The Ballad of Bastards and Grammy Nominee, Five for Fighting

How To Survive The Classroom

This week, I’m talking to literal Grammy-nominated musical legend John Ondrasik—aka Five for Fighting—about education, mentorship, Costco carts, and how he’s working to put real music teachers back in underfunded schools. (Also, I tried not to ugly cry while listening to “100 Years” on loop. Mostly succeeded.)

But before we get there… we’ve got a classroom snake situation, an inappropriate dictionary moment, and a cooking class where a student shows up with a knife restriction and a no-females policy. What could go wrong?

From ED plans that make zero sense to policies that make teachers legally required to just stand there while it happens, we’re breaking down the bureaucratic circus one story at a time.

Stay for the music. Stay for the IEP trauma. Stay because someone said “bastard” in the most educational way possible.

Takeaways:

• A kid calls another a bastard—and the dictionary only confirms it.

• A cooking class takes a wild turn when a student shows up with a restriction against females and knives.

• I talk with Five for Fighting’s John Ondrasik about his plan to restore music teachers to underfunded schools—and how he ended up supplying Costco carts.

• A snake shows up in the classroom, and somehow, that’s not the wildest part of the episode.

• What happens when a student’s accommodation forces teachers to cross serious ethical boundaries?

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Want more Five for Fighting:

Website: http://www.fiveforfighting.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fiveforfightingmusic/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fiveforfighting

Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnondrasik

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/fiveforfightingVEVO

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@fiveforfightingmusic

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Watch on YouTube: @educatorandrea

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