Life Behind the Desk

#016 - In this episode we speak with Robin Dowdy out of Seattle, Washington. Seattle was hit early and hit hard by the pandemic. Robin and I discuss how the pandemic has changed her approach to teaching. Then, how we both hope that this experience can change teaching for the better. That is, if the right people are paying attention and willing to take the next steps required to make meaningful change. 

Robin tried to leave the profession, but discovered that teaching was just too ingrained in her. She began her career in a challenging school and loved it. After her hiatus, she now finds herself teaching in the community which she lives. And, couldn't be happier about it.

If you'd like to learn more about Robing or this episode, or you would like to take part in the sticker give away mention in this episode, jump to the show notes.

https://lifebehindthedesk.com/016robindowdy/

Learn more about Coach Hall Writes at:
https://coachhallwrites.com/

Listen to Coach Hall's Life Behind the Desk episode:
https://lifebehindthedesk.com/003bethhall/

Support the show

Be sure to visit the website at http://www.lifebehindthedesk.com

#015 - In this episode we meet Heidi Fuhr who has founded what she terms a micro school in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It's a very small student body right now, but Heidi and her business partner are working hard to grow their school. It's a unique education model that was created in response to the needs of families during the pandemic. 

Heidi teaches multiple grades in the same room and takes an approach to education that encourages her students to think about applying her lessons to life outside the classroom. Turns out she even does the same egg drop lesson plan I did as a kid. But, she really ups the game on it and manages to teach an elementary kid a little trigonometry in the process. 

Thank you so much for listening and if you have a few moments please share the link below with your friends. This will always go to the latest episode and does a lot to grow the podcast.

https://www.lifebehindthedesk.com/latetest

For the full show notes, follow the link below.

https://lifebehindthedesk.com/015heidifuhr/

Learn more about Coach Hall Writes at:
https://coachhallwrites.com/

Listen to Coach Hall's Life Behind the Desk episode:
https://lifebehindthedesk.com/003bethhall/

Support the show

Be sure to visit the website at http://www.lifebehindthedesk.com

#014 - In this episode Sarah discusses her decision totransition from teaching Chemistry at a performing arts high school to a non-profit program for young men who are at risk. Her experiences in this new role have been much different than anyone might experience in a traditional school. Sarah tried to leave the profession entirely, but COVID had other plans. She put aside a career change and headed back to the classroom. Though it didn't involve a career shift, it involved a huge shift in her group of learners, but was still an investment in human capital.

Join us as Sarah discusses just how different things have been in her new position, the confrontations that have come with it, and even talk about how geography plays a role in education. We dive into the role social media plays in lives of todays students and it does and does not get used well. 

I am always thankful for the time you invest as a listener in Life Behind the Desk. I work hard to provide a platform for teachers to share their stories about their craft. You can help me do that by sharing a little bit of information. In the comments below let me know where you listen to Life Behind the Desk. Is it iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, straight for this page? Do you have a favorite podcast listening service that Life Behind the Desk isn't available on? If so, what is it? And where/when do you listen: on the way to work, working in the yard, working out? All of this is an easy way to help grow the podcast.

Please take a moment to visit the show notes at the link below:

https://lifebehindthedesk.com/014sarahthurlow/

Learn more about Coach Hall Writes at:
https://coachhallwrites.com/

Listen to Coach Hall's Life Behind the Desk episode:
https://lifebehindthedesk.com/003bethhall/

Support the show

Be sure to visit the website at http://www.lifebehindthedesk.com

#013 - In this episode Sabrina Crews discusses what it’s like to be a special education teacher who is teaching from a distance. Special education is a challenging field in the best of situations and the pandemic hasn’t made it any easier. Sabrina was also robbed of the opportunity to be there for her kids in the lead up to the pandemic shut down because her district was still recovering from major storm damage. Sabrina and her students moved from one trauma to the next with no break. Then returned to school and distance learning with even more challenges.

Join us as Sabrina talks about how she came into special education with a drive to serve. That drive to serve students inspired her online program, Ms. Crew’s Classroom Creations. Her online teacherpreneur aspirations are dedicated to using her experience in her craft to bring proven systems and lessons to other teachers helping them be more effective in the classroom.

Thank you so much for taking your time to invest in Life Behind the Desk. Please take just another moment and share this podcast with someone you think would also find value in what we’re doing here. Word of mouth is great, sharing a link is even better. The link below takes you, or anyone you share it with, to this episode's webpage where you can find the show notes and links to Sabrina’s teacherpreneur endeavors. Please take a moment and share this link.

https://lifebehindthedesk.com/013sabrinacrews

Learn more about Coach Hall Writes at:
https://coachhallwrites.com/

Listen to Coach Hall's Life Behind the Desk episode:
https://lifebehindthedesk.com/003bethhall/

Support the show

Be sure to visit the website at http://www.lifebehindthedesk.com

#012 - In this episode we go behind the desk with Monica Jayasinghe. Monica teaches in the Watts neighborhood of South-central Los Angles. She started her teaching career in a well to do private school, but her goal was always to serve the underserved students in her city. LA Unified is the second largest school district in the country and it’s student body is widely divergent. We talk about how she is tackling distance learning and how the window it provides for her students in to her personal life has blurred some boundaries, and not necessarily in a bad way. 

Thank you for honoring me and this project with your time.

To find those ten best clips that I promised, follow the link below:

www.lifebehindthedesk.com/10best

For more show notes, go to:

https://lifebehindthedesk.com/012MonicaJayasinghe

Learn more about Coach Hall Writes at:
https://coachhallwrites.com/

Listen to Coach Hall's Life Behind the Desk episode:
https://lifebehindthedesk.com/003bethhall/

Support the show

Be sure to visit the website at http://www.lifebehindthedesk.com

#011 - Just a short bonus episode off schedule. I wanted to take a moment to celebrate our 10th episode. It's not huge, but it represent and giant pile of work. Work that I'm proud of. Listen in to get a little bit of a behind the scenes look at Life Behind the Desk. Learn a little bit of what we have instore for the future, and a peak at what the challenges have been.

In the episode I talk about a special offer I have for you. An opportunity to get right to the point and get the best clips from the first ten episodes in all one place.  To get in on that, just go to the link below. Thank you again for your support.

https://lifebehindthedesk.com/10best

For more show notes go to:
https://lifebehindthedesk.com/episode-011-first-10-update/

Support the show

Be sure to visit the website at http://www.lifebehindthedesk.com

#010 - In this episode we go behind the desk with Lela Witherspoon. Lela teaches art in Livermore California at a continuation high school. She talks about how the alternative setting of this school allows for small class sizes and a lot of one on one work with her students. She also talks about the challenges of teaching in this current reality of covid, how teaching via technology is a reach and a lot like learning how to teach all over again. Lela is just the type of person you want teaching your children. She plans on retiring where she’s at and if she dies at her, and if she dies at her desk she’s ok with that too. Listen in as Lela tells us why she has the best job in the world. 

I hope that you enjoy this conversation with Lela. As always, thank you for investing your valuable time in Life Behind the Desk.

If you would like to leave a comment or review, please do. It is a huge help in growing and sharing this project.

If you would like to visit the show notes, you can do so by following the link below.

https://lifebehindthedesk.com/episode-010-alternatives-and-art-lela-witherspoon/

Learn more about Coach Hall Writes at:
https://coachhallwrites.com/

Listen to Coach Hall's Life Behind the Desk episode:
https://lifebehindthedesk.com/003bethhall/

Support the show

Be sure to visit the website at http://www.lifebehindthedesk.com

#009 - In this episode Esther shares with us her journey in getting licensed in two states here in the US and then following her dream and moving to Spain. Esther is another teacher who started her career by taking on everything and eventually learning to set boundaries to achieve a healthy work life balance. Esther gives us a peek into the differences between being a teacher in the United State and Europe. She talks about the student/teacher relationships and how that relationship can change over time. Like so many teachers these days, Esther has a side hustle. She has an online program teaching the Basque language to her students. You can learn more about that endeavor by following the link below to the show notes. 

As always, thank you for investing your time in this project. To learn more about Esther's entrepreneurial pursuits, and get a little more info on some potentially new terms heard in this episode, follow this link to the show notes:

https://lifebehindthedesk.com/episode-009-washington-idaho-and-spain-oh-my-esther-ciganda/

Learn more about Coach Hall Writes at:
https://coachhallwrites.com/

Listen to Coach Hall's Life Behind the Desk episode:
https://lifebehindthedesk.com/003bethhall/

Support the show

Be sure to visit the website at http://www.lifebehindthedesk.com

#008 – In this episode we go behind the desk with Jimmy Morey. Jimmy’s teaches English, Public Speaking, Drama, etc, etc. The guy does a whole lot. Jimmy teaches is another teacher from rural Missouri, just like Mandy from Episode 001 and Angie from Episode 006. Jimmy talks about the sense of loss he felt when his school got sent home and his seniors never got to top off their high school career with the play they had been working so hard on preparing. When we spoke, Jimmy’s school was back to work in person with an option for remote learning. He and his colleagues developed creative solutions for remote learning to serve their students who have yet to return, and to be prepared in case everyone is sent home again. 

I hope you enjoy our conversation with Jimmy. He truly is one of the good ones. Thank you for investing your valuable time with Life Behind the Desk. I hope you find value in this episode and this project. If you would like to help grow this podcast, please leave a review or a comment. 

If you would like to listen to Mandy or Angie’s episodes, you can find links in the show notes. Just click the link below. Yes, that one.

https://lifebehindthedesk.com/episode-008-full-days-and-packed-nights/

Learn more about Coach Hall Writes at:
https://coachhallwrites.com/

Listen to Coach Hall's Life Behind the Desk episode:
https://lifebehindthedesk.com/003bethhall/

Support the show

Be sure to visit the website at http://www.lifebehindthedesk.com

#007 - In this episode Megan Crawshaw gives us a slightly different look at what it is like to be charged with caring for, and educating other peoples’ kids. Megan is a school counselor in Florida where she works with students to make sure that they accumulate the credits they need to graduate. At least on the surface. In this episode Megan talks about how not only does she help students get the grades they need, but also help point them in a career direction and care for their emotional needs. 

Like her teacher colleagues, Megan has seen challenges brought on by the pandemic that no one had any reason to expect. With students scattered between in person, blended, and remote learning her current school year has been extra. She meets those challenges with the grace and care we have learned is the driving force behind the vast majority of educators. And, make no mistake about it, Megan is an educator. She is also an entrepreneur where she shares the creative touches she puts on her adorable Florida home and markets her home décor items. 

If you like to learn more about Megan and her exploits, visit the show notes at:

 https://lifebehindthedesk.com/episode-007-credits-college-and-vocations-megan-crawshaw/

If you want to know how Megan’s school year has gone since our recording back at the beginning of September, you can get her update in her words at the link below:

https://lifebehindthedesk.com/update-007-credits-college-and-vocations-megan-crawshaw/

Learn more about Coach Hall Writes at:
https://coachhallwrites.com/

Listen to Coach Hall's Life Behind the Desk episode:
https://lifebehindthedesk.com/003bethhall/

Support the show

Be sure to visit the website at http://www.lifebehindthedesk.com