take them home to my classes and teach my little class of stuffed animals. It's pretty cool. And I was really into like chalkboards and whiteboards and stuff. And so I grew up with, you know, mainly the adults in my life as educators. And then I realized as I got older, how many aunts and uncles and cousins I have who are teachers and it just became kind of like well I know I want to be a teacher what do I want to teach and it was when I was in high school I had a certain teacher for four classes Mrs. Sikra and that was when I fell in love with English as a subject and that's when I knew that that's what I wanted to teach.

Spencer Payne: Hmm. And with all of that family history of teaching and this one teacher who you took four classes with, which I don't know that many people have ever taken four classes with one teacher. That might be a record. what, what, anything, have you tried to steal or reuse, from the example that they gave you that you really liked, that maybe you try to either copy or do in your own way. Like what maybe have you been able to learn from and use that they showed you that you are still carrying the torch on that you feel like is just a great way of teaching freshmen English? So what have you learned from them that you're still using?

Julie Rudlosky: Well, I would say the first thing is just building rapport. I think that is the most important thing to my teaching, building a rapport with the students that lets them know that this isn't like a me versus you, I'm the authority figure kind of thing. It's like we're in this together and let's kind of explore and learn together.

Just kind of realizing that you're teaching students first. They are people and they need to be taken care of. And I think as long as you're building relationships with the students where they know that they can trust you and you're not just going to kind of like be a stickler or things that don't really matter. You know, sometimes teachers get the reputation for being, I don't know, just nitpicky and always trying to get kids in trouble and like that's not what we're here for. We're here to learn and whatever you can do to help the students feel comfortable is big for me. And I remember Mrs. Sikra especially made us feel very comfortable. We even sat in a circle every day in our AP Literature class and it was just so comfortable. You came into her room and you could just like, I can breathe here and I can be myself and I can laugh and I know that the time's gonna fly because this isn't a place where I just feel stuck. And so I've tried to create that in my classroom where it's a place where they can come hang out and learn and not just like sit there rigid in their seat and not move for the whole class period.

Spencer Payne: And on that note of building rapport with your students and making it this place that hopefully is fun learning, cetera. How do you set that tone maybe on the first day or the first week with a new class? And how do you reinforce that tone? So what are some specific things maybe you do on that first day of class or that first week of class? Like this is how I'm going to run things. This is how I want to be as a teacher. This is how I want you to be as a student body.

What do you do to set that tone and how do you keep reinforcing it throughout the year, especially in that first week or the first month when they're probably all wondering like, does she mean this? Like testing the boundaries. So how do you set that tone and reinforce it?

Julie Rudlosky: Yeah, so I think it's not something that I come out and say, welcome to English class, guys. I want you all to be comfortable. We're just going to hang out. That would be, I think, asking for trouble. But I would say when they come in, just having some space to do creative things first. feel like a lot of times on the first day of class, teachers go through the syllabus or the class expectations and all of the rules and stuff. And I feel like that can just make like a really boring day. Like the first day of school, every class you go to, teachers talking about all the rules. So I don't get to that the first couple of days. I like to welcome the class in.

We make lists of interesting facts about ourselves or things that people just might not know about us, like how many siblings you have or what your middle name is or what your favorite color is. And then we share them out just on a voluntary basis. I don't like to make anybody present anything if they don't want to. So we just like let students share if they want to. And then I share my own. I have a list that I share with the students. I share pictures of my kids.

We play like some silly icebreaker games and things. And then just kind of slowly, I'm more of a like as needed role person. Like if there's an issue, then we'll work to correct it. And I just kind of explain again what the expectations are, but I try to assume that these are young adults. They know how they're supposed to act. And so I think if you just kind of put on them, their responsibility to act in a way that's reasonable for a classroom. think they kind of like just rise to it.

Spencer Payne: Yep. thanks for sharing that. know that can be one that can be very interesting of that first day or that first week of how different teachers like to set that example. It sounds like you're focused more on, let's just all be human beings first. Build that rapport. We'll get into the material and rules later, but like, let's just go, let's just, let's just go be ourselves, share some things and, have a little bit of fun maybe first and I'm curious over 15 years of teaching.

Are there any moments that rise to the surface for you of just proudest moments in teaching? Maybe things you did, things one student did, things a class did together, anything that you look back on after 15 years in the classroom, just like, that was a really cool moment. What, what if anything can you, can you share? Maybe it's okay if you can't share names, that's okay. But like, I just love to hear what are some of your proudest moments in the classroom after 15 years.

Julie Rudlosky: You know, I mean, there's a lot to be proud of regarding students and their projects they've done. I like to give a lot of student choice, and that is where I have been the most proud and the most amazed at what students can come up with. I think for me, like, a turning point was focusing on what my loves and passions were and trying to integrate those into the classroom. So this one year I came up with a mystery unit. So I like mystery and you know all that kind of stuff. So I made a unit with mystery. We read a novel and then at the end students had to create a mystery project.

And over the years those projects have been amazing and I tell them you know I'm being intentionally vague here with what you have to do for this project as long as you do this this this and this you're gonna get the grade that you're looking for but create something that you're proud of and I had I've had students create some really amazing things one group of students did a little escape room in my classroom they like kicked the rest of the class out including me so we were waiting in the hallway while they were setting up their escape room. And they actually had locks that, they locked them on cabinets, but we pretended that was the door you had to escape. And you to go through a series of puzzles and little games and things to figure out the combination code to escape the room. And so that was really interesting.

And then, like another group a couple years later even did a more extensive version of that. They actually set up this whole scene in the library where it was like this prime scene and we were all sitting down, we were handed an envelope and we took out this paper and it told us the role that we had in this little skit. It kind of like, it like a mystery dinner theater kind of thing. And you know, if we were, like the killer or if we were just a guest. And it was the most intricate project I think I've ever seen students do. There were puzzles, you had to go to different stations to complete. We all, it kind of then became an Among Us type thing where once a person was tapped and then they fell to the ground dramatically, the rest of us had to come to this table and sit around and try to figure out who the killer was. like, then we had to guess and we had to figure out if that was the right person or not. And I mean, it was so fun for me. I was a participant, you know, and I was just amazed. And I forgot for a second that it was a class and I was a teacher and this was a project. We were just having fun. And it was because of like what these kids created. was very.

Spencer Payne: Yeah. and like you said, they created with maybe a couple guiding principles and like you said, intentionally vague and explore your own curiosity kids. Like talk, talk about a way to navigate something, without AI. Like here's a couple of ground rules. Go figure it out. that sounds really fun. On another note, any, you know, it's not all, it's not all, wow, that worked great in this profession. so there are any particularly tough days, weeks, months, tough times that you've experienced in your 15 years in the classroom and how do you bounce back? Like when you face those times, which everybody inevitably will, how do you get back on track? How do you get back to seeing those positive moments again and getting back to the best version of yourself? So any particularly challenging times and how do you bounce back from those?

Julie Rudlosky: I would say this entire past year was one of the most challenging of my career because I had all new curriculum for all of my classes. And that's always something that kind of rattles your self-confidence because you're not as experienced with the content, you're kind of shaky compared to other stuff you've been teaching where you were confident and the kids really responded to it. So this past year, I was getting really bogged down with just the day-to-day planning, new material, trying to study the material. And I would find myself with like an extra couple minutes at the end of class because I just like kind of ran out of stuff to have the kids do like planned ahead far enough, know, normally it's like, if you have extra time, you're like, okay, well, we can just start on this next thing. but when you're really struggling like day to day trying to figure this all out, you can end up with some extra time. and so I was just, it was like a self-confidence blow. was really time consuming. It was draining.

And I just felt like, I just wasn't doing a good job compared to like how I knew I could teach. So I kind of had this moment where I had to just realize like, you know what, you're doing the best you can. Even if this isn't your best teaching, you can at least make this an enjoyable place for students to be while they're enrolled in your class. So I started to do things that I think high school kids probably missed. So some things from elementary school, like I printed off coloring pages about the books that we were reading. I printed off some puzzles that were related to what we were doing. I brought in like my kids craft stuff from home so that if we just had a couple of minutes at the end of class, even if it wasn't specifically related to English content.

The kids were still doing something that they were creating something and doing something that they were proud of. And it kind of became this revelation to me that I needed to just give myself some grace and I'm doing the best that I can and the students are what matters. So as long as I'm doing my best to cover the standards and to cover the content and everything, you also want to make sure that you're taking care of the students and nurturing them and fun is allowed to be in a classroom. And another thing that I ended up doing this year was talking about Bluey episodes because my daughters at home had just recently watched an episode of Bluey and I noticed as we were reading the short story that was about a person revisiting this original trauma in their life as a way of trying to cope with it. I realized that that's what that Bluey episode was about. So I actually talked with my students about that episode and they like perked up because they're like, I know Bluey, watch it all the time, blah, blah, blah.

And I think what helped me to get through this really challenging year was just to kind of...get back to basics a little bit and to allow some of that like fun stuff that we reserve for the younger students, elementary and whatnot. High school kids like that stuff too and so just trying to relax a little bit and weave in some fun helped me to feel better about how I was doing.

Spencer Payne: And on that note, in a challenging year, new curriculum, you're still meeting the standards. There's tests, et cetera. How at the end of a year, especially maybe a challenging one like that, do you judge yourself of, hey, I had a great year this year. I had a good year this year. I was okay. I could have been better this way. Cause there's such a, you know, there's objective test scores and things like that, but there's also such a subjective building relationships, building rapport. Was my class fun?

Where my kids did my kids grow as people that just like, it's really hard to measure. So in that world where it's kind of sometimes hard to figure out, like, did I, am I making a difference? Did I do a good job this year? How do you answer that question for yourself? What were some of the things that you look to, to try to figure out, if you had a great year and if, and if not, like what you might want to do more of or less of the year afterwards, how do you, how do you determine that for yourself?

Julie Rudlosky: So I do just mainly look back at the students. I do my best to help all of them? Did I talk with each student individually? How many times? If the students look back at my class, would they remember it as being a positive experience or a negative one? And I think as long as I'm looking back as a whole, I feel that students would remember it as being positive. Then I feel like I've been successful. In the past, like you said, the standardized tests and everything, historically, I would say just like early on in my career, that was the main focus is like, what were the test scores? What were the test scores like?

And you know, so that would always kind of be a factor in how I did, you know, did I do a good job or not? Now it's like there's less emphasis being put on those test scores at least in my district and it's more about authentic learning, doing projects, kind of going out in the community if possible and that again, it's not something that you can assess as easily, but I think as long as you're doing the best you can to give students positive learning experiences, I think that's successful. I'm always a reflective teacher, so at the end of the year, I'm always like, whew, I could have definitely done this better or whatever. So usually, over the summer, I'll try to tweak a couple things if I have the time. It's kind of hard when you have little kids at home to spend a lot of your summer doing anything other than that. But I have done summer courses and things where I'm actually refining my curriculum. So I would say, like this past year, I know it wasn't my best attempt.

It was my best attempt, but I don't know if it was like, my best absolute teaching because of the new material, but now I know that that first year of it is out of the way and it's only going to get better. And you know, I take notes of like, don't do this next year or, know, next year spend more time on this and less time on this. I like to leave little post-it notes in binders and stuff to remind myself. So I think just reflecting but also showing some grace that, you know, it's just always going to be a learning process. There's never going to be perfection. There's just going to be that.

Spencer Payne: And that concept of post-it notes in the material, spend more time here, less time here, whatever you're doing. I just want to highlight, one of the, favorite quotes. still will remember this forever. That a baseball coach said was the shortest pencil is worth more than the longest memory. Because if you are not writing down the post-it notes on Thursday, January 17th, whatever it is, man, this was a rough day. Here's how I could handle it better next year. You're going to forget by the time that comes around again next year. You're just, you're gonna, you're not going to remember, but if you have those short list of post-it notes that you are kind of curating, maybe throughout the year of particularly good days or particularly rough days of what you want to tweak that summer session where you might be kind of, right, how do I want to make things different? It's a lot easier because you've already got all your notes.

And actually I'm curious, is there anything in particular that you might be able or willing to share in those notes that you know, you want to change next year, good or bad, do more of something or do less of something? Is there anything in particular that you are able or willing to share?

Julie Rudlosky: I just, I would say content wise, there are a couple stories that I'm not interested in using next year. So I know, you know, one of the post-its I put was like, don't read this story. Look for another one that goes over the same theme or find another short story where you can practice identifying imagery or something.

So just trying to like hints or indicate places where I could swap out some things to try to improve weak areas in curriculum. Another thing is I'm working with another teacher for this symposium class that I've been teaching and we're talking about reorganizing just the timing of the content so we like the content. We just think it would be better to switch some things around timing wise.

Like one of the things is we read a book called 'Just Mercy' by Bryan Stevenson and it has to do with just like the justice system and how in many cases it has failed a lot of people. And so we were trying to time it up so that we could go on a field trip. And we're also trying to align it to blend into our next unit so that it's more around Halloween. And what we did last year was we took the students after we read 'Just Mercy' and talked about it. We took the students to the Mansfield Reformatory, which was an amazing experience. Just going through, you know, that old prison and taking kids on the tour was one of the coolest things we've done. So we know we want to try to keep it, you know, that field trip and that content around that time of year, but then also kind of plug it in like a different unit so that we're then kind of moving into reading the mystery stuff around Halloween. I don't know if that makes sense, but it's just trying to figure out a way to make the content flow together in a way that feels natural and that is like also kind of interesting to the students.

Spencer Payne: Yeah. And actually on that note, if I'm a teacher listening and I'm thinking you took them to a what, but it was a great experience. The reformatory. Can you share to go back to your earlier point of the 32 second summary on Romeo and Juliet? Could you share the 32 second summary of why did you choose to take them there?

What were you hoping that they were maybe going to get out of that experience? And what did they share with you of why they liked it, what they learned, etc. So what would be your summary of that field trip and what was learned and gained and why it was so successful?

Julie Rudlosky: Okay, so that field trip was actually the idea of the teacher that I was working with and she had taken students to the Mansfield Reformatory before and just said it was a great field trip and whatever. And of course it was loosely related because it's a prison, obviously it's shut down prison, but it connected to our justice unit. So we read 'Just Mercy'.  We read things by Martin Luther King Jr. And we were talking about just justice and equality and looking at history and the lessons that were kind of taught to us by these very important people in how to treat others and what things work to build people up and what things only serve to hold people back. So we decided to go to the reformatory to show the students the history of that building.

And I feel like it added some, I would say just authenticity to the stuff that we were reading, where the students could look at this building and the conditions that the inmates were forced to live in, oftentimes when people were wrongfully convicted, that's what 'Just Mercy' was really about was how many people are wrongfully convicted or how many people, you know, maybe they did commit the crime of which they were accused, but they're also a person behind that. Bryan Stevenson said, each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done. And so we tried to share with the students like what makes someone commit a crime or to do something that's bad. It's not just because people are bad. It's in many cases it's because they've been failed repeatedly by people that they were supposed to be able to trust.

And so I think showing the students that authentic building where people actually were and you could actually see handwriting on the walls and stuff. They could actually see that there is evidence of people who were there, who were stuck there in many cases did not necessarily deserve everything that they got in their.

Spencer Payne: Yeah. All I can think when you're talking about that is the first thing my mind goes is the Shawshank redemption, which I actually did recently rewatch and what a phenomenal movie. But yeah, could you, mean, could you imagine being wrongfully accused of murder, going to jail, sentenced to jail for the rest of your life and then getting beat up in the laundry stalls for a place that you should never be like, thankfully that's not, that's, that's not you or I and thanks.

Like, thankfully that was a fictional movie, but still sure that has happened to other people throughout human history. to go on to more positive notes, as we do some more rapid fire, quick hitter questions. curious, what's something that you have consistently done in your career, that seems to work really well for you that maybe you're surprised other teachers don't do that thing because it's, it's, it's just works so well for you. Maybe you even share it with others and they don't do it. anything, anything strike you like that, that someone's works really well for you consistently and you're surprised other teachers don't do that thing?

Julie Rudlosky: You know, I think mainly I would recommend people just being themselves as simple as that sounds but that kind of includes Bringing your own Interest into the classroom if you're passionate about a certain topic in your subject area I think if you can focus on that more that comes through and the students then pick up on that interest and that excitement. So if you're teaching something that you don't necessarily love as much, know, compared to something that you're really truly interested in, it really allows that excitement to come back into the classroom. So we don't always have a choice in what we're teaching, you know, the curriculum a lot of times is chosen for us.

But if you can kind of like find ways to work in things that you feel really confident about that you're really interested in, that just really goes a long way into building a positive environment. And then also, I think just like allowing your own sense of humor to come into the classroom. I feel like we laugh so much in my classroom. And I think it's just because I'm just being myself, I'm not trying to be like this like fancy teacher, like you must listen to me. It's just, like I said, come hang out, let's talk about things and just like allowing your personality and yourself into the classroom.

And the students, I think really appreciate that rather than someone just giving a presentation at them every day, just allowing them to see that you're a person, you're a human, and you know, you're just, you're just going through it with them. And I just think the students really respond to that when they see that you're human too.

Spencer Payne: And for maybe brand new teachers, right? We're recording this in July. There's going to be, I'm sure some new teachers in your school starting fairly soon when the new school year starts. what, what is the number one piece of advice? And maybe it's what you just shared about being authentic, being yourself, but what's the number one piece of advice that you would give to new teachers who are just starting out? It's their first year. It's their first week. It's their first day. what, is the number one piece of advice you'd share to those new teachers who are just starting in this profession?

Julie Rudlosky: Just to say in addition to you know being yourself and you know not trying to be someone you're not is to just look kind of like speak up for yourself and look after yourself just to help kind of take care of yourself through that first year. The first year is challenging you know learning a whole new building all the people all the names it's a lot and on top of that, learning the curriculum and how things are run. So I would say just kind of speak up if there's something that you need help with. Ask questions, find a teacher that can be your go-to. Like, hey, who do I talk to about this? Or maybe there's something that is really bothering you.

You're allowed to ask the administrators or counselors or secretaries, you're allowed to just ask why things are the way they are or if, hey, could I maybe try this instead? I'd say just try to speak up for yourself if you need something because there are teachers, there are helpers, they're going to help you out. You don't have to feel like you're alone.

Spencer Payne: And did you get your masters? And if so, when kind of in your teaching career, before you started a couple years in, like when, when did you choose to do it? Why that time? And what did that unlock for you?

Julie Rudlosky: So I graduated my bachelor's in 2009 and immediately I got my first part-time job at our alma mater, Roosevelt High School. And so I figured that was it. I was gonna be teaching there forever for the rest of my life. And unfortunately, even though they had a few English teaching openings at the end of the year, I was not chosen as a full-time teacher at Roosevelt. And I was heartbroken, so that was like my first career heartbreak there. But then, you know, after a while, I was kind of just thinking about it. was like, you know, I'm going to get the teaching job that I'm meant to get when that time comes. In the meantime, I'll start working on my masters.

So what I did the following year, I did it. a full-time job. So I just did some subbing at nearby districts and I just started taking classes towards my master's and I ended up finishing my master's about four years later. And in that span of time I had found a full-time position. I think working on that master's degree helped me to then ultimately land where I am now at Talmadge, which is like my forever school. That's like my dream job. I remember when I got hired at Talmadge meeting with the superintendent, he was impressed by what I got my master's degree in which is its curriculum and instruction with a language arts focus. And I just remember him saying that he felt like that was a really valuable master's degree. And I feel like that contributed to him seeing me as just like a valid candidate for the position.

Spencer Payne: And what to you is the single best thing about this profession?

Julie Rudlosky: The students.

Spencer Payne: And the single worst thing about this profession, or if you had a magic wand and you could change one thing, would you point that magic wand out?

Julie Rudlosky: That there was more time to work just to create even better lessons, know, more planning time. But, you know, my cousin, I remember her telling me this bit of advice that she heard from a teacher she worked with. You could spend 24-7 trying to be super teacher and still not feel like you're quite cutting it. But you are, know, just do the best that you can and stick to the important things, which is the students and you know, everything else falls into place. And, just to always remember that the students are the most important part and they are definitely my favorite.

Spencer Payne: And any final words of wisdom shared out there for other educators, either something new that we haven't talked about, or maybe something repeated that it's just so important that it's just, you don't have any new words of wisdom, but this is so important. You want to say it again. So any new or repeated final words of wisdom.

Julie Rudlosky: Just ultimately be yourself and let your personality, that's what kids are going to remember. Let that shine through. The famous quote, people may forget what you say or do, but they'll never forget how you made them feel. I think if we can all just try to make our classrooms inviting for students from all walks of life, you might just be that one teacher that a student feels it's worth coming to school for. And you might be one of the very few positive people, adults, that they have in their life that they feel like they can trust. So be yourself and just stay focused on what's important, and that's the kids.

Spencer Payne: Thank you so much, Julie, for sharing your real stories from a real educator spanning from 32 second Romeo and Juliet summaries, foam sword fights in class, mystery escape rooms, and actual field trips that tie to the material so people can learn not just from a book, but also by their eyes and their experience. Thank you so much for sharing your 15 years of teaching and some of the wide raging great moments that you.

Julie Rudlosky: All right, thank you.