This school year is extra hard. You are not being set up for success, and neither are your students. A lot of that is because of things that are beyond your control, and also you have the power to take control of your own well being.

In this episode, I break down some strategies that you can use to make it through this school year with your sanity intact, at the very least. You deserve and are worthy of care, rest, and prioritization. You show up for your students by showing up for yourself.

Check it out and let me know what you think! If you need support specifically with the community piece, check out the Transformative Teacher Collaboration Space. If you need help with the rest, please just reach out! I’m rooting for you and I’m here if you need me.

Find me at lovemorty.com and @love.morty

It was such a pleasure for me to chat with Heather. This chat is indeed a soul talk. Heather and I met 5 years ago at a 5 day intensive training for Off the Mat, Into the World. She ran up to me asking to take a picture of my tattoo because she loves swings, and we hit it off. We’ve kept in touch and I’ve gotten to see her grow and expand with her own business. What was once Sister Roots has now expanded to Root Connection. (Check them out here, follow them on Insta)

When Heather shared that she is working in a wellness center inside of a high school, I had to know more. From my perspective, we need so many more wellness supports built into our school systems, so I love that she is actually working to do that.

We talk about her work, philosophy, school, life, yoga, all of the things. I hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed chatting! Be sure to subscribe, rate, and review if you like what you hear.

You can also learn more about my work at lovemorty.com, or follow me on Insta @love.morty

How often do you fully listen to and understand the experiences of your students? I know many of us have the best intentions, but sometimes we are way off the mark in providing what our students really need to be able to excel.

Aaron and I met in 2006. He was in his first year of high school. I was in my first year of teaching. The school we were at was in its first year of existence.

We spent several years together in a school that navigated a LOT of challenges. Like, so many we couldn’t possibly cover it all in our hour and a half conversation. I think I taught Aaron for 3 of them.

He is incredibly honest and vulnerable in sharing his stories and experience, and it’s very clear that the school was not set up to support him in the ways that he and his classmates needed.

I think every educator has something to learn from this conversation. Something to reflect on and consider when you show up for your students.

One of my biggest wishes in education is that we listen to, respect, and consider student voices and experiences much, much more.

This conversation is just one way for me to show you why that’s so important. ❤️

On this episode, I got to chat with Patrick Moeschen. In his 27th year of teaching in New Hampshire, Patrick shares his experiences teaching band with Muscular Dystrophy. We relate on many levels, and he has a lot to offer! It was a joy to talk with Patrick. This was our first conversation, and I’m sure it won’t be our last.

This was one of the reasons for making this podcast: to connect with other teachers. I didn’t know Patrick at all before last week, and now I know I’m not alone in my experiences as a teacher. I hope you enjoy!

In this episode, I chat with my aunt Becky, who retired last year after 35 years of teaching elementary. She and I often chat about education and how we would change things if we could. Here, you get to hear some of her experiences and insights from her time teaching, as well as her experiences as a student and what led to her becoming a teacher. You will hear her refer to some of our family members. Grandma is referring to her mom, who was also a teacher for many years.

I hope you enjoy! If you’re interested in sharing your stories and experiences in education, please reach out! You can find me on Instagram @love.morty or visit lovemorty.com to sign up for my newsletter and/or contact me.

I am Erika, known by my students as Morty, and I’m starting this podcast to support teachers. I love having conversations with friends who are teachers, and it seems conversations always inevitably come back to teaching.

The thing is, often some of the most amazing insights and a-has come out of those conversations, but then they might get lost. Some of these happen over drinks at the end of a long week, or just a casual conversation.

My goal here is to chat with people about their experiences in education. What brought them there, what shaped them, and really just whatever comes up. I have some intense stories from my career and I know that others do too.

Teaching can be super isolating and we can often wonder if we’re doing it “right,” or if anyone else is struggling in the same ways that we are. I would say the short answers are that there is no such thing as “right,” and yes.

We often don’t feel like we have the time in our day to check in with our teacher friends down the hall. Or maybe when we do, we only have the capacity to complain or get help with our lessons.

So this is the place to dive in and keep track of these shared experiences and insights. To make you feel less alone. To try to better understand the system we are working within.

I will talk to teachers, students, social workers, admin, security, office staff, really whoever wants to talk to me. We all contribute to a school’s culture and the ways that we do or do not truly support students, and we all have interesting stories and ideas.

If you want to share yours, please reach out! You can find me at lovemorty.com or @love.morty on Instagram.