To kick off this second season of the Innovative Schools podcast, we're sitting down with Michael Bonner to talk about the different ways that you can prepare both mentally and practically for that first day of school. Come on. Let's learn together. Hey, everyone. Welcome to the new season, season two of the Innovative Schools podcast.
Jordan Bassett:We're so glad that you are with us on this episode. We got some new things for you. We're really looking forward to the season. Today, Will is hosting with us.
Jordan Bassett:Hey, Will.
Will Anthony:Hey, Jordan. What's up, man?
Jordan Bassett:Not much. We're just hanging out starting season two. You excited?
Will Anthony:I'm so excited to be a part
Will Anthony:of this.
Jordan Bassett:I'm really excited that you're gonna be more involved this season than last, like, last season.
Will Anthony:Me too. Me too. I'm ready.
Jordan Bassett:That's good. So I had a question for you. Yeah. This is the first episode. It's right at the beginning of the school year.
Jordan Bassett:A lot of teachers either going back to school or some may have even started
Will Anthony:Yeah.
Jordan Bassett:School.
Jordan Bassett:What how would you describe thinking back was your first day of school as a student? What are things that you remember from Mhmm.
Will Anthony:From that first day? I think I remember waking up and seeing the clothes I picked out next to me on the bed.
Jordan Bassett:The brand new fit.
Will Anthony:Yeah. I think I remember having that prepared.
Jordan Bassett:Did you did your mom like my mom always bought that, like, two months earlier, and I wanted to wear it so bad, but I had to leave it pristine.
Will Anthony:Oh, no. I I probably would have worn it as soon as I got it, but then I had to immediately put it in the washer again. I had to I had to keep it ready for that first But I I think I remember waking up, seeing it ready, going to the bathroom, getting ready to go, coming back and just imagine what it's gonna be like. I think I remember getting to school and seeing everybody again for the first time, all the smiles, all the laughter, and then immediately looking at the syllabus, for what's coming up. But I'd say mostly all good memories going back to school.
Jordan Bassett:I just remember a lot of rules. Yeah? Every teacher was like, here are the rules for my class.
Will Anthony:Did you break all of them a lot?
Jordan Bassett:There was a good number that I immediately said, well, that's not gonna last.
Will Anthony:Yeah. Could definitely
Michael Bonner:say that.
Jordan Bassett:The other thing I remember mostly is how none of my teachers could do math.
Will Anthony:Really?
Jordan Bassett:Well, so they would all say, you're gonna have like a minimum of three hours of homework in my class.
Will Anthony:Yeah.
Jordan Bassett:And I'm like, that's five classes. That's fifteen hours of homework every night. Yeah. There's literally no way.
Will Anthony:Yeah. How you can play games around, you know, you have It
Jordan Bassett:was kinda depressing. Time already. It was kinda of depressing.
Michael Bonner:Yeah.
Jordan Bassett:That first day of school though. You I'm glad you brought the magical part into it. And I'm not just like doom and gloom about the first day. But I bring this up Yeah. Because we have someone who has had is about to have thirteen first days of school
Will Anthony:Mhmm.
Jordan Bassett:As a teacher.
Will Anthony:Yeah.
Jordan Bassett:And he's with us here on this podcast. I know you can see him over there. Yeah. So it's not really a surprise. What do you mean I can't?
Jordan Bassett:But we're excited to have Michael Bonner joining us on this podcast.
Michael Bonner:I'm excited to be here. I'm here with you two today.
Jordan Bassett:Yeah. I'm so glad. You came in hot. You came in ready to go.
Michael Bonner:Hey. Wait. It's it's good to have you have to make it entertaining. People want something they want to see, sit back and enjoy. So, yeah, we can't we can't be boring.
Michael Bonner:We don't wanna be like the teachers on the first day, some teachers on the first day or so. We're not doing that. Right? No, I'm really honored to be here. Thank you for having me.
Jordan Bassett:Yeah, absolutely man. What do you remember as a student as your first day of school?
Michael Bonner:I remember getting the clothes out. I remember laying them out on the bed the night before and in my mind, I'm like, Oh, the girl's gonna love this outfit right here, the way I put it together. So I remember that. I remember the nerves of like when I was going to high school and just trying to get acclimated to growing. You know, we all are really insecure at that age anyway.
Michael Bonner:It doesn't matter elementary all the up to high school. So I was just trying to adjust and get ready. Some of the teachers I don't It was okay. But now as a teacher now, I try to make sure that our first days are like electric and we
Jordan Bassett:do that. You teach at the Ron Clark Academy. I feel like every day is a little electric.
Michael Bonner:Every day is
Jordan Bassett:a little electric. So what's that first day of school like for
Michael Bonner:you Listen, guys so we try to create a first day of school moment where it's like pure magic. So, you know, at our school, we have the house system. So kids will spin into the house, the incoming fourth graders. So their parents come with huge signs of which house they want their child to be inside of.
Jordan Bassett:Okay. So you do the house selection first day?
Michael Bonner:The first day, they spin the wheel the first and then we're off to class, but the first day, oh my gosh, last year we did a club RCA theme. So we turned the gym literally into a club. They had sections for the kids. The eighth graders came in, they always make a grand entrance. So they came in with these beautiful classic cars.
Michael Bonner:One year they had a soccer theme. So it was like RCA United jerseys that was out there. We always just try to do something that we make kids and people want to come back for more. It's a lot of work, but it's worth it. It's worth it.
Michael Bonner:And I love it. I love it.
Jordan Bassett:That definitely sounds super magical. I would be much more excited about the first day of school if that's how my my experience was. Yeah. How has your perspective of the first day of school changed from going from I don't sorry. My brain just went in like six different directions
Michael Bonner:Let's at one do it.
Will Anthony:I mean,
Michael Bonner:you are pretty brilliant, Jordan.
Jordan Bassett:Oh, thank you. That is I've been recently told to take the compliment and
Will Anthony:move on
Jordan Bassett:and I'm still working on that.
Will Anthony:Okay. See why you wanted him as a a guest on the show.
Michael Bonner:Hey, man. You're good confidence out here. Social emotional learning that's what we're practicing right now.
Jordan Bassett:Oh, true. True. Good. Good. Let's go from the teacher side,
Michael Bonner:I So
Jordan Bassett:compare what your first day Mhmm. Ever. Okay. So thirteen years ago or however to Now. Today.
Jordan Bassett:What are things that you used to do? There's a lot packed into this. I I don't know if I should ask this as one question.
Michael Bonner:No, you should.
Jordan Bassett:I know what you're saying.
Michael Bonner:Know, I
Jordan Bassett:wanna just talk about like what you What do before that
Will Anthony:you What do did you swear by that maybe you're like, Oh, actually it's the opposite Man. Just all that stuff.
Michael Bonner:I remember when I became a beginning teacher, they gave us the Harry Wong book, First Days of School, right? Okay. And incredible book, shout out to him and his team. I've never met him before. The unique thing about books and things like that in any scenario is that students are different in every demographic, every state, every city.
Michael Bonner:So I thought that I was prepared with the first days of school. And when I closed that door,
Will Anthony:those fifth graders, I talked to
Michael Bonner:the graders my first year, they they didn't eat me alive, but it definitely caught me off guard. And what I was doing was I was trying to go through every procedure. I wasn't moving expeditiously. I didn't understand the purpose of when you say you do something, you stick to that. And it wasn't a lot of excitement on the first day of school.
Michael Bonner:Now for us, we try to make sure that when the kids come in, there's music playing. We have our stuff already laid out. I don't spend as much time on procedures and things at our school at the beginning because it's like we take two, three days. This is what we're doing. We reinforce it, and then we're off into the content.
Michael Bonner:Yeah. Even at our school, the first three days of school, kids aren't allowed to speak. Oh, interesting. We have the whole school on silent. You can talk at lunch, but we have you inside of the classroom so you can know how the school maneuvers so you can make sure
Jordan Bassett:Like in the hallways and everything?
Michael Bonner:We need to make sure that you are on point because we wanna have visitors here as well. So being at RCA and being for my first year, it's shown me that expectations are like everything. And when you put it in the ground, like this is what it is, it sets a level of excellence that kids rise to. I think we dump things down a lot, but when you look at how brilliant children really are, like I joke all the time and say how they can make 14 TikTok videos per day and edit them. Now they're doing streaming in real life.
Michael Bonner:Like this generation is brilliant. So if I'm a teacher now, I'm thinking where can I set my expectations at for the first day? How they treat me, how they treat their classmates, how they turn their work in. And let's go through activities to reinforce that. The first day of school, I always do the cup activity where you have the plastic cups and you take this rubber band and you put a string around it and four people have to grab it and you have to build the tower together.
Jordan Bassett:So there's Hold on. I wanna make sure I understand this. So you have like, is it four cups?
Michael Bonner:It's like nine cups.
Jordan Bassett:Nine cups with a rubber band around all nine?
Michael Bonner:So it's nine cups just laid out here in And a we have one rubber band. And then I take a string and tie it four different angles on that rubber band.
Jordan Bassett:Okay.
Michael Bonner:Got it. So like we all can pull it.
Jordan Bassett:Sure.
Michael Bonner:You have to pull the rubber band and put it on top of the cup and place the cup on top of it.
Jordan Bassett:To stab all the cups. Exactly.
Michael Bonner:To stab all the cups into like a tower.
Jordan Bassett:Okay.
Michael Bonner:I do that every year. Why? Because it forces them to learn how to work together. So if I say treat each other with respect, if I say don't be too rude to someone, you can say it in theory, but now we're about to see, can you really do it? Yeah.
Michael Bonner:And now I get to reinforce my consequences. Now I get to have fun with them. Hey, all guess what? I'm sorry. Had an accident on the job.
Michael Bonner:You can only use one hand now. And now they have to do one hand. So now you see the kids with attitudes like, do it this way, right? And then I say, Oh my gosh, oh my, well, company has been bought out. I don't know what happened.
Michael Bonner:There's a company inside of Mexico that bought the company, you can no longer speak English. So now kids start making weird noises and sounds like the Rugrats and the Wild Thornberrys and Nickelodeon trying to build it, right?
Jordan Bassett:Someone walking by your classroom, what
Will Anthony:is going on there? But
Michael Bonner:it's so cool. And I just believe the first day, just set the tone and have fun with them. You can have fun, but you can also mean business. And that's why I like working at RCS.
Jordan Bassett:Recently heard something from someone that said, I think this is kind of in that tone of
Michael Bonner:say
Jordan Bassett:what you mean, but you don't have to be mean when you say it.
Michael Bonner:Very true.
Jordan Bassett:Yeah. So that it kinda reminds me of that of like, hey, this is what we're doing Mhmm. This is how we're gonna do it Mhmm. And we're gonna get it done. I like that that cup thing.
Jordan Bassett:I might make my kids do it at home
Michael Bonner:You will learn so much.
Jordan Bassett:Just, you know, when they when they start yelling and and hitting each other. I'll do it.
Will Anthony:Let's Let's go.
Michael Bonner:You know what? Put the tower together so she can cut up. Yeah.
Jordan Bassett:Because you can see I could see it in my head of like, if you have two kids who are pulling really hard, that rubber band gets really thin. It's not going over anything.
Michael Bonner:You have to communicate. Have to, yeah. Adults struggle with it. It's fun doing it sometimes having adults do it. So I just think it's something cool to just show the intellectual level of kids to see how can they be stretched emotionally and teach them we're a community.
Michael Bonner:And if we wanna get through this school year, y'all gonna have to work together. And if someone acts out of character, well, you're gonna be the first one to get the consequence of the new year. Congratulations to you. Talk to your parents after, for sure. For sure.
Michael Bonner:I love that.
Jordan Bassett:That's great. You said you play music on the first day. What's your go to song?
Michael Bonner:Oh, every year it changes. Every year it changes. This year, have not decided yet because I've been trying to do a better job of listening to what they listen to. And so me, I'm a nineties, 2000s, you give me NSYNC, Usher, B2K, Backstreet, well we can go either way. Nowadays it's a little, I don't even know the rappers names or the kids names, right?
Michael Bonner:Like I struggle with it, right? I'm still trying to adjust to the slang, right? The kids call it W teacher, winning teacher. Don't know. So I'm gonna figure that out eventually.
Michael Bonner:What I've learned is the class building activity for the first day of school to show them that they're a community, you all create a playlist. There must be no cussing inside of the song and then must be clean in a way of, because Jessica's song doesn't cuss doesn't mean it's not clean.
Jordan Bassett:So true. Yes.
Michael Bonner:My kids listen I'm to the generation from the windows to the walls out there. I had no idea what I was singing the entire time. Right?
Jordan Bassett:My kids love listening to the kids bop versions. I'm like, just because you take the words out doesn't mean that Exactly,
Michael Bonner:You're right.
Jordan Bassett:Pink Pony Club still has But
Michael Bonner:it's something for them to do to put together with the music. So I like it, I like it. I gotta figure that out. That's a great question. Yeah.
Michael Bonner:I'll figure it out by tonight.
Will Anthony:I got a mix tape for you. I'll send it to you.
Michael Bonner:Please do. Yeah. I'll take that mix tape all day. Come on now. We'll put a
Jordan Bassett:QR code up there for the sooner. Yeah. In the show notes.
Michael Bonner:Yeah. In the show notes. Check the QR code for the playlist. I love it.
Jordan Bassett:No. That's fantastic. So you may have hit on this a little bit, but if you were to say one, what's the most important thing if you're to boil it down that a teacher needs to do? And you kinda said it already of like setting those expectations. Mhmm.
Jordan Bassett:But to frame it in a kind of like practical maybe this teacher is the it's their first day ever. What is something you would tell them to start doing? That's why I wanna ask that question. Start on the first day.
Michael Bonner:The first day I would say back to your point, mean what you say, but don't say it in a mean way. Be direct. You can say, Hey, I need you to sit down. And if they don't take the smile off, I need you to sit down. They're like, right?
Michael Bonner:But I think you should go in there with confidence. You should go in there knowing that as an educator, you have the ability to spray magic, but that is also your domain that you run and you must run it in a way that is loving and exciting, but also has boundaries. So on top of expectations, I've been really big on systems as well. What do you do when the kid says, no, I'm not listening to you? What do you do when they don't turn the homework in, when they are cussing at you, when they are putting their hands on each other?
Michael Bonner:You need to have your systems out for misbehavior. You need have your systems out for good behavior. I would urge every teacher to look at what is the system for you that you wanna have for your class and your school. So if a kid throws a chair at you, what are you gonna do? And you have to know that because anything can happen in 2025, right?
Michael Bonner:So I would say definitely focus on your systems and the best place to start at is behaviors. Is gonna be the things that you reward kids for and what's gonna be a system when kids are misbehaving because they can't learn if they're misbehaving. Yeah. So that's what I would highly suggest.
Will Anthony:I think I was thinking throw the chair back.
Michael Bonner:You know, sometimes it's a little tempting.
Will Anthony:That might not be Yeah. I think a good part two to this question actually is what what would you say to maybe teachers that this is their tenth first day of school as an educator? What's something that they're just something you just wanna give to them to help them out?
Michael Bonner:Thank you for still being in the profession. We love you, first And I would tell them that to embrace this new space that we're in, I've really been working on this new speech that's centered around adaptability. And I know AI and all these things are new topics that we're getting adjusted to. But I would say embrace those things and learn how to have a little bit of fun with them.
Will Anthony:Yeah.
Michael Bonner:Yeah. And if you're in your tenth year, I will highly suggest go get that beginning teacher and take them up under your wing because even though you don't have their class, you're not teaching their class, you're still a family at the school, you're still the work environment. And you don't want to see a coworker drown because if they're drowning, then that grade level may drown. If the grade level drowns, now the school climate and culture is all up and down. Right.
Michael Bonner:Yeah. And now you don't want that issue, right? So I would say tenth year, go have some fun, go set the tone, you know, be at your door and speak. And next thing you know, other people are going to be joining at the door. Have the music going while the kids are coming in and something for them to do on the board that they can immediately get into.
Michael Bonner:Set the tone. If I'm going into my tenth year teaching, set the tone and have fun with it from leadership to mentorship, set the tone.
Will Anthony:Yeah. I really liked that. Earlier you mentioned how you were kind of you were saying that you should always dig in those expectations. Mhmm. And I just really got a picture of like it's so much easier for your plant to grow if you take the time to to dig correctly in the beginning, like to really plan it well.
Will Anthony:Mhmm. And I just I just it seems like you're just really emphasizing that and I wanted to highlight again because that just sounds really true.
Michael Bonner:If you start off strong, think it allows the people and just the energy and the environment to know that we mean business. That's one of the things I love about being at the Ron Clark Academy because Troy Kemp, who works there says there's a lot of tall trees in the forest. And what he means by that is every teacher there is elite. Doctor. Jones, shout out to you, Doctor.
Michael Bonner:Jones. She just got into the National Teachers Hall of Fame. Only picked six, right? Wow. So when you see those things, it allows you to recognize that how can we set this thing off in a right way so that kids can respect what we're doing and also have fun and that you can see kids rise to that.
Michael Bonner:So start off from strong in the beginning. I think that's just an important thing to do, not only just in school, but in your life with your family, friends, you know, set those boundaries, expectations and have fun with it because life is short. Yeah. Life is That's great. Those are some great questions right now in the first year of school.
Michael Bonner:Even, man, I need to start thinking We're
Jordan Bassett:about about it. In the business, we're right into it.
Michael Bonner:Come on now.
Jordan Bassett:We're going.
Michael Bonner:I love it.
Jordan Bassett:But we will, we're gonna take a little break
Michael Bonner:Okay.
Jordan Bassett:Before continuing this conversation. It's been great. So everyone hang out. We'll be back in just a little bit. Hey, welcome back everybody.
Jordan Bassett:I'm so glad I did this in the middle of Michael taking a drink.
Michael Bonner:Me too. Was like, oh, it's happening. It's happening. Okay.
Jordan Bassett:Was my fault.
Michael Bonner:That was
Jordan Bassett:my fault. That was my fault. No, we're gonna roll with it. Okay. We're just going with it.
Jordan Bassett:Have a question.
Will Anthony:Let's do it.
Jordan Bassett:Let's talk about before that first day of school.
Michael Bonner:Okay.
Jordan Bassett:What do you do to prepare mentally or just curriculum? Whatever, like Mhmm. How do you that couple weeks leading up because many people here I think there's some that'll be back to school. Don't know. But there may be several
Michael Bonner:that Right.
Jordan Bassett:Aren't quite there yet. They're ramping up.
Will Anthony:Mhmm.
Jordan Bassett:What do you do to get prepared for that first day
Will Anthony:of school?
Michael Bonner:Honestly, you say a couple of weeks, like a month before school or two, three weeks, I do absolutely nothing. I have learned that from my therapist, that rest is also being productive as well. And when you really sit down and every teacher and leader will know this when I say this, when we first go on summer break, there is a period where your nervous system has to get used to not being on the go all the time, like responding and watching every kid and where's my lesson gonna be at a week from now? I got to go to the staff meeting up. I may miss my duty at Carpool.
Michael Bonner:Oh my gosh. What's going on in my own life? Did I make sure I text my partner? Love your nervous system is all over the place. So before I go back into school, I do absolutely nothing.
Michael Bonner:I give myself a chance to be a human. And I think we negate that in education. And it's actually annoying because as an educator, who you are comes out into the classroom. That year I was going through my divorce and my fourth year teaching, that attitude and those words were coming out of my kids, not intentionally, but I was changing the emotional environment in the room because I'm a human first.
Jordan Bassett:The overflow of your heart was spilling onto And your
Michael Bonner:then that's not fair to them. They didn't ask for anything. Bingo. And if they are doing something, they always say even crazier environment. So I tell teachers, man, take a moment for you.
Michael Bonner:I know some people will, they don't like self care. I'm not trying to hear that because I know that my kids are only as good as I am. So this summer, what I did, it was three weeks, I did absolutely nothing. I didn't go to the gym, I played Fortnite, did different types
Will Anthony:of seasons. I ate
Michael Bonner:crab legs and seafood. I had a couple of adult juices, right? I was just having this to come of my life. Was sitting I don't
Jordan Bassett:know if those are right.
Michael Bonner:Yeah, don't know. You can find them in stores. I'll tell you later, right? God, I was taking naps. I was feeling emotions.
Michael Bonner:I was allowing myself to be a human, but I needed that. Especially before I go back into speaking to teachers and serving my kids. But as the weeks are leading up, my mind does kick into in my unit plan, what am I covering this year? I try to make sure I give myself because at our school, we follow the Georgia standards, but at RCA, we try to go above and beyond what we're teaching. So for example, if I'm teaching, I always talk about the War of eighteen twelve because I love it.
Michael Bonner:If I'm teaching that one where the British came in and burnt down the White House, I'm in my mind thinking, well, can I take that activity to another level? Maybe my kids need to start a podcast for social studies and they can present as a grade for each group. Like I'm thinking along those lines. And I'm really thinking about how I'm starting off in just a very strong way. So content, make sure that's in place.
Michael Bonner:Expectations, make sure that in place. And I try to just pick one thing that I can do throughout the year that will make my class be top notch, like another level. Last year was priority seating, all right? And I gotta get used to that. This year, I really had to figure out how to make sure I tie in entrepreneurship into my classroom so I can model it for other teachers.
Michael Bonner:Because that's the name of the game for United States Of America and the world. So rest, check out your unit plan, get one thing you wanna do magical this year. That's what my suggestions to them.
Jordan Bassett:So how do you, when do you do your preparing then? You're taking that break right before.
Michael Bonner:If I'm doing my break right before, what I've learned is I can, I don't necessarily have to rest the entire day, but I've, my summer routine and schedule honestly is I'll wake up maybe eight or nine, I'll go to the gym, etcetera? I'll put in like work probably from one to three, one to four. So I'm getting myself two to three hours uninterrupted, some lo fi music on with my headphones, a And coffee I'm just checking back through the things. That's the luxury of teaching the same grade. Now for teachers that are not teaching the same grade and you have a new assignment, you have to go look at the standards in a deeper way and adjust.
Michael Bonner:And I'm sorry for you, right? Because I know a lot of teachers get moved that way. So you just have to be a little bit more strategic with your schedule and prep earlier.
Jordan Bassett:There's two thoughts that I have. The first is you kind of remind me of looking at this, excuse me, of like athletes, football players. I love football, watch Bills fan. Mhmm. Maybe this is our year, probably not.
Jordan Bassett:But maybe. It's a tough it's tough in the Bills fan.
Michael Bonner:Yeah. Don't wanna That
Jordan Bassett:I was doing some reading recently and they said that they're the most fit right before that first game. Mhmm. So that off season for them Mhmm. Is important Mhmm. And to to prepare.
Jordan Bassett:And from a mental standpoint, I completely agree with you and think that, you know, teachers need to take that time Mhmm. To rest and to prepare mentally because, I mean, I don't need it. I'm speaking to y'all. Yeah. Y'all know this.
Jordan Bassett:Yeah. Teachers know this that after that first day hits, it's it's going. You can't stop the train.
Michael Bonner:Can't stop
Jordan Bassett:the train at all. Stress is just gonna keep keep coming on. And there needs to be maintenance throughout the year for sure. The other thing is I just wanna take as a as a parent. I'm not trying to come at you Michael.
Michael Bonner:That's okay. You have
Jordan Bassett:a blessing. Yeah. I mean, kids are a blessing to you.
Michael Bonner:For sure. For sure.
Jordan Bassett:But you have a blessing of you can take those weeks. And just to encourage those who also have kids of their own. Yeah. I just wanna highlight them and make sure that they don't feel left out in what you just said.
Michael Bonner:And I agree. I agree with that. And because you're you're a parent and you're a teacher, you're a double parent in a way, And you still have to be present for your kids. So I know when I crossed that road one day, when I get engaged like somebody, you know, it's just, you know, inside joke, you'll catch it later. But what I will probably do is I will schedule whether vacations or whatever, I will probably look into enrolling my kids into some type of two, three week camp.
Jordan Bassett:Camps, yeah.
Michael Bonner:I can get a break during the day during that time, but also they don't get hit with a summer slide. They don't lose they've built throughout the school year with their brains and stuff. Right. And to your point, even with the athlete piece, because I was a former college athlete, I will rest my body, but we do have something called pre season where they ramp up the training like So never I think as a teacher mentally, as it builds up, the school year is coming, you do have to get your mind going about 60 miles per hour and get ready for the day that doesn't end. Like you said, it starts, it just doesn't stop.
Michael Bonner:Great content, great. Shout out to the teachers with kids. We love you more than you know. Absolutely. That's a different time.
Michael Bonner:My mom did it. My mom's a school counselor. She may retire this year and she And had to balance I respect her tremendously. Took to stay for that. Man.
Michael Bonner:Yeah, I couldn't do it. Oh man. Oh man.
Jordan Bassett:I mean, you came from a family of
Will Anthony:Yeah. I'm the fourth out of seven. Yeah.
Jordan Bassett:Your mom basically had a class all the time.
Will Anthony:Yeah. So and we actually were homeschooled for a period of time too. So yes. And she also was a dance teacher also. So all of that.
Will Anthony:Wow. Yeah. So not exactly the same in pushing curriculum and all that, but, yeah, doing all that.
Michael Bonner:And we'll tell the truth right now for the podcast. Do have any dance skills? Do you have any dance skills? We're gonna find out.
Will Anthony:I can't believe I'm this is being added on this podcast.
Michael Bonner:I had a picture on the spot. It's okay. But we yes, no? You wanna teach me something?
Will Anthony:So the next question
Michael Bonner:is, Mike. What is what's up?
Will Anthony:What do you what do you what is going I guess, really Mhmm. What is your mental Mhmm. When you're starting up the school year? Because I know even just starting maybe a new job, you know, or going to a new school as a student Mhmm. I think my focus was on my my mental state trying to not not in a sense of that it's can be weak, just thinking of like, okay, what should I be focusing on?
Will Anthony:Right. What do I need to be totally locked in with? Like what is your mental as almost thirteen years at first stage of school is what are you mentally locking in on these as you're going into the school and seeing these students' faces?
Michael Bonner:So transparently for me, this year has been a year of I feel like God sort of stress test all my systems. And I found out what was working in my eleventh and twelfth year is not going work for me in my thirteenth year. You know, we all obviously get better over time and you'll recognize some tools just don't work anymore. You need stronger tools. So for me this year, I've really been focusing on my personal system.
Michael Bonner:How does Michael take care of Michael first? Do you have your sessions with therapy? How are you gonna make sure you attend church or whatever you do? Do you have your gym routine? What about your nutrition?
Michael Bonner:And then this is personally for me speaking, when you talk about mentally, when I first went to Ellen Show, my fourth, fifth year of teaching, one of the things that came upon me was people were saying, well, can he actually teach? So ever since that point in time, there's always an internal clock or internal motivation within me, oh, I'm gonna show you all. Every year, I want to make sure I get the results in my data to show that I'm more than just a person that can speak on stage. No, he can actually teach his butt off, right? Yeah.
Michael Bonner:So my mental last year I instilled into my sixth graders, if you come to the Ron Clark Academy and they are seventh graders now and you asked them, what does GG mean? It means to go and grow. That was what I told them the first week of school. Y'all we're here, we're learning. I love you.
Michael Bonner:But our goal this year is to go and grow, go and grow. I told them I did not want to be a hypocrite standing on stages and telling people how to love on kids and my scores are horrific. So that's my mentality. How am I taking care of myself? Because I don't want to go hard this year.
Michael Bonner:And then the internal mentality is how can you make sure that your kids produce in such a way that is undeniable, that people will want to lean in and be like, well, what are you doing this higher class or at your school? And that's the dichotomy of where I'm at in my thirteenth year. Just making sure that I'm showing up for them and showing that kids can learn from all different demographics, sexual orientations or whatever the case may be. And that's how I start the year. That's a great question, Will.
Michael Bonner:That's a great question.
Jordan Bassett:That's why we brought him on. That's why he's getting more screen time.
Michael Bonner:Come on now. Yeah.
Jordan Bassett:We love it. I had a question. I just
Michael Bonner:wanna come back.
Jordan Bassett:Goodness, where did it go?
Michael Bonner:That's a blessing. I'm just having fun. But you But have you have the freedom mind though. I think that's pretty cool as well. And it's actually modeling for teachers because we call it teacher brain.
Michael Bonner:We do it all the time, right? But how do you all feel in regards to seeing teachers and them coming in? What do you wish they could know? Like what do you from the outside looking at not being an educator? Do you want to tell them?
Michael Bonner:Turned it around. Come on now. Come on now. Need to be here.
Will Anthony:I'll go back to the first episode of Michael Bonner.
Jordan Bassett:Now, yeah. Welcome to the Michael Bonner podcast.
Michael Bonner:Please. I wish. I wish.
Jordan Bassett:So you're you're asking
Michael Bonner:What's what one thing that you would say to teachers? Because you all come from a different lens.
Jordan Bassett:We do.
Michael Bonner:They're coming to you to get loved on. So what is one thing you want them to know? I think
Jordan Bassett:the teachers that I related to most were the teachers that and I felt that I could learn the most from were the teachers that on that first day, they reminded me that they're human. Yeah. You know, like you, when you're a student and you see that teacher out at the supermarket
Michael Bonner:Yeah.
Jordan Bassett:You know, we that's talked about a lot I feel like in the Yeah. In the education community. Students get a little we get a little shook sometimes. We're like, what are doing out here?
Michael Bonner:Yeah. You're not real. You're not human. What are you doing here? You eat groceries?
Michael Bonner:You eat? Yeah, right. You eat. Yeah.
Jordan Bassett:But the teachers that let us in a little bit that showed us their flaws seems like too strong of a word, in a way, know, their flaws, the things that they enjoyed, joyful moments, they let us share that with them. Obviously, there's a line somewhere for that. But those are the ones that I was like, oh, okay. Like they're they're being real with us. And if they said that on that first day, that carried through for me Mhmm.
Jordan Bassett:All the way through so that when they were talking about the War of eighteen twelve or whatever. For some reason, it just clicked more into me to say, I wanna listen to what they have to say.
Michael Bonner:I've actually seen it in my class this year. Go ahead, Will. I didn't wanna cut you off.
Will Anthony:No, you're good.
Michael Bonner:I saw that in my class this year because what I try to establish from the first day of school is the importance of using your language and your mouth to communicate how you feel in this classroom. So if you're having a bad day, please don't sit there like this in my class. Come see me, Mr. Bonney. Know what?
Michael Bonner:It's just a lot going on and I'm just chilling today. And I don't know how to direct my energy in the class. It's like I said, at our school, we're on the go. But when I told my kids and I established at the beginning, it showed in my classroom environment in a good way. So when, for example, when my grandfather passed away, I was able to communicate to them, Hey, y'all Mr.
Michael Bonner:Barna's gonna be off a little bit this week. I'm figuring it out because we've talked about emotions through the characters and the books and stuff we studied And believe it or not, those middle school students responded to that in a positive way. Yeah. They like, oh, we got you. So when teachers will come into our school and I still have to be on as Mr.
Michael Bonner:Bonner, my students, believe it or not, that's why I love the class of 2027. They took on more responsibility and was engaging with teachers more and giving me more energy because they knew he's hurting right now. So you gave me some first day of school. Now your kids know you're human.
Jordan Bassett:Yeah, for sure.
Michael Bonner:I love that.
Will Anthony:Yeah, really liked that. I think mister Longcar is probably the the best teacher I ever had. He taught us, US history, world history, and government. He sat me down one day after class, and, you know, he's like, hey, Will, can you see me after class? And everybody's like, oh, you're in trouble.
Will Anthony:You're in trouble. You know? But he he had just learned that that I'd just gone through something very serious. And he just sat down with me and prayed with me and we just had a really touching moment, you know, across desks from each other. And I I think that showing that humanity and that compassion as early as possible Yeah.
Will Anthony:I think just made me like, I will never forget him.
Michael Bonner:Yeah.
Will Anthony:I never will. And I that just means the world right there.
Michael Bonner:I agree. That's why I try to tell all the experts and things. I believe relationships before content Mhmm. They wanna learn, but can you connect with them as a human being? And if you can do that, it's powerful things.
Michael Bonner:That's why I play Fortnite with them. That's why I go to the games. That's why we have a little group chat, you know, like for example, there was some generation alpha, I think that's the group there, like skippity is some word they use. And I was able to put in the group chat like, Hey, y'all, what this word mean? Like, they were like, Don't worry about it, Mr.
Michael Bonner:Bonner, you cool. Don't even worry about it. It means a lot of different things. Right? But it's in those, like you said, those are the things that it makes you wanna stay in teaching a little bit longer.
Jordan Bassett:Yeah. So it's I think the important thing too with like using the vernacular and stuff though is to still be true to who you are. Yeah. Right? Like you didn't just go in saying using skibbidi
Michael Bonner:Yeah.
Jordan Bassett:And potentially using it wrong or whatever and then they make fun of you. Like you were still kind of true to like, you know, what does this mean? You're giving them an opportunity to teach you, which I think is good. Even if it's about something that's obviously not never gonna be on a test.
Michael Bonner:Yeah, it's not. I may troll them this year because they have this thing where I guess the streamers like Constantin and all of them, say chat, like what's up chat? So I mess with my class and I go, well, morning chat. Let's go and learn about something. And they like bust out laughing.
Michael Bonner:You all right. It's just connecting with them. And if it can be argued with the advancement of technology, especially on the first day of school, connections are more important than ever. And I just hope teachers, you set something in stone for connecting. Like I said, with the cup activity, there's an app I use called playspent.org where they get a thousand dollars and they have to make it last for thirty days.
Michael Bonner:And they like working with each other, trying to see who's the best person with money. Like it's things like that, that shape the classroom and mold it into a community. I try to tell people that a classroom is a community. Any teacher standing in front of the class, trying to do an arm fist and run it, you're going to fail in 2025. They are not having it.
Michael Bonner:Group and this group of students are way more advanced. They are way more exposed. They see everything on TikTok. I remember we just see things on Channel one News. Yeah.
Michael Bonner:No, they see it all right now. Right? So those connections and having those expectations and boundaries, letting them know that you are the adult in the room, but this is how we're gonna connect together is gonna be important.
Jordan Bassett:Yeah. Michael, you are a fantastic encourager.
Michael Bonner:Thank you.
Jordan Bassett:We we've we've seen it a little bit here Yeah. For sure. Even when you came in getting ready, you know, throwing compliments and everything. Yeah. Can you give just a direct encouragement as we kind of wind down this this episode for everyone on their first day of school?
Jordan Bassett:Just give them that pep talk talk that you're you're so good at those.
Michael Bonner:Just look for the teachers.
Jordan Bassett:Hey, listen. Look right in that camera. For those listening, it's that camera.
Will Anthony:I didn't know you can tell where
Jordan Bassett:I'm recording.
Michael Bonner:This one, which one want to
Jordan Bassett:look at? That one right there.
Michael Bonner:Hey guys, how are you doing? So, we just just play tag and gave the kids to their parents and now they're they're tagging us back, right? It's our turn to take care of the kids. What I want you to do this school year is to try your best in everything that you do. I think that's the best that you can ask.
Michael Bonner:Try to tell people all the time, I believe in progression over perfection. There are gonna be lessons that go wrong this year. There are gonna be kids that have issues this year. You may have some coworkers that get on your nerves this year. There may be leadership changes and things this year, but what I want you to do is to lean into those moments.
Michael Bonner:One of the things I've learned from my life is that when things happen, you can learn something very beautiful from it, right? Whether it was when the kid hit me with a chair doing my fourth year teaching and I had to learn about behavior management, whether it was when my kids were not passing and my principal told me that the reason why the kids are not failing because they can't read is they're failing because of you, Michael, your approach. All of those bad things that happen are just situations for you to experience victory. What's gonna boil down to the school year is how will you respond when something bad does happen? When something doesn't go wrong, you have the capability to do it.
Michael Bonner:Come on, this is 2025. You are a teacher. You are absolutely incredible. Every profession comes from us. So you have the intellectual capability for it.
Michael Bonner:What I'm challenging to do this school year is to embrace your humanity, to embrace the things that may go off and see how can you make it even better. And it's gonna be a great school year. Surround yourself with people that keep saying it even when it's not a great school year. Having the right community around you this school year is gonna be pivotal. Stay away from people that like to gossip all the time, right?
Michael Bonner:It's not helpful to anyone. So surround yourself with the right people, prep yourself when something goes wrong and just make it a great year. Life is short. We have survived COVID. We are here live, right?
Michael Bonner:If we're alive, we might as well go in and live and make the best of it. So have a great school year. And I need you to message me in my DMs if it's having a great school year. And if you're not having a great school year, we're gonna just talk a little bit more and do more podcast episodes. You can come back here where we'll encourage you even more people.
Jordan Bassett:Oh, that's fantastic.
Will Anthony:Thank you so much for that.
Michael Bonner:Thank you all for having me. Thank you for the love, the laughter, and I love that what you're doing and helping educators is needed.
Jordan Bassett:Thank you. We try our best. Thank you for joining us This was a great episode. Hey, we hope that everyone has a fantastic start of the school year. And like Michael said, even if it doesn't, you know, it may not be, but it is.
Jordan Bassett:Yeah. You're here. You're educating. You're the ones that help our world continue to grow and continue to be. You guys are doing hard work and we acknowledge that.
Jordan Bassett:Have a great school year. I'm ready to storm the castle of the new school year after that pep talk.
Michael Bonner:Hey, we're do it, baby. So Have a great year.
Jordan Bassett:You know what? Yeah. It's the end of the first episode of the second season. We'll see you guys later.
Michael Bonner:See you all later. I'm about to go learn some dance moves from Will now,
Will Anthony:so I'll talk to you later.
Michael Bonner:Y'all are amazing. Cool. That was incredible. Do y'all have, like, bloopers for this thing? That would be insane.
Jordan Bassett:That's why Chad said don't stop recording.
Michael Bonner:Never you can never stop recording. Okay? We're about to do dance moves in Fortnite.