Noa Daniel and the P3

You don't know Noa Daniel?
You are missing out - let me introduce her.

I have followed Noa (@noabobs) on Twitter for a while, but we finally got to meet each other in the flesh at the 2019 MakerEdTO conference. (That looks like a great place to make connections. In 2016, MakerEdTO was where I met Melanie Mulcaster and Jennifer Brown!)

Noa Daniel is a positive person and curious educator who is always exploring innovative ways for people to connect and learn together. She is an avid podcaster and has not one, but two shows on VoicEd Radio. Back in 2019, Noa invited me to be a guest on the P3. I didn't know what it was about, so I was very non-committal. Noa arranged a podcast for OnEdMentors about teacher-librarians in November 2019 and I was one of the panelists. Noa's enthusiasm led me to sign up to be an OnEdMentor (now called the Mentoree) - that's how influential she can be. Noa also trusted me enough to assume her host duties for the follow-up episode of the teacher-librarian panel in April 2020. It was such an enjoyable experience, rich with fruitful discussion. I learned that when Noa asks someone to be involved in something, the best answer is probably yes.

I devoted some time to start listening to the P3. P3 is the affectionate nickname for the Personal Playlist Podcast. I am the 120th guest for this show. The concept sounds deceptively simple but it really quite hard - guests are asked to select three songs: one that is nostalgic, one that relates to identity, and one that is an inspirational song. Noa talks with the guest in general and then has a conversation around the selected songs.

Note: I will put the link to "my" episode here once it goes live on Monday, June 22, 2020.
ETA https://voiced.ca/podcast_episode_post/p3-120-diana-maliszewski-1-2020-06-22-8-03-am/

This idea is brilliant! It stemmed from Noa's work with her students in York Region DSB. She even has a TED-X talk about the topic. So many of the benefits for students are the same for teachers.

Usually this process for the show takes months to book, arrange, record and share. This time, however, there was an unexpected hole in the schedule and my July/August 2020 appointment was moved up to last Tuesday.

I was a bit nervous about being on the show. I talked about the process for making my choices, which involved a lot of "studying" (aka listening to past episodes of P3), chart-making and consulting with my spouse, daughter, son, and sister. There was a lot of second-guessing, because some of my song choices aren't exactly kid-friendly.

Do I post spoilers here? Good question! I'll avoid them for now, while still talking about the process for selecting my songs.

My nostalgia song was pretty easy to choose. The runner up was going to be something from Barenaked Ladies - probably "If I Have $1 000 000". I still have the concert souvenir booklet from their "Mr Rockin's all you can eat Salad Bar" Canadian tour in April 1993 and I still own the "Yellow Tape" - their 4 song mini-cassette I bought while in university.

My identity song was tricky because it has a lot of layers and a less-than-pleasant story that goes along with it. Because of the language it uses - I joked with Noa that there's a list of 5 words you can't say on radio and this song uses 3 - I also hesitated about suggesting it. I also had no clue how to find it; my sister Mary in Calgary gave me the search terms that made it possible to find.

Instead of revealing that complicated identity song, let me talk about the runner-up song here. My husband and children have accused me of having the musical tastes of a pre-teen, and liking this song gives credence to their claim. I actually own a copy of it on my phone. I play it all the time during my Just Dance Club at school (where we use the video game to dance - it's the most popular song for boys and girls and I have the Just Dance moves memorized). Let me tell you what song it is and then explain a bit more about how it connects to my identity (not just as a family member or teacher). It's What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction.

(Side note: my son walked downstairs as I was grooving to it on my headphones - he shook his head dismissively and walked back upstairs.)

How does this sound fit my identity, as a 48 year old married white cis het woman? I don't see myself as the subject of the song but the singer, the one sending the message. There are so many people in my life that do not know they are beautiful (or talented, or special, or irreplaceable). My daughter is one of them. My role, part of my identity, is to be the person who reminds them that they "light up my world like nobody else".

The inspirational song was challenging to pick because there were just so many possibilities.
I've posted the linked videos of some of the songs I considered, so they can get stuck in your head. To be honest, as I listen to them, it reinforces that the one that I finally settled on for the show was the right choice.

I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to be surprised by my choices. These songs might question people's impressions and assumptions about me. It's a process that I recommend many of us undertake, even if we aren't invited to be guests on Noa's show. Take time to reflect and share your nostalgia, identity and inspiration songs with explanations. The process really got me to consider what songs shaped me, the narrative I was willing to share, and how I make (and made) sense of the world.

Big, big thanks to Noa Daniel for seeking me out, offering me this opportunity, and being such an empathetic, awesome person. Now I know why people request to be part of this podcast experience! (She told me that some people have even asked to be on again because their songs have changed. That's not possible but people can always blog about their changes.) Thanks also to the people I mentioned (Melanie Mulcaster, Lisa Noble, Colinda Clyne, Angela Stockman) who made previous P3s that I heard, as well as the people I mentioned and didn't mention that were part of the OnEdMentors shows (the first TL show = Jennifer Casa-Todd, Jen Giffen, Beth Lyons, Kelly Maggirias + the second TL show = Melanie Mulcaster, Kelly Maggirias, Geoff Ruggero, Rabia Khokhar, Jonelle St-Aubyn, Alanna King). Thanks to James, Mary Madeline, Peter and Mary Carol for letting me bounce ideas off them.

One last piece ... during our wide-ranging conversation, I wanted to reassure Noa that the traumatic, path-altering story related to the identity song did not ruin me or permanently destroy dreams. As part of that exchange, I promised to share a photo of me shaving my head in my ABQ course. Lately, a friend of mine has contemplated shaving her head. It won't be quite like this but this is how it can change (and I was a lot less grey in 2008, twelve years ago!)

Listen to the P3 and other great VoicEd shows on their website, https://voiced.ca/, or through Spreaker and other means. Happy listening.