Molly Brady and Charity Brady

[00:03] MOLLY BRADY: Okay. My name is Molly Brady. I am 29 years old. Today is Saturday, April 23, 2022. We are in the Ozarks, Missouri, and I am here with my sister, charity.

[00:17] CHARITY BRADY: My name is charity Brady. I am 46 years old. Today is Saturday, April 23, 2022, in the Ozarks, Missouri. I am here with my sister, Molly.

[00:28] MOLLY BRADY: So, charity, we both work in education. Obviously, you've been in the field longer than I have. So I know that there have been a lot of changes since COVID has happened in the school setting. So I kind of want to know what you've seen, because you work with the gen ed population, and I work more with the special education population. What changes have you noticed in your classroom since everything's happened with COVID The.

[00:59] CHARITY BRADY: Interesting thing is, the year that Covid hit, I was actually asked to teach virtually. So that, in and of itself was a very different setup and style. And interesting to see the relationship dynamics that you had with the students for that year. This year, I see a lot of more, I would have to say, behavior issues. What would hit a lot of the families and all of us, I think, is the social, the emotional, and the behavioral. I've seen a decline in that. But then you have to think of how are families affected by that at home? That would then affect their children and their relationship that they had at home. If they, say, had to work at home with their kid while they were at school or going to school, or if they had other situations with their job, that would affect other dynamics in the family. It's kind of like a. A negative ripple effect, if you will.

[01:56] MOLLY BRADY: Yeah, for sure. And, like, so you work in more of a suburban, like, city type area. I work out in a more rural area. So I think that kind of has a different dynamic, too, because a lot of the kiddos that I work with, like, their families are working. A lot of them are come from the lower class families. So when the time came for working from home, like, that whole aspect of it, a lot of those parents couldn't take time off of work or they would lose their jobs. So that added, like, a whole other level of stress onto those students and just the families as a whole. So I think that it caused a lot more, like you had just said, a ripple effect than people realized. I think a lot of people have this attitude that Covid is over or, like, almost over. But I think, without a doubt, like, we're going to be seeing the impacts of that in the classroom and, like, in society as a whole for a long time.

[02:56] CHARITY BRADY: I think the residual effects are going to be there.

[02:58] MOLLY BRADY: Yes.

[02:58] CHARITY BRADY: For sure.

[02:59] MOLLY BRADY: Yeah, for sure.

[03:00] CHARITY BRADY: It'll take a couple more years until people can get back into the groove and acclimated with a norm, quote, unquote, so that they can be familiar with how to function in society in a healthy way.

[03:11] MOLLY BRADY: Yeah. When you were asked to teach, virtually, how much time did you have to prepare for that?

[03:17] CHARITY BRADY: Not much at all. Just a couple weeks, and it was a stressor with just knowing how that's gonna work. Technology is not really my best friend. I'm kind of an old school, so it was very much of a challenge to get on there. Fortunately, I had a lot of good parents on the other end that were very understanding. There was a lot of grace on both sides, so I felt like that that made it a positive experience, and going moving forward through there would help get through the school year as well. With the kiddos.

[03:50] MOLLY BRADY: Yeah. What are some things that you wish more people would understand about being a teacher now, especially after everything that's happened.

[04:02] CHARITY BRADY: With COVID I think a lot of that is the fact that it is not a normal yet. And I feel that, as an educator, you kind of want to jump right back into the swing of things, thinking, oh, we can give you this. Let's go back into our normal routine. But you have to understand, a lot of those kids have missed out on the essential. How do you socialize with another. How do you interact with another student of my age? How do I communicate and articulate with an adult who is not my parent and allow them to understand my feelings or what it is that I would like to do in a constructive manner? And it's also interesting just to see some of the dynamics and education that they didn't receive. The core things, as in writing, handwriting, cursive writing, other things, as in just basic reading skills. So those have impacted them in a negative way. So now, instead of going, I have to teach this required curriculum, I'm also having to go backwards and say, well, I also have to teach them this curriculum, too, so they can catch up.

[05:08] MOLLY BRADY: Yeah. And I think that's another thing that people don't realize is, like, we have a whole. Because this was, like, a worldwide thing. We now essentially have a whole generation of kids that's missed, like, an entire year of solid. More than a year, I guess. Yeah. Of solid, like, good curriculum, like, just those basic essential skills. Like, there's just a whole year plus of it gone. And that's gonna take a long time for us to fill those gaps back up again. And I think on my end, since I'm on more of the special education side, I've been seeing a lot of teachers that are really frustrated because there are a lot of kids that are really struggling. But at the same time, it's a challenge because how do you account for the impact that Covid has had on where the kids are performing right now? You know what I mean?

[06:01] CHARITY BRADY: I think it's a challenge, too, because, you know, depending on the child's family dynamics and just their intellect, some of them are on point, some of them are having more of a challenge with that, and they're not understanding. Yeah, you might know how to write a sentence, but you're not really getting more of the information that we need from you to help you build on that once you get into a higher grade. So there's a lot of that. That elements that. That I'm personally seeing in the. The regular standard classroom. And some of the kids also, just depending on how much family interaction that they have outside of the school, can also be obviously something that can help or hurt as well. But you have to consider families are still being impacted by that. And so some families still have to work two times because what if something happened to one of the parents or a family member? So there are still some unseens for students and their families that as a teacher, you don't always see, and it's not always shared with you. So any behavior that might occur in the classroom, I can only see it from the perspective where I'm at, whereas I have to always think maybe there's something going on at home that is Covid related or that has affected them in a negative way to keep them from moving forward.

[07:27] MOLLY BRADY: Yeah. Yeah, I definitely see that. And I think, too, like, I think before COVID happened, there was a lot more behaviors happening in the classroom. And I think personally, because I'm also coming at this from more of, like, the counseling psychology side of it, I personally think that a lot of that has to do with the shifts in society that we've seen as far as, like, how much time families need to be spending working and gaps in pay and all that. Just all of those kinds of things. There's just not as strong of a family dynamic, and the kids probably aren't getting as much support at home as they used to, and that's impacting them in the classroom. And I think that that was just magnified by Covid.

[08:14] CHARITY BRADY: Absolutely.

[08:15] MOLLY BRADY: And so now, and I kind of hear you talk about this a lot. It's like you're not just being asked to have these kids come in, sit down. Okay. I have 25, 30 kids in my class today. We're going to learn how to add or we're going to learn how to multiply fractions. You are being asked to teach that to maybe the 1015 kids that are there and on point and ready to learn that day, but then you have a whole half of your class that's dealing with. Mom didn't get home till 02:00 a.m. because she was working. There was nothing for breakfast this morning at home. I'm really upset because, you know, my uncle's sick in the hospital with COVID right now and I don't know if he's going to make it. So you're now not being asked just to teach them, but you're being asked to help them process and help them regulate all of these really heavy things. But as a gen ed teacher, like, that's, I mean, obviously gened teacher, like, that's. That's a really big responsibility. And you did get a lot of training for that, but you didn't get training specific to helping kiddos. You know, look at those questions and process them in a good way. So I feel like you're being pulled away from what you, what your heart is and what you expected to be doing in the classroom as a teacher. And now you're being asked to do all of these other things for these kiddos who have these needs that they're not being met. Does that make sense?

[09:49] CHARITY BRADY: Absolutely. And what's difficult with that is I have my realm of what I see as being the norm in the classroom. This is how you should react if this happens. Well, I don't know what's going on at home then discipline in the classroom, or lack thereof, the way that I might approach something at home outside of the school setting may not be how that family approaches a disciplinary measure or option at their residence. So it's a challenge to go, well, we don't jump in the classroom like that. Well, maybe at home they can. And so that's that fine line with how do you, how do you, as a gen educator, how do you sit there and say, well, in my book, that's not okay, but maybe in their book it is, or vice versa. So where's that fine balance where they're going to feel in a safe environment where they can focus on academics instead of all of the emotional realm or behavioral realm for them?

[10:52] MOLLY BRADY: Yeah. And do you think that Covid has impacted that at all as well?

[10:57] CHARITY BRADY: Absolutely.

[10:58] MOLLY BRADY: I was going to say because if they are, like you had just said, if things are completely different at home than they are at school, they've been learning from home for the last year and a half, and now they're back in the school setting. That's tough.

[11:10] CHARITY BRADY: It's tough because they had a different type of norm at home because of that. And, you know, again, family dynamics could have changed with other family emergencies. Maybe families had to take in their nieces and nephews because of some type of urgency. So dynamics at home changed. I'm sure parents became extraordinarily exhausted with having to change their work schedules or work from home, with having their kids at home. So it was just a whole big stress ball for everybody to try to maneuver through. And although there seems to be a lot of talk about yay, we're past all of the worst of it, there's still those effects for everybody that are continuing to help them kind of get back on the up and up on just being respectful and courteous and kind and communicating with one another.

[12:02] MOLLY BRADY: What. What kinds of things do you see? What kinds of things do you see your students needing right now? What kind of supports are they really in need of that you feel like they're not getting enough of?

[12:14] CHARITY BRADY: There's just a lot of more. I don't want to use the word one on one, but there's so much interruption with things. It's almost like an attention. I feel the need to be heard right now. And sometimes you can't always do that in the classroom. As a teacher, you think, I have requirements, I have to do these things, and I have to make sure all of these kids are hitting this mark. But on the flip side, I know that that little kid needs some extra time. How am I going to assist them so that they can sit here and feel comfortable and be able to digest the information and actually apply it as well? So that's been a little bit of a challenge. Is seeing a little bit of those, almost an emotional hunger that is not being satisfied, that that's challenging to do because you only have so much you can give.

[13:06] MOLLY BRADY: Yeah. Yeah, I see that a lot, too, with my kids. So kind of going off of that usually. Usually I feel like school counselors are kind of expected or it's kind of more their realm to deal with the emotional side of things with those students, to pull those kids that are really having a bad day, going through a rough time and help them process that. Do you know how many kids are in the school building that you work in?

[13:40] CHARITY BRADY: There's, you know, about I'll say about four to 504,500.

[13:44] MOLLY BRADY: And how many school counselors do you have in your building?

[13:46] CHARITY BRADY: One.

[13:47] MOLLY BRADY: Okay.

[13:49] CHARITY BRADY: It's too much. She's busy every day. She's running every day. There are times when I've needed her to come in to assist with individuals in the classroom and can't make it. And so as a teacher, you have to go, well, I'm in the middle of this lesson. What am I supposed to do for him? Because now, are the other kids safe? They're taking away from what they can be learning. And, you know, sometimes you have to tell the kids to go to another classroom if that child is not. And so it makes it for a very stressful situation. And although some training might have been available, I don't know that it's enough or the correct or proper to help apply that. I mean, you got one teacher in there with 25 kids, and once one is having a little bit of an issue and you can't get help right away, you're kind of on hold with moving forward on what you're supposed to do with academics. So it makes it quite challenging.

[14:54] MOLLY BRADY: Yeah. Do you think that having. Excuse me. Do you think that having additional counselors or mental health supports in your school would assist with that?

[15:06] CHARITY BRADY: I would think so. I would think if there was somehow a way to get more assistance for the teachers because the behaviors are increasing for whatever reason that has impacted them, I think it would be beneficial because then you start thinking about how the frequency of this and how it's impacting the students who are there to learn. So what can we do to help those students still achieve their learning without getting those interruptions?

[15:40] MOLLY BRADY: And I kind of. I mean, I think about that, too, a lot. When you have, excuse me, allergy season in the midwest, you gotta love it. I think about that a lot with the gen ed population because we have a majority of our students that we're focusing our curriculum on. We call that our tier one curriculum that's supposed to be for the majority of the students. But now I feel like we have so many students that are struggling that, you know, we're being pulled away to help with them. Do you worry about how that's going to affect or impact the majority of the students that you work with when you're being pulled in so many different directions as a teacher?

[16:22] CHARITY BRADY: Without a doubt. I mean, I remember when I started teaching, I felt like, oh, you had 25 kids and maybe one or two were having some issues, but you could manage and handle it. They would. It was a cooperative type of that you could have with the child. Okay. You see that you're frustrated. Do we need to go step into the other room? Do you want a little. Do you need a minute? You know, that type of thing. Now, you might have 25 kids in your classroom, and you might have seven or eight of those issues, and you're kind of stretching yourself thin, you know, just, hey, make sure you're sitting down. What can I get for you? Well, what do you do for the other kids that are really wanting to learn and they can't get the information because you're pausing so frequently to assist with those kids to help them get back on track?

[17:11] MOLLY BRADY: Yeah.

[17:12] CHARITY BRADY: So having another counselor or assistance in some capacity or a place where they could go if they're willing to go would be a definite benefit.

[17:24] MOLLY BRADY: Yeah.

[17:25] CHARITY BRADY: I mean, after all, they're there to get an education. And I, you know, we talk about, you get your foundation and every grade level, you're kind of building on that foundation. So if you're. It's kind of like a Lego set. If you're missing some of those pieces, it's gonna tumble or it won't be as. The structure won't be as sound. So moving forward, just, I try to take that analogy and apply that for them because sometimes I think it's relatable at their age.

[17:53] MOLLY BRADY: Yeah, I agree with that. Excuse me. Yes. And I think going back to the emotional piece of it with the kiddos that you see that struggle with that and their emotional regulation, I feel like those skills are just, they're not there.

[18:12] CHARITY BRADY: They're not there, but they missed out on that. And that's that emotional piece. If you're missing out, you know, kindergarten, you learn certain set of tasks and things like that. First grade, you build on those second grade, et cetera, et cetera, as you move forward. So if you're a kid who missed out on your kindergarten and first grade year, you're missing out on all of those foundational skills. So how are you going to help them apply that when you also are having to teach them these specific, specific criteria every year? How do you go backwards and help them build, fill in those gaps and build on that so they can have a functioning day?

[18:55] MOLLY BRADY: Yeah. And I think that, you know, again, that's. That's kind of what I'm seeing a lot from my perspective in the special education world is as teachers are being asked to, you know, provide so much more to so many more kids in their classroom at one time, those kids are not getting as much of those skills that can be built upon because there's just not as much time being spent focused on those skills. And so when you have kids that are missing skills and they're not able to get interventions because, again, teachers don't really have enough time in the day to sit down with a small group of, you know, five kids and teach a missing skill. You get a lot of teachers that are tired, emotionally drained. They're frustrated. They have kids that, you know, they're worried about. But I feel like my hands are tied because I want to. I struggle with it. I struggle with it a lot because I want to help these teachers. But at the same time, there are regulations and there are protocols and there are rules that we need to abide by. And we just can't sit here and, and say every kid gets special education. And it's just, I think that there's a lot of changes that need to be made to the system, but it's so, like, it's just such a big task that nobody knows where to start. And everyone's so exhausted right now that I don't think that they would really have the energy to even begin tackling something like that.

[20:29] CHARITY BRADY: You know, I often think about teachers who have families of their own, and they do get taxed out and maxed out emotionally at work, whether or not they are good at showing it or if they're really good at hiding it and just kind of keeping it together. How does that impact them at home when they get done? How do they deal with their spouse and their children? And maybe if they're helping elderly family members or things like that, how does that impact them? So there's got to be that sense of balance that seems to be, seems to be missing. And again, like you said, that's a system that needs some type of positive change. But there's just. How do you go about doing that? There's just too many, there's too many elements, too many aspects. Where do you focus on? Where do you make those adjustments? How do you do that? So that's a challenge for sure. Something to consider, definitely, and kind of.

[21:29] MOLLY BRADY: Going back to, like, what we expect of teachers. It's not just the teachers that we expect it from. I think, like, schools as a whole, they're not just places where kids get education anymore. Like, we are providing meals for the kids and not just lunch. I mean, like, our school this year is providing free breakfast, lunch and dinners for our kiddos, which is awesome. I mean, like, I think it's great that the kids are getting the food they need. But then at the same time, it kind of, it kind of breaks your heart a little bit because it's like, where are we at as a society where these kids can't, like, they don't have access to food? You know what I mean? So we have that. I mean, there are kids that are getting their mental health services at school. There are kids getting physical health services at school. I mean, it's insane the amount of things that schools are expected to provide a. For these kids, but there's just, I mean, like, what resources do we have? I mean, like you said, you're working in a school with four to 500 kiddos and you have one school counselor. That's insane to me. Like, that's just so frustrating.

[22:33] CHARITY BRADY: And they have their requirements, too, based on whatever district they're in. They probably have to teach lessons every week or bi weekly or however they need to do that with that many classrooms. So how does that, how do they handle all of that stressor as well? I can't even imagine.

[22:52] MOLLY BRADY: Well, and I worked in a position of a school counselor for one year, and, you know, in the state of Missouri, they have regulations for, you know, you should be allocating about this much of your time to lessons, this much of your time to one on one working with a student, this much of your time to small groups. But I feel like you end up doing a lot more, like, I don't want to say crisis management, but, like, there's just so much more kids just breaking down in the middle of class, kids that are overwhelmed, kids that are stressed. And it's just like, I don't. I understand that, you know, the state is expecting me to allocate this much of my time to lesson planning or something like that, but we. There's just so much more going on that requires immediate attention that you can't. You just can't. You don't have the time to dedicate to that.

[23:45] CHARITY BRADY: It makes me sad to know that these little elementary kids have such stress and anxiety. I mean, what is going on? I know one of those things that you think, what is it? Is it technology? Is it the family dynamics? Is it keeping up with the Joneses? Is it a little bit of all? I mean, seeing the kids break down because of feeling overwhelmed shouldn't be happening. That's not. They're too little. They're too little to even have that emotional responsibility.

[24:17] MOLLY BRADY: Yeah, I agree. And I think, like, a lot of things that people who don't work with kids don't really understand is that behavior is communication. So when a kid is getting upset about something or acting out about something, like, they're not, usually they're not doing it just to, to be a little turd, like there's something going on and they're trying to tell you, but they don't have the vocabulary, the capability to articulate that. Yeah. In a way that's appropriate or constructive. So their behavior is a way of communicating with you.

[24:47] CHARITY BRADY: And that's challenging because, like we're saying in the classroom, you got that little kid who's breaking down. Okay, tell me what's. I see you're upset. What's going on? Well, if they shut down, where do I move from? There we are on hold. I cannot move forward until they can do that. But they don't have the skills to understand how to do that. So how do you reach that? How do you bridge that gap and say, okay, here's what you can do. And then once you tell them that they're little, how are they going to understand how to apply it the next time that happens?

[25:19] MOLLY BRADY: Yeah. And I think, like, the counselor psychology side of me hears you saying that, and I see that in schools all the time. And in an ideal world, I feel like there would be enough resources and time and a day for these kids who are really struggling with this to be pulled for groups where they're learning how to identify those emotions, name them, what can we do to help ourselves feel better and then practice that and role playing scenarios so that way, when they do get put in those situations, they've practiced it enough times that they'll know how to handle it. But again, I think it just goes back to, there aren't enough people, there aren't enough resources. I mean, we're expecting so much out of our educators and our education system, and there's just, there's just not enough there for them to do what we're expecting.

[26:11] CHARITY BRADY: And then you get into the argument of, well, schools for academics. Well, that's not, that's not it anymore. It's totally shifted. So we also have to shift with that in order to make it a successful learning experience for all of them that are there so that they can move forward in a positive light and feel a bit more comfortable with where they're at. And that's a tricky situation.

[26:39] MOLLY BRADY: It is. Yeah, it is. And I think, too, like, the other part of this is, like I said earlier, that I work with a lot of families in, like, a rural community. A lot of them are lower income, living in poverty. And I'm sure that you have a lot of students who are lower income as well. We talk about the cycle of poverty and I think a lot of these families are just stuck in this, like the parents of these kids. That's what they grew up in. They don't know any other way. That's what these kids are seeing. That's what they're growing up in. The way to break that cycle is through education. So it's, I just feel like it's this weird loop of just like we want the best for these kids and we, I really believe, like we see so much potential in these kids at school. Like they're with us all day, right? Most of their lives. We see them do a lot of really cool things and make a lot of really cool gains. But then when you think about how much you aren't able to facilitate that more, like how much your hands are kind of tied because you don't have the time, you don't have the resources, you don't have the capability to help them foster that even more. It just almost sometimes feels like a lost cause. You know what I mean? It feels like, it just feels like you want to break the cycle. I feel like you got into this field because you wanted to help kids grow and learn and become contributing members to society, you know, in the best way that they can, right. The most effective way that they possibly can. And do you feel like you're really able to do that right now, the way things are?

[28:24] CHARITY BRADY: No, not as much as before. When I first, my first few years starting as a teacher.

[28:30] MOLLY BRADY: How many years have you been teaching?

[28:31] CHARITY BRADY: It'll be about twelve years, I believe. So it's just one of those things, you know, as a first few year teacher, you're gung ho and super excited and you want to do all these things and then the reality hits and then emergencies hit and things like that hit and you realize, oh, I have to help them in a bigger capacity than what I'm able to do for them on a day to day basis. So it becomes what's my focus point? What do I need to provide for them today to help what we're going to do tomorrow and in the future?

[29:11] MOLLY BRADY: Yeah, so kind of going back to that. Before you started teaching, when you were in school, like, do you feel like you were adequately prepared for any of this?

[29:21] CHARITY BRADY: That's a, you know, funny you should say that. Funny you should say that because I have, you know, we'll get practicum students and things like that who are training to become teachers and they'll the things that they have to do, they're getting more information about behavior issues, situations and things like that. So it's interesting because I feel like back then it was more about how to make a lesson plan, how to use your lesson plan, how to ask the questions for a lesson plan. And I think it's been shifting a little bit more because some of what the. The newer students that come in and talk to us as practicum students or interns or student teachers, you hear them talking about, oh, well, we're learning a little bit more about this. I've also seen some student teachers or interns. Interns are there the whole year with a teacher. Student teachers are just there for a semester. I've had a couple of them. Nope. Oh, nope. I'm done. I'm gonna go back to graduate school. I want to do something else else because of behavior. So that's really sad to me because there are some. Some of them have come through that you're like, you would be amazing, but they are turned off of it because of I don't think I can handle this. And that's sad to me because thinking about how many of some that could be such a positive influence are maybe electing to go elsewhere.

[30:48] MOLLY BRADY: Elsewhere.

[30:48] CHARITY BRADY: Yeah. Which was not the case, you know, 1015 years ago.

[30:53] MOLLY BRADY: Yeah. And I think too, and I, you know, you might have a little bit more experience with when this term first came on the scene because it's. It's kind of, when I first started in education, it was more. It was kind of already there. But the term trauma informed teaching or trauma informed care is like the big thing now, which I, you know, I think that's fantastic. I think it's great. But the problem with it I see is that we're coming at this from a trauma informed perspective that is going to bring up a lot of behaviors and issues for these kids that we are going to be expected to address and help them deal with. And we just don't have. I mean, I think it just always keeps going back to, we don't have the resources or capabilities to do that. I mean, I think it's awesome that we're trying to address the whole child in the school setting now. I feel like, you know, but if they're gonna expect us to do that, they need to be giving us the tools, the resources, the funding that we need to do this properly. They can't just keep doing, you know, giving us what they were giving us and then expect us to do a thousand times more with. Without also increasing those resources and that support for us as educators.

[32:15] CHARITY BRADY: And how does that get done? I know, and that's not going to be an overnight process. And there's information that they talk about, oh, you know, look at the graduating student rate will help us determine what we need to do. And there's so many facets that you have to look at as far as statistics to help guide what we're doing to when you hear so many teachers or just anybody really in the education field discussing about the stress levels that they're feeling because of what the students are feeling or how they can help with the students, there's got to be something that we can shift to help everybody feel a little bit more positive about what they're doing and to make that ripple effect more positive than negative.

[33:05] MOLLY BRADY: Yeah, kind of going off of that a little bit. I'm curious, what would you say or what advice would you give to young teachers or people who are getting ready to enter the field or considering entering the field at this point in time?

[33:24] CHARITY BRADY: I mean, again, I don't know what at the collegiate level, what classes are being taught and how they're the, they're informing the students, but, like, how that's changed since, right. How that shifted since I've been in school. So there could be some changes there with how they're educating the pre teachers. However, if you're in the school, I mean, you just really have to be very certain and kind of that stick to your guns mentality. Talk with the students about having your quote unquote rules for the classroom that you, that you can follow and just be, be consistent. Consistency is such a, such a key thing for kids, and I think a lot of that's lacking. But again, what do you say with that? So the consistency, I think, is very, very big. And having a space seems to be, this wasn't the norm back in the day, but having a space in your classroom, they call it a quiet space or a cool down space where they can go, or another classroom that is an area where they can go to if need to just basically stay on point. Don't give up on it. It's going to be challenging. You really have to have a lot of patience and understanding and some grace as well to get through. To get through it.

[34:52] MOLLY BRADY: Yeah, it takes a lot to help create a space where kiddos can feel safe enough to learn, where they don't feel like they have to constantly have their guard up or be worrying about something. And I think a lot of that is, like you said, consistency and then also building that trust with them.

[35:07] CHARITY BRADY: Yeah, that can be difficult to do. I mean, you might have some years are better than others and the challenges will always be there. We're humans. That's how. That's how we roll. If we're all the same, it'd be boring. But there's got to be a happy medium. So teachers are feeling not burned out by, you know, each year or hitting the delete button in their brain after the year is over so that the students can also be there to feel excited and engaged about learning as well.

[35:41] MOLLY BRADY: Yeah. Do you? I guess I'll ask this as more of an open ended question than a yes or no question. What things are you excited about or are you thinking positively about for the future?

[35:56] CHARITY BRADY: As an educator, you know, you always have what used to be most of the classroom as being, yay, look at all these guys. And what they're doing is kind of flipped and there's fewer of those students. It seems like every year is less and less of those students that you're like, I'm so excited to see what they're going to be up to, but you know what? Those few kids that are in your classroom will help kind of push you to be like, well, let's see if we can get some more next year. Let's see how things go next year. And I know with the. With the COVID impact, there's just been like a little bit of a decline. And hopefully in a couple more years we'll see. Because of that consistency with how to talk with students, how to interact with others since they've had those core skills, maybe we'll see a positive change and a positive shift. And who knows, maybe all of this in the future. All of these kids that are having these behavior issues because they're so stressed out or fill in the blank for whatever trauma is going on for them, maybe some positive will come out of it when they become adults.

[36:57] MOLLY BRADY: Maybe that's all we can really hope for. And I know that, like, you've been teaching for a lot, like, you've been in education a lot longer than I have. I've only been in for about four or five years now, but I know that it's been really stressful on you over the last several years. But I also know on the flip side of that, that you're an awesome teacher. Like, I've come into your classroom a few times to, like, help out with some activities and stuff, and your kiddos really love you. And I know that it's probably really hard to feel that way all the time, especially with everything that's been going on.

[37:28] CHARITY BRADY: Definitely.

[37:29] MOLLY BRADY: But I do. Definitely. I just hope that you don't forget how much of a positive impact that you're making, even when it doesn't feel like it. It's okay to get emotional about it. Well, and you. I mean, like, being my older sister, there's kind of a bigger age gap between us. But, like, you taught me a lot when I was growing up, and I feel like you, like, both of us just kind of have this teaching spirit about us where we just want to help others learn and grow. And I think I very much got that from you. So I think it's important that, you know, both of us stay in this field so that we can keep fostering that in others, too.

[38:02] CHARITY BRADY: Oh, thank you. I agree. As challenging as it will be.

[38:05] MOLLY BRADY: Yeah, I agree with that. For sure. It's okay to be crying. It is okay to be crying. I think we need to go get some coffee and or something.

[38:15] CHARITY BRADY: That sounds like a great idea. Usually that's what we do at the end of the day. There are other vices people uses, too. I think happy hour has become a teacher institution now, but, yeah, I think that's another thing that people do. They find a little final happiness at the end of the day, whatever that may be for you, whether that's walking, petting your dog, sitting in a hammock, reading a book, eating some popcorn, watching a movie. Just something to keep that happiness so that you're not completely dredged.

[38:47] MOLLY BRADY: Yeah, I agree. Part of my happiness is you and our family. Aw. And also chocolate.

[38:53] CHARITY BRADY: Same.

[38:53] MOLLY BRADY: I said chocolate a lot. Now I just really want chocolate. I think we should go get some.

[38:57] CHARITY BRADY: I think so.

[38:57] MOLLY BRADY: Okay.

[38:58] CHARITY BRADY: That's a great idea. Yeah. Chocolate wins.

[39:02] MOLLY BRADY: Awesome.