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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 14: Field Trip Fails, Emergency Room Runs, and Outback Steakhouse
In this unforgettable episode of Playing Teacher, Rob, Brugge, and Matthew take us behind the scenes of one of the most chaotic rituals in education: the school field trip.
It all begins with a subway disaster—Matthew describes watching a class trip unravel on public transit, complete with unsupervised elementary students and overwhelmed teachers. That story kicks off a deep (and hilarious) dive into the real logistics, emotional toll, and occasional absurdity of planning field trips as educators.
Brugge brings the heat with a list of classic class trip tales, including the time a second-grade class learned about Australian culture at... Outback Steakhouse. She also recalls her very wrong turn in Philadelphia, being lost during a track team trip, and managing Minecraft and cheerleading excursions gone sideways. Rob reflects on the stress of real emergencies, recounting moments where students weren’t picked up after events or had to be taken to the hospital—situations that blur the line between teacher and crisis responder.
The team shares their own memories from childhood trips (or lack thereof), reflects on how school trip culture has changed, and closes with some lighter moments, including a teetering school bus on a concrete divider, He-Man nostalgia, and Brugge's upcoming job interview.
If you've ever planned a field trip, survived one, or just want to hear what it's really like from the teachers' side of the clipboard, this one’s for you.
