TeachedUp Comics: Enter Coworker Bob

From Collection 1 - Year One, "The Rookie"

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character Bob the mentor is introduced

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In this episode, Bob Tullman is introduced. He's a veteran science educator who has decided to take "the new guy" Anthony Culpepper under his wing. Bob's actually pretty crucial to Pepp's development, as you'll see throughout the series.

Here's what I originally shared on LinkedIn:
#Teaching is not easy. Understatement of the century?

Many of the characters in my hashtag#TeachedUpComics are conglomerates of folks I've gotten to know over the years. I could write these for decades - and if I get the chance (and your support and hashtag#encouragement), I will! That's because my life and career have been enriched by some really incredible people. I've also been in some hard places.

#Education troubles are a unique issue on their own, made worse by the fact that society doesn't pay close attention to them until there's a serious problem in front of their eyes (or homes, or streets, or institutions, or personnel offices, or purses/wallets).

One thing that this comic _hints_ at is the disconnect between seasoned h#instructors and newbies. The world of education dramatically changes while at the same time some parts of it can be a century out-of-date. It's confusing, and without the proper mentoring, new teachers can really get into early ruts.

My hope is that I can help encourage new teachers (and seasoned teachers) to start having conversations about issues, and for administrators to be a big part of that, as well. I think these comics may have a place in this big wide world of education and training.

I hope you agree..! Your Likes and Comments are tremendously appreciated - especially as I'm just getting this off the ground.
Incidentally, there's a story behind the "toy that goes 'moo' when you shake it." You see, I was teaching in my first classroom (we called it "The Dungeon," because technically it wasn't a classroom.. it was an old lab area that was repurposed as a classroom - maybe I'll discuss it more in the future, but suffice to say it didn't lend itself well to classroom management (or student comfort) and my heart sank when I first realized it's where I'd be teaching for half the day). I kept hearing this "moo" noise going off... and I had a sense of the general direction from which the sound was coming.

After a couple of these interruptions (and resulting giggles), the student slipped up and the toy rolled out of his hands and onto the ground... Well, I happened to have worn my steel-toed boots that day (don't ask me why, questionable footwear decisions happen when you grow up in a construction family). Somehow, my heavy boot made contact with the toy.... and that was the end of the moo-sound. Classroom management at its finest, am I right?

You may think this was a tragic end to the toy, but it lives on in a story that I've told time and again - certainly far past its manufacturer's expectations. Would I be more careful with where I stepped in a future situation? Yeah, I'd say it wasn't my finest moment. Instead, now, I'd take the toy... tell my story... and then each time that student asked a question I'd interrupt with a 'moo' sound... oh wait, no, that would just be vengeful... I mean I'd... okay, there's no coming back from that statement. I'd totally be vengeful. :0P'