0:09 Speaker: All right. Hello, everybody. This is Matt Rine and this episode of All Roads Lead to Real Estate has a special guest and her name is Megan Winkler, formerly Megan Rine. Welcome, Megan. Hi, Brother Matt.

0:25 Speaker: That's right. And that's not in just the cool sense, brother Matt. That's right. That's biological brother Matt. So I wanted to bring Megan in because she's a good person to talk to. I think you'll appreciate that. I told her we should have done this years ago when we were pre-gaming at a Ravens tailgate because that would have been fun. She was the life of the party back in the day. Trust me on that. She was crazy.

0:50 Speaker: So now Mother Mother Megan over here and I've taken it down a little bit. She's taken it down to a six out of ten instead of a nine and a half out of ten. But she's a good guest, in my opinion, to have because she has a unique perspective on a few things. And it's not purely real estate because I don't know about you all, but I get sick of talking about real estate occasionally.

1:12 Speaker: and her perspective is one of an educator and she has her degree is in elementary education and she has a master's degree in elementary administration. I believe you were training at the time right your intention was to become a principal or vice principal of an elementary school.

1:31 Speaker: Yes. Yeah, she nodded her hand. I'm like, yes, we're on a podcast. Sorry, got to talk here. So yes, that's correct. And so and that was her that was her goal. And so I just think it's an interesting perspective because I am now a parent of three little ones and I am dealing with the idea of elementary education and this kind of the struggles, the thoughts, the questions that I have now I would have never anticipated. I never really took the time to think about it.

1:59 Speaker: And you've been thinking about them for a couple of decades. Correct. And so I kind of just it's kind of interesting. I would never have this conversation with you at Thanksgiving or Christmas. So I throw you on a podcast and I get to grill you as a subject matter expert. Go for it. And so I thought that would be fun. So let's get it. Let's get it. Start off with a little bit about kind of who you are, where you're from, all that kind of stuff. So obviously born and raised in Howard County, Maryland. Hoco.

2:25 Speaker: in hoco on the dairy farm with with us you know jay my brother and you you're in the middle my brother jay is the oldest and i'm the baby so you and i grew up together side by side playing our gi joes and barbie dolls that's it um i think i always knew i was going to be a teacher i made matt be one of my students and i had lots of pretend students um so we always played school upstairs as you remember

2:50 Speaker: Oh, yes. And that's some of the prep I was doing thinking about what I wanted to talk to you about. And that was really the essence of it. There are some that aren't sure what they want to do, if you will, when they grow up. Right. They're just kind of like getting through this experience we call life and now I got to get a job. OK, I'll figure out what do I want to do? You knew pretty much as long as I can possibly remember, you knew exactly. So do you when do you think you first thought, OK, I want to be a teacher of some kind?

3:18 Speaker: early elementary school, because by fifth grade I was voted most likely to become a teacher. That was in my yearbook. So I knew right off the bat, and I would say by ninth grade and definitely by 12th grade, I was helping my teachers already teach.

3:34 Speaker: I remember teaching math class. That was my most favorite. I had one class that was just to help special education students and I got to go in and I loved that. So I knew from a very young age that that's all I wanted to do.

3:48 Speaker: That's incredible. Um, I never obviously knew what I wanted to do. Certainly didn't think it'd be a realtor. Uh, so no one does. So I, I give you credit for having that thought. And I just remember even when I was in elementary school, I distinctly remember you having a library set up at home. You had, I come home from school to go to school and you would have a chalkboard and you to sign homework assignments. I check out books. You are one of my best students.

4:14 Speaker: And it was serious. I even made your friends be my students. Yes. They love coming to our house to play, right? Yeah, I think they did actually. They enjoyed it. And so it's like, what about that do you think appealed to you? Like looking back, why do you think that would have appealed to a fifth, sixth, seventh grader version of yourself?

4:33 Speaker: Oh, I think I like being in charge. Yeah. I think I'm a creative minded person. So I like being able to. OK, this is what I have to do. How am I going to get my students to that point? So that's what I liked. And I I still like the creative aspect of teaching and the problem solving that's involved with it. And what age kids would you think are the best to teach? You know, what if you could just pick a grade?

5:00 Speaker: That's definitely personality based by the teacher. So when I first started teaching, I was with fourth and fifth grade students. I love the upper elementary school kids. The kindergartners scared me big time, but now I'm teaching preschool. So the jokes on me. So, um,

5:17 Speaker: I have fun at all ages. I originally was going to be a high school math teacher. That's what I intended when I started college. And then actually our big brother Jay was like, nope, you're going to get eaten alive. A 21 year old coming out of college, going fresh with those high school and the 21. You look like you were 13.

5:34 Speaker: Huh? Yes. Even on my first day of teaching, I will never forget this. I'm standing in the hall getting ready to greet my little students as they walk in. And at the time, that's when parents could walk through the class all the way to your door to greet you. And he's like, oh, are we hiring right out of high school now? And I was like, oh, thank you. Nice to meet you. I'll take good care of your kid. Don't worry. So, yeah.

6:00 Speaker: That's a true story. Oh yeah. I can imagine it. So, um, so you start, you went to, well, what's now called McDaniel college right in Westminster. So it was Western Maryland college. I went two years, Western Maryland, two years McDaniel. So you're the split. And I've met some clients over the years that were identical, right? They went to both, which is really bizarre. I think it's kind of weird. You have a diploma from another school that you didn't sign up for. Yeah.

6:23 Speaker: Well, I kept a Western Maryland just to keep an option. Yes. Oh, that's cool. Um, that makes sense. I've seen that on the wall. Yes. You're not lying. I can back that up. So you decided to go into elementary ed. So when did you make the switch? So you said Jay kind of helped you see the light. Um, well at McDaniel college, it is a minor education is okay. So I majored in sociology and then I guess by sophomore year, I made the switch into elementary ed.

6:50 Speaker: Got it. And so you switched to elementary ed. So I remember helping to set up your classroom back in the day when you were 21 out the chute. What is your as a teacher, right? From a teacher's perspective, not from a parent's perspective, what was it like to start that process? If I need to have compassion for our teachers, what how do you describe that?

7:12 Speaker: It's very overwhelming. There's a lot. There's a lot that teachers have to do, have to prepare for. Just if you talk physical, getting the classroom set up, that's the easy part of the school year. We are faced with so many students. I think the most I had in elementary was 27, 28 in a class, but I know class sizes now are much greater. So that means that many personalities in a classroom. There are so many different ways to teach.

7:40 Speaker: So you want to make sure you're meeting the needs of all your learners. It's a lot. All of the meetings that you go to, oh my. By the end of my teaching in elementary school, I was spending more time out of the classroom in meetings and preparation and all sorts of committees I was on that I wasn't in the classroom as much as I would have liked to.

8:02 Speaker: And did is that what more senior teachers do or were you gung ho because you were new and young and energetic? If you had still, you know, I mean, I just remember elementary, you'd have some of these older ladies or gentlemen that were my teachers and they looked I just remember being checked out. Yeah. And I'm like, there's no way you've updated any of this forever. Is that am I just hallucinating and making this up or is that the truth with some of these teachers that have been there for 30 years?

8:31 Speaker: I don't know. I think young, I was excited. When you don't have children at the time, I had the time to put into it. They could go to me, they could count on me. And plus I was going for my admin degree. So that helped to have all of those committees. So it was kind of a combination of things. And again, my personality, I was ready to go.

8:52 Speaker: And so you you start in the morning, right? So it's a pretty it seems like it'd be an easier schedule than some careers. But I just remember it didn't stop when the bell rang. No. And I always made sure to get to school ahead of time to have everything set up. Good to go. Then your day goes, it goes by fast and things are thrown at you. Then I would always stay after to clean up, get things ready for the next day. I'd have to have my little break. I like to go home, work out.

9:19 Speaker: Make a good dinner and then I would sit back down now you have to grade your papers Yeah Now you gotta think things through get your lesson plans ready and then boom nighttime comes and you're starting all over again in the morning And and so how many years were you actively in the classroom? Eightful years and then I was a math resource teacher when I came back after my first child

9:41 Speaker: Got it. And so I should have probably started with this because you you did spend eight years doing this. You had your first child and then you decided when you had your second child. I'm not coming back now.

9:53 Speaker: that's yes originally i thought i was going to go back but two kids that's a lot he didn't sleep through the night for 28 months he that was crazy so i stayed at home with him and then i guess six years i was home with him covid hit we were all locked down and

10:12 Speaker: No, thank you. I was ready to get out of the house. So that's how I became a preschool teacher. And that's what I was going to say. So now you're in the preschool teaching. And so you I have a my middle son, Henry, is that age. And so I know what it's like to spend a day with him. Just, you know, if you put 20 of him together, holy smokes. So is it more challenging in this age range or is it third, fourth graders easier?

10:36 Speaker: Hey, listen, I have to have a lot of energy, a lot, to keep up with 20 rambunctious four-year-olds. So that part's a little different. We get to do tons of fun stuff, paint galore, play-doh, we are outside, we are getting dirty. So that part's fun. Just, I don't have to grade papers, which is wonderful.

10:58 Speaker: Yeah, that's when people ask, why didn't you go back to me? That's part of it is because now you can do it because are you full time or part time? I'm part time. So three days a week, just from nine to one with the students. And so it gives you that balance. You can still do all the things you need to do at home and you still get to.

11:15 Speaker: You know have a career and get out and I think that's the key the balance When I was teaching in a public school There was no balance. My whole life was teaching every sunday. I devoted the whole day to my lesson plans And all my grading that I had to do everything that was I that's all I knew was sunday was school day

11:38 Speaker: And I as a mom didn't want to have the same mindset. So this gives me a great balance I still get my Mondays and Tuesdays do my grocery shopping clean the house, you know all the mom stuff And but I can still devote my energy to help kids

11:55 Speaker: Now, one of the reasons I think you didn't go back, in my opinion, granted, I'm a business guy. I think about financials. I mean, this is what I do. I think it has to be in some portion or some part because of the way we compensate our teachers. And it's what I wanted to talk to you about because

12:16 Speaker: You know, it's like when I'm looking today to hire an admin, a starting admin with limited experience, it's as much or more than what they're paying teachers. 100%. And you had to get at least a degree, if not a master's degree, it's pretty much required. Yes.

12:31 Speaker: and the level of dedication that you've described is crazy and yet we pay very little so it's like how much of that had like you just like eating with two kids it's like are you gonna have a nanny and pay someone else to do all of that. And that was a huge factor because the cost of daycare was greater than what my paycheck would have been for me to bring home and I'm

12:53 Speaker: lucky that my husband has wonderful benefits with his job. Um, so I didn't have to go back. That is one good perk of being a teacher is we do have good benefits, health benefits. Um, so I know a lot of teachers who did go back after their kids is because they needed those benefits. So I was lucky that I didn't, um, but I wasn't about to put my whole paycheck towards daycare.

13:16 Speaker: So it's like if you are thinking about the young version of yourself and you had to give advice to someone if they're listening to this and they're in the high school or college years, or maybe it's their parents listening to this and they have a child that's thinking about this, what advice would you have for them given the reality of what it is as opposed to what you wished for it to be as a kid?

13:39 Speaker: I think you have to truly love teaching, truly love the kids. And I definitely love the kids. And I think that's why teachers do it. We do it because we love the power and the impact that we have on a child's life. And you just have to know that you're probably not going to be the richest person, the richest one in the room. And that's okay. And if you can live with that, then go for it.

14:02 Speaker: That's an amazing reason or explanation or good way to put it, because I think if you felt differently, you'd be the worst person to be put in that situation or in that room. Right. We're not doing it for the money. No, but no way. But it just drives me nuts. Now that I'm a parent and I have kids in these rooms is I want people that are not just for there for the right reasons, but I want them to be compensated well because I want them to stay there because

14:29 Speaker: I know you well enough to know you would kick ass and do kick ass as a teacher. I think you should be making six figures in that. And I agree. Yeah, I hope so. It's just like I think we would get even more people because, you know, that wasn't what you were hearing at home. Like you have to get money. You have to go after it. But there are people that do that. They love their children. Yes. And they might have that passion, but they're getting talked out of it because they're like, you can't support yourself.

14:54 Speaker: And I feel like that's why teacher burnout is at an all time high, because if you don't feel valued in your job, why are you going to keep going back day after day? And really out of the teachers that started working with me from the beginning, I only know a handful that are still in it. And that's really sad that they were wonderful teachers and that we've all like mass exited out because you get trampled on so many times and you say, that's enough.

15:19 Speaker: Yeah. And I don't think obviously covid did not help the public school sector at all. And I know personally, there's a lot of substitute teachers coming in that are trying to fill these gaps and they're just not. It's not the same caliber of it's not consistent for the student, first of all. So they're they're just doing whatever their teacher tells them to do. And they're the ones getting lost.

15:42 Speaker: Yeah, so I hope it changes. I think it's been this way for a very long time, but there are certain counties, at least in the state of Maryland, that do pay better than others, right? And there's a longer list to get in there. I know Howard County, there's a longer list. Don't they pay better there than in like Carroll County or something? When I talk, Carroll County was one of the lower pace, from what I recall.

16:03 Speaker: It's crazy. But the reality is we have to talk about it, in my opinion, because people have a tendency not to. And I think it's not fair. Not only that, you're learning about all the you don't have enough resources or supplies even to furnish your room. And that was mind blowing to me. I'm like, you're already not getting paid that well. And now you're having to fork over money to to supply, you know, the resources needed for your classroom.

16:26 Speaker: But I think that's just who we are, or at least who I am. I will always go above and beyond and make sure they have that cute little Halloween pencil come next week again. That's just part of our loving nature. And when you love a child, you want to make sure that they have whatever they need to be successful or make it or get crafty. That's right. So now, like the school of thought I have while I have you, it's like,

16:50 Speaker: One of my questions is, as a parent, when a teacher wants to have a conference with you and they're describing maybe the child isn't progressing as well as they should be,

17:02 Speaker: How have you embraced that discussion? Because I can't tell you how many conversations I've had with my own clients. This has nothing to do about the house search or their home sale, but it comes up because it's so important to them and they don't know where to begin. And it's either the curriculum isn't clicking. They don't know if their kid has special needs. It's early, right? It's early. It's really early in their life. They might not have things diagnosed. Is that something you had to confront when you were

17:28 Speaker: Sure, always. And I think it's really good to have that open communication between the teacher and the parent. So if you are noticing big concerns, talk to them, say, are you seeing this too? And if you are, what are our next steps? And just same thing, I think the teacher should be able to come to the parents and they should listen and say, oh, I never noticed that. Or, oh, I'm seeing the same thing too. How can we, what's the next step?

17:54 Speaker: Yes and it's hard because nobody always has the right answers and there's so many kids that need a lot of screening, speech services, OT, and getting into those services from what I've heard is sometimes difficult. I think COVID kind of made like a backlog of cases.

18:11 Speaker: There is, and what I've heard is if your child really does need extra help, that's when it's really troublesome. It's from my understanding, public school system still works pretty well if your kid is average or above average. It's usually when they need help that unholy hell breaks loose and the resources aren't there for you. That's consistently what I've heard. Is that been your experience to be true?

18:35 Speaker: With a middle schooler now, I am noticing the structure of the classroom is much more different than elementary school structure, where we had lots of small group instruction, so maybe five, six kids in a group, we would read together. Now it seems like a lot of whole group, like what we would picture like in high school. Right, a whole class, let's all do this together. Yep, let's go. So if you have a student or a child, in my case, that that's not the best way that he learns,

19:00 Speaker: I feel like it's a freight train just moving right on through and you're either on it or sorry about that. So as a parent too, I'm like where the teacher had and the parent hat. It's very frustrating because you want your child to do well and it saddens you when they're not. And so yes, I sit on both ends of the conference table.

19:23 Speaker: So it's it's hard. You don't know what to do. And as I tell my son all the time, I can study with you all the time, but it's you that has to take the test. So is there very frustrating? So if you started the first experience that as a parent, what do you do? Like, what's the first step?

19:40 Speaker: Cause that's not that uncommon, right? So it's like, so I would say start small, start with what is the biggest concern and let's figure out how to address that first before we can start to tackle other things. I think so many parents want to fix like this whole big picture, but it starts small, start with something simple to feel that momentum, feel that confidence. And then that might roll into other things.

20:04 Speaker: And I guess do you ever recommend or suggest private school? Do you ever have a conversation with people? I'm pulling my son or daughter out because of this or that. Is that.

20:15 Speaker: Not in my case. I know you haven't heard that. Yeah, I can tell you. We're in a bubble. So, yeah, you still obviously live in the Carroll County, Sykesville area, right? It's a little bit different. It's really weird how the pockets of Maryland can be different. So this is Baltimore County. We're in the Towson area. Private schools everywhere. I just drove by some nice ones coming here. Oh, yes. Lots of money.

20:36 Speaker: Yes, they are more expensive than college. Yes. And it's crazy, but they it's just what it cost. And so some of the difficulties we're describing are so real and so impactful that people then go the private school route. And so I mean, I don't know, maybe one day if you decide to go back full time, you can go in a private school route. It would be, I think, more of the ideal setting, specifically if you need to have a child that has

21:04 Speaker: It needs attention. Yeah, right. Needs more care than just they can learn a group of 30 and they're fine. Right. That's that's the feedback I've been getting and why people sometimes choose to move up here is because they want to be near these private schools. And I do have some friends who have pulled their kids from public schools to private schools. They like the smaller class size. They've had great success with their student in smaller classes and they've just continued with it. I think covid is what sent them into it because they were still working full time and

21:33 Speaker: This just made it easier because they were and they can't have them private schools were open at the time. And then they loved it and they've stuck with it. So yeah. And so I guess in general, your experience, I think, you know, I'm a little bit saddened by the general state of our public education system. And I think I looked it up the other day in preparation for this. And it's like we're like ranked 37th in

21:59 Speaker: And I think either reading or math and 17th and in the other discipline. So we're in the middle to, you know, range like we are certainly not near the top yet. We spend we're not even close. We spend more than anybody per child anywhere in the world. And it's just like from a firsthand experience. Why do you think that is? Like, why do you think we spend so much money yet? We're not paying our teachers that well. And our performance is lackluster. Oh, gosh.

22:25 Speaker: What do you think? I don't know. I don't want to bash all public schools because I think we as educators are doing the best we can with what we have.

22:35 Speaker: I think we have to continue to, I don't know what I want to say. Um, it's tough, right? It is. It's a hard, because it's a balance between we can teach you everything, but you also need to practice it. Um, and I think we are so test driven that we sometimes lose sight of what skills we actually want human beings to be able to do.

22:58 Speaker: Yeah, it's I can tell my oldest is now in second grade and it's very test heavy where we get notices. This test is coming up. This test is coming up and they get graded on these tests. And I can tell you from a real estate perspective, oh boy, do they matter because I to my knowledge, right? That's how we base these great schools, ratings and things from.

23:16 Speaker: And they matter to the admin, they matter to how your school. But guess what? That second grader, he doesn't know what that test means. He's just doing what he can. And I'm noticing this year with my third grade son, now they have to type all of their answers.

23:32 Speaker: So they've never received typing a course. So he was like, mom, how do I get that line to go down to the next one underneath? And I was like, oh, that's like the inner key. And I'm like, I don't know how you're going to type a full paragraph if you don't know how to put a spacebar, you know, or put an inner key in.

23:48 Speaker: Well, I was shocked in first grade. They gave Charlie a computer. I said, bring it home. Enjoy. And but he doesn't know. He now knows how to do everything right. I'm very fast with technology. Even my preschoolers. It's amazing. They know how to whip through that tablet. So your kids know chat GPT yet. I've never heard of that.

24:05 Speaker: Oh, boy, we're going to do a whole podcast just on that. Holy smokes. Welcome to the new world, Megan. Yeah, so it's this little thing that was invented that that is like going to take over the world and we're all going to work for them one day. It's AI. It's artificial intelligence. Perfect.

24:21 Speaker: Along with Matt Tesla's that are taking over the world. Yes. Well Tesla is the world's leader in real world AI Okay, we're gonna I don't know why I haven't dedicated 15 episodes to that because anyone outside of here can't shut me up about it but but the reality is yes Tesla AI is coming for us all but This is what I'm talking about chat GPT is gonna influence

24:45 Speaker: school systems in the most dramatic way possible because it accesses trillions of data points instantaneously. It's been fed all the information of the internet, but it's all word-based, so it's just language-based. Whereas, for example, Tesla is real-world AI where it's working towards generalized artificial intelligence, which makes it exceptionally more difficult.

25:10 Speaker: However, the way that's going to I think impact all of us is now Charlie used in second grade can speak into my phone and it can give him any answer you can possibly imagine instantly. And he's I showed it to him five times and he can he can do it obviously better than you. But it's pretty crazy how that's going to impact because that just started recently in past two, three years. And I back. Oh, gosh, this is dating me. But when Internet was starting, you know, really go in and when we could Google stuff. Yeah.

25:40 Speaker: my students will be like, I need that answer now. And I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, like our day, we would look it up in encyclopedia. Now they're very much, they need that answer now, right this second. That's how we as humans are changing with technology. So that has changed how education is and how we are thinking.

25:59 Speaker: But remember, we're still humans and we still for now. Yeah. So we still have to teach them how to read and write and use math. Well, it's a real question because it's the I remember dealing with this even in college and learning calculus and these other I love math. So I took derivative based economics and I took all this geeky stuff. But I'm thinking even at the time, I have a computer that can do this. Why do I need to do this longhand?

26:25 Speaker: and every student is gonna think the same. And the reality is, as someone who now employs people, do I want them to do it longhand when I'm talking to them? I would never do that. It's to get the calculator, get the computer. I need you to make sure this is accurate. But I think you want someone who's a problem solver. And that's what I think we sometimes forget, that we want kids to be able to think on their feet and be able to think through a problem. And we can't lose touch of that.

26:50 Speaker: Yeah, so I just say it's like the blending of all of this. It's like you still need to learn how to do it and then furthermore, explain the why's behind it. I'm terrified. What I'm most terrified about all this AI is that education and people are going to rely on it and we're not we could be fed anything and we won't know.

27:07 Speaker: And so how do you fact check something? That's the all knowing source. And we're going to like if you think disinformation is is something crazy now, you wait. Oh, my God, it's going to get wild out there. Yeah. We'll look back on this and be like, oh, I saw that coming. Oh, it's I mean, it's the biggest. It's the biggest threat really that we have. And probably the fastest threat to humanity is A.I. And it's scary.

27:34 Speaker: But as it relates to education, I just heard someone on a different podcast describe in the university setting these college kids that are very bright know how to use this at the best levels.

27:46 Speaker: I mean, they can forge everything, though all the papers are forged. Everything's forged. But now they're going to like the only way they can do is like they're going to have to have the students explain it orally because they can fake everything else. So now they're going to have to study for the test and talk to a professor or, you know, an admin or someone in the department.

28:08 Speaker: And what is that teaching anyone? I don't know. Exactly. So yes, you were able to pass the course and get an A, but is that going to make you successful in the workplace? And that's what I fear we're going to see more of. Just because you passed an Ivy League school doesn't make you, you know, intelligent unless you actually learn that information.

28:27 Speaker: Yeah, it's something, but I don't want to muddy the water too much. I want to focus on the elementary. The doom and gloom isn't too far from us, but it's what I can't help but think about and what are we preparing our elementary age children for because the world that they enter and the jobs that they'll have

28:49 Speaker: I don't think any parent can say with a straight face they know what that prospect is and the ideas of the traditional job I want them to have this. We don't I don't really know what those jobs will look like in 20 years.

29:02 Speaker: So I think it goes back to the basics. What do we want our kids to look like as grown adults? And I always say to my boys, I just want you to be kind hearted people, be nice. I think we lose sight of that when we're talking about all these other stuff. We just want you to be a good person and make good decisions and believe in the right stuff.

29:21 Speaker: So like I was talking to your wife right before this. She was worried about Charlie in school and I'm like, relax, it's going to be OK. He is a good child with a great heart and that's going to get him farther than any math paper. Well, she's nervous because he's around the child at a lunch table that she's heard that.

29:41 Speaker: Says horrible things or did something bad and so she's like, oh my god, I can't it like I can't have that influence, right? It's all the things but that's the reality of life There's always gonna be influences and how do we handle those situations? So I think we have to as parents do the best we can to prepare our child have those tough conversations Like oh if this child says something this might be how you want to respond That just helps them prepare them for life

30:07 Speaker: That's true. That's very true. And in getting back to what I'm now experiencing with homework. So I see quite a bit of homework coming home and we're now dealing with the reality of how in the world do we make sure he does all this homework because it's way more than I remember in second grade. And I get home relatively late, like after seven and I want my love. Right. Now I want a hug and I'm. Yeah.

30:30 Speaker: But I have all this homework I need to support him with. So how do you balance that and how, like, I don't even know where to begin with this topic because it's a real issue for me right now. It is. And it's time management. I don't know if you remember us as kids, mom would always let us have a half an hour break and then by four o'clock, boom, homework would have to be done. And I kind of do that with my kids. We have a very structured afternoon. Mostly it's for my sanity because I feel like I spend a lot of my time and effort as a mom.

30:58 Speaker: helping them with their schoolwork. So we just have a very set up time from four to five. That's homework time. That's when we're going to get it done because kids are very active in the afternoons now. I know Charlie has sports. My kids play three sports a year. So we're always on the move. So just managing your time, Matt. Oh yeah. Great.

31:18 Speaker: One of his best qualities fabulous And and so as a parent when you're like want to be involved I was curious to get your viewpoint on what I call the hovering parents The folks that are so involved that you want to scream Was that an experience you had in and when you were teaching or is that not as common as we think? Well, they can't come into my classroom. So I don't witness the hovering in the classroom. I

31:46 Speaker: Gotcha. They're not emailing and not too bad. You don't get too much craziness like that. Yeah. But at home, that could be a whole different thing. When play dates, when I was a stay at home mom, sure, you experience all different types of moms when they're little. They do need more support and it's sometimes hard to gradually release from that. I know I have that conversation with a lot of my preschool parents now.

32:09 Speaker: because a lot of them, this is their first child, first four-year-old, and it's just figuring out, oh, they needed so much help when they were little. When do I stop doing these things? When do I stop putting on their shoes for them? When do I stop blowing their nose or helping them with their food for dinner? And it's just hard for a parent, because we want to do that. We love doing those things. But really, it helps the child when we kind of gradually release and say, all right, now it's your turn to try to put on your shoes. Right.

32:37 Speaker: We want them to be babies forever, I do. It's like, you really don't want them to grow up, but they are. But it does. It helps so much. It helps the kindergarten teacher. If they already can put their jacket on, they can already tie their shoes. Maybe not shoes, but put their shoes on, button their coat.

32:55 Speaker: Well, I think having, you know, we have three and it's like by the third, it's like they do so much more than the first child ever did because they have to. We're busy. Yeah. So like she's doing things that that Charlie and Henry never did because she's forced to. She's just like doing all the things. She's like a big kid at two. Yeah. She's just forced to. And that's OK. They all are going to be different and.

33:18 Speaker: That doesn't mean anything on a parent's side. You're still doing an awesome job, and it's great. She's going to be super prepared for kindergarten. Yeah, probably. Yeah. But think about it. If you can take out those elements, then they can really focus on learning. So as I'm preparing my future kindergartners, I want to make it so it's easy. So they're prepared and ready to learn, and that's not what they're worried about. They're not worried about, oh, I can't open my lunchbox, or, oh, I don't know how to

33:44 Speaker: Walk in a straight line. That's the easy stuff. I can take care of that. So now you can really focus on the academic portion and how Like I guess I just would like your viewpoint. Like how do you discipline a child because That's one of the more frustrating things because you want to shake them and fill them out the window And so from an you know, someone with a master's degree in this like how do you how do you do it appropriately? So you get your point across at the same time?

34:11 Speaker: They, you know, they actually listen. Right. This is I think if I could if we could solve this question, we'll be very rich. What's your opinion on it? Good luck. Yes.

34:22 Speaker: I think we as parents, we get fired up. I know I can sometimes do that, but we have to calm ourselves down. Take a step back. They could be going crazy. You're going crazy. Nothing's going to get solved when emotions are high. So that's number one, pull yourself down, get to their level, talk.

34:43 Speaker: to whatever developmental level they are. So a two-year-old you're going to talk different to than an eight-year-old. And have that conversation. This is what I saw. This is how it should have happened. What can we do next time?

34:56 Speaker: Is timeouts the cure? Is it two minutes for a two-year-old, three minutes for a three-year-old? Everyone's gonna have their own thing of what they believe. Do I think that there should be a consequence? Yes. In society, I think our consequences are less and less. So yes, I think, in my opinion, I do believe that there should be a consequence. And what that consequence is, that's your opinion, your viewpoint, what you feel comfortable with. And I think it always goes back, what's going to make the biggest behavioral difference?

35:25 Speaker: Um, so like, I know the sweet spots for my children. So for now for the older one, I'll take your phone and that, Ooh, that changes things real fast. Um, but then it goes back to we're having problems with homework. All right. Then what can I do to fix this? Why is he acting up when it comes to this particular problem? And that really the root cause is what you have to kind of figure out what, why is that happening to make this happen?

35:49 Speaker: And do you remember mom used to give advice. Our mother is no longer with us. But if I just remember she would give advice like you need to remember this when you have kids, would you say you follow through with that advice? Yes, I do. And I, you know, it's one of those things you kind of ignore when you're a kid, like whatever, like, like.

36:06 Speaker: No big deal. And now that I'm dealing with these situations, if I and it's so hard, I remember her saying you're never going to want to do it because if you're out doing something with the whole family and you say, if you do that again, we are leaving, then you better leave. She's like, don't you dare make a threat that you're not willing to follow through with. And I've been guilty of not following through. And they learn real fast. Very quick. You give an inch, they take a mile. So they test you in every way. Yes.

36:33 Speaker: So I do pick my that's why I say cool yourself down because if you're going to give up a consequence, it better be one that you are willing. Yeah. But I will say my best parenting moments I've actually followed through and then the next time I make that threat, they know they know you're not playing. For sure.

36:52 Speaker: But it's the hardest thing. So if you're a parent or soon to be, I'm telling that's the hardest advice to take. But don't make empty threats. And when you do follow through with your threat. Exactly. And boy, is that not easy, though, because it ruins my good time. I know. You're at the Ravens party or whatever with family and you're like, we're leaving without one more time. It's like, oh, God, I actually have to do it. I'm having fun. I know. We're the ones that get punished. Exactly. I'm like, I'm going to sit at home and stare at the wall because of you, kid. So choose your consequence wisely.

37:20 Speaker: Yeah, exactly. That's pretty good. All right, so I had a couple other random things. So I guess what can parents do to prepare for their child's first day of school? Because

37:34 Speaker: Rebecca did everything. So A, you can marry the right spouse that does all the things because that's, thank God, how it happened for me. But without that benefit, what advice would you give someone who's going to deal with that situation? For the first day of school, just talk it out. I think it's great. Like most schools have back to school night. We go through, we walk through the classroom. I think that takes away the nerves of where am I supposed to go?

37:59 Speaker: Where's my locker? So we can we can take all of that out of the equation. And we just kind of pretend at least when they're a little like this is how we're going to sit. This is how we're going to look. Have all their school supplies ready. They like that part. Label everything because that stuff is on the floor more than it's on the table.

38:17 Speaker: Yeah, so this is, I mean, that's all good information. I think Rebecca's done most of it. And I can tell you, we've just not done a lot of things. And then we find out from other kids and our kids will come back and say, oh, this person has a water bottle. We're like, oh, yeah.

38:33 Speaker: We're supposed to have done that. Yes. And I mean, you all, you learn as you go. So by number three, you're going to be an expert at this. You're going to be telling the other parents what they need. Oh yeah. I'm sure. Exactly. It's fine. And it's going to be okay. Don't stress it. Kids are so resilient. They go with the flow. We as parents get more stressed than they do. Like I'm like freak out on the first day of school and they're like, oh, it was great. I had a great time. They don't notice anything.

39:01 Speaker: Seriously. Yeah. Well, it's just like a shout out to all the teachers. So I just love teachers in general in terms of the mentality. The ones that in my opinion are authentically teachers, I've just seen the difference. There's such a discrepancy between what I consider to be the great teachers and the ho-hum. I just don't know. That's what I was telling you earlier. It's like some that I think are burnt out and that are still there. And think about if you're putting your heart and soul into everything you do every day,

39:31 Speaker: those are the ones that are getting burned out. And you get, and you just feel so defeated. You're trying so hard, but can only get so far. And so my heart goes out to them, so. So what do we do to keep them, like, should I, what would you appreciate as a teacher that the parents could do? Is there anything that you were like, oh, that was so nice. Is it, are the little gifts, or like, what do you prefer? Do you want a little gift or do you want a gift certificate? Like, do you want a note? Like, what is appreciated the most?

40:00 Speaker: everything, the little notes. Every now and then I'll get a nice little email from a parent saying, you made a huge impact on my child's life. Like I had one that wrote to me saying about school lunch. So my little preschoolers went to lunch this year and how she got to sit with a friend that has a peanut allergy. And she's like, you really set up a great school culture in your classroom that encourage my non allergy student to sit with the peanut allergy student. And that really meant a lot to her. And I was like,

40:30 Speaker: Oh my gosh, like you took time out of your busy day to let me know that I had an impact on your child. So that's wonderful. One of the easiest, sweetest gifts I got from one of my students, they brought us lunch.

40:45 Speaker: Because we as teachers get a 30 minute lunch midday. You can't ever leave to go get lunch. So for her to bring in a hot lunch, that was awesome. Did she let you know in advance? Yes. That's a great idea. And then we got to sit with our team and it's just a simple little thing. But we don't ever get to eat lunch out. So that was fun. It's a great idea. Chick-fil-A for the Lutherville Lab teachers. They'll love you. Tell her I said.

41:11 Speaker: That's fantastic. I'd say a hot, really hot topic right now. I went to back to school night at Lutherville Lab right here in the Towson, Lutherville area, and they're redistricting. And I know that happens with lots of schools all the time, but that is a hot topic. And this is my first experience with kids in a school. We are not affected because we live literally like a half a mile from the school. So thankfully it doesn't affect us, but it affects many others.

41:37 Speaker: And it affects real estate, what I do. Yes. And I was just like, selfishly, I better stick a lot of business cards in this notice because it's going to make some people move. Yes. And that's actually Carroll County. They've been talking for the past couple of years about redistricting. And with one of the options, we would be affected. And so instead of our kids going to the high school that's literally two miles from our house, it would be bust 30 minutes away to a different school because our end of the county is very

42:05 Speaker: Um, very congested with people. So, yeah, the ratings are, is it as good as school or not as good? Um, well, you know, the, the whole reason we moved the whole four miles was to get into the school district. So yes, we were very upset that our two minute drive is going to become a 30 minute drive. So where are the parents that are fighting to keep it as is?

42:29 Speaker: They're just, we are facing overcrowding issues in our end of the county. It's a hot topic. Yeah, well, they're doing it here as well, but they're trying to make it socioeconomically diverse in all these schools. And our school is actually too diverse, they decided.

42:48 Speaker: They're going to take half of the diversity out of our school. I've never heard of such a thing. I've never heard of such a thing either. But that's what they're telling us. All right. Because they have to spread diversity around. And I'm like, that's some wild thinking. They were describing that. I'm like, it's the opposite. Right. And my wife's a New Yorker, right? New York City. She wants this diversity. She's like, I don't want it to be harmonized and whatever. She's like, oh, that sucks. But that's it's working in reverse at our school.

43:14 Speaker: I don't need to know. I don't know. We can send some of ours out your way. Sure. Yeah. Carroll County is a whole different world. Very different place. It's nice. Yes, it is. So my question is, I want to tie this into real estate as we wrap this thing up because

43:29 Speaker: Really, truly, I think all roads in my life always end up in this topic. I don't care if you go to a bar restaurant or just hanging out somehow, someone's going to talk about it because I'm there. And so you managed to buy a home, like you said, just a few miles from your previous home, specifically for a high school or other schools. So you could be in the right district and you wanted to upsize. And I know you don't live and breathe real estate, but are you aware of what the market's like right now as we at the end of 2023?

43:58 Speaker: I know it's not where it was five years ago when I bought. Yeah. Yes. So when we bought five years ago with our anniversaries coming up next week, five years, um, yeah, things were moving fast. Remember we sold our house in four days. Yes. That was intense. Um, and then I think we settled on our house like within a month, by the way, for maybe 10 or 15% over list, just saying you had a good realtor. Yes, I did. Yeah, that was a good one. Yes.

44:26 Speaker: But I know things are slower now. I know interest rates are way up compared to when I bought.

44:34 Speaker: Yeah. And so the reason I ask is because that's all people here on the news. It's usually doom and gloom. And like the idea that if you had to move, do you think now is a good time to move just based on your knowledge of what is going on? Based on my knowledge, which is little, I would say no, thank you. Just because I would I would have to find something better than what I currently have and be guaranteed to that. And I wouldn't be able to move unless I sold this house. So it's like you're kind of like stuck in the middle.

45:02 Speaker: Yeah, and so, and then interest rates have since, do you even know what your interest rate is? You probably, although paid, you probably don't think about it. I don't know how to touch that, but I think it's around 3%. That's right. You know what they are now? Eight. Yeah, about eight. So, every 1% is roughly, give or take, right, about a 10% increase in payment. So, you can do the math. Glad I locked in. That's it. So, it's challenging time. There are ways to help navigate that, but it's challenging.

45:31 Speaker: One of the asset classes in this country that people don't talk about that often is the sub 4% mortgage rate asset class, which is what you have. You better take a gun to my head because I'm not moving because I have this amazing rate. I'm not willing to take a higher payment to sell. As someone who's not involved in this, it's like the conversation I have with someone like yourself is a very reluctant mover

45:56 Speaker: And I think that's gonna eventually force something to happen to this market because right now the prices are still super high. Your home is in five years. This is the good news for you. It's probably appreciated 30% in five years. It's gone dramatically up. And so if you had to move, let's say you already have a bigger home, but if you didn't get the home size you wanted, you could upsize, take the equity and replace it into the new home. So there's options.

46:24 Speaker: Can you tell it's all I talk about? Yup. Because it is everyone's concern. And so you have to be properly motivated to move in this type of market. But there are buy downs. You can buy down your rate. You can get the seller to buy down your rate when you have a motivated seller. There's all these options. Thankfully for you, you don't have to think about it anytime soon.

46:45 Speaker: Thank goodness moving was stressful it is But it's like a PSA out there that if you have to move if you're properly Motivated or you needed the new school district like if you hadn't moved and now you really needed to do it You can still do it everybody like the rates will eventually come down this much. We know you can refinance you can do buy downs you can get creative It's not the end of the world

47:08 Speaker: See that creative thinking that I was talking about? A problem solver. There you go. Boom. You'd be a hell of a realtor, by the way. I think she would be the one you'd want to work with because she'd have the compassion and the love and the all the other craziness. I'd be the shark that you'd be like, oh, my God, I deal with him. Yeah. But I don't know. Just I thought it was interesting to update you as someone who's not really following it. And I was curious to get your thoughts on what it's like. But.

47:34 Speaker: Listen, I'm done. I told him after this move, we're moving to a retirement home because that was stressful. Yeah. Yes. Well, now it's a lot. Yeah. Well, your husband, Ed is planning to build a big garage. I mean, he's really putting down roots there. We're doing it. We're doing it all. We put our water in last year or pre-COVID. So it's all nice. It's the way we want it.

47:56 Speaker: It's it's hooked up. You have the hooked up house. Anybody listen out there. This sister of mine has when she has a cocktail at the bar, she takes this is how you know she's an elementary school teacher. She literally writes the ingredients out. I do. And then she makes it. She puts it in a beautiful frame frame with all the ingredients in a little like a like stamps or menu. You need to know.

48:18 Speaker: Yes. And then she outlines it. It's the most beautiful thing. It's a garnish. With garnishes and she pre garnishes everything. And then she's got little finger foods in front of the sign. So while you're reading, you can enjoy some food. That's how you do it. I'm a hardcore planner. Yeah, I would say. And so also if you're a client and you're listening to this,

48:40 Speaker: Megan used to help us and maybe one day in the future with client gifts. Yes, and ever since we've gone way downhill We need we need your support So maybe when you're tired of preschool, you can come back on my days off I can make some baskets it up She made baskets and we'd give these like let us love on you notes and and we would figure out what people liked and she would source them and It would be the most gorgeous beautiful thing. Yeah, it was also I have fun I was a good creative outlet but a pain in the tail and yeah, I

49:09 Speaker: Driving from Westminster to here to get everything back roads. I Tried. Yeah, but she's still technically a business card. So she's technically in the matter Family if you will brand ambassador, that's it. That's exactly right. Yeah, that's awesome Well, that's it. So I want to wrap this up. I I like to hear an educator's perspective of what's going on it sounds a little dooming gloom in terms of

49:34 Speaker: Like just public education. Everyone's at least around here in the heart of the Baltimore County area. Everyone wants to go to private school and it's like, you know, I don't know. It's a lot of negativity about public school here. It's kind of crazy. And cut the teachers a little bit of a break, though. I know. And literally, I will say you people like everybody that goes to the private school and they talk and my kids are in public school. I was a public school child and like they almost looked down at you like, oh, I thought you cared about your kids.

50:02 Speaker: Oh, we do. Mom did. Exactly. It's like, yes, I do. I'm intentionally putting them in public schools. So stop guilty now. Yeah, exactly.

50:13 Speaker: You know, we turned out I can spell occasionally words correctly. Not too bad. Not too bad. But that's it. But I appreciate you joining me. And this is a little time capsule in 2023 for us to look back on and how the state of the public education system is and was. So thanks for joining me. Thank you, Matt. All righty.