Welcome to the All Star Planning podcast. My name is Kelsey, and this is the place where I talk all things teacher lesson plans. Today, I want to talk about why I’m not talking about distance learning, remote teaching, virtual learning, whatever you are calling it.
My Podcast is Based on My Experience
My podcast is not scripted. I don’t know if you picked up on that. It’s not scripted. This is all off the dome. I just write myself a few little talking points. And that’s where it goes. Part of the reason for that is because this is a planning podcast. I have a plan, I don’t have a script. I am not down with scripted podcasts. To me, they just sound boring. It’s not who I am. It’s not what I prefer to listen to. So I don’t do that. Um, So that’s the first thing.
Second is that. All of the stuff that I share with you on this podcast are things that I know from my own personal experience, things that I do in my own classroom. Um, It’s. I like to think of it as: if there were another teacher in my faculty room and we were chit chatting and talking shop, what would I talk about? What would be the topic of conversation based on the times, where we are in the school year, my level of experience versus my – the other person I’m talking to. Um, so that all gets taken into consideration when I come up with what I’m going to talk about on the podcast episodes.
Everyone is teaching differently in 2020
So the time right now, is distance learning, virtual learning hybrid model. And there’s a few reasons that I’m not really talking about it. The first thing is that everybody’s doing something different. So if I were to come on this podcast and talk about just my experience with a hybrid model. It’s only gonna land with people who are working on a hybrid model. It’s not necessarily gonna land with people who are 100% virtual. There may be some things that they could gather, agree with understand, learn. But. It’s not 100% gonna land with them. And it certainly won’t land with people who are doing 100% in person, socially distanced rooms.
So for me, one, is that I want to, you know, do the best that I can to work with every member of the All Star Planning podcast audience. I want to make it, um, you know, a fun place for everybody where everyone can learn something. So that’s the first. Second is that I hate everything about distance learning, virtual learning, online learning.
Social Distancing at School
I hate the concept of a socially distanced classroom. I understand why we need it, I get it, but I still hate it. It’s like understanding that I need to eat my vegetables. I don’t like vegetables, but I still will. Eat them or get a salad every once in a while. Because I know what’s important to get my, you know, nutrients, vitamins, hydration. Tone it back on some calories. I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it. And that’s the way I feel about all of 2020, honestly. I’m sure everybody agrees with me there.
It’s just, it’s terrible. It’s terrible to be a teacher. And your job is to teach kids. I mean, the number of hours that I have spent, sitting next to kids, walking them through concepts and problems and, you know, giving them a pat on the back. And. Um, you know, hugging a kid when they’re having a bad day and high fiving, my kids, when they do a great job or when they walk in the door, um, all of that is gone. And I don’t know for how long and. It just, it stinks. There’s – there’s nothing fun or exciting about that element of our jobs right now. And I don’t want to be a Debbie downer.
Notice the Good
As much as I can recognize how much this sucks. I don’t want to dwell on the negative. I want to work on “noticing the good.” I had this bracelet made on Etsy. It’s a washer bracelet and it says, “notice the good.” And that is my motto for teaching in 2020. It’s “notice the good.” So I am not going to dwell on the negative and how much this stinks and how much I wish it were different. I am going to focus on everything that is good. I’m going to notice it I’m going to absorb it, take it in and just do the best that I can. Which is what we’re all doing right now.
I’m Not an Expert at Virtual Learning
The next thing. And I think probably the most important thing is that with this podcast, my job. I mean, I made the job, but I made my job that I am going to share my expertise. The things that I personally know from experience, the things that I think that I’m good at, the things that I think my experience can help you with.
That for me is of prime importance. I don’t want to get on this podcast and pretend that I am an expert at distance learning or virtual teaching. Or whatever. I am not an expert at Google Meets, I am not an expert at parent communication, uh, or student engagement in this setting. I think I’m a great in-person teacher. If I thought I was not good, I would make myself good. Um, I think I’m a really great teacher and every single year I get a little bit better and I’m super proud of what I do every single day.
That’s why I continued to go back. It’s a part of me that I love and enjoy. And I want to do it forever and ever, and ever. But I am not an expert at what is going on right now. And I don’t want to put anything on this podcast that I think is subpar. That’s not what this platform is for. If you were interested in how I am dealing with hybrid teaching, because that’s the model that my district is working with. Um, a good place to see that is Instagram.
See How I Handle Virtual Learning on Instagram
I record Instagram stories quite often, usually my daily experience in my classroom, what we do, a lot of it is chemistry stuff. But the hybrid model. Is my reality. So if you were interested in that, you can go there. I like putting the hybrid stuff there because it’s kind of just me working through my experience. And it’s not something that is going to live forever. This podcast is here it’s published. People will come back to it. It’s it’s not just something that’s here for 24 hours, which is what Instagram primarily is. I don’t want to pretend that I am an expert with the virtual distance, whatever.
Everyone is an Expert at Something
What I am, I think an expert in is planning, writing solid curriculum. I think that I’m really good at it. I’m really good at scheduling stuff. And, uh, getting things on a calendar and sequencing my lessons. That’s why I’m here. Sharing my experience with you. It’s what I’m good at. I just want to, to showcase, my strengths here, and I want you to be able to take my little nugget of experience. Mix it in with whatever you have been learning as a teacher. The things that you pick up in other places, whether it’s Pinterest or Instagram or collegiate journals, written books, other podcasts, whatever it is, you’re going to take everything that you get, mush it all into a ball and make you the teacher.
And I am just a small part of that, but I don’t want to deliver anything that is a work in progress or something that I’m trying to figure out because we’re all trying to figure it out. Nobody really knows what’s going on. And that kind of stinks, but. It is what it is. So, um, I just wanted to speak my piece on that and make sure that there was a lot of clarity with what was going on on this podcast and the direction that it’s going. I hope you can get on board with that.
All Star Planning
So I will continue to deliver the things that I am good at. If you want to see more of what I’m good at, you can check out the All Star Planning masterclass, which is where I show you how the five pieces of the all-star planning method come together to help you build a very strong firm curriculum. Um, I talk a lot about lesson planning. All of it is like the content in this podcast, but you. Like the show. And you get all of it together in one little bundled package, my five steps sequentially, you get it.
Uh, you can find that masterclass at plan.kelseyreavy.com. There’s links to it all over my website. I will link it in the show notes of this episode. If you’re watching on YouTube, I will link it in the video description bar and please make sure to subscribe to the podcast. So you don’t miss anything. New episodes come out on Tuesdays and I will talk to you next week. Bye for now.
