Tech, Teaching & Transitions: Shaping Future Innovators with Cara Gregory   

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

Spencer Payne (00:06): Here we are with front of the class, real stories from real educators here today with Cara Gregory. Cara, can you help us understand a little bit more about your story? What do you teach? Where? When? How long you've been doing it? What grades? All that kind of good stuff. What's your intro to other educators who probably are peppering you with those exact same.

Cara Gregory (00:30): Sure. Cara Gregory, I am the Director of Technology and Computer Science Department Chair here at the Linsly School. We are a private, independent day and international boarding school in Wheeling, West Virginia. And usually those words don't go together in Wheeling, West Virginia.

I previously was a public school educator I taught in the state of Ohio, I taught for Ohio Tech Prep, which means that kids had an articulation agreement. Our schools had an articulation agreement between the school and a local college. And kids would take me junior and senior year. Interactive media was my specialty. And they basically had me in block classes. And we worked with the state of Ohio where they took all the classes that they would take up to, in my case, 22 credit hours of college credits. They would work with and by their senior year, they would work with community members.

It was a wonderful partnership. The state of Ohio does a lovely job with this program to where they worked with a business, a local business, and they would have to using all of their skills that they learned over the two years, in my case, come up with either developing a website or building a commercial or helping them with tech behind the scenes. And then they would have to present to the community and present to the state of Ohio and take a test with whatever college my articulation agreement was with. And they could test out of 22 credit hours, which is quite impressive. It's almost half an associate's degree within those two years for free, for free, as long as they passed everything. So the state of Ohio does a lovely job with that program. And I worked right directly in a public school.

I have been at this school now for 13 years as my 13th school year. My background initially was in computer science. I have a bachelor's degree in computer science with concentration in network administration. Once I had my daughter, the hours were kind of terrible. I sort of missed the boom when it came to technology. I'm in that terrible age where the people that were network admins weren't leaving anytime soon. So I got some jobs as subcontractors, which meant terrible to no health insurance. The hours were terrible.

I felt like my daughter was being raised by my parents more than me. So I went back and got my bachelor's in education at the time and started teaching then public school and then went and got my master's so I could do the dual enrollment, the dual credit enrollment. So you have to have a master's degree in your subject area. And the perk for that for me was I did not have to go through the full traditional, like I never did student teaching. My experience in the workplace counted towards my, even though I went and got my bachelor's in education, I never had to do that component of student teaching because they took my years of service in industry to count as my mastery level. 

Spencer Payne (03:31): And sorry, real quick. was how many years in industry before then, was industry, public school, then private school. Is that the path? Approximately how many years in industry, how many years in public school and then how many in private school? What's that path look like in terms of tenure?

Cara Gregory (03:39): Um, two years industry before I started my process of a bachelor's in education, which I only had to take a handful of classes, it's not like i had to go back for a full four year degree because I already had one. So I really only had to take like the teaching, um, instruction methods, the scope when we talk about teaching kids and what they should know through educational psychology classes. So I really only had to take maybe 18 months of classes, however the semesters were to get that second bachelor's degree.

So during the time I was still able to work because I was still a contractor. So I was able to work plus then finish this degree, which worked out well for me. and then once I got hired, I had up to four years that I could take to take my master's. And I thought, why wait? Because obviously in a public school, your pay scale is dependent on your education level. So I started the master's. Plus I was kind of feeling like I was so used to being in school that I thought, why take this pause? So I started pretty much immediately. It took me a little longer because then I was teaching full time and that's, chaotic because it's literally not just an eight to three or whatever your timeframe is. So that did take me a little longer.

But I had my master's within the first three years of becoming a teacher or getting licensed. And then at this position, I as the director of technology, I do everything behind the scenes, all of the you know, what should technology look like here at the Linsly School? I am the network administrator here. I am the basic IT person. I mean, at any point, even though there's a sign on my door that says do not disturb, some kids going to come in and say, I forgot my password. It might happen. But I never fails to happen.

So I do all the behind the scenes tech here, all the administrative stuff too, but then I still get to teach. So it really is the best of all of my degrees. So that's a big perk. I can do dual enrollment or dual credit classes here because I have a master's in my content area, but we don't do dual enrollment here. So I just teach, but I'm able then to teach AP computer science classes. So I teach AP computer science principles, AP computer Science, we're part of project lead the way cybersecurity. But then I also teach some intro classes. teach intro to programming. And then for fun, I teach multimedia where kids we have a podcast studio here at school. And I get to be like the brain break for kids. I say that all the time, you know, I will teach you some things. I'll teach you how to edit a cool video. We work with the green screen and we do podcasts and we get to have a little fun.

Spencer Payne (06:37): Good. Awesome. just going back to, I'd love to explore a little bit more for what drew you to teaching in the first place, right? So you were in the IT world, in industry as you call it. What, like, again, you talked about hours, but what led you to teaching specifically from that point? Because I'd imagine, you know, IT degree background, there's a million things you could go do. Why did you go into teaching? What drew you to that in the first place?

Cara Gregory (06:57): A million things. I think in my head I'm the oldest child of the oldest cousins am and um I love to play school like to be the boss. Um but I think sec wanted to be a teacher on the path to teaching very good in doing um in i could help, I was a good blend of what my grandma worked in a school and being the oldest grandchild, I was with her a lot. You know, I had a chalkboard in my bedroom. Like I, think, I think I knew that I always wanted to be a teacher.

Spencer Payne (07:43): Awesome. again, after it sounds like what a couple years in public school, two, three, four ish, and then 13 years in this private school. So you've been doing this for 15 years plus. What's again, maybe your answer is because you knew you secretly always wanted to do it, right? But like, what keeps you coming back? What's kept you in this profession for 15 plus years, especially with that IT background where I'm sure you could go do a lot of other things. So what keeps you here?

Cara Gregory (07:54): Right. I, it's really, really rewarding to see like the light bulb moments. Like when a kid grasp a concept, when they, especially like I will equate it to just programming class, like it gets tricky. It gets tricky. You have an idea in your head and I tell the kids all the time, the computer is only as smart as the user because you have to translate that to basically binary, right? You have to tell them what to do every step of the way. and when they accomplish it and whatever the app works or the character moves or something happens and they are so proud of themselves. It is such a rewarding feeling. It it's actually incredible.

Even though I teach in theory the same classes year after year, having different kids come in with their different experiences or their different goals. know, some kids take these classes, even the AP classes, because yeah, I'm kind of interested in that or, you know, it sounded cool or they want to hang out with me. I don't know. They have no interest in being in computer science. You know, they end up finding something that enjoy and they find a spark that I think kind of keeps me energized year after year.

Spencer Payne (09:15): Awesome. what on you just use the word energized. But yeah, is there anything in particular that you're looking forward to, to or that energizes you about say the next three to six to 12 months, you know, a new program, a new class school year, you know, anything else that you have going on that you're just particularly energized by over the coming three, six, nine, 12 months, you pick the

Cara Gregory (09:37): So for, know, between the end, now in May, when we end school, my AP kids and my cybersecurity kids all work up to this huge project. So, you know, we're almost at the top of the hill now where we've learned the foundation of what they need to learn for AP Computer Science. They have to build a full developed working app and they have to submit that to the College Board to be judged and graded and has to work. And it's taking everything that we've learned the entire first semester and putting it together. And they come up with some really great ideas.

A couple years ago, I had kids develop things that I swear I now see on the app store, you know, like somebody else had that great idea and these kids just come up with these great ideas. And they're just so proud of themselves and they work and they're excited. you know, I have them give a big presentation and feedback and we talk about it and they have to present their app to everybody and they get so much feedback from their classmates or if I take it to a larger scale audience, sometimes we submit things to competitions and getting that feedback. Just seeing them succeed is always a good plus for me. For cybersecurity, their final project, they have to solve a cybercrime. It's like you see in a TV show. So that's really neat to watch them come to that point of, you know, I can do this. I can get here. I can do this. I can solve this crime. could be on, know, CSI later. They think it's very neat and they're very proud of themselves. So that always gives me energized to get to the end. I teach a lot of seniors, so keeping them engaged through May can get challenging, but they see that finish line too and then they want to get to it as well.

Spencer Payne (11:19): And can you maybe help people listening who might be public school versus private school, pros, cons? You've done both. It sounds like you've had good experiences with both. What in your mind are the pros and cons between the private school where you are now and maybe the public school where you were teaching and your people speak more loudly with their actions when their words, right? But you have stayed there for 13 years at the private school. So what has kept you there for so long? Or what are the pros that have kept you in that environment for the length of time that you've been?

Cara Gregory (11:54): I look, I'm a product public school. I went to public school myself. I went to a public college. I speak and think highly of public school. I was looking for a change in terms of where I taught before, trying to shoot my words carefully, not to offend somebody. Where I taught before, unfortunately, was a very low income area. And that's a very real thing that we teachers have to deal with as well. When we get the jobs within this low income area, these kids come with a lot of baggage. also sometimes in educational psychology, there is this term, it's literally called the cycle of poverty. And parents feel like, it's good enough for me. fine. We're fine. It's okay. It's okay that they do this job and that job. And of course it is, but I had two very specific instances where kids wanted more and kids wanted to go to college and kids wanted to branch out a little bit and not stay in that area. And parents didn't even want to fill out the FAFSA form to help them get to college, you even though it might've cost them nothing because they really didn't have anything.

They just really felt like we're okay. There's no need to be different. And that's hard. That's hard to see, you know, so much potential in the kid that you're like, do you, how do you get them to have the parents change their mind? Here, it's almost the exact opposite. You know, these kids have complete ambition to go out and either, you know, it doesn't have to be college, but into the workforce or into something bigger. So that's definitely a con of my experience is that some of these kids, I feel like got kind of trapped and they hopefully now have, once they became adults, were able to go back and go to school or finish what they started. Whereas here, we have 100 % graduation matriculation and I get to see the next, I've been here 13 years. So I've seen these kids, we're grades five through 12. So not only do I see them for those eight years, I now still keep in contact with a lot of those kids who have now gone into the workforce or one who actively tried to recruit me to come work in her company and just to get to see those next decade of their life experiences. So that's part of, think, why it kept me here. That's a big pro for me here. But also, we have a little more flexibility. Obviously, we still teach standards. And I have to teach with the College Board or Project Lead the Way or my other colleagues, the College Board with AP classes.

You know, we still very much teach standards, but I have a lot more autonomy on how I teach that. Whereas public school, I mean, we all see the news and we hear things about teachers and whether they are accurate or not accurate in the public school. There is a lot more you have to follow this way, whether you think it's working or not working or you have to use this curriculum. I definitely don't have that.

Spencer Payne (14:57): Yeah, yeah, got it. And on this private school that you're in now in Wheeling, West Virginia, I must admit, like, there's not a lot of people who I hear say, like, I'm going to I'm going to Wheeling. So how did you find this? Like, were you recruited? Like, how do you how do you make that transition from public to private, especially because you were in Ohio, Virginia?

How did you find this place and how did you know like going in of like, this feels like a good fit for me?

Cara Gregory (15:29): And I'm not from here, so I'm from about two hours north. So I absolutely had no experience in here. But because I was part of Ohio Tech Prep, when I, unfortunately in public school also, you you're very dependent on levy money or however your school district is funded. And I'm expensive because not only, and not even meaning my salary, my software, the hardware.

I originally got RIFT from my first school back in close to my hometown. Reduction in forest RIFT is a very common word in public schools. But because I was part of Ohio Tech Prep, I easily landed another job teaching the exact same thing, but in a different school down here, but still in Ohio. And then when this job opened up, I did get recruited. I had somebody who said to me, Kara, this job is perfect for you because it encompasses all of your degrees. And I came and my actual, my first experience to this was I was coaching varsity softball at my old school and we played here. We played them and there was there. The game was going on and throughout the entire game, the there was a girl running outside the softball field, like running outside the fence in full uniform and not sprinting, but like the entire game she was running. And I said to my other, my other coach, so what's happening? Like, why is this girl just like what's happening?

And she looked at me, she's from the area and she said, this is Lindsley. I guarantee you that's a discipline situation because this school has been, we've been around since 1814. We used to be a military school, but known for having, you we preach character development and that includes discipline sometimes. And she was right. That was a quote unquote discipline situation. So first I was like, my gosh, like that's wild. That would never happen. Here I am calling pitches to my picture and the girl is shaking me off and looking at her parents.

So not shortly after that, because softball season obviously leads into summer. That's when I was told about this school. And I was like, oh, I actually know that school. Let me go interview over there. Let me see what that's about. And that is one thing that 13 years later brings true, that we do have, I don't want to say that ability, but it's expected of us to hold these kids to a higher standard.

Spencer Payne (17:45): Yeah, one thing there that I would love to dig into a little bit more is that whole concept of, you're teaching public school. There's a reduction force. You know, it sounded like after that you moved to different location that then led you to this place that you've been for 13 years. you know, successful like 13 years, I get to see all these happy kids didn't come without some trials. Can you help like walk through like when that reduction force happened like were you thinking like maybe teaching is not for me or how did you end up deciding to move? Like, can you help us understand that little bit of a tough time? Because it sounds like that set you up for a great experience where you are right now, but you had to manage through that. Like, how did you approach that time?

Cara Gregory (18:28): Right, right. No, that's a panic because you get those letters, you know, sooner than you ever expected. I knew that, like I said, it was because a levy didn't pass. And in the state of Ohio, your school district is dependent upon that levy money. So when the levy didn't pass that previous November, we knew something was happening. And in a very good way, you know, they, you know, not going to cut art and music and jam. These kids need all those things. And my license is actually four through 12. I have a very big state of Ohio teaching license. So first I thought, okay, maybe I'll just not teach high school and I'll try to go somewhere else or think of something. Or I did think, maybe education isn't it? This is too stressful in that capacity that at any year I could just lose my job. And also to be very frank, I could make more money staying in industry. I could make more money going back to IT in a different capacity. But I again, because I was part of that Ohio Tech prep, had already made so many connections with people that, you know, once things get opened up, you get emailed and you're like, are you interested in this? Are you interested in that? So that also was a big perk of being part of that program.

Spencer Payne (19:37): Yeah, awesome. And that was maybe not the most exciting time in your career, but it's led to good things. But maybe on the other side of that coin, as you look back on this 15 plus year career in education, are there any stories, cool moments, proud moments that you can recall or something that maybe you look back on and it still makes you smile or light up because you're like, I can't believe I did that or I can't believe that class did that or that student did that. What rises to the surface when you kind of look back and think of maybe proudest moments?

Cara Gregory (20:10): So I am originally up from the Cleveland Youngstown area. So huge Cleveland sport fan for better or worse. And because my original school was up there, I knew the Cleveland Cavaliers had something called Tech and Engineering Day. And that was a wonderful and incredible experience that I could bring my students to. We got to go behind the scenes before a Cavs game and got to go into the control room and got to see how they did everything from the cameras to the graphics to the instant playback or instant replay.

So when I moved down to this other school down here, I still wanted to take my kids to that because it was such a wonderful experience. So we all jumped in a van and drove up to Cleveland, took the two hour drive to Cleveland and went and did this. And I had a kid who looked at me during, we're behind the scenes, at the, you know, it was, I think it was Pickin' Loans Arena at that point. And she looked at me and she said, I could do this.

And I said, yeah. And she was like, wait, this is like literally what you taught us. And I said, yes, like that's why I teach you what I teach you, because you literally could do this. This is this is what you know. And she ended up going off to college and doing sports broadcasting. And she loves it. So that's a really cool, rewarding moment. And seeing it in the real world, you know, I could say it's all blue in the face. But for her to be there and looking and said, I know how to use this software. I already do this.

Yes, correct. That's correct. So, you know, going on field trips like that or going on experiences like that at any school is wonderful. Teaching AP computer science classes, I have been awarded the AP female diversity award twice now. And that just means that I teach a high population of girls. And I have colleagues literally around the world, the United States that we have all these, you forums or emails or go to conferences. And they always say to me, how do you recruit girls? And I say, because I am one, you know, they see someone in this position and representation matters. That's a very real thing. They see me doing this job and not just the teaching part, but the behind the scenes and they ask questions or I've fixed their computer. And they're like, well, how did you actually do that? You know, kids will walk in and I'll be at this other desk over here with screwdrivers. I'm like, I'm performing surgery. I'm rebuilding this for somebody, you know?

So I have a higher percentage of girls who take my class and do very well and do very well on the AP tests. So those awards mean a lot to me because when I was in college originally, again, like I missed the boom. So I was in college. I was the only girl in many of my upper level hardware classes. I'll never forget the one.

My final was we walked in and on the table were all the parts that go into a desktop computer and you had to build a computer and it had to turn on. I was the only girl in that class for the entire three years of this hardware course. So to have a high percentage of girls that not only take my class, are interested in it, do well on the AP test, and then go off to become computer science majors and then work in the industry is very full circle for me. And that really means a lot, definitely.

Spencer Payne (23:24): That is awesome. Beyond just being the example to show to other people of how do you recruit girls to come to your classes, if you had to share one other piece of advice for someone who's trying to recruit more of a certain type in their classes, it's hard to find. What else might you say? Because not everyone has the luxury of like, okay, that's good for you. I'm not a woman who's teaching that.

Cara Gregory (23:52): Right. Exactly.

Spencer Payne (23:53): What else might you say? advice might you give for someone in that situation who isn't you?

Cara Gregory (23:57): I think that in my very specific computer science or IT, there is a huge stereotype. And I even play a Ted Talk to start the year on how programmers are lazy. And if I Googled right now, what is a programmer? It's large man sitting in a chair in his parents' basement, right? Like that's the joke. So I think for anybody, it's that, find those people that are, whether it's the opposite. So if I'm getting, I'm gonna say too many girls, because I never want too many girls, but if I say, Hey, you know, I think you'd be interested in this, you know, I've been talking to your teachers. Um, you're really good at logical thinking. Like you come up with some really great questions or right now in the world of AI, you know, we keep talking about AI and education and what does this look like for a teacher? What does it look like for a kid? Um, and my strong thought on that is, you know, as these kids go out in the workforce, AI isn't going to replace them, but somebody who knows how to use AI might.

So just even saying words like that to these kids, like, hey, come to my class. Like, let's talk about what this really means. Yeah, you can chat GPT at the paper and you think you got away with something that you didn't get away with, but learning how to use those critical thinking or ask the right questions or, you know, that plays a part in computer science. So why don't you come take a look at what my class is about? Like, I've had a lot of those conversations and I have a lot of kids who step out of their comfort zone and come and they're like, okay, yeah, that was helpful. You know, I really think about that differently now.

Spencer Payne (25:22): Yeah, yeah. Okay, that's awesome. And on the note of, again, just kind of looking back on your career and moments, we've already talked about a tough time, a proudest moment. Are there any things that you consistently do kind of in your teaching career that seem to really work for you? And then maybe you look around at your other colleagues, and you're surprised other people don't do that same thing, because it seems to work so well. So is there anything that you consistently do that just seems to work that you'd recommend for others or that you're surprised more people don't do?

Cara Gregory (25:51): I think the biggest thing about being any teacher, any discipline, any grade level is to be relatable with these kids. know, like I said, my school now is five through 12. So we have 10 year olds here and I also have, you know, 18, 19 year olds here. I am not the expert in everything. I absolutely will tell a kid, I just don't know. I don't know the answer to that or man, I haven't done that since 2001. So I'm a dinosaur. I was born in the 1900s as they like to tell me. So I will very openly say, let me get back to you. Let me talk about this. Let me look at the answer or hey, let's look it up together. That's even better. Let's search about that or let's talk about that or let me find you somebody who can answer that for you. And that goes for any grade level or any discipline. think that having classroom management, I don't think is taught in any education class at any school known to man.

Like I said, we've taken all of the educational psychology or I've taken this or I've done, you know, people have done student teaching or worked out there until you're in your classroom. You have no idea every day. could be different. Any day could be different, but I think setting the tone first day, you know, I tell the kids a lot, like I mentioned earlier, I like to say, we like to have fun in this classroom. I like to have fun. I want to be the fun teacher, but also this is my way. Like we're going to be strict. We're going to be fair. You're not going to be, you know, searching something on your computer while I'm talking, or if I say devices away, it's devices away. Kids often have told me that they are scared of me until they have me in class, because they know that, I mean, I'll stand in the hallway. We wear uniforms, so we stand in the hallway and the kids not in their blazer. You should see them coming down the steps by my office because the blazer is coming on. And they're like, well, Mrs. Gregory is going to get me. But just the rules are the rules. And there are the rules for the reason. And whether they're the rules in my classroom or of the school, this is what it is. And I don't mess around with it.

Yes, they're children. Yes, they're going to challenge you. But I really think, you know, if you give a kid an inch, they're going to want a mile or they're going to try to take that mile. And that seems to be for all the first year teachers, the hardest because they're trying to find that classroom management. But don't don't be afraid to be the bad guy. You know, I have jokingly, but also very true. I have to say, you know, I'm the bad guy in my house. Like I don't get to be the fun parent in my house either.

So I feel like I'm not the fun parent here until you allow me to be. And you allow me to be with mutual respect. Like I respect you, you respect me. I don't expect it because I'm the adult in the room, but I will give you respect. So I expect it back.

Spencer Payne (28:26): I love that and I also can understand how many teachers might take that and try to figure out how to apply classroom management or stuff but fair or I try to be fun, but also there's the rules and they might stumble on like, but how do I actually say that? How do I enforce that? What am I being too tough? What am I being too loose? So I'd be curious if if do you have any maybe examples of how you might phrase something like that or how you've learned to adapt of like, yeah, early in my career, I was way too tough. And now I've kind of loosened it up this way and I say things in this way. So maybe, can you give some sense of maybe how do you strike that balance? Especially maybe if it's also with an example of like, here's how I see it not done well, here's how I see it done well. And what's the difference? Because the difference sometimes can be very subtle between doing that well and doing that not well. So I'd love to hear your thoughts on that.

Cara Gregory (29:25): I think definitely it boils down to the automatic teachers, adults feel they automatically deserve respect because of their position. And while I, in a sense, agree with that, don't come in there like, I'm the adult because I said so. Like, you're going to turn off, I mean, especially a teenager, they're not going to respond to that. There have been very specific instances where a teacher will say, how do you connect with that kid? And I say, because I know that they're a kid. I understand that they're going to make mistakes. I understand that they're going to slip up every now and then.

And I picked my battle with them. You know, I know that they play this sport and I know that their computer is sitting in front of them and they want to watch film. I know that's exactly what he wants to do, but I'm going to say, Hey, we're here. We're here now for 15 minutes. We're going to do this. The rest of the time you have to work on this project or this or doing this. If you take the other 15 minutes, watch your film. The last 15 minutes of class, you're back to being mine. You know, like not every day and not every concept, but the distraction of I don't want to listen to this. So I'm going to be disruptive to you. I'm going to be disruptive to everybody else. I'm going to try to get on and watch this game film anyway. Now we're just in a fight. Now we're just in a battle. Like why have that?

Or even down to my little fifth graders, so I do teach them to as well. If somebody just looks fidgety, they've been sitting all day like, tell them to go take a lap, go take five minutes, like set a timer on the board like go get a drink again. Why am going to fight with you when in five minutes you could walk out, take a drink, come back and now you're ready to listen to me. So and that definitely comes with experience. That's not going to happen year one. But again, expectations like. We're going to set some time, we're going to set some time where it's learning time. We have to get through this.

And I think of during during covid during the school year of 2020 to 21, the governor of West Virginia shut us down from Thanksgiving, right before Thanksgiving break to end of January. Every school, public, private, parochial, we were all had to be shut down, whether, no matter what. So I was teaching fifth grade via Zoom, which was a whole different experience. And they, you know, they're in their house, they're in their house and they're excited. And they basically turned into kindergartners and they're like, Mrs. Gregory, here's my pet, Mrs. Gregory, look at this, Mr. Gregory, we're in my room today. Like, let's tell me everything. And I was overstimulated because here they all are. And I was like, all right, guys, once, once, you know, over the five days, like we're going to each take 10 minutes, two of you on this day, two of you on this day, like we're going to set, like we're going to take 10 minutes and then we're going to learn. We have to get through some things and they'd like, okay, when's my day? Like studying that rule, setting that expectation, whether it was they were going to show me, you know, their new fish they got, like, we had an expectation that, okay, we can take a minute, but then we have to get serious.

And we still got through everything that we needed to get through. But that was a whole other challenge. That was a whole other time in my life, feel like. I feel like that was just a year of all new. I was a first year teacher all over again because that was a whole different experience.

Spencer Payne (32:40): Yeah, because at that point it is like the whole book. And whatever you learn is kind of out the window. It's totally new tactics at that point.

Cara Gregory (32:43): Everybody, the whole book is gone. Absolutely, because what am I going to do?

Spencer Payne (32:52): Yeah, you can't you can no longer say go get a drink, take up for five minutes and come back doesn't work anymore. Maybe and maybe that's the answer to this, but but I am curious again, one more kind of look back on a 15 year career in teaching story. Do you have anything that you look back? That's just the wildest craziest, you know, I still can't believe that actually happened story. Anything come to mind that's just one of those that you're like, I'll be 80 years old and I'll look back and like I still can't believe that happened.

Cara Gregory (32:56): Right? Right. Exactly. Exactly. Yes, yes, I have plenty of, you because we're a boarding school, I have plenty of stories that happen, you know, after three o'clock and things that happened that I'm just like, I where do I where am I like, what just happened here? But I think because they are kids, and they're coming from all of these experiences in life, whether it's kindergarten, all the way through senior year, you don't know what a kid's gonna bring that day, you have no idea if something you say is going to be good or bad, trigger them into something. You don't know if a kid is going to take something one way and run with it another way.

I was teaching basic computer technology literacy. We were doing the basic word processing and how to make a slideshow and things that would help them for the rest of their life, hopefully, right? I had a student who, was like the very first product, I still can't get through it. I had a very first project on making a slideshow and it wasn't all about me like how how great is that all about me you know like who's your family do you have pets where you're from you know what are your hobbies what do you like who's your favorite musician any of those things please all of those things but the technique was or the technical skill was how to use you know making a slideshow and i had a student who came into this project and starts off lovely and says his name and where he's from and then starts by saying, and I was almost aborted. And at first I went, I didn't hear that right. didn't. Right, he went and I'm just sitting there and he hits next on the slide and it was what is abortion? And I might have hurdled.

Spencer Payne (35:04): You didn't use that word.

Cara Gregory (35:14): a desk to get to the front of the room because I went, what, what are we talking about here? What, where, what here? He was adopted and apparently had been told that the reason he was adopted was because his biologic mother almost aborted him. And so he felt that was his origin story basically. And he felt the need to then express that to all of us. I had no idea. That is not taught anywhere. That is not taught anywhere. I had no idea that that was going to happen.

Spencer Payne (35:49): So what did you do? Did you let them go?

Cara Gregory (35:52): Oh no. I literally hurdled to the front of the room and I'm standing in front of the board like, okay, and we're done now. Like who would like to go next? And then I had to call a parent meeting because I was so like, oh my gosh, I can't believe that happened. Anyway, I have 12 other 14 other 10 year olds in the room at the time who are going, what? What do you say? What? Like who needs ice cream? I don't know. Like I need ice cream.

Spencer Payne (36:18): And I just got a curiosity to then take that like with the parent meeting, did everything go okay? We're just like, hey, where'd that come from? Like, how do you handle a situation like that all the way through to the parent level? Like for a teacher out there who's like, I mean, do I just go along my day tomorrow and pretend like that didn't happen? Like, what did you do and how did that work out?

Cara Gregory (36:35): So after class, I went to the middle school dean and I said, hey, this just happened. Like, I don't know if you're going to get parent emails from the other kids in class. Like, I don't know, you know, if they go home that day and say, hey, listen to what happened to Mrs. Gregory's class. Like, I don't even know how those other kids responded. Because I certainly wasn't going to be like, okay, guys, we don't talk about abortion in class. Like, that, it just ended the way it ended, you know, we moved on. But when I went to the middle school dean, I said, we need to talk about this. Like, I don't know if these other kids are going to respond. Should I send an email to the other families? You know, how big should I make this? Yeah, because my mind was reeling so I couldn't imagine what these other 10 year olds were thinking.

So we did call the parents in and the middle school Dean was there with me and the parents kind of said, well, that's his story and that's what he likes to tell. And I is not how I would as a parent myself have ever handled that. But that that is how their family handled it. So they were not shocked by any means by his presentation. They certainly were not, they were more shocked that I was calling them in, guess I should say. So that's another thing. You never know how a parent's going to react to good or bad. You know, they, don't, aren't just as unpredictable as the kids. They were completely unfazed, completely unfazed.

Spencer Payne (37:44): They were unfazed. Oh my gosh, fascinating. Yeah, I can understand why you're not gonna forget that one. A couple more just kind of quick hitter questions here to just wrap up. as you look back, to maybe yourself or to someone who's about to start or maybe in their first year of teaching, what is maybe the number one piece of advice that you would give to a aspiring or a new teacher kind of at that early stage?

Cara Gregory (38:13): Uh, it takes a lot out of you. really does. Um, you know, all, all the, all the teacher mugs and all the teacher bags and all the teacher gifts you can buy, like teaching takes heart and teach, you know, that's very real. Like, um, I often refer to these students as my kids, you know, I'll just say it like my kids are there, my kids are doing this. Or if I'm talking to my mom, you know, I'll be like, Oh my gosh, my kids did this. Or, um, we just had a lot of, um, early decision college choices come out and there's a girl that I've had for three years in a row and she was just accepted to Yale and I cried like she was my own child. you truly get to know these kids on such a personal level. mean, you're with them sometimes more hours during the day than their parents are. So that's very real. So for all the good, there also is a lot of bad, not bad, that's not the right word. There's a lot of, there's a lot that that takes on to you, to yourself. You you deal with.

You know, sometimes, like I said, you know, I worked in a very poor district and I had a student who did not have running water in their home and they would come in first thing and take a shower in the school locker room. Like that's very real. And you just want to help and you just want to help. You want to make sure they're fed. You want to make sure, you know, you hear all the stories that teachers who have care closets in their classroom and they, you know, ask for donations. And one of the best things about social media is for those teachers and those experiences, you know, to ask for help and they're getting it in abundance.

Like that's my favorite thing to see, you know, on my social media. I probably follow every teacher that I know on the planet, because I love to see those stories. I love to see the people who step up and help because it's going to take a lot out of you. So that's where the biggest finding that balance, you know, because our day does not end at three, whether it's prepping for the next day of class or whether you're just worried about a kid. At some point, you do have to walk away. At some point, you have to say, OK, I need my family time or I need to just shut my laptop for the weekend or I just cannot respond to that parent right now. I just can't do it. And I, it took years. It took years for me to say, nope, I have to have a break. And it mostly because I didn't have the patience for my own kids. You know, I'm coming home and I'm drained. And then I have, three kids of my own. So I have to worry about, you know, is there homework done? if, they're trying to fight me on doing homework because they've just had a very long day and I'm like, just get it done. You know, my patience is at zero because I've just been drained. I've had a hard day. had a long day. and that's, I've got to save something for home. have to save something for home. Right. Right. Definitely.

Spencer Payne (40:45): and maybe, maybe it's similarly, right. But like, what's a, what's a common like trap, that you see first or second year or early teachers kind of get stuck in that, you give advice for like, how do you avoid that situation? Again, maybe it's this one of like herring too much, but trying to balance, but like, you've got to save some energy for yourself. Maybe it's that maybe it's something else. Like what's a common trap you see and what's advice for people to avoid that trap.

Cara Gregory (41:11): I think trying to not be that Instagram worthy teacher right off the bat. Your classroom, please don't go out and spend thousands of dollars on your classroom and the decorations. And that's unnecessary. Don't. You're wasting all this money and time and effort when really it's going to be about the connections you make with your kids and then the learning that happens in your classroom. So I definitely have seen that happen. First year teachers who are like, I need this or this influencer teacher who's no longer even a teacher in the classroom says I should do this. They have no idea. not. They have made money on social media and good for them, but they're not even in the classroom anymore. You know, don't don't follow that.

And whether it's within the public school curriculum that maybe you maybe you hate it, maybe you hate the book you have to teach. But, you know, try to find a way to make it work for you. Try to make it find a way to work for your students. If you can supplement with something else, you know reach out to those veteran teachers, reach out to a mentor teacher. The best part then about social media is that they exist and those that are still in the classroom are the best ones. And anybody that I've found is very willing to talk or offer advice on, you know, hey, I also teach the same book, you know, find those groups on social media that are like, hey, I teach this book or I teach this topic or in my case, I every year get stuck on the exact same programming concept. And I don't know if it's the way I'm teaching it.

But I have an entire unit now where I have videos from other teachers that I have said, I can maybe reach six kids in my class the way I teach it, but your video helped three kids or your video helped two kids and reaching out to those people and admitting like, just, they're not getting it from me. How can you help? Can you help? And nine times out of 10, the answer is yes. So definitely those first year teachers don't live in a silo. Don't do it alone. You have mentor teachers for a reason. And if your mentor teacher isn't a good one, find one. They exist. They're out there.

Spencer Payne (43:11): Yeah, yeah, awesome. And what to you is the single number one best thing about this profession?

Cara Gregory (43:18): I mean the kids, the kids like I wouldn't. I wouldn't stay. I wouldn't stay for sure. I never intended on being here because like we talked about, I moved to be here. I never intended my daughter was in first grade when we moved and I was like, it'll be a brief thing. Well, come down and then I'll go back up with Ohio Tech Prep and I'll find a school closer to my parents and you know, I'll be right in the world again. Never intended to be here this long, but just found a great community of kids, a great community of colleagues who are very like minded and we only want the best for the kids. Definitely year after year, I just have a great influx of kids.

Spencer Payne (43:56): Yeah, awesome. And on the other side of that, what's the single worst thing about this profession or if you had a magic wand and there's a one thing you're like, if only we just change this, it'd be awesome. Is there anything that you point that magic wand to?

Cara Gregory (44:08): I think that the shift in parents has been the greatest issue for, and not just at my school. Again, I've talked to many teachers, the shift in, you've seen those cartoons maybe that are, you back when we were in school, was always, the teacher is always right. And what did you do to the kid? Now it's immediate. Well, my kid would never, or my kid says you did this. And there's no chance that their kid is wrong. And the only way to combat that is that you better have a good administration because, you know, the administration that has your back and administration that believes in you as a teacher and as a human, know, like sometimes it can be personal. You know, well, you just hate my kid. No, I really don't. Like I really truly don't hate your kid. They just, you know, got to be or, you know, something like it's it's now our fault.

And I think that COVID played a role in that because teachers thought they saw a peek into the window of what it was like to be a teacher. But meanwhile, they only had their kid at home or children at home, whereas, you in a classroom now, I could have 18 kids and six of them I need to differentiate instruction in some capacity and three of them are accelerated and four of them don't want to be there. And, know, you have no idea that within that small classroom that I'm actually teaching four lessons at once.

So that's, know, someone from the outside could just think, it's this class when really it's four classes in one, because I try to meet the kids where they are. And therefore you have no idea what's really happening in there. So parents who thought they got a peek into what education was like and then came out and said, well, why are they doing this curriculum or why are they doing that? There's a reason for it. There is. So my little magic wand would be a little more faith in the teachers that we are the curriculum experts and we are the ones that will help your child to learn ABCs, XYZs, know, like whatever the topic may be. But trust us, trust us a little bit more.

Spencer Payne (46:11): Yeah, And knowing what you know now, would you still go down this teaching path and recommend it for others? Back 15 years ago, like, should I still do this? Like, would you still go down it? And ultimately, would you recommend it for other people too?

And two more real quick ones. mentioned the masters there and earlier. Yeah. The masters would again, would you also recommend that to other teachers and what specifically does that? Did that unlock for you or does that typically unlock for people, whether it's, know, I get to now teach this class that I wouldn't have otherwise or unlocks an increase in pay like again, what did that unlock for you? Or would you recommend that for people in the teaching path already?

Yeah. And then last one, anything you'd add to the audience of folks who are maybe early teachers, thinking about getting the teaching profession, anything that you'd want to add that you haven't shared yet, or anything that maybe is so important that you're like, actually, I just want to re highlight this, like, this is like, if you get nothing out of this, take this thing I already said. So anything new or anything you want to re highlight as as kind of advice or leave behind for folks in that type of a position.

Yeah, awesome. Well, Cara Gregory, thank you so much for these this real story from a real educator. Thank you so much.