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In this episode of Playing Teacher, Matt, Rob, and Brugge crack open one of the most sacred and underrated parts of the school day: preps and lunches. More than just breaks, these windows of time were life-saving lifelines in the relentless hustle of NYC public school teaching. We reflect on how these moments offered space to breathe, plan, decompress—or just stare into the void with a slice of pizza in hand.

But it wasn’t all quiet recovery. Sometimes, it was survival through play. Enter Superpong—a game we invented during our lunch breaks that blended absurdity, competition, and much-needed laughter. Part coping mechanism, part creative rebellion, Superpong became our ritual, our reset, and occasionally… our battleground.

Tune in for stories from the teacher trenches, the weird things that keep you sane, and the essential truth that sometimes the best professional development happens with a paddle in your hand and a chicken patty on your tray.

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