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Playing Teacher
🎙️ What is a teacher, really?
And what’s it actually like inside a New York City school?
Welcome to Playing Teacher, where veteran educators Matt and Rob—with over 40 years of combined experience teaching in NYC—pull back the curtain on the myths, realities, and moments that make education unforgettable (for better or worse). From the mysterious teacher’s lounge to the myth of “summer off,” they explore what really happens when the classroom door closes.
This isn’t a shiny brochure version of school. It’s the real deal:
🧠 Learning vs. schooling.
❤️ What kids actually carry with them.
🔥 How teachers and counselors survive systems built to burn them out.
And when we’re lucky enough to have her, we’re joined by Beanie—school counselor, educator, and recurring co-host—who brings powerful insight, grounded compassion, and the kind of perspective only someone who's worked both inside and around the classroom can offer.
👥 Guests range from teachers, students, and administrators to learning scientists, former kids (yes, really), and other unexpected voices from the world of education.
Whether you're in the classroom, supporting from the sidelines, or just trying to make sense of how we learn and why it matters—this is your hallway pass to the inside.
Playing Teacher
Episode 2: Preps and Lunches (and Superpong)
In this episode of Playing Teacher, Matt, Rob, and Brugge crack open one of the most sacred and underrated parts of the school day: preps and lunches. More than just breaks, these windows of time were life-saving lifelines in the relentless hustle of NYC public school teaching. We reflect on how these moments offered space to breathe, plan, decompress—or just stare into the void with a slice of pizza in hand.
But it wasn’t all quiet recovery. Sometimes, it was survival through play. Enter Superpong—a game we invented during our lunch breaks that blended absurdity, competition, and much-needed laughter. Part coping mechanism, part creative rebellion, Superpong became our ritual, our reset, and occasionally… our battleground.
Tune in for stories from the teacher trenches, the weird things that keep you sane, and the essential truth that sometimes the best professional development happens with a paddle in your hand and a chicken patty on your tray.
