🔥 In a world of screens, why are paper books more important than ever?
🔥 How are smartphones changing the ways that students learn, and how should educators respond?
Join me for this conversation with BC educator LISA GREEN as she shares her insights on these and other questions.
About This Guest
Lisa is a teacher, author, and educational consultant in Victoria, Canada. Her master’s degree and ongoing work lead her to explore the connections between work, psychology, coaching, and learning.
Tune in for my regular Teachers on Fire interviews, airing LIVE on YouTube every Saturday morning at 8:00am Pacific and 11:00am Eastern! Join the conversation and add your comments to the broadcast.
The well-loved Ohio educator, speaker, presenter, podcaster, and author drops by to discuss education technology, AI tools for teachers, and his content creation aims for the year.
🔥 What is next for Jake Miller?
🔥 What does duct tape teach us about education technology?
🔥 How should teachers be thinking about AI tools as they return to school?
Join me for this conversation with Jake Miller as he shares his insights on these and other questions.
About This Guest
Jake is an accomplished educator, speaker, presenter, podcaster, and author. This fall, he enters his third year as a personalized learning specialist in Ohio.
Connect with Jake on Linkedin, on X, Instagram, and YouTube @JakeMillerEdu, on his podcast Educational Duct Tape, at his website, JakeMiller.net, and in his book, Educational Duct Tape: An EdTech Integration Mindset.
Tune in for my regular Teachers on Fire interviews, airing LIVE on YouTube every Saturday morning at 8:00am Pacific and 11:00am Eastern! Join the conversation and add your comments to the broadcast.
From dodgeball to Rebecca Black, here’s what I love about the teacher life.
I was recently inspired by West Vancouver superintendent Chris Kennedy, who published 28 Reasons To Love Teaching from a 28 Year Veteran at the close of the last school year. Chris put together an amazing list and I’ve remixed a few of his ideas with my own, so I want to give him full credit.
With 23 years behind me, here’s what I love about teaching, learning, and leading in K-12 education.
1. Content creation
Effective school administrators must be storytellers for their communities. Stories help our communities understand collectively who we are, what we’re doing, and where we’re going (values, mission, and vision).
Telling these tales of learning, growth, relationships, and success through podcast episodes, videos, TV posters, and newsletter articles is a joy and a privilege — one of my favorite parts of the profession.
2. Continuous learning
Teachers are NOT omniscient fountains of information whose function it is to download knowledge and goodness into our subjects.
No, we are professional learners — a human role that requires collaboration, curiosity, persistence, resilience, an appetite for growth, and the willingness to model learning in visible ways.
That’s a comforting assurance (we don’t have to know everything, and no one should expect us to) and an exciting invitation.
3. Creative decision-making
Whether it’s a fun lesson activity, a new project, program, after-school club, bulletin board, school spirit day, or assembly activity, our schools give us the time and space to experiment creatively.
The more we lean into our creative passions and the more we risk trying new things, the stronger our communities become, the more we have to offer those around us, and the more fun we can have in our work.
4. Dad jokes
Like dads, teachers are given captive audiences who must listen to their cheesy jokes and puns whenever they are so inclined to tell them. That itself is pretty hilarious when you think about it. (And thank you to the students who laugh at our jokes, even when it’s just a sympathy chuckle.)
5. Dodgeball
Few other professions allow me the chance to engage in all-out, no-holds-barred games of dodgeball (or its many variants). I don’t play against students often, but it’s always great fun trying to duck the missiles aimed my way.
6. Education incomes are all right
I’m surrounded by relatives who earn more than I do, including my wife who is working on her first university degree.
Education is not a profession of the wealthy, but between salary, benefits, and pension, our needs are taken care of. I’m privileged enough to enjoy some nice freedoms and pleasures of this life, and for that I’m grateful.
7. Experimentation with technology
Not a year goes by that I don’t gain opportunities to play with new apps, software, or websites that offer the promise of supporting student learning.
Not all of them deliver as advertised, of course, but the opportunity to test drive new platforms and tools is always fun and lights the fire of this technophile.
8. Global connections
The fraternity of educators is a great club to be a part of. My content work and social media activity in education has connected me with thousands of other teachers and educators who inspire me so much, some of whom I’ve been able to connect with in person and others whom I look forward to meeting.
9. Friendships that last for decades
A couple of weeks ago, I got together with four educators for some pickleball. We teach at different schools today, but what unites us is that we taught at the same school 17 years ago.
Our group iMessage thread pops with politics, sports, travel, and life on a near-daily basis. It’s a gift to maintain these relationships with colleagues that I respect and admire.
10. I learn from my students
It was almost ten years ago that one of my high school students introduced me to a new graphic design program called Canva, and I’ve been using it ever since. From keyboard shortcuts to pop culture translations, I count on my young learners to keep me ahead of the curve.
11. In loco parentis
This Latin phrase is one that many educators are familiar with, speaking to our legal responsibility of caring for the children in our buildings as their parents. But the phrase contains personal significance for me.
I’m a stepdad to two awesome young men, and I was honored to walk with them from the ages 8 and 10 to the present. But I wasn’t able to bring my own children into this world.
There’s an associated pain and disappointment that will never completely go away, but I’m reminded that I get to interact with hundreds of little people every day I go to work, which is pretty cool. It’s confirming, and I’m thankful.
12. Incredible parents
So many of the parents in my current school community are kind, generous, and supportive. Many are also accomplished professionals and entrepreneurs who inspire me to excel.
They model the same values and principles that we seek to build in our students, and they’re lifelong learners who share their passions and curiosities freely with others. They are people that I like being around.
13. Inspiring colleagues
Every educator I work with knows things and can do things that I can’t, which means I’m constantly in the company of greatness.
Not only do most teachers possess exceptional talents, they are some of the most caring, compassionate, creative, kind, generous, principled, and patient people you will ever meet. They are consistently quality people, and it’s an honor to call them colleagues and friends.
14. Investing in kids is a sacred privilege
I believe that every child is so much more than a product of coincidence and circumstance.
Each boy and girl in our buildings is a sacred human being created in the image of God, meaning they bear aspects of his divine character.
“What you do unto the least of these you do unto Me,” said Jesus.
This is not about patting ourselves on the back; it’s about humbly recognizing the sacred space we occupy.
It’s awesome in the true sense of the word.
15. Job security and transferability
Our world will always need teachers and educators, and lay-offs are almost nonexistent.
That’s true in a local sense (our jobs are never at risk, short of incompetence or professional misconduct), and it’s true in a global sense (there are teaching opportunities everywhere around the world).
Once you gain the credentials and skills to teach, learn, and lead, job security need not be a worry. Teaching also offers location options — you’re never stuck where you are.
16. Our noble purpose
Educators support the flourishing and growth of the whole child. Schools aren’t knowledge acquisition laboratories — they’re greenhouses.
Our noble purpose moves us to support the transformation of children into adults, helping our youngsters develop the communication skills, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, discipline, focus, innovation, patience, resilience, and empathy for the needs of others that they will need to lead and contribute effectively.
That’s a compelling mission not present in all professions.
17. Rebecca Black
For a few years now, I’ve been blasting the iconic It’s Friday through the halls of my elementary school at the end of each school week, and Black’s iconic (albeit annoying) sound brings smiles every time.
Kids hate it, but do they really hate it? It’s become a Friday afternoon mainstay.
18. Shaping lives
I credit teachers like Mr. Bergen (in 8th grade) for believing in me and helping me build faith in myself.
I can think of a handful of teachers who inspired me and helped shape my vision of the kind of educator and adult that I wanted to become, and I hope I can offer the same gifts to my students today.
19. The smiles of students
When I think of what I appreciate about our work in K-12 education, this is usually the first thing that comes to mind. It’s just that hard to beat.
There’s no work misery or discouragement that can’t be helped by an excited youngster’s “Hi, Mr. Cavey!” heard down the hall.
20. Staff room goodies
You know it’s going to be a good day when you walk into the staff room and a community parent or administrator has delivered a massive arrangement of charcuterie, baking, doughnuts, samosas, or soup.
Food finds its way to our hearts, and I am constantly encouraged by the generosity of others in our school communities.
21. Strengthening society
If we’re shaping individual lives on a micro level, educators are strengthening society on the macro.
We’re helping to grow the workers, builders, innovators, leaders, parents, and politicians who will form and shape our world in decades to come. That’s serious impact and legacy.
22. Summer vacation
Educators can get fiercely defensive on this one, and rightfully so.
Without rehashing the Herculean strength, energy, and stamina that life in today’s classroom requires day in and day out, let’s just say an extended period of rest and recovery is needed at the end of each school year.
But friends, it’s pretty special to enjoy most of the summer months as we wish. These weeks give me the time and space to enjoy the seas and summits of supernatural British Columbia — activities that feed mind, body, and soul and a source of immense joy.
It’s a season worth celebrating.
23. Variety days
You never know exactly what to expect on a given day at school, and I think that’s good for the brain.
Whether it’s an unexpected challenge, blessing, or some combination of the above, our work is not mindless and we are not factory line automatons.
We’re in the people business, which means no two days are the same.
I won’t be in schools forever
I meant this list with the essence of my being, even tearing up as I wrote. It’s so freaking meaningful.
Yet here’s a truth: I won’t be in schools ’til I’m 65.
While the list above is 100% legit, we can agree that working in K-12 education is utterly exhausting. It taxes mind and body to levels that at times have me wondering “Is this real?”
I’m 45 now, and I know I can only go so many more years on short sleeps and consistent stress.
My blood pressure won’t take another 20 years of this. That’s not hyperbole — my blood pressure is literally high, and heart issues run strong on my mother’s side of the family.
So there’s that.
At some point, I’m going to need to transition. Evolve. Move on to something else that lights my fire that doesn’t make me choose between sleep and email on school nights.
Perhaps my new direction will be something related to teaching, learning, and creativity. That’d be cool. Or it may be something completely different.
Time will tell.
The impermanence of my stay makes these years more precious
The point is that I won’t be here forever, which makes my stay in education’s hallowed halls a temporary one.
That doesn’t take away from the list of celebrations I’ve shared here — not for a moment. If anything, it makes each day, each experience, each student and colleague more special.
The education of our children is a wild, wonderful, and precious space to occupy. It’s a sacred calling, an incredible privilege, and the benefits are many.
I don’t know how many pages this chapter holds, but I’m immensely grateful for it.
This 31-year-old principal, PhD student, and podcaster has some great insights to share.
🔥 What are some educational leadership norms worth challenging?
🔥 How are AI tools changing learning and instruction in rural school settings?
🔥 How can I define my personal mission and guiding principles as an educator?
Join me for this conversation with Tyler Comeau as he shares his insights on these and other questions.
About This Guest
Tyler is a young school principal in rural Alberta, Canada, currently working on a doctorate in Educational Leadership. He is the creator of the Elemental Educator podcast and is in the process of publishing his first book. Tyler strives to redefine education through a transformative lens as he challenges the status quo.
Weekly interviews with educators don’t bring the biggest views, so why bother?
I’m a passionate education leader and content creator.
I love writing blog posts about education.
I love facilitating conversations with other education leaders.
I love recording helpful video content and tutorials for teachers.
These activities give me joy and fulfillment.
Maybe you enjoy creating some of the same, or maybe you’re simply a consumer.
Or maybe you’re a consumer who would like to become a creator.
Either way, I think you’ll find this exploration helpful.
My YouTube journey
YouTube has been a fun hobby for me over the past six years. My content has slowly evolved and improved over time, and it still has a long way to go.
I’ve experimented with a few different kinds of content.
Back in 2018, I began with audio-only content: still images with audio versions of the Teachers on Fire podcast running behind them.
Weirdly, these “videos” attracted some views (really listens), encouraging me to keep going.
From there, tried some vlogs — direct speaking to camera.
Then I tried edtech tutorials.
Then COVID came along, and I started experimenting with livestream conversations on a platform called StreamYard.
My 337 videos have been viewed over 300,000 times, earning me the trust of more than 2,540 subscribers. These numbers are teeny-tiny in the world of YouTube, but they also represent levels of success that I once considered impossible.
Most of my content today consists of livestreamed interviews with other education leaders. I try to go live every Saturday morning at 8am Pacific and 11am Eastern with an educator who inspires me in some way.
But here’s the tension, and the reason for the title of this piece: in terms of growing my channel through views and subscribers, these interviews offer an absolutely terrible ROI.
Horrible.
Confused? Let me explain.
Why edtech tutorials make excellent YouTube content
To start to understand why K-12 education interviews perform poorly on YouTube, let’s contrast them against another kind of YouTube content that I create: edtech tutorials.
All my heavy-hitting videos on my channel are edtech tutorials. ALL of them.
Why?
It comes back to a YouTube strategy that I first learned at Think Media: ASQ.
Answer simple questions.
When I take the time to answer teacher questions by creating simple how-to video solutions, those videos inevitably perform well.
They solve some sort of an immediate, practical problem. Problem → solution.
They have great SEO (search engine optimization), meaning the titles of these videos are highly searchable.
They are evergreen, meaning views can often continue and in fact grow larger as weeks, months, and even years drag on.
The best of these videos never die — they just keep going and going and going, because demand continues over time.
And the best part?
They’re easy to make.
They don’t take much time. They don’t rely on anyone else. They require no booking, no communication with another party, and little preparation.
Just screen record, edit, and publish.
All told, I can make these videos in about 20% of the time it takes me to publish a conversation with another education leader. Conversations, by comparison, lack the powerful features (solution, SEO, evergreen) that make tutorials so popular.
So why bother with interviews?
Why do I continue to record conversations with other education leaders every Saturday morning, even when they require more time to plan, prepare, execute, edit, and publish?
Am I wasting my time and energy?
I think not, and here’s why.
5 reasons why I’m livestreaming conversations every Saturday morning on YouTube
1. It’s fun.
Going live remains a thrill.
My streaming service, StreamYard (not sponsoring this post), allows me to stream live on YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, and X at the same time.
It allows viewers to interact live with the show, my guest, and our conversation in the live chat. I can display comments on screen.
It’s a ton of fun, so that’s reason number one.
2. Forced consistency of output
I actually quit recording and publishing interviews on my YouTube channel for close to two years between September 2021 and September 2023.
My thinking at the time? Focus less on my podcast (think audio-only content on podcast apps like Apple Podcasts) and more on the YouTube channel.
Quitting weekly interviews gave me a lot more discretionary time, that much is true.
No longer did I need to wake up early on Saturday mornings to meet other educators online. I was free to sleep in and get up on my own schedule. Free to create the content I wanted when I wanted.
And that strategy wasn’t a complete disaster. To an extent it worked, and I was able to create some good content during this period.
But I wasn’t consistent. I could go weeks at a time without creating a video.
During those creation droughts, I wasn’t offering value. I wasn’t visible. I wasn’t consistent.
As a result, I wasn’t building the views and subscribers I needed to grow. In my periods of silence, my viewers and listeners were turning to other creators they could count on to create consistently, and rightly so.
There’s also a rule in the world of content creation that the longer you go without creating, the harder it is to create.
This might sound silly or insignificant, but creators know what I’m talking about. It’s like building a psychological wall between you and the content: with every day that passes, another brick goes up.
Resistance strengthens, and two weeks become four.
In contrast, when I schedule weekly interviews with other educators, I’m making a non-negotiable contract with myself.
I MUST show up. I MUST get in the chair. I MUST hit Record and create.
Because if I don’t, I’m not just letting down myself. I’m letting down another educator that I respect a great deal.
I’ll do everything in my power to avoid that, and consistency is the result.
Thanks to weekly interviews, I’m never silent on YouTube for more than seven days.
3. These conversations build relationships with other education leaders
Podcasting is twenty years old now, but there’s still a magic in this space that remains a secret to most of the general public.
Imagine being able to speak 1:1 with just about any leader, author, or thought leader in your space. For free.
This is the power of podcasting.
If I call a high-profile education author and ask if we can chat on the phone for 30–40 minutes for free, that’s a pretty steep ask.
But if I invite them to join me on my podcast, I usually get a very different response.
They inevitably say yes. We chat. I publish and promote the content in video and audio forms.
And in the process, we build some know-like-trust with each other. We have some memories, smiles, and personal exchanges to forever match with the name and face.
If I do my job, I support my guest’s work by shining a light on their content.
And if I serve my guest well, they are more likely to speak well of me and my podcast in their circles.
It’s a win-win, and it often leads to relationships that last for years to follow.
4. Weekly livestreams build community for teachers — a weekly meeting space
By scheduling these conversations every Saturday morning, I’m creating a reliable time and place for educators to visit that allows them to connect with other like-minded professionals.
I’ll be there. Another education leader will be there. And viewing educators will be in the live chat.
It takes time, work, and consistency to build this kind of weekly gathering, but it’s a beautiful thing when it happens.
Both education leaders have been hosting weekly livestreams for years, and the communities they’ve built are incredible.
Teachers value community spaces that meet consistently and bring reliable value.
That’s what I’d like to build, too.
5. My weekly professional development
I love to read books written by educators, but conversations spark my thinking in ways that reading simply cannot.
Each guest has inspired me in some way before they come on my show. I select most of them myself — I’ve learned to deny the vast majority of appearance requests.
I choose guests that I know are knowledgeable, generous, good communicators, and bring a particular expertise to the conversation that I am sure to benefit from.
As a result, my thinking is sparked, my views are challenged, and my understanding is expanded every single week.
No weeks off means no mental or professional atrophy. I’m always growing, reflecting, and learning.
It’s a virtuous cycle that makes me a better podcast host and blogger for Teachers on Fire. Even better, it allows me to contribute more to my own community.
Imagine a hobby that makes you better at your Monday-Friday job. That’s exactly what this is.
I know that’s not for everyone, and no, not every hobby should support your primary work. I’m a huge believer in creating for the intrinsic fulfillment of the creative process.
But there’s a symbiosis here that I find deeply satisfying.
My contractual work gives me more to offer my podcast audience. My podcast work gives me more to offer my elementary school community.
I’m not just growing a YouTube channel. I’m growing my impact and influence.
Final thoughts
Look, weekly livestreaming is a serious commitment.
Guests don’t just appear. Connections and arrangements must be made. The stage must be set. Research must be done and questions must be planned. Episodes must be promoted before and after the event. Editing must be completed. Publication and distribution take time.
But for the time being, I like the equation. I see how this habit serves me and the educators around me.
These conversations won’t produce big-time views and subscribers for my YouTube channel.
Teachers on Fire 