Summary: Mr. Mortenson is the fun, caring teacher you had - or wish you'd had - in elementary school. Hear him relate his journey to elementary teaching and dispense, in his inimitably lighthearted manner, how to achieve the following:

• Learning from mentor teachers (like Uncle Evan)
• Thoroughly enjoying the job ("If you've been teaching for a while and you still feel like you're babysitting, something's not right")
• Floating a family of five as the primary breadwinner
• Building positive relationships with students and parents
• Responding if a student calls you out for farting in class

Disclaimer: Sorry about the mixed audio quality on our mics - not sure what happened to the soundboard.

Shout-outs: Uncle Evan Mortenson; single parents.

Resources mentioned: The Reminder app, Stuart Brown's book Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul

Three hours after the students have left on the last day of school, Shaun and Kevin discuss plans for next year, notes of appreciation for students, and how they used their manliness to help a 1st grade teacher move her kiva to her new school. Also class pets, both living and plush.

Featured teacher strategy: Class notes. As Maya Angelou said, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Shaun explains how he learned through trial and error to write notes of appreciation that his students truly value.

Shout-outs: Departing 6th grade team lead Madi Hamilton, head custodian Nancy Keele.

As Tolkien famously wrote and EleMANtary co-host Kevin Klein has unwittingly lived, Not all who wander are lost. Hear how Kevin found his home teaching elementary, a journey involving 8 years of college at 3 universities, teen residential treatment centers, Australian chicken processing plants and Catholic schools, taekwondo, obscure Modernist poetry, old-school World Book encyclopedias, and Kip Dynamite.