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Ever think about making a career change as a teacher into the world of guidance? Look no further! 

So today I bring in Adrienne Tolton, a guidance counsellor from Garth Webb Secondary School in the Halton District School Board. Adrienne has been a guidance counsellor for four years. Before guidance, she was a teacher 18 years teaching Math and Science in Ontario and Internationally. She got her B.Ed from OISE at the University of Toronto.

Today we talk about:

1. What qualifications and training do you need to become a guidance counsellor?
2. What are the general responsibilities of a guidance counsellor?
3. What is the hardest part of the job?
4. Is compensation different for a guidance counsellor versus a teacher?
5. What type of person makes a great guidance counsellor?

plus more! Check out this episode and don't forget to follow the podcast!

SPONSOR: SPACES
Spaces is a new platform backed by 15+ years of educator feedback, designed to document the process and progress behind Student learning in your classroom. Join the Spaces community to connect with educators across North America, gain access to free teacher-created resources, help educators who are just starting out in their journey and learn new things from teachers who have been there before. Visit community.spacesedu.com today to join."

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Ever wonder what the heck the folks in HR are looking for before submitting your resume? How can school boards possibly sift through all those resumes and pick the right candidate? Oh and once you get an interview, now you need to prep for that gauntlet! 

On todays episode, I hope to peek behind the curtain and help with the job application process. Today I chat with  Majella Hillsdon, our Chief People Officer at Appleby College. Majella has been at Appleby for 17 years. 

In this episode we talk about:

1. Resume - What makes a strong resume? Do buzzwords matter? Does experience matter? 
2. Cover Letters - What are they? Are they a nice to have or need to have in an application?
3. Interviews - What do interviewers look for in an applicant? What are common questions? How can candidates be successful in these interviews?
4. Social Media - Is HR trolling our social media pages?!

Check us out! You're going to want to hear what she has to say!

Links:

1. Appleby College - Career Opportunities 

SPONSOR: SPACES
Spaces is a new platform backed by 15+ years of educator feedback, designed to document the process and progress behind Student learning in your classroom. Join the Spaces community to connect with educators across North America, gain access to free teacher-created resources, help educators who are just starting out in their journey and learn new things from teachers who have been there before. Visit community.spacesedu.com today to join."

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Today I'm introducing a new segment in the show called "I Wish I Knew in School".

Unfortunately, we are forced to begin choosing career paths at an early age. Media, family and friends can also paint an inaccurate depiction of certain career paths. So on this segment, I want to bring in seasoned professionals to talk about the good, the bad and the ugly truths of their profession to educate teachers and students to better prepare them for the future that lies ahead. We'll also talk to these professionals about what real world skills student need to develop and focus on in the classroom to better prepare them for these jobs.

Today I bring in an old friend Aaron Baer, Co-Founder of 4L Academy, an organization that provides modern training for lawyers and law students. Aaron has a wealth of industry experience. He spent almost 7 years working at Aird and Berlis Law firm corporate lawyer, before working his way up into becoming a partner at the firm. Aaron got his dual business and law degree from Western University and the Ivey Business School.
 
On this episode we talk about:

1. What are some of the exciting things that make the job exciting?
2. What skills should teachers be focusing on in the classroom to help students enter this career path?
3. What skills are modern day lawyers lacking?
4. What is the current state of mental health in the field of law?
5. Aaron: "I wish I knew in high school before entering law..."

Check this episode out! Its a doozy! 

LinkedIn - Aaron Baer
Twitter - @4lAcademy

SPONSOR: SPACES
Spaces is a new platform backed by 15+ years of educator feedback, designed to document the process and progress behind Student learning in your classroom. Join the Spaces community to connect with educators across North America, gain access to free teacher-created resources, help educators who are just starting out in their journey and learn new things from teachers who have been there before. Visit community.spacesedu.com today to join."

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Episode 50 🎉

I can't believe we are at the half century mark! It's wild this podcast is still going!

To celebrate this milestone, I chat with Melody McAllister, Event & Community Marketing Specialist at none other....Spaces! Our proud sponsors!

Melody worked as an elementary teacher for about 14 years in Garland Texas. She was recipient of the  Garland NAACP Educator of the Year Award and author of a book called I’m Sorry Story, a children's book about taking responsibility for mistakes and making sincere apologies

On this episode, we take a deep dive into what it's like to teach in the United States. I ask her about:

1. Differences in Canadian vs U.S Education (ie. Curriculum, Unionization, Training, Job Market etc)
2. Safety in the Classroom - Is every teacher afraid of the gun laws in America?
3. Compensation  - How much do teachers get paid?

and so much more! This was an intense conversation and I loved it. You'll love Melody's energy.

Go check it out!

SPONSOR: SPACES
Spaces is a new platform backed by 15+ years of educator feedback, designed to document the process and progress behind Student learning in your classroom. Join the Spaces community to connect with educators across North America, gain access to free teacher-created resources, help educators who are just starting out in their journey and learn new things from teachers who have been there before. Visit community.spacesedu.com today to join."

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Six years ago, I took a Stand Up Comedy class at Second City.

Six years later, I somehow still have a job as a teacher! Hallelujah! 🙌

To give back, I started a stand up comedy co-curricular for teenagers at our school. It's been running for four years, and we begin the course tomorrow! So what better way to have a teacher/comedian on the podcast this week?!

This week I have Ronen Geisler, a teacher and comedian! Inside the classroom Ronen has been a teacher for 15 years and teaches high school English and ESL to adult newcomers and refugees.  Ronen received his B.Ed from Lakehead University.

Outside the classroom, Ronen is a stand up comedian in Toronto and also host the popular Learn English Funcast podcast where he teaches English learners around the world how to learn English through jokes. Ronen is also the founder of the Jewish Comedy Festival and Cannabis Comedy Festival. He's an absolute killer comedian and I'm excited to have him on the show today.

On todays episode, I ask Ronen:
🎤 What are his goals and aspirations as a comedian?
🎤 Is it difficult being a teacher and a comedian? How do you balance live both lives?
🎤 Are there any topics that are too taboo to talk about on stage as a teacher?
🎤  Does he tell his students, colleagues, and administrator he's a comedian?

This was a fun episode! Two comedians talking about teaching! It's an entertaining one!

Links:
Website - https://ronengeisler.com/
Instagram - @ronen__

SPONSOR: SPACES
Spaces is a new platform backed by 15+ years of educator feedback, designed to document the process and progress behind Student learning in your classroom. Join the Spaces community to connect with educators across North America, gain access to free teacher-created resources, help educators who are just starting out in their journey and learn new things from teachers who have been there before. Visit community.spacesedu.com today to join."

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X: @ronaldhae

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Happy Halloween! 🎃

Teachers, have you ever considered writing your own book? A novel, or perhaps a children book? Have you ever had that desire, but just have no idea where to start? Well you came to the right place!

Today, I bring in Rahel Tesfaledet, author of Kinza's World Magical Travel Adventures! Besides being a published author, Rahel is also an elementary school teacher and has been teaching for 10 years. Her passion for travelling has allowed her to teach in school boards in South Korea, Japan, Kuwait, and the U.S, and this year is teaching in York Region in Ontario.

Today we talk about:

1. What is the difference between going with a publisher company vs self publishing?
2. What are the different steps to self publishing?
3. How much does publishing your book cost?
4. How much do retailers take from your book sales?
5. What are the major road blocks to getting your book on shelves?

Instead of taking your kids trick or treating, curl up with the kids and listen to this podcast!

Links:

1. Kinza World Website 
2. Amazon Store

SPONSOR: SPACES
Spaces is a new platform backed by 15+ years of educator feedback, designed to document the process and progress behind Student learning in your classroom. Join the Spaces community to connect with educators across North America, gain access to free teacher-created resources, help educators who are just starting out in their journey and learn new things from teachers who have been there before. Visit community.spacesedu.com today to join."

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X: @ronaldhae

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Today we have Steve Brown, CEO of Nelson Publishing in to chat with The Teacher Hotline. Steve has been in this role for almost 6 years. His career spans a diverse mix of industry and technology experience from multi-media entertainment, logistics services, automotive, and now to learning solutions. Since joining NELSON in September 2016, Steve has transformed the vision 107 year old company. He has reframed the organization's digital competency by instituting a technology department comprised of some the world's best and brightest talent based in Silicon Beach California.

On this episode we chat about:

1. Will physical textbooks eventually have no place in the classroom?
2.  Are tablets/laptops the future of classrooms?
3. Is hybrid learning here to stay? What about hybrid work force?
4. Does the Metaverse and VR learning have any practical use in the classroom?
5. How can EDWIN assist in student learning?

plus much more! Check us out, and don't forget to share this episode and give us a review and rating on Apple Podcast!

Let the grind begin! 📚

Social Media
Twitter - @NelsonSteveB

SPONSOR: SPACES
Spaces is a new platform backed by 15+ years of educator feedback, designed to document the process and progress behind Student learning in your classroom. Join the Spaces community to connect with educators across North America, gain access to free teacher-created resources, help educators who are just starting out in their journey and learn new things from teachers who have been there before. Visit community.spacesedu.com today to join."

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X: @ronaldhae

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We are back at school baby! And we got an awesome episode lined up for ya to kick off the school year!

Today we have Kelley Pomis, Director of Teacher Coaching and Development at Atlas Prep in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Kelley has been a teacher since 2002. She has taught at all levels from  K-12 . As an expert in teacher development and leadership, she has shared her experience on the TedX stage. She is also the host of her own podcast called Teacher ReNewed. Kelley also recently launched her new book called "Taught: A Memoir and Educators Guide to Classroom Transformation and Student Liberation".

On this episode, we talk about:

1. What were her feelings leading up to the first class?
2. How much preparation was involved in prepping her first year?
3. When did she begin to feel burnt out? How did she recover?
4. How did she handle classroom management as a new teacher?
5. What would she do differently as a first year teacher?

Welcome back to school folks! Let's begin the marathon!

Social Media

1. Instagram - @teacher_renewed
2. LinkedIn - Kelley Pomis

SPONSOR: SPACES
Spaces is a new platform backed by 15+ years of educator feedback, designed to document the process and progress behind Student learning in your classroom. Join the Spaces community to connect with educators across North America, gain access to free teacher-created resources, help educators who are just starting out in their journey and learn new things from teachers who have been there before. Visit community.spacesedu.com today to join."

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Holy smokes! Inflation is killing us! Gas is costing us a kidney, buying a bag of milk costs an arm and a leg, and in 5 years, I'll probably be living on the streets with these outrageous bills!

Learning how to manage your money is one of the most important life skills. It starts at a young age. In this episode, I talk to Aly Hirji, a business teacher from Agincourt Collegiate from the Toronto District School Board. Aly has been teaching for 14 years teaching in various business courses, career studies and mathematics and is one of the biggest advocate of financial literacy in the province of Ontario. Aly is also on the Teacher Advisory Board of CPA Ontario In this episode, we talk about:

1. What are some amazing initiatives/assignments Aly does in his classroom?
2. Is the province of Ontario doing a good job rolling out their financial literacy initiatives?
3. How can the province get better at delivering financial literacy?
4. Thoughts on an individual course that teaches financial literacy in Ontario
5. What can parents do to help teach financial literacy at home?

Check us out! Hope everyone is having a great summer so far!

Social Media:
Twitter - @FinanLiteracy
LinkedIn - Aly Hirji

Resources:

1. CPA Ontario
2. Junior Achievement 
3. Get Smarter About Money

SPONSOR: SPACES
Spaces is a new platform backed by 15+ years of educator feedback, designed to document the process and progress behind Student learning in your classroom. Join the Spaces community to connect with educators across North America, gain access to free teacher-created resources, help educators who are just starting out in their journey and learn new things from teachers who have been there before. Visit community.spacesedu.com today to join."

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X: @ronaldhae

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Laptops, cell phones, social media, apps, didn't exists for many of us when we were in school. As teachers, many of us are still learning how to use all this new technology ourselves. As Spiderman Uncle Ben said..."with great power, comes great responsibility" . We need to make sure we educate our students in using all these amazing tools responsibly and for good in their education. How do we do that though?

Today I bring in Rachelle Dene Poth, an educator, consultant, attorney and keynote speaker! Rachelle is a Spanish and Technology teacher from Oakmont, Pennsylvania. Rachelle has a clear love for learning; she has earned her Juris Doctorate Degree, a Masters in Instructional Technology, and currently pursuing a doctorate in instructional technology. She is also the author for seven books, and also the host of her own podcast called ThriveinEdu which you can find on all streaming platforms.

On this episode, we chat about:

1. What does being digitally literate mean?
2. What does digital literacy look like in the classroom?
3. Can all this technology cause more harm than good for students?
4. How can schools put an end to cyber bullying?
5. Will the metaverse be a part of schools in the future?

and so much more! Check it out!

Twitter - @Rdene915
LinkedIn - Rachelle Dene Poth

SPONSOR: SPACES
Spaces is a new platform backed by 15+ years of educator feedback, designed to document the process and progress behind Student learning in your classroom. Join the Spaces community to connect with educators across North America, gain access to free teacher-created resources, help educators who are just starting out in their journey and learn new things from teachers who have been there before. Visit community.spacesedu.com today to join."

Support the show

Instagram: @theteacherhotline
Facebook: @theteacherhotline
X: @ronaldhae