Monday, January 30, 2017

Ep 34 - Student from Syria: "Be happy, you will win"

In this episode I speak to one of my students. He is one of the many Syrians that have come to Canada to start a new and peaceful life. He has been in Canada since February 2016, and I have been his classroom teacher all this time. He is kind, respectful, open to new learning, and has a great sense of humour. He hasn't said too much about what he experienced in Syria but every now and again he shares a story or two and when he does, you can hear a pin drop in the classroom. He recently created a presentation on how we (English speaking folk in Canada) can help new English Language Learners to our school and it led to a great discussion about his learning experience since arriving in Canada. I asked him if he wanted to speak with me on the Podcast so others could hear about his story and what motivates and inspires him each day. He agreed and was happy to do so. 

Listen in as he talks about his Canadian experience thus far, life before leaving Syria, the reality of war, not being able to play outside with his friends, a close call with bullets, how it feels to be safe and free in Canada, being provided with winter gear upon arrival to Canada, his thoughts about returning to Syria one day, what motivates and inspires him, and what he can do to help others find motivation and inspiration. 

You can listen to the Podcast here.

He would love to hear your thoughts on his experience. Please feel free to tweet me (@rchids) or comment on the blog and I will pass your thoughts/messages on to him. 

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Ep 33 - Robyne Hanley-Dafoe: "If you are not on the right path, move your feet"

Robyne Hanley-Dafoe

Robyne Hanley-Dafoe  is an award winning psychology instructor at Trent University. As well as teaching at Trent, she is also the educational developer for the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University. Robyne’s interests focus on health and wellness for learning including topics such as resiliency, optimal challenge, and self-identity. She resides in Peterborough, Ontario with her husband and three children.

Listen in to what Robyne has to say about her TEDx talk, resiliency and failure, strategies to help young people become resilient (error detection), family, her experience as a young student, her near death experience - a huge turning point in her life, the dark place of hopelessness, what generally motivates and inspires her, being susceptible to what people think about her, retirement, importance of students recognizing and verbalizing what they value, and what she would say to someone to help them find motivation/inspiration.  

You can listen to the Podcast here.


Robyne's TEDx talk on Prediction and Resiliency:


Trent University Centre for Teaching and Learning:


You can connect with Robyne on Twitter (@RHanleyDafoe) and at her website.

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Ep 32 - Amy Bowker: "Get connected!"

Amy Bowker

Episode 32 brings you Amy Bowker. Amy is a mom, dedicated teacher, and a Harry Potter lover. She is an elementary school teacher in Ottawa who happens to be on maternity leave at the moment.

Listen in to hear what Amy has to say about what she likes, the work she did as an occasional teacher, how she became a permanent teacher, not liking school when she was younger, her experience and learning in an alternative school setting, her supportive husband, her school year before she went on maternity leave, how her perspective has changed since becoming a parent, what generally motivates her, what she would say to others to help them become motivated, the Ottawa Teachers Professional Learning Community (OTPLC), dessert at Oh So Good in Ottawa, and parenting as a new mom.  

You can listen to the podcast here.

You can connect with Amy on Twitter (@amyebowker) or at her website, Classroom Collective. You can also check out what Amy is doing with the OTPLC here.

Saturday, January 7, 2017

Ep 31 - Cat Flippen: "Your joy is your fuel for passion"

Image result for Cat flippen

Cat Flippen is an Instructional Technology Specialist in Georgia, USA. She is also a passionate educator, technology leader, driven changemaker, curious explorer, Google Certified Innovator, named an ISTE Emerging Leader (2014), and a sarcoma conqueror.

Listen in to hear what Cat has to say about how she became a teacher and then an instructional tech specialist, her new website, her journey through Cancer and publicly sharing her journey, her one work for 2017 (grit), her Doctorate, achievement and not getting the things you think you want/need, the importance of stories and sharing them, the importance of balance, being a mom and going after your passion, being a mom and battling Cancer, the Android onesie, what generally motivates/inspires her, what she would she would say to someone to help motivate/inspire them, how much of a geek she is, and joy and passion!


You can listen to the Podcast here.

You can connect with Cat on Twitter (@CatFlippen).

Check out her blog: Cat Flippen


Friday, January 6, 2017

Ep 30 - David Theriault: "Let's take a walk."

I was quite excited to meet David and learn from him at Google HQ in Mountain View.
David Theriault is a High School English Literature teacher in Southern California. David is a creative individual who is a gifted writer and speaker. Aside from the cool and engaging things he does in his classroom and on his blog, he is a husband and a father and takes those roles quite seriously. I must mention that he is a baseball fan, honorary Canadian, and the one who first coined #maplesyrupedu.



David was a lead learner at the Google Teacher Academy in Mountain View during the summer of 2014. In the Google education circles, David is well known for the video he created as part of his application to become a certified innovator.



He also did the closing keynote at the 2015 CUE Fall Conference.



Listen in to hear what David has to say about the work he does, what motivates and inspires him, and his perspective on how he can help others find motivation inspiration.

Click here to go to the Podcast.

You can connect with David on Twitter (@davidtedu).

Check out his blogs: The Readiness is All and IDEAFM.

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Ep 29 - Chris Cluff and Stephen Hurley - Reconnecting and Talking about Flow


This episode is a little different than the others. I connected with Chris Cluff (who was on Episode 22) and Stephen Hurley (who was on Episode 8 via 13) to talk about the podcast that Chris had started, Stephen's new project (Voiced.ca), and the concept/idea of Flow. Oh, I almost forgot, I was trying out a new mic that I got for Christmas!

You can listen to the podcast here.