For the first 4 years of my career, I had at least a 45-minute drive one way (in some cases 70 minutes). During that time I used music and audiobooks to fill the silence, but around the middle of my second year, I got my first iPod and started listening to podcasts. I started with sports and comedy selections, but soon I learned about education-related podcasts that colleagues were listening to. Below are a few of the work-related podcasts that have become a regular part of my professional learning.
My current podcasting app is Castro on the iPhone, but all of these options can be found in the Apple Podcast App, Spotify, and other common platforms.
Manager Tools
I discovered Manager Tools when I was looking at ways to improve the meetings I ran. After listening to a podcast on running effective meetings, I looked into the rest of their library and found what would become one of the most influential resources on my career. They have two main podcast channels - Manager Tools and Career Tools. The goal of Manager Tools is to make every manager effective. The goal of Career Tools is to make every professional productive. Just as I was moving into district level leadership, they also came out with Executive Tools. All offerings from them are high quality and actionable. If you only have 30 minutes per week for podcasts, you should listen to something from them.
Principal Center
Principal Center Radio is an interview style podcast where Justin Baeder interviews education leaders and experts about various topics. A lot of the the focus is on instructional leadership, but topics range all over the education landscape.
Science of Reading: The Podcast
https://amplify.com/science-of-reading-the-podcast/
This podcast series from Amplify provides a background on the Science of Reading in the early seasons, while later series dive more into how schools are implementing related practices and maintaining consistency.
School Psyched Podcast
https://schoolpsychedpodcast.wordpress.com/
This podcast uses a group interview format to talk to professionals and experts in the field of school psychology. Most episodes include a 15-30 minute presentation from the guest, followed by questions from listeners and the hosts. The podcast is recorded live on Youtube, and then shared through traditional podcast platforms.
Do you listen to podcasts? Which of these will you check out this week?