Teachers in Transition – Episode 219: To-Don’t Lists, Magnets, and Odd Interview Questions

Today on the podcast Vanessa talks using a To-Don’t list as a way to ward off stress and improve resilience, a quick hack with magnets that creates beauty and safety and a continuation of potential interview question.  In part4 of that mini-series this week, Vanessa touches on some unusually questions that might get thrown at you. 

Here are the questions from today’s Part IV: 
 1. What animal symbolizes who you are?

2. Why is a manhole cover round?

3. Describe your closet.

4. If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be and why?

5. Imagine someone gave you an elephant, and you can't sell it or give it away. What do you do with it?

6. Are you more of a hunter or a gatherer?

7. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring three things, what would you bring and why?

8. You’re a new addition to the crayon box. What color would you be and why?

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And remember to send your comments, stories, and random thoughts to me at TeachersinTransitionCoaching@gmail.com!  I look forward to reading them.  Would you like to hear a specific topic on the pod?  Send those questions to me and I’ll answer them. Feel free to connect with Vanessa on LinkedIn!

The transcript of this podcast can be found on the podcasts’ homepage at Buzzsprout. 

Transcript

Are you a teacher who is feeling stressed out and overwhelmed? do you worry that you're feeling symptoms of burnout - or are you sure you've already gotten there? Have you started to dream of doing something different or a new job or perhaps pursuing an entirely different career - but you don't know what else you're qualified to do? You don't know how to start a job search and you just feel stuck. If that sounds like you, I promise you are not alone. my name is Vanessa Jackson; and I am a career transition and job search coach and I specialize in helping burnt out teachers just like you deal with the overwhelmingly stressful nature of your day-to-day job and to consider what other careers might be out there waiting for you. You might ask yourself, What tools do I need to find a new career?  Are my skills valuable outside the classroom?  How and where do I even get started?  These are all questions you deserve answers to, and I can help you find them.  I’m Vanessa Jackson. Come and join me for Teachers in Transition.  

***Hi!  And Welcome back to another episode of Teachers in Transition. I am your host, Vanessa Jackson – I’m a career transition and job search coach specializing in teachers. I teach you how to navigate the journey from stressed, overwhelmed and burnt-out teacher to your next career where you are valued, challenged, and have mental and emotional space at the end of your workday for whatever you want. I provide tips and suggestions to help with stress and mental health, hacks and recommendations to help you through your day, and job-hunting tips.  If you are frustrated with your current teaching position, if you are stressed, overwhelmed, and burned out you are in the right place – Welcome! Today on the podcast I talk about using a To-Don’t list as a way to protect your boundaries, ward off stress, and improve serenity.  Then I’ll cover a quick hack about magnets that creates beauty and safety. And I’ll finish up today by touching on unusual questions that might get thrown at you in part 4 of our mini-series on potential interview questions. 

 Today, in our segment surrounding stress and mental health, we’re going to explore a different tool. As teachers, possibly parents, and busy professionals, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by our endless to-do lists and responsibilities.  

You’ve heard me talk about my love for to-do lists and “Ta-Da!” lists. Y’all know I love my lists! This episode has two separate lists in it! (laughs) I love a good to-do list! But here’s the thing: managing stress isn’t just about what you do—it’s also about what you don’t do. So, in this segment, we’re going to explore the concept of a To-Don't list, a simple but powerful tool to help you set boundaries, reduce stress, and protect your mental well-being. This will empower you to remember what you DON’T want to do.  

A To-Don't list is a list of things you are absolutely not going to do. And trust me, this can be super empowering because it helps you set clear boundaries, which we, as teachers, often struggle to maintain. So, today, I want to share a few suggestions for what you might want to include on your own To-Don't list.

#1: Don’t stay at work past a certain time.
Let’s be real – the job is never-ending. You’re never going to "finish" all the work, and that’s okay. The work will still be there tomorrow. Plus, you could finish grading in your comfy jammies while binge-watching your favorite show. Or maybe, you’ve simply done enough for the day and need to rest. Honor that!

#2: Don’t punish yourself with your students’ assignments.
Hear me out. I know this sounds harsh, but here's what I mean: make sure the assignments you give your students are manageable for you to grade. High school English teachers, I know you're probably screaming at me right now. If you’re grading essays, consider focusing on one element at a time. For example, grade just the thesis statements and introductory sentences for this round. Next time, maybe it’s the conclusion or evidence. They’re still writing a great deal, but you’re not drowning in essays every weekend. I hope this makes sense. Or am I just talking out of my left ear? Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!

#3: Don’t pack unhealthy food – fuel your body properly.
This one is huge. What we eat affects our physical, emotional, and mental health. Packing junk food adds unnecessary stress to your body and mind. Now, I get it – you might be thinking, "Meal plans? Ugh, please!" But listen, meal planning doesn’t have to be about creating Gordon Ramsay-worthy dishes. Just choose some simple meals you can rotate through the week. Make five weeks’ worth and rotate those. I promise your family won’t even notice if you switch up the days. And bonus? It saves you money, too! I used to walk through grocery aisles just tossing things into my cart, and my bill would be about $200 a week. Now, with more targeted shopping, it’s around $125, even though groceries are more expensive than they used to be. To be fair, my kids are older and in some cases, grown and gone. 

#4: Don’t stay up too late.
I know how tempting it is to stay up late trying to finish that one last thing. But when you short your sleep, you make tomorrow that much harder, and the stress piles on. It’s a vicious cycle you don’t need. So, respect your need for rest. You deserve to be well-rested and ready to face the day.

#5: Don’t overload your to-do list.
This might be the hardest one. You can have a running list of everything that needs to be done, but limit yourself to just the top three most important tasks that absolutely have to be done on each day. The reality is, your work is never done, a parent’s work is never done, and honestly, no one’s work is ever truly done. But if you narrow your focus to just three key things a day, you’ll feel more accomplished and less overwhelmed.

The best way to manage stress is to position yourself to be resilient to it, and creating a To-Don't list helps with that. So, take some time, reflect on your own boundaries, and start your list. And feel free to adapt these to suit YOUR needs in YOUR situation. 

and I’d love to hear about what you added to your To-Don't list. Remember, setting limits for yourself isn’t selfish—it’s essential for your mental health.

Alright, next up, let’s dive into today’s hacks and recommendations!  This hack is to help with your peace of mind in the classroom.  I want to sing the praises of those small but mighty - little round, super-strong magnets. If you're in a school, chances are you've got metal doors. These metal doors are installed mostly for fire safety reasons, which is a whole separate conversation for another day, considering we haven’t had a fire-related student fatality on campus in decades in our country – possibly over a century. But let’s talk about how these doors—and more importantly, the windows in them—pose a different kind of concern in today’s world.

So, how do the magnets help with this? Well, you can use them to create a quick, easy, and cute little curtain for your door window. This curtain can be secured to the door with those powerful magnets, and voila—instant privacy and safety. They make magnetic curtain rods, but honestly, the magnets alone are often strong enough to hold the fabric straight to the door and eliminate any gaps that someone could use to see through. 

Here’s where it gets even better: If your administrators don’t love the idea of keeping the window covered during the day, you can easily use one magnet to hold one corner of the curtain up. That way, it’s not blocking the view when you don’t need it to. Simple. Effective.
 
 This hack can be as simple as sticking a piece of fabric up on the door - you can just stick those little suckers right on the outside of the fabric directly to the door.  If you have sewing skills, or have someone in your life that has them and the inclination to help you out, you can take this a step further.  

You can sew the magnets directly into the hem of the fabric for a clean, hidden look. You could put that blackout fabric - like hotels have - on the back to make it impossible to see through – or combine these things together!  The important feature is that it is fast to move so that you can comply with campus directives on good days and make sure no one can see in in case the worst should ever happen. And for those of you who work on campus who have you put the red/green cards in the windows in the aftermath, you can do that too, but still protect your kids in some small way from having to think about what that means. 

On the bright side: You can use different fabrics to show off your personality or change things up throughout the year. It’s another small way to camouflage this now-necessary part of classroom considerations. Just remember - fabric can get pricey, so always check out the remnant bin or clearance section wherever you get your fabrics —you can score some really cute pieces for next to nothing that way.

 And onto our job hunting segment where we're diving into some unusual interview questions today. This is part four of our series on possible interview questions, and I’m not going suggest answers on these for you. Instead, I want you to take some time to sit down and think through your own answers.

In fact, here's what I really recommend: grab your phone, open your voice recording app, and answer these questions out loud. Listen to how you sound. Are you confident? Are you clear? Do you ramble? All of these questions will be listed in the show notes, so you can easily follow along. Give them some thought afterward. But for now, let’s go over a few of them together.

Question 1:
What animal symbolizes who you are?
Sometimes, it may not even be an animal – it could be a plant, a bug, or even a country or a color – but the idea is to pick something that symbolizes who you are. This question is designed to assess your creativity and ability to provide a thoughtful, meaningful answer. Here's a tip: when you think about how to answer, try to tie it back to your personal branding. What reflects who you are and what you stand for?

Question 2:
Why is a manhole cover round?
This is a bit of a logic puzzle. The interviewer isn’t necessarily looking for a specific answer, but they're testing your logical thinking and maybe even a little bit of your creativity. Can you look at something and figure out why it is the way it is?

Question 3:
Describe your closet.
This one can really catch you off guard! It’s meant to see how you think on your feet and how you handle a curveball. Personally, I might say my closet is a mix of extreme organization and a touch of chaos. I’ve got everything arranged by color and type, but Christmas presents just sit in a pile on the floor all year long. It’s one of those questions that forces you to reflect, and what you say can reveal more than you think!  But be careful about what you’re sharing.

Question 4:
If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be and why?
This is similar to the animal question. It's designed to assess your creativity and general knowledge. It also speaks to some of your personal qualities.  Employers are always on the lookout for creative thinkers because that skill directly feeds into problem-solving. And here's the thing: everyone says they’re creative, but can you show that you are?

Question 5:
Imagine someone gave you an elephant, and you can't sell it or give it away. What do you do with it?
This one is fun! It's meant to gauge your sense of humor, lighten the mood a little, and, once again, see how creative you can get. How would you handle a completely out-of-the-box scenario?  Also consider how this might play out with different animals?  Like a lion. Or a platypus. 

Question 6:
Are you more of a hunter or a gatherer?
This question might seem simple, but it's often about understanding your approach to teamwork and problem-solving. Are you someone who takes initiative, or do you prefer to work more methodically? Do you like to work by yourself or in groups? It’s interesting to think about how this can reveal your instincts in a group dynamic.

Question 7:
If you were stranded on an island and could only bring three things, what would you bring and why?
This one always makes me think of that MythBusters episode where Jamie and Adam were dropped on an island with nothing but duct tape, which would definitely make my list. They even managed to use the plastic wrap from the duct tape pallet to help themselves survive. I think they used that to make a water distillation system. So, my strategy here would involve stipulating how my items are packaged! I’d ask for matches in plastic bags, for starters. It’s a fun question, but it also shows how resourceful you can be.

Final Question:
You’re a new addition to the crayon box. What color would you be and why?
Now, this is one question I will answer for you! If I were a crayon, I’d be blue-violet. Why? Well, purple and blue are my favorite colors, and blue-violet sits right between them. To me, it represents the idea that you can be more than one thing at a time. Also, fun fact – I was heartbroken as a kid when they removed this color from the crayon box, so I’d definitely want to bring it back. I’d be the color of all the things in between, like flowers that aren’t quite blue but not quite purple, and that moment between dusk and darkness. It’s a beautiful color that just makes me happy. And really, isn't that what a box of crayons should do? Make you happy.

 So again, this questions is looking into your thought processes and your personality. 
 
 

There you go! Take these questions, think about your answers, and practice vocalizing them. Remember, interviewers aren’t just looking for the "right" answer – they’re looking to see how you think, how you express yourself, and sometimes, how creative you are

So keep prepping and keep practicing!

It’s my hope that this podcast is always helpful to you and if you find that you might want more assistance – more individualized, personalized assistance, that’s what I do. I help you work through all of these things.  I help teachers translate their skills, inventory their talents, and go about the business of job hunting. It is not a failure to want to work with a coach.  It does not mean that you don’t belong in corporate America if you think you need a coach.  What it means is that you recognize that anyone who wants to do something better works with someone who can help them be better.    Teachers get in the habit of doing those things on their own, but remember: you don’t have to do this by yourself.

I would LOVE to connect with you—find me on LinkedIn, join our Facebook group, The Teachers in Transition Podcast Club, you can even visit and just follow along with our Facebook PAGE. You can even visit teachersintransition.com to schedule a complimentary discovery session if you are ready to take that step and see if I might be the person best suited to work with you. Remember, the best time to start your job search is at least six months before you're ready to leave, so now’s the time to prepare for your career beyond education.  I look forward to helping your whether that is one-on-one in our sessions or even if it is just through the podcast. 

That’s the podcast for today! If you liked this podcast, tell a friend, and don’t forget to rate and review wherever you listen to your podcasts. Tune in weekly to Teachers in Transition where we discuss Job Search strategies as well as stress management techniques.  And I want to hear from you!  Please reach out and leave me a message at Teacher in transition coaching at gmail dot com.  You can also leave a voicemail or text at 512-640-9099. 

I’ll see you here again next week and remember – YOU are amazing!