Teacher Shift

Grab Your Pumpkin Spice Latte and Start the Job Hunt, Now!

• Ali Simon & JoDee Scissors • Episode 96

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Fall is just around the corner! You know what that means? Grab a pumpkin spice latte and start job hunting!

Today, Ali and JoDee sit down to chat about why the fall is the prime time to start preparing your resume and start filling out job applications—which can be done with a pumpkin spice latte in hand. They’ll discuss everything you need to know so that you’re ready to make the big shift when it happens. 

They talk more about:

  • Crafting a tailored resume 
  • Narrowing down your job search to 2-3 different roles 
  • Building up your network and creating connections’
  • The major hurdle most teachers face when leaving teaching 
  • And more!


Episodes mentioned in this episode:



Screen Deep
A podcast decoding young brains and behavior in a digital world.

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Connect with Ali and JoDee:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teachershift
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Teacher Shift LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/teacher-shift
Ali’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisimon/
JoDee’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodeescissors/

Website
https://www.teachershiftpodcast.com/

Episode Transcriptions
https://www.teachershiftpodcast.com/blog

Ali  0:06  
Teachers are natural innovators, entertainers and problem solvers. They dream of growing old into the profession teaching their kids kids, but sometimes career goals shift, and that makes opportunities outside of the classroom seem intangible, questioning, who am I if I'm not a teacher? I'm your host, Ali Simon.

JoDee  0:29  
And I'm your co host, JoDee Scissors.

Ali  0:32  
And this is Teacher Shift. 

Hey, JoDee, do you know what season it is?

JoDee  0:46  
Pumpkin spice season?

Ali  0:48  
Well, that's debatable. And we're a show about teacher shifts.

JoDee  0:54  
I don't know, a pumpkin spice latte and a shift, they might go hand in hand. 

Speaker 1  0:59  
You're right. There's a lot of pumpkin spice buzz happening right now, but the fall will really be buzzing with jobs. So anyone considering a shift has some work to do now.

JoDee  1:09  
That is so true. My social algorithms right now, like my feed, are just like full of PSLs and women's basketball and dogs, and I need to get it back on track, back on course for understanding the job market, which is what it used to be. Ali, do you dabble in PSLs before the official fall date arrives?

Speaker 1  1:32  
So funny enough, I went to Trader Joe's about two hours ago and picked this little guy or gal, which is a La Colombe draft latte, pumpkin spice. It's actually my first time having this one. It's a little too sugary for me, if I'm being honest our listeners. I'm still going to drink the whole thing, though, because I really needed coffee.

JoDee  1:52  
I literally watched a reel yesterday that was like, fully like, what you can get at Trader Joe's. But I'm with you. Like, sometimes it's like, they can be a little bit too sweet for my taste.

Speaker 1  2:04  
Yeah, it's funny though. I I did pass the the pumpkin bread, and I wasn't ready for that yet. How do you feel about pumpkin bread?

JoDee  2:14  
That's my like, pumpkin spice choice for sure. I will eat that year round with some black tea and enjoy every bit of that. It just like it makes me feel warm and cozy. I feel like an old English woman in the countryside just some bread and some tea. I don't know, I love, love that flavor and the pumpkin bread, like year round. I do wish, though that like job hunting was as easy as finding a shelf or shelves or aisle full of pumpkin spice lattes or pumpkin spice stuff, but it's just really not the case. Like finding and hunting for a job like it's hard. It's not as easy as something that's available to you on a shelf all the time, not all the time, but for the season.

Speaker 1  2:57  
No, for sure. And this week, actually, I was doing Apply Thursday, and there were not nearly as many jobs this week that I thought would be great for teacher shifts that I've seen in previous weeks. It probably took me twice the amount of time to find job opportunities to share out, and I didn't find nearly as great of opportunities. I did my best listeners, and we always do our best, but the market really does fluctuate. And so we did a little bit of research on this. And according to Forbes, the prime months to apply for jobs are January and February. You can apply for jobs year round, but the hiring process really starts to energize in the fall. And so this is time of year is really as important as any other time of year, but particularly when it comes to building new job hunting habits and breaking old ones.

JoDee  3:47  
So this week was probably challenging, because we're coming off summer, like people went on vacation for Labor Day weekend, and they're not ready to, like, rev up those jobs on the boards yet, but it sounds like in the coming weeks it should be buzzing, right? 

Speaker 1  4:03  
Yeah, I'm hoping that that means that there will be more job opportunities. I think it also really depends on the fiscal year that the company operates on. So like government, they have a lot of their jobs that are, they're trying to fill ferociously before the end of the fiscal year, which is the end of September. But then other organizations, they may run more of like a calendar year, January toDecember. And so that's why I think you see a lot of job openings in January and February. 

JoDee  4:30  
You make a really good point, like I I'm thinking about this organizations I work with, and one's fiscal year starts in January, another starts in July, and another one starts in October. And so that does make a difference. 

Ali  4:45  
It does because if you have funding for a position that needs to be filled before the end of that fiscal year. So you know, it's hard to know that when you're on a job board or you're looking for jobs, but know that that's why there are those distinctions and fluctuations, and when you might see jobs, you know, coming up. And really applying to jobs needs to be a very well thought out process. It's not just like, get one resume together and spray and pray and just like apply to as many jobs as possible. No, it needs to be a more calculated decision. And so this is really the perfect time of year for you to get your pumpkin spice latte or whatever makes you feel warm and fuzzy, and to start doubling down and doing the hard work to set yourself up for a career transition as we move throughout this school year and preparing potentially by the end of next school year to transition out, or I guess, this school year, to transition out into a different career.

JoDee  5:43  
I also just want to like emphasize that sometimes, at least I exhibited this kind of like habit as a teacher, where I did a lot of binging during breaks and on the weekends, when it came to.... whether it was like job hunting or just projects in general. And so I think breaking some of those habits of not just like binging all the time. That like we're coming into a new season. And so some of the things that we have to do are break habits. Wouldn't you agree?

Ali  6:22  
I think it's a combination of breaking bad habits and then establishing good habits. So like, I was helping a friend recently who was looking for jobs at a specific company into this, like her dream company. And I just said, you have to check it all the time, like you can, if you can set up alerts, great, but a part of your routine can be once a day, like, have it saved on your phone, the website of the employment opportunities and just check. Because unfortunately, what can happen is you're like, Oh, I'm out of the habit of applying for jobs, because it's not like the one weekend a month that I'm binging, and then you miss that opportunity. Or it's been open for four weeks and they've already found a candidate. So if you have your heart set on something really particular, or you just want to start looking at jobs that might be something you'd like to consider, make that a habit. Say, I'm going to spend 10 minutes every morning or every evening looking at these few websites, and make that a part of your routine. And once you do that, as we all know, it becomes habit. So like good habits, bad habits, break the bad ones, and be really intentional with your time. I think, is the most important thing. And we know teachers right now are super busy, like they just started school. They're finally maybe getting into the hang of things. And if you're looking to make a transition, you're going to have to use what time you have available really wisely. 

JoDee  7:47  
Yeah, it also might mean, like, trading habits. It might mean trading in your volleyball coach role and moving that into you some you time at Starbucks where you're, you know, drinking your PSL, and you're applying for jobs. So it just might mean, like you have to trade some things to make things happen. And I know that, like, in what we do, like right now, there are certain things that I have had to trade in order to make sure that we are consistent and successful. And like, delivering this podcast, right I just told you that, like,

Speaker 1  8:22  
I went to the PTA meeting in my sense, new school last night, and it took everything in me not to run for an officer role, because normal Ali would want to be, like, super involved. I'm like, No, this is an observation year. We just moved. We're in a new school district. I want to be involved, but I have limitations, because I do have things like the Teacher Shift podcast, and I do have, like, my own kids transition into their new schools, need to be my priority. And so figure out, what can you say no to. And this is, this goes back to other episodes that we've had, like, great episode with Annabelle Allen on setting boundaries. You know, make sure that you're really saying no when you need to, so that you can say yes to the things that you need to prioritize in this moment, which if you're looking to make a shift, we don't want you waiting until March to start this process. 

JoDee  9:14  
And also, if you're just binge applying, and you burn yourself out, you're going to lose the motivation. If you can really just build a habit of exercising good like skills, for being able to get alerts, making sure that it's, you know, a good fit for you, it's just going to work out better if you if you can have a little bit of endurance through the year, you know. But a lot of people have amped their resumes up in the summer, so they might be ready for fall applicationsThey might be ready they might have, like, their multiple jobs that they're going to apply for. You know, like, we always kind of say, like, pick like, two or three roles that you might  be interested in, but those people might be ready to kind of hit the ground running in the fall and then keep that momentum going in January and February. But if you haven't spent that summer kind of fine tuning all of those things, then you might have to do that this fall to then rev up for January and February. But you know, if you know that that's on the horizon, we just want to make sure also that you are not rage applying. Have you heard of this kind of like trend in applicant behaviors about rage applying?

Speaker 1  10:34  
I haven't quite heard it framed that way, but I can see how that happens. And I think the idea is, like, the more jobs I apply to, the better chance I have. I would argue that your time is better spent crafting a resume, or, like JoDee said, One, two, maybe three roles. Maybe you're interested in going into curriculum design. Maybe you're interested in going into project management. Maybe you're interested in going into something completely different. Craft your resume around those specific roles, and then you'll just need to tailor them to the specific job openings that you're applying to. The way I see it is kind of like, if you're training for a marathon, you can't just like rage train. You can't just, like, all of a sudden decide you're going to train for a marathon. I mean, some people maybe do it if you're very physically fit, like, a month before. 

JoDee  11:28  
Yeah, there are those people that are successful when they're impulsive like that, but it's a it's a very small percentage compared to those that trained. 

Ali  11:38  
If you're training for a marathon. I've only ever trained for a half marathon, and that was it. At the end of it, I wasn't like, oh, I want to do that again. So I would just say, create, like, a timeline for yourself. And have, you know, have some actionable steps. And one of the first things is to really start setting alerts on LinkedIn and other job boards and start following, like JoDee said, the two to three types of jobs that you want to shift into. And then as you build that resume that's tailored to those types of jobs, then you'll start applying to jobs. And keep track of those. Keep track of, you know, the dates that you apply. And you'll notice some trends. Maybe you'll notice, honestly, one thing I noticed is that sometimes roles are not coming available at companies year round, and so you may be really wanting to work for one specific company, and you're going to need to be on top of that, because roles there may be difficult to get, and it may be just once or twice a year that something like that comes up. So I think honing in on what you're looking to do if you're going to make a shift, and then setting yourself up for success by taking some of these initial actionable steps. So JoDee, I'm going to pass it over to you to kind of outline a little bit more of what that can look like if you're, you know, building a resume. 

JoDee  12:59  
Yeah, I think, like we said, when you build a resume, and you kind of have those two to three type of roles that you're looking for, you can start to expand upon that. You could start working on your elevator pitch, which is one of the episodes that we talked about in regards to you securing your latest role, and how important that elevator pitch was, and following industry professionals, following specific organizations. And when I say follow, I'm really talking about the professional community that exists on LinkedIn. And so in addition to that, there are the options to confer and get services from people that are really experts in this area, which is making a resume and maybe hiring a recruiter. And we have episodes on that too, but like, if you're ready to gear up this fall, if you know that, like this is the next phase. You have to be consistent, and you cannot exhibit the binge or the rage behaviors because the percentage of success is very small, and honestly, it's disappointing. You know? 

Ali  14:20  
When you're describing that, I think, like, it's really hard when you decide to leave teaching. We talk about it on the show. Like, when I decided to leave teaching, I didn't have anything lined up. I decided to leave because we had a health scare, and I took some time off. And then when I went back to work, I was like, I don't think I can go back into teaching. It doesn't work. But it was, it was hard enough to, like, have that part of my identity feel lost. And then when I'm applying for jobs outside of teaching, you know, it makes you feel like, Oh, I'm just a teacher. There's nothing else that I can do outside of teaching. I guess I'm just going to have to stick with that, or stick with something very closely related. And it can really feel like defeating, like you could feel defeated, and it can make you lose confidence and lose hope. And I mean, those are all natural things that you'd feel if you get rejected from jobs. But I think what JoDee and I really want to share with you is that it doesn't have to be that way if you're really proactive. If you listen to advice from experts that we've had on the show, some guidance that we're outlining in today's episode, that you can set yourself up to be more successful. And I think what you'll learn is if you take the time to craft a resume that's tailored around one or two specific roles, and you start applying for those, and then you're noticing that you're not getting interviews, or that there's a trend, maybe you're getting interviews for one type of a role but not the other. That's better data to say there's something wrong with this resume that I'm submitting because I'm getting callbacks for this customer service role, but I'm not getting callbacks for this curriculum design role. And so how can I make my resume even stronger for the role that I'm not getting the callbacks from. And, you know, we love data. Teachers love data. 

JoDee  16:06  
Yes, yes. Well, and you know, like, that's exactly it. Like the response time is not going to be expedited in the way that it is when they are trying to hire and fill positions in schools. It's just not.  There's a lot of waiting around time, and you have to use that time to your advantage, which we talked about before. But like, if you are, if you're binging and burning yourself out, if you are waiting to hear around like it's it's not going to work in your favor. You have to be consistent, you have to apply. You have to keep those alerts, and you just have to keep going. And I think last week's episode with Brooke was just like it was proof. It was proof that perseverance pays off, that failure pays off. She was not shy about her transition. She did not she did not like sugar coat the ups and downs of the finances, the test taking, the getting her feet on the ground like she didn't sugarcoat that. But what she did was she kept her eye on the prize, and was like, I'm gonna keep going. I'm gonna keep going. And she got there, and she's, like, wildly successful in what she does, and we know that other guests who have been in other industries have done the same. They just, they kept going because they knew deep down that this was the right choice for them. And so maybe you might not have that like deep will.  like, you're okay, kind of like teetering on either end and that's okay. But some people are like, this is the end goal. And that's why, when I applied for jobs, I resigned and said, I'm not coming back next year. And what that did was it lit a fire under me. It was what I had to do to commit to this decision. I didn't want to be teetering. I wanted to just put myself on that path. You know what I mean? 

Ali  18:16  
Yeah, and I think that that's that's something that now is a really good time to set that goal for yourself, like I'm going to be diligent about my marathon training plan for career transition this school year, right? And so now that, now that school started, now that you're hopefully getting into a routine, make that time to work on you, to work on your resume, to do research into potential career fields. And it doesn't have to be like five days a week. It might just be every Sunday morning. I'm going to dedicate that to to being on LinkedIn, to looking for job opportunities in other places, to working on my resume, to meeting with different people, having coffee with someone to, like, see if that's a good career field for me. What I think is important is like, if you know this is your last year, like, go all in. K now that, and when it's when it comes time to renew your contract, you won't be coming back. And that's scary, but it's also really powerful, because it does put you in that position where you're like, Okay, I'm doing this. This is real.

JoDee  19:26  
Yeah, well, also, and on the topic of that, like, network, is that you can't rely just on, like, a few people in your network. And I'm, I'm saying this, like, I want to be very pointed about this too, is that, like, I have a lot of people that reach out to me looking for a job that are in my network, or, like they're transitioning teachers. And while I wish I had a job that I could refer every single one of these people to, I don't. I might. Have one or two jobs a year that I can make a referral to, and they're all over the place. They're all all different types of industries. And so I'm saying this in a way that you can't have just one person in your corner. When it comes to the transition, you have to have multiple people in your corner, even if it's not somebody that you have known for a long time, they're just people that are championing for good people and educators making a transition. So and there are those people, there are tons of people out there that are willing to build those relationships, but you have to really expand and not just count on those few people. You really have to do the work. 

Yeah, and I think what JoDee's really trying to push here is that building connections and networking can help you get a job. And we've heard it from our guests. We've heard guests that have come onto the show that have said, I applied for a job at x company. I was connected with someone on LinkedIn who was, like, a second or third, you know, contact, and I sent them a message.

Ali  21:10  
I said, Hi, so and so, I just applied for this role at your company. You know, could you? Could you tell me more about what you do? Because I see you're in a similar role, and those interactions can actually lead to that person saying to the hiring manager, like, Hey, I just connected with JoDee, and she's interested in this role. I looked at her LinkedIn profile, it looks really good, like she's really qualified for this job. And that makes a difference. You know, I have personally recommended people that I've known, that I've met, to roles at companies that I worked at before, and it maybe it doesn't help them get the job, but it helps them get the interview. They have to get the job right. They have to be the most qualified candidate. It's just getting that introduction. It's getting your foot in the door. And as much as I hate that our world works like this, it is who you know. And so building those connections, 

JoDee  22:00  
B ut you can't go into it like entitled. Like, you know, somebody like that is the worst. I have heard so many stories from people that were like, I thought I had this job. And I was like, but did you go in the interview 

Ali  22:14  
thinking you had the job

JoDee  22:15  
 with that attitude? And some people were like, Yeah, I kind of did. And I'm like, you have, like, people want to know that you want that job and you work for it, that you weren't just like given the job. You have to show that you actually are qualified and deserving for it. And even if you do know somebody which is really awesome, like they got you there, but you really have to shine. You have to be the one that shines, not your friend. They've already proven themselves, you know. 

Ali  22:43  
And I think looking for a job is so like multifaceted, because it's not just the resume. It's not just the cover letter. It's not just applying. I        nvt's also interviewing. And so throughout this process, if you start now, you know, by the time you get to January or February, you will be more refined, and you can hit the ground running in the new year. And you will know by that point if you've been active and looking for jobs, getting things ready, applying, maybe you do have an interview or two to. So learn about what your own weaknesses are like I discovered I have a weakness. I really feel like I do a good job at interviewing, but sometimes I speak for too long, like I share too long of a response. I realized that my first interview after I had been at the same job for a while, and I was like, Okay, I could have been more concise. Like, brevity can be your friend sometimes. You don't need to speak for as long as possible. So discover those things about yourself and then improve upon them.

JoDee  23:43  
Yeah, also, just like if you're putting yourself out there, you need to also be prepared if someone offers you an interview or offers you a job. If you're in the middle of a school year and you're applying for jobs and you get a job offer, your goal is to not be in that same position next year. You need to be prepared to take that job. They're not going to wait until the end of your contract. Very rarely. If you're, like, really close into like, you know, may end of April, maybe you can negotiate that. But I always tell people, if you're applying for jobs in the middle of the school year and you get a job offer that you want, you need to be prepared to take it. But you can go about it in a really professional way in order to prepare whoever's going to fill your your shoes to ensure that like students are successful, or if you're a support teacher or your whatever, whatever role you may may hold, there's a way to do it professionally so the transition can be okay. The most common thing we get is the kids, but the kids, the kids they need me. If there is a solid human being in that role that is filling in for you, if there is a qualified person in there your kids, which is what we hope is the case. You know, like we hope that the hiring people in schools are making those really good choices for our student population, but like the kids are going to be okay. And I can tell you that because Allie and I both keep in contact with our former students, and they are okay.

Ali  25:36  
They're okay. And I will tell you that you know, in reflecting as educators, we played an important role in the lives of young people. That is a fact, right? We spend, if you're an elementary school teacher, you're spending hours of a child's day, sometimes more than their own parents spend with them during the school year. So it's really, really important role. However, kids are resilient, and like JoDee said, if there's another adult that they bring in a best case scenario, they're qualified. They're excited. I've actually served as a long term sub before when someone went out during maternity leave, or when people have left their school and they're able to get people in there, hopefully, you know, in this situation. But I don't want you to live with this guilt that's like, oh, like, it's going to be so hard. It's going to be hard whenever you leave. It's going to be hard if you leave in June. It's going to be hard if you leave in March. It's going to be hard if you leave in December. It's going to be hard on you. You're going to feel bad. That is a normal feeling to say, like, I don't want to leave my students. I feel bad, I feel guilty. Those are natural reactions. I think what you have to to do is just decide what's the best thing for you personally in that moment.

JoDee  26:47  
Yeah, because also, like the adults and the kids are not sitting around mulling in you leaving like they're not, I want to say this like kindly, but like they're not spending all their time thinking about you, you know? 

They're not, and that's, that's where I feel like we're kind of, like, not like, self centered or selfish, but

Ali  27:07  
you're like, oh, it's gonna be so hard. It's like, well, you know, they still have their soccer coach, they still have their whatever. Like, you might be that person for a few students, but keep in touch with them. Like, in my case, I was a high school teacher, so it was easier to build those relationships. I still connect with my students, my former students, but really decide. You know, are you ready to make that commitment if you get the job offer, be prepared that you may have to leave in the middle of the school year. What would that look like? What are the repercussions about leaving in the middle of the school year? Are you certain you're never going back to teaching? Because some districts do have some penalties for leaving in the middle of the school year, so you should be aware of those.

JoDee  27:45  
That's true. Last week, just like randomly out of nowhere, I had two families that I.. or kids families that I used to teach, contact me like in the same week. It was totally bizarre. They were sending me pictures of their their kids and how they've grown up, and they're both seniors this year, and I don't know what happened, but they had both, like, thought about me that week, and they sent me, like, an update, a family update. And one of them said, I'm going to be honest with you, you set the bar very high. We hadn't had an educator as engaging as you. And I said, you know, I was just like, I'm so sorry. That's all that was always. My biggest fear is that when kids move on that they may not have, there's just those kids that, like, really count on that relationship with their teacher. And you kind of have to know who those kids are. I feel sad that that child didn't go on and have that lasting connection. But the connection between us never left, was never lost. And the connection that that child had with their family is really tight, too, and the friendships are really tight. And so while, yeah, I do have those thoughts about kids moving on at the end of the message, it came around that, like He's found his way and he's okay. That was the that was like, he's doing great. He's a senior now, and he's doing great. And even though he didn't have his favorite teacher going all the way through high school, like it's never going to be that case. You know, you're always, always moving on.

Ali  29:18  
It's true. And I mean, I think about my son had this amazing teacher in fourth grade, just like the best teacher he probably, you know, he ever had in elementary school, who was really like an expert teacher. I mean, he'd been an educator for a long time. And in fifth grade, it was hard for us because the teacher just wasn't the same as the fourth grade teacher. B ut I knew at the end of the day, you know, because I was a teacher, I was like, Well, you can't keep comparing your new teacher to your former teacher. That's not really fair. They're different people. They have different different strengths and different weaknesses. But I think that it's also good for for students to learn that, for parents to learn that. Like your bosses aren't always going to be the same in the workplace, right? Yeah,

JoDee  30:05  
Yeah, you're totally right. Like you have to... I always tell I always have that conversation with my daughter is like, you have to know how to be around people that are not like you, that have different means than you, that maybe deliver instruction different than what is your preferred way. Like, you can't go in and just like, curate every aspect. It's just not that's just not the real world. So you have to be able to adapt and have like, really courageous conversations when conflict arises. 

Ali  30:36  
So I think I just want to come back to really, the main purpose of today's episode, which is to give you the encouragement that you need to start now, to start in the fall, to prepare yourself if you're interested in making a career shift, a teacher shift, and get your ducks in a row. Get your pumpkin spice lattes. Get your pumpkin bread.

JoDee  30:59  
Reward yourself, reward yourself for your hard work, and create those positive habits.

Ali  31:06  
And we're here. We'll be providing you with some more tips. We'll have some new guests on as we progress through the fall and the winter to try to inspire you. But we're here. We're your cheerleaders. We believe in you. We know that if you put in the time that you will be successful, even though we've compared it to marathon training, it's not a race. It takes longer for some people than it does for others, and that's okay. The important part is that you're really purposeful in what you're doing to prepare for a career transition. You're really thinking things through, and we encourage you to listen to other episodes that you've mentioned today to learn more about how you can do that successfully.

JoDee  31:47  
And remember that shifts can also just be about your mindset, about your workload, about moving into other roles. So even though today was about shifting into like, completely different job. There are other bite sized things you can do before that.

Ali  32:04  
Definitely. And it might even just be a shift within your building. Maybe you want to be a reading specialist. Maybe you want to be an instructional coach. So think about how you can prepare yourself for those types of shifts as well inside the schoolhouse as you move into this new school year. Thanks again for listening. We'll link in our show notes the other episodes that we mentioned.

Are you interested in suggesting a topic for Teacher Shift, being a guest, or recommending a guest? Please see the episodes page on our website to make a submission, and if you'd like to write for us, see our blog page. If you liked teacher shift, give us a five star rating and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Apple podcasts, Spotify and Amazon music. Today's episode was written and recorded by me, Ali Simon and my co host, JoDee Scissors. Executive produced by Teacher Shift. Produced and edited by Emily Porter. Original music: Emoji by Tubebackr.