Dear New Educators

The speaker is a student in a program called TechTeach that prepares educators. They talk about the support they've received and how excited they are to teach. They mention using personal learning networks, including podcasts, to connect and grow as educators. They recommend a podcast called Eleanor Amplified for students to use their imagination and learn important lessons. They also mention other resources like websites and YouTube videos that can help new educators. They emphasize the value of learning from other teachers and using their insights in the classroom. The speaker shares their personal experience of using podcasts for motivation and inspiration. They encourage others to explore professional learning networks for the resources they need. Hi, you're listening to Dear New Educators, hosted by Alex Bailey. Hi, everybody. I am currently a student at Texas Tech University, and I'll graduate in December. I'm in a program called TechTeach that is a clinically intensive and competency-based program to prepare educators to impact students. This program has been amazing for me since the very beginning. I was able to stay in my hometown, I was able to keep my job and work, and do all of my coursework online. The support I have had from the program, from my site coordinator, and my mentor teacher have been awesome. I have learned so much from the courses and the real-life experiences in classrooms that I have gotten through this program. I am so excited that I have found my true passion to teach children, and I cannot wait to have a classroom of my own. But when I think about those precious little faces, attitudes, and personalities on my first day, I do get a little nervous. To prepare myself for the first day, I was looking into resources, and I discovered some personal learning networks that allow other educators, me, and students to connect, share ideas, and grow. Listening to podcasts and creating your own podcasts are what can help people by creating these personal and professional learning networks. I often listen to podcasts for inspiration, motivation, and just for a laugh. While doing research, I listened to a podcast called Eleanor Amplified. This podcast stood out to me because it takes you along adventures of Eleanor Amplified, who is a radio host. She beats villains, she explores space and the ocean, and many other places throughout all the episodes. This podcast really allows students to visualize and use their imagination from the characters in the story. They can imagine what characters might look like or what the action scenes are looking like, you know, just use their imagination. I like this podcast because immediately I imagined using this podcast in student free time, independently, or all together at the end of the day, just to get some down time. Teachers can also use the podcast to teach sequencing of events since there is so many events that happen, and you can really make sure the student is understanding the main idea, the topic, and the moral of the story. I love watching and allowing students to use their imagination while learning. They're also learning to tell the truth, they're making good decisions, and conquering challenges in this podcast. This podcast will challenge the students to do all of these things. There are many other podcasts that teachers can use to do the same. Not only are there podcasts, but there are also websites, YouTube videos, and many other resources that give teachers ideas that help many people and new educators like me. I have even gotten good advice from other teachers on TikTok. They've given me lesson plans, they have given me ideas for classroom management, they have given me ideas for so many things that I would love to use. As a new teacher, I am eager to learn the ways of an efficient classroom. That's why the PLNs are an awesome research for professionals to use, and for your personal use, because you can get insight from actual teachers. They give you what works in their classroom, and you can test and use things on your own. Personally, I have used podcasts for many things. They have gotten me through hard times when I needed motivation. Maybe I need to stick on a diet, so I'm going to listen to this lady talk about her sticking to a diet. Or hearing other women talk about similar struggles that they've experienced and overcame really helped me. I hope that this little insight to the professional learning network really opens others' eyes, and we can all come together and get resources that we need. Thank you. Tune in for next episode.