My Circus...My Monkeys : #I Wish I Knew EDU

Sunday, 8 March 2020

100 Episodes: Looking Back and Learning Forward

Monday, March 9th, 2020, is the release of my 100th Episode of the I Wish I Knew EDU podcast on VoicEd Radio. You can also find it on iTunes, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and Spreaker - but the VoicEd.ca community of podcasters is it's home. I'm honoured to be a part of this inspiring group of educators.

My first episode was broadcast on VoicEd Radio on February 5th, 2018. I blogged about that first podcast experience in a post titled I'm a Podcaster! Then last year when I hit my one year/50th Episode Podcast-aversary, I blogged again in a post entitled: 50th Episode - I Wish I Knew EDU learning. You might think I had nothing left to say about podcasting... but you would be wrong.

Two years and 100 Episodes in and I am still talking, listening and most importantly, still learning.

The idea behind the podcast has always been to share the journey of educators at any given point on the EDU-career timeline - pre-service teachers, first year teachers, veterans with 5, 10, 20, 30 years in the business to those who have retired and continued their EDU-journey in a variety of ways. I always ask my guests to give me a look back at the years and experiences behind them, and to share what they have learned over that time that they wish they knew sooner. Then we have a look forward and share what their hopes for Education are.

The podcast has been some of the most

amazing Professional Development I've ever done. I've spoken to educators who have been so generous with their time and have honestly and openly shared their adventures with me. I've gained knowledge about programs, resources and career paths that would never have occurred to me to research or use or find out about. I've tried new strategies in my classrooms that they've shared with me, and met or followed other educators they recommended. Each guest has expanded my thinking and opened new galaxies of opportunities for me. Thank you to Tony Vincent for being my guest for Episode 100. If you are one of the 100 Educators I have had as guests on the podcast so far, I cannot begin to express my gratitude for the gift you have given me. I am a better Teacher because of all of you.

If you are a regular listener, thank you so much. My hope has always been that the podcast gives you something that you want or need to hear. Maybe a new activity or resource for your students, a different way of looking at things, a career opportunity that you hadn't thought of, a spark of inspiration or even just a moment of collegiality. On a day when you come home feeling lost, alone, mentally and emotionally exhausted and are thinking of giving up on teaching, I hope that you find something in the podcast that reminds you we all have those days and that it gives you the strength to keep fighting the good fight. I open each show with the comment that Teaching is the best job in the world. I absolutely and completely believe that those words are true. But it isn't easy. And somedays, it can be the toughest job in the world too.

So where do I go from Episode 100?

It's been almost 26 years since I graduated from Teacher's College, and just over two years and 100 Episodes of podcasting. There are still so many Educators I'd love to talk to and so many things I want to learn. Maybe you are the person I'll learn them from. I really hope I'll be talking to YOU soon on I Wish I Knew EDU, where we are looking back and learning forward.

As always, I welcome your comments and questions below.

Saturday, 15 June 2019

#RememberingLeanne

I think I've talked a lot about how online connections and my online PLN have made me a better teacher, pushed me to think deeper and brought so many new ideas and opportunities to my classroom. Between Twitter and VoicEd Radio...well the learning has been expanding at an exponential rate. But it's been more than just learning, it's been the birth of some pretty amazing professional and personal relationships. I haven't met a lot of these folks in real life...I haven't met hardly any of these people in real life. But, the bond we've formed is real. The friendships are real. These people are my tribe: my biggest supporters, my trusted and honest critics, and in some cases, my kindred spirits.

Leanne Hanson and I met through VoicEd Radio and Twitter. To say that I had found a soul sister doesn't do our relationship justice. If my life was a Soap Opera, it would be akin to finding my evil twin. Except we were both evil twins. We instantly clicked. We tweeted, we DM'd, we Google Hangout'd, we guested on each other's podcasts, we #MADPD'd, we shared resources, we told stories from our lives, we sent each other the craziest gifs, we engaged in bizarre, yet loving - social media terrorism attacks on our friends and we made up ridiculous hashtags (She was much better at this than I was). We talked teaching, music and poetry. We got silly. We LOL'd...a lot.

We talked about meeting irl one day. It would have been great to do that. I would have loved to see her home and meet her family in Queensland. I can imagine there would have been a big welcoming hug. There would have been jokes and laughter and likely a fair bit of whiskey. But an irl meeting wasn't really necessary to us. We were able to connect digitally as if we were in the same room. I didn't think of her as "this teacher on the other side of the planet." She was simply, my friend, Leanne.

Leanne lost her battle with cancer this week at the age of 45. My heart goes out to her husband, Grant, and her children Michael and Elizabeth.

I am flattened by this loss.