Podcasts and Broadcasts

When I was little, my second career aspiration after teaching was a future as a radio announcer. For the past two weeks, I've been able to live that path-not-taken by participating in several podcasts. Each one was a different experience. I'll write about them in the reverse order that I recorded them.

1) This Week In Ontario Edublogs

Recorded = Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Published = Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Link = https://soundcloud.com/voiced-radio/this-week-in-ontario-edublogs-with-doug-peterson-diana-maliszewski?in=voiced-radio/sets/this-week-in-ontario-edublogs-with-doug-peterson 

Format = Three panelists (usually two, Doug and Stephen, but for the summer an additional weekly guest) summarize and comment upon a few blog posts written by Ontario educators.

This podcast was probably the most nerve-wracking for me and the one with the most preparation necessary. It was broadcast live and recorded "as is" for the archives and future listening. Doug is responsible for the content and Stephen for the technology for this show. He provided links for 5-6 blog posts that he read and considered "meaty" enough to discuss on-air. My task was to also read those blogs and have ready a few words about each of them. We used ZenCaster to capture the conversation. My inner voice would throw cautionary admonitions at me as I was talking, like "Don't swear!" or "Use complete sentences so you don't sound like an idiot!" or "Don't talk too long!" or "Don't interrupt anyone and try and include everyone!" I was also worried that during our discussion of my friend, Jennifer Casa-Todd's blog post about her personal history as a reader, that we would sound too critical. Both Doug and I noticed her use of the word "frivolous" and I thought she was being too hard on herself and not giving herself the same non-judgmental stance that she grants to her younger daughter and high school students she encounters. Thankfully, Jennifer was her usual gracious and thoughtful self and did not take our observations as a personal insult.

Strange feeling to hear you talking about my post! I went back & put frivolous in quotations--so weird that I would have written that, when I don't really believe that any more. Thanks, friends! Oh & Diana, can you share that quote about books as windows and mirrors?

— Jennifer Casa-Todd (@JCasaTodd) August 29, 2018

Thanks to Doug for his organization (he created a Google Doc with the blog links, space for notes so I'd have a heads-up on what he might ask me) and to Stephen for keeping an eye on the time and monitoring all the moving parts. Both gentlemen made me feel comfortable and welcomed.

ETA: I changed the title of this blog post after listening to Doug and Stephen talk on the September 5, 2018 edition of "This Week in Ontario Edublogs". They described the difference and noted that their show is more of a broadcast because it is live and unedited.

2) Library Land Loves

Recorded = Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Published = not yet (plans for early September and early January or mid-May) ETA live Sept. 5/18
Link = https://player.fm/series/library-land-loves ETA specific link now is http://librarylandloves.libsyn.com/0201-top-5-tips-for-your-school-library

Format =  A staff member of the Ontario Library Association interviews someone working in or related to the field of library, who mentions a top 5 list of some sort.

I had promised Michael Rogowski to be one of his Library Land Love volunteers and record a podcast with him ages ago, but time is a precious commodity that slips past faster than we can anticipate. Our original plan was to pick a geeky kind of topic, like my five favourite RPG moments, but after listening to Richard Reid's inaugural podcast detailing his top 5 OLA SuperConference moments, I was more inclined to talk about my top 5 OLA Festival of Trees moments. This was a go and we selected a date to finally get it done. Two little hiccups came into play - Michael has a new job away from OLA, and I was asked if I'd be willing to do a second podcast that could be published to coincide with the first few weeks of school. Why not? I scribbled some ideas on a scrap piece of paper and drove down to OLA headquarters. The talented and perfectly coiffed Michelle Arbuckle was on the other end of the microphone for both interviews, and she helped me shape the theme for the back-to-school podcast ("5 things that teachers / teacher-librarians do in September that we should probably do all year 'round" or some title like that). We used Audacity and a gorgeous powerful standing microphone that picked up conversation (and table bumps, which meant I was conscientiously keeping my elbows off the table) quite clearly. I actually cried during part of my broadcast, which was a little odd considering that I knew exactly what was going to be discussed. As Michelle ad-libbed, "I've been told I'm like the Barbara Walters of library interviews". My voice was sore by the end of two back-to-back podcasts; I actually don't talk that much during the school day. (I'm of the "the one that's doing the talking is doing much of the thinking" school of thought, so I try not to blather on too much during my lessons.) It was great to reminisce about the Festival of Trees anecdotes and I hope no one will take the back-to-school podcast as a "thou shalt" requirement.

3) I Wish I Knew Edu: Looking Back and Learning Forward

Recorded = Monday, August 20, 2018
Published = not yet; late September ETA shared Sept. 17/18
Link = https://voiced.ca/i-wish-i-knew-edu-with-ramona-meharg/  ETA specific link https://soundcloud.com/voiced-radio/diana-maliszewski

Format = Ramona Meharg interviews educators and asks them to consider what it was like for them when they first started, what they "wish they knew then that they do now" and share their professional journeys.

Ramona contacted me via Twitter after I shared my radio attempts (and failures) during a Twitter chat. She invited me to discuss it (and her usual framing questions) on her podcast show, which lives on VoicEd Radio.

I tried student podcasting last year and will be talking about my attempts and failures with @RamonaMeharg on her @voicEdcanada podcast online radio show in August #tdsbEd

— Diana Maliszewski (@MzMollyTL) July 27, 2018

Ramona did a great job of preparing me for the recording. She shared a Google document outlining the types of questions she'd ask, and also prepared me for the possibility of going on tangents. As she described it, the process is just like two teachers talking with each other, but with the conversation being recorded. Ramona used ZenCaster and I recorded from the comfort of my home. Instead of my basement desktop with headphone and mic, I used my laptop and the built-in microphone on the main floor. I had to move our pet budgie upstairs because he wanted to give his $0.02 worth. I really enjoyed chatting with Ramona. I expressed concern about my frequent references to drinking (I promise that I'm not a lush!) but Ramona reassured me that it's important to "keep it real". We definitely went off on tangents and it was challenging to articulate my philosophy of education in a succinct fashion. There were several moments a few days after we recorded that I had many "I Wish I Said ..." (which is ironic considering that the show is called "I Wish I Knew Edu"). I wish I wrote down my philosophy of education in advance so that I could have that statement flow and I didn't miss any key concepts. I wish I directly mentioned my wonderful posse from Gaming Edus (Liam O'Donnell, Denise Colby, Andrew Forgrave, Jen Apgar) because I referred to the relation between comics and video games in education and that idea came from conversations and blog posts with Liam and Denise. Sorry Liam and Denise - please take this as an "addendum" to the show.

What I discovered from all of these podcasts is that I can actually talk for a LOOOOONG time! I asked Ramona what the typical length of one of her shows was - the answer was that it varies but it stays closer to 30 minutes. The show that I was on lasted over an hour! The TWiOE podcast lasted a long time as well and we even skipped one of the podcasts we were supposed to cover! I'm also grateful that I was allowed to name-drop and mention so many different names and organizations. Many educators are unsung heroes, doing great things but unknown in the greater educational sphere in Ontario. I tell people I've talked about them in blogs or on podcasts, so that they know I'm talking (positively) about them, they can hear what I've said about them, and that other people can discover them and the amazing things that they do. (Heads up: I mentioned Dean Roberts, Kerri Commisso, Alanna King, and many others that I've forgotten - I may have to listen to those recordings again and add to the list of the mentions.)

P.S. Podcasting (and live broadcasting) is like teaching. It's nerve-wracking but exhilarating. You hope you don't screw up and sometimes wish for do-overs. It's about speaking and listening and relationships. It takes thinking before, during, and after. You hope that what you said, do and share makes a difference. Best wishes to everyone on Labour Day 2018, the day before the first day of school (for most schools in Ontario) and may your teaching be like a great podcast!