In this edition of the Roundtable, host Tim Cavey connects with three recent authors to discuss their books, best practices on the path to publishing, and their goals for 2021.
Questions That Guided Our Discussion
1:07 – Who are you and what is your current context in education? Please introduce yourself.
3:22 – Tell us about your book: why did you write it, who is it for, and what do you hope readers to take away from it?
14:22 – What is your advice to the educator who feels that they have a story inside them but aren’t sure how or where to get started?
17:46 – Talk about the writing and publishing journey. What are some pieces of advice you could share with would-be writers in education?
33:16 – How much content do I have to have written before a publisher will agree to work with me?
39:29 – Look back to the beginning of your writing and publishing journeys. What choices or moves do you regret now that you might do differently if given the chance?
43:17 – What’s next for you? What are your content creation goals for 2021?
49:21 – Are you a OneWord kind of person? If so, tell us about your #OneWord2021.
51:50 – How can we connect with you and your work?
Follow These Authors on Twitter and Check Out Their Books
Listen to the Audio-Only Podcast Episode on Spotify
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As of this post, I’m still appearing weekly on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time/11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. I’d love to see you join us and would be happy to feature your questions and comments on the show!
Connect with the Teachers on Fire Podcast on Social Media
Each month, I connect with other education podcasters in a mastermind group of sorts. We compare notes, talk about our work, share best practices, and wrestle with current challenges.
On the agenda for this month’s conversation: websites. How can we design our websites to better support our podcasts?
Questions That Guided Our Discussion
1:12 – Who are you, and what is the NAME of your education podcast?
7:23 – How does your WEBSITE figure into your PODCAST publishing strategy?
17:42 – Who are your top website REFERRERS? (Where does most of your website traffic come from?)
24:35 – Pav from the StaffRoom podcast shares how she and Chey are thinking about in terms of STARTING to build a website platform.
25:30 – Which PAGES on your website get the most traffic?
42:17 – Should podcast episodes be published at the same time as SHOW NOTES?
50:49 – What piece of content do you look forward to publishing next?
Meet the Edupodcaster Panelists and Visit Their Podcast Websites
SCOTT NUNES (rhymes with dunes) is a dad, teacher, coach, Schoology ambassador, and CCCUE board member. He’s Nearpod certified, MIE certified, a rapper, and co-host of the TNT EdTech podcast. In his day job, Scott teaches 9th and 10th grade ELA at James C. Enochs High School in Modesto, CA, where he’s also a site leader for digital curriculum and coaches swimming.
In Education by Design
Scott’s story of adversity actually began before his teaching career. He had started freelancing in graphic design – a personal passion – but the combination of cheaper foreign designers and a stiff downturn in the economy forced him to reconsider his direction.
After wavering between nursing and education, he eventually recognized that teaching was the path for him, and he’s so thankful he made that decision. Even in his current capacity today, Scott is able to do design work for CUE, his podcast, and other opportunities that come along.
On Dancing and Celebration
Scott’s dancing skills took center stage on edu-Twitter after he shared a clip of his fancy footwork from the Schoology conference in 2018. It was there, he says, that he first got into Twitter and began his relationship with Schoology as an ambassador for their platform.
“I like to have fun in the classroom,” Scott says. “It’s a way to engage students.” He enjoys the feel of the room when students engage in freestyle rap competitions or try to trip him up on a rhyme. It keeps the classroom fun, fresh, and lively.Â
The TNT EdTech Podcast
Scott co-hosts the TNT EdTech Podcast with Matthew Ketchum, and he says the podcast really traces its roots back to the Fall CUE Conference in northern California. He and Matthew were attending a session on podcasting hosted by Tom and Mike from TOSAs Talking Tech (@TosasTalkinTech on Twitter), who convinced Scott and Matthew that the podcasting gig was easy and inexpensive to get into. Scott and Matthew already had access to Camtasia, Adobe Audition, Google Hangouts, and other apps and equipment they needed to launch their own show, so they went for it!
Today, their podcast talks about edtech, offers tools and tips, and features educators in the field who are doing cool things with technology in their classrooms. Scott brings the classroom experience, and Matthew is the tech coach for their 30,000-student district. Scott agrees that the podcasting business is a tremendous privilege, and he learns a lot from every guest they speak to.
What’s Setting Scott on 🔥 in Education Today
Scott’s biggest interest in education at the moment is the magic of connecting with other educators. He’s also passionate about the opportunities for student podcasting that lie ahead. Although they may not have permission to publish out to the web, just the chance to publish audio content and share out learning within the district is exciting.
Scott is a fan of the Anchor app for publishing content, and he offers a pro tip about how to line paper boxes with audio-muffling foam to create some really clean sound – even in busy classrooms.
A Professional Goal: More Blogging
Something Scott plans to invest more time in is blogging. As part of CUE’s sponsorship of his podcast, he is required to do some regular writing and publishing. Once the partnership with CUE ends, he’s hoping he’ll have a regular blogging habit in place that he can then transfer to a blog of his own.
A Personal Passion Away From Education
Few things bring Scott alive and allow him to decompress quite like building sandcastles at the beach. It’s a passion that he will devote several hours to, and his three kids are big fans of his work (although they specialize more in the deconstruction).Â
Scott’s Productivity Hack: Strong Starts
Scott sets aside the first 90 minutes of each day as highly productive time. It’s here that he focuses narrowly on 1-3 major tasks that he’d like to complete very well. With this routine successfully completed, the day is already a win from there!
Voices and Resources That Inspire
Over on Twitter, Scott recommends following @JMattMiller. Despite his high profile and numerous accolades, Matt remains the real deal, Scott says.
An edtech tool that has got Scott excited right now is Gimkit, a smart quiz and formative assessment application that was developed for the classroom by a high school student. Follow @Gimkit on Twitter to learn more!
Aside from our two awesome podcasts, Scott recommends subscribing to Between the Johns, a podcast produced by two administrators who bring interesting perspectives to education topics. Follow the pod on Twitter @BetweentheJohns.Â
If you’re a creator, designer, or maker, it might be worth your while to subscribe to the 3D Printing Nerd channel on Youtube. The host never fails to amaze with his creativity and ingenuity. Follow @3DPrintingNerd on Twitter to see what he’s up to.
Tara is in a new professional role this year, which is exciting and interesting. She’s done a lot in her education career: classroom teacher, instructional coach, and district administrator. Today, she serves as the Media and Communications Director for Dave Burgess Consulting.
Every day looks different, but essentially her role comes down to supporting DBC authors in any way possible. This can mean helping with writing, supporting their video content, or helping them build important connections with other voices in education. Lately, she’s also been hard at work promoting the 2020 Dave Burgess Consulting Conference in San Diego, and she developed more book study resources that complement the great books from DBC.Â
Tragedy at the Start of Her Career
Tara tells a heartbreaking story from her first year of teaching, when an unbelievable tragedy struck those closest to her. Prior to this incident, she was a teacher on fire, filled with passion for the profession and well on her way to public recognition for her innovative work in the classroom. But the passing of her father was devastating, and it proved almost impossible to keep it together in the classroom.
She remembers appealing for help from her principal, who recommended a counselor. That counselor helped Tara walk through the trauma she had experienced, affirming her normalcy as she worked through tremendous grief.
Later that school year, one of Tara’s students experienced the murder of her brother. Still working through her own pain, Tara knew that she would be able to relate to this student like never before. She began having lunches with this student, and with their shared experiences of tragedy, was able to build a meaningful relationship that helped her feel safe, loved, and appreciated.
Life will throw us curveballs, Tara says, and it’s important that we not try to pretend to ourselves and others that we’re invincible. We need to reach out for help when we need it, and leverage the support of our communities to respond in healthy ways. We can’t always understand others in the midst of pain, but we can empathize.
About Be REAL: Educate from the Heart
Last year Tara published Be REAL: Educate from the Heart. In the book, she talks about how technology will never replace teachers who are Relatable, Expose vulnerability, Approachable, and always Learning.
The book walks through Tara’s experiences as a child, starting with a second grade teacher that saw something in her that she couldn’t see in herself. At the time, she was struggling in every academic area, but this teacher saw her true potential. She took extra time to help Tara learn to read, setting her on a different course for the rest of her academic and personal life. “She helped rewire my brain because she was relatable, because she exposed some of her vulnerabilities with me and allowed me to share mine with her as well.” Tara needed hugs, and this teacher was happy to give them. She showed Tara that learning was a way out, a path to options and opportunities in her future.
Today, Tara asks how we might connect better with students in our own practice, helping them to feel safe to learn and take risks in the classroom. It starts with educators who are prepared to be vulnerable, illustrating the learning process right in front of our learners. Technology will never replace educators who see children for who they are and work to meet them at their needs. But technology is not dismissed from authentic learning environments – in fact, it can play a role in building authentic connections and relationships.
Can BookSnaps Be Created Without Apple Devices or SnapChat?
I share with Tara that I’ve been a fan of BookSnaps from a distance, but I’ve wondered how I can help my own 8th graders create BookSnaps without access to iOS devices or SnapChat. It IS possible! Right away, Tara points me to a tutorial on her website, where she walks students through the process of creating BookSnaps in Google Slides.
BookSnaps help students recreate the visualization of their thinking around a particular portion of text, and they can do so in fun and creative ways. BookSnaps help students demonstrate understanding, build connections, and solidify conceptual learning – another great way to develop a culture of literacy in your school.
How Can I Publish a Book Through Dave Burgess Consulting?
Tara is SO excited about the 2020 conference of Dave Burgess Consulting authors – a gathering of what she calls her PLF, her Professional Learning Family. She’s enjoyed the planning and development thus far and guarantees a “next level” experience!
For educators looking to write their own book through DBC, Tara recommends opening a Google Doc and beginning the process of compartmentalizing ideas. The challenge of writing an entire book can be daunting, so it’s important to break down those ideas into smaller, manageable portions.
Writing also needs to be an ongoing process, so continue to revisit your ideas and build them over time in ways that will reach as wide an audience as possible. Once you have something of substance, an outline of your message to educators, share a summary of your message with DBC. From there, someone will respond with an analysis of your proposal, along with some next steps to follow in the publishing journey.
What’s Exciting Tara About Education Today
One thing that thrills Tara as she travels across North America is the way that educators are stepping out of their comfort zones and taking risks to learn new things. She talks about the way her dad would encourage her to cannonball into the deep end of the pool rather than staying safe in the shallow end. Those cannonballs serve as a helpful metaphor for the risks we take as educators that may not work out. But it’s the only way for us to learn and grow, and it’s when we try new things in front of our learners that we inspire them to take similar steps in their own learning journeys.
Her Current Project: A Cannonball Picture Book
One project that Tara is working on at the moment is a picture book. She’s a huge fan of the ways that picture books can be used to teach ideas and concepts at all age levels. The book is about cannonballing into the pool, jumping in with both feet and taking big risks.
It sounds like another fantastic tool that educators can use to introduce the growth mindset to learners as well. As mentioned previously, not every cannonball will work, but if we keep taking risks, we’ll continue to grow, learn, and make a bigger impact. Tara has a phenomenal illustrator working on the book, and she’s excited to release it soon.
A Personal Passion Outside of Education
One of Tara’s biggest passions outside of education is playing the piano. She enjoys the process of writing music and lyrics, and although none of her music has been published to date, all of her creations are meaningful and come from places of authentic emotion and experience.
Habits for Wellness and Productivity
One habit that preserves Tara’s sanity and gives her tremendous clarity is journaling. She’ll go back in her journal and look for patterns in her thinking. Her entries are the calm to her crazy – Â she likes to write freestyle and just let her thoughts flow organically. Sometimes her thoughts become musical lyrics, too.
Another tool Tara recommends is Google Keep. She uses Keep to collaborate with her husband, track goals, follow to-do lists, and a number of other uses. Because it’s available on any device, she uses it often and relies on it every day.
Voices That Shape Her Thinking & Inspire Her Practice
On Twitter, Tara recommends following @Aaron_Hogan. Aaron is the author of Shattering the Perfect Teacher Myth: 6 Truths That Will Help you THRIVE as an Educator, and he’s got another great book on the way.
An edtech tool that curates reading material and helps you archive favorite articles for future retrieval is Flipboard. Tara loves the way this app operates, looks, and feels. If you’re a reader or a content creator, you need to give it a try.
Tara has become a big fan of the Teachers on Fire podcast, which is awesome to hear! Another podcast she’s been enjoying is by Don Wettrick, a DBC author. Don produces The StartED Up Podcast, which talks a lot about innovation and entrepreneurship in education. Follow Don on Twitter @DonWettrick.
Over on YouTube, Tara’s been enjoying a star for the ages – Jennifer Lopez. Jennifer’s been sharing more behind-the-scenes footage lately, and Tara’s found it interesting and enlightening to watch how Jennifer does what she does behind the scenes. Well, kind of behind the scenes.
We sign off on this incredible conversation, and Tara shares the best ways to connect with her online. Make sure to follow and subscribe at the links below!
It was in the final weeks of December that I started to see the #OneWord and #OneWord2019 hashtags pop up on Twitter.
I was unimpressed at first, but as some of my favorite edustars (like Rose Pillay) started to reflect on their #OneWord2019, I decided to take a closer look.
It looks like the One Word idea has been around for a while. Although you’ll find One Word resources all over the web, the philosophy behind the movement seems best developed in a book called One Word That Will Change Your Life by Jon Gordon and Dan Britton.
Without reading the book, my take on #OneWord is simple. Choose a word that best frames your hopes, goals, and expectations for the year ahead. Choose a word that anchors you, clarifies your mission, and reminds you of your purpose. Choose a word that you can use to connect your growth and learning as the year unfolds.
It took me most of the last week of December, but I finally found my own #OneWord2019.
CREATE.
I want to see creation unfold in three dimensions this year.
1. Create new content.
In the last two years I’ve become a committed content creator, a journey that would take a different post to fully describe and unpack. But in general, create > consume has become a mantra that I preach and model consistently.
Of course my biggest step along these lines in 2018 was to begin the Teachers on Fire podcast. The show was and continues to be the realization of a personal dream, and I can’t begin to explain all the ways I’ve grown and learned as a direct result of my work there. When educators around the globe share their appreciation for the podcast, it’s a tremendous encouragement. It gives my work meaning and reinforces my commitment to it.
I also started writing more in 2018, but that’s an area where I’d really like to turn up the heat in 2019. In 2018, I wrote about 30 posts in total. Today, my goal is to publish two blog posts per week: one personal and one professional.
There are many reasons behind this push for greater consistency, another important concept deserving of its own post. But for now, this is what I’m committing to. Two posts per week.
I have one more piece of content in mind here that I hesitate to put on the record, but maybe the power of public accountability will be the boost I need to make it happen consistently. YouTube. I’d like to start creating content there on a weekly basis as well. Stay tuned!
One more thing. It’s also a goal of mine to complete my Master’s thesis this year. That’s another form of content — not the kind that will be visible to most, but a pretty important byproduct of two years of academic study.
2. Create new learning.
I want to give my students new learning experiences this year. In particular, I want them to create, design, revise, and create products they have never created before.
I want to create the sorts of learning experiences that will challenge them, require critical thinking, and demand new sets of skills. That’s the kind of teaching that I get excited about.
In my own life, one way to for me to experience new learning is to read more books than ever before. According to my Goodreads account, I finished 10 books in 2018. In 2019, my goal is 15.
I know I can hit 15 books simply by reading my Kindle before bed every night. I generally try to read 5% of a book (or books) in my account before lights out. Doing that will push me through the equivalent of a full book every 20 days this year. So that’s the plan.
As I mentioned, my MEdL thesis studies will require more academic and field research in the areas of podcasting and professional development. That’s not only new content — it’s new learning, as well. That’s learning to look forward to.
In general, I want to improve my attitude toward learning this year. That means adopting a stronger growth mindset, taking more risks, learning new skills, and stretching myself into uncomfortable spaces in order to experience personal and professional growth.
3. Create new relationships.
One of the unexpected side benefits of starting the Teachers on Fire podcast last year was the formation of so many new friendships with other educators. It’s an amazing feeling to receive support and encouragement from principals in California, teachers in the UK, and authors in Wisconsin. It’s a PLN at its best.
In the fall of 2018 I also took a teaching position at a new school, and in many ways this community is still new to me. I’ve already built meaningful friendships here, but there’s plenty of room for deeper connection. New relationships are waiting to be formed, deeper roots to be planted.
On a personal and completely different note, my wife and I would also love to have a baby this year! We’ve been trying for some time now, and I back and forth between going all in on hope and expectant prayer versus the pragmatism of emotional management. But there you have it — I’d also love to (pro)create a little Cavey this year. That one is in God’s hands.
My #OneWord2019: Create
I can’t wait to create: new content, new learning, and new relationships. 2019 is going to be an amazing year, and I look forward to learning from you along the way.
Teachers on Fire 