The "How We Teach" Podcast

Welcome to the How We Teach podcast. I'm Amanda Watson, your host. I taught high school English, math, drama and music for 20 years, and now I'm in my third year as a Curriculum Coordinator. I get to research teaching and learning pedagogy, and connect with education experts. The best part is going into classroom and trying out the strategies alongside teachers and students. 

This podcast is a place for anyone who is interested in having conversations about how we teach, and finding ideas that can improve both the teaching and learning experience. The premise is that collaboration is the best way move forward; we need each other so we can walk this path together. It's easy to find inspiration in each other because there are already so many amazing things happening in classrooms out there - it’s also a lot harder to discover new things or know what’s actually making a difference when we work in isolation.  

In this podcast, we will also explore research about the science of learning, and try to uncover strategies that make learning and high expectations more accessible to more kids.  It’s important to bring the theory into practice, however, so the series aims to make sure the classroom experience is always represented. It’s invariably valuable to consider diverse perspectives and insights as we work toward the simple goal of just getting better. 

I once heard an educator compare teachers to heart surgeons because both professions do things differently today than they did ten years ago. And, that’s not to say we were bad teachers or surgeons back then, it just means we have access to more research, technology and experience now.  When we know better, we do better. So, whether you’re starting high school, or going in for heart surgery, you would want the professionals taking care of you to use state of the art, research-based practices. This is how we keep making it better. 

And so, the hope is that by opening up these conversations about our collective successes while acknowledging the barriers we face, educators will be inspired to find something new, even just one small thing to try that can improve the teaching and learning experience.