Coming to FM Radio, TV, and YouTube: Cool Cat Teacher Talk

Teaching in the classroom is a joy to me. My students are exceptional, work hard, constantly learn new things and continually teach me new things. My heart is in the school first and foremost. Since 2002, I’ve taught middle and high schools and coached teachers on instructional technology. I’ve taught my children, nieces and nephews, and the children of my classmates from high school over the past twenty-three years.

Additionally, getting to blog, podcast, and YouTube and sharing on social media is also a joy. In 2005, I started blogging, and in 2006, I began connecting my classrooms with others worldwide. That was also the year that some friends taught me about podcasting, and we embarked on 100 episodes of the “Women of Web 2.0.” We interviewed terrific leaders from around the world. It was so much fun!

Later, I helped create 300 episodes of another special podcast to me, “Every Classroom Matters.” Then, in 2017, my family supported me in my dream to go with a shorter-form podcast every weekday with the “10 Minute Teacher Podcast.” Now, over 860 episodes later, some incredible educators have been on the show, and I keep finding teachers and educators with inspiring stories to tell. The show posts every Monday.

This show has continued because teachers tell other teachers about the show. I’m so grateful for that. There have been many times I’ve spoken at a conference or, most recently, in Saudi Arabia when people see I’m “just a classroom teacher,” and they ask how being on stage would be something I get to do. Besides grace from above, it has been teachers. And the classroom has my ❤️. Teachers and students and their parents do too. We teach a remarkable generation.

But as we’ve considered as a family the best way to be helpful, a new project is arising and is very exciting to me.

Now, we have over 860 episodes of the 10 Minute Teacher podcast and well over 7 million downloads and counting and I have another 20 episodes ready to air for this year with incredible people who will be very helpful.

But now, there are things I’d like to leave behind that will make a difference well into the future.

Sometimes, research, interviews, best practices, and teacher opinions on a topic need to be combined in one place. Compiling resources can benefit topics like Artificial Intelligence in education, school safety, student engagement, reading instruction, and math instruction, and just about any major topic can benefit from it.

So, tomorrow at 4 p.m., the first episode of Cool Cat Teacher Talk will air on FM Radio in Atlanta on WDJY 99.1 and on the radio station’s live stream. The show notes will also go live here on this blog. Additionally, this show will be broadcast on FM Radio in Denver and on television in San Francisco, Fairfax/DC, and New Mexico in the coming months.

But if you aren’t in those cities, you’re still OK. These episodes will also air on my YouTube channel next Wednesday morning, and I will launch Cool Cat Teacher Talk wherever you listen to podcasts next month.

This blog post is to give you an overview of how this show is different from the other content I create, how you can connect with the show, and the overview of my plan for distribution in the various ways that I share.

What goes into each episode of Cool Cat Teacher Talk?

One Topic. The first show is on AI in education. The second show is on how to improve school safety. I have shows on student engagement, reading, project-based learning, math, and more planned in the upcoming months.

Length. For radio and TV, each show will be exactly 58 minutes. For YouTube and my podcast feed, I plan to have one sponsor of some of the shows as appropriate. Some shows, such as the one on school safety, will not have a sponsor. As always, sponsors help pay the costs of having a blog and show with traffic, and I only recommend products I use and think will improve your classroom.

Advice. For each episode, educators, parents, and friends advise me on topics in their areas of expertise and passion. I’ve sat with my colleagues at the lunch table and in their classrooms. I’ve called educators I know to give advice. I’ve forwarded early versions of the show for feedback from classroom teachers and administrators. I’ve done this before writing the show, during writing the show, and after the first draft of the show. We all have blind spots and I certainly do. So, I’m asking for feedback and advice — and yes, prayer from my friends of faith so that I can wisely share timeless and timely truths that will create shows that will be as helpful 10 minutes from now as they will be in 10 years. My goal is to create evergreen content that will help educators for years to come.

Research. Each topic is being deeply researched, read up on, and reviewed. I’m reading books, reading research, and looking at current knowledge as well as timeless principles and lessons from history that make sense and work in classrooms of educators. I’m talking to the people who do the jobs relating to the research (see above) to ensure they line up with what they see.

Interviews. With 860 episodes+ of the 10 Minute Teacher and over 7 million downloads, I have incredible stats on what educators have found helpful. I’m pulling the top shows of the past as well as some current episodes I’ve recorded this week to bring relevant and diverse views from educators who are different and unique but often have common themes in what they share.

Classroom Stories. Teaching matters because kids matter. Kids today are different in many ways, but sometimes there are timeless themes as well. Last school year, I went “part-time” and taught four classes while giving up my IT support duties. I still support our teachers with tech coaching, but I gave up the homeroom, club duties, and “fixing computers.” So, since Fall 2023, I have blogged and podcasted in the morning and headed to school between 10:30 and 11 am. Then, I teach until 3:40 or so. This is helping me quickly take what I’m learning in the classroom, particularly about AI, and then sharing it with other teachers primarily via my podcast but also on my blog and newsletter. Everything I share is tried and true and tested. Last year I taught AP Computer Science Principles and was so excited that all of my students aced their AP test to earn credit. In many ways it was validating as I mastered another programming language and also put to practice all of the things I share and believe in so deeply and saw my kids thrive with it. I want to help other teachers know it can be done. Teachers need respect and as a fellow teacher, my students and fellow teachers keep me grounded.

Inspiration. I also want to inspire and encourage educators to know that this generation of students is incredible and we can reach them. It can be done! There is hope. Teachers don’t teach for the money. They don’t teach because they can’t do anything else. Teachers teach because kids matter. Teachers are so excellent and noble. Teachers deserve to be celebrated.

Truth. Some truths can help in classrooms just about anywhere. As these things come together, the goal is to have helpful shows on one topic that inspire, educate, and improve the world and to syndicate them to a wider audience.

Personal Creativity. I may talk about AI sometimes, but I write everything myself with lots of advice and research. I record it myself. I pray over it. (Yes, I do.) We produce it right here out of our home in Georgia. This is a work of heart.

Content Schedule for “Cool Cat Teacher”

So, as I’m learning how to produce for FM Radio and television, I’m planning a new content schedule as we advance. If something needs to change, I’ll announce it in my weekly newsletter.

Mondays – Cool Cat Teacher Newsletter

• At 11 am on Mondays I’ll release the Cool Cat Teacher Newsletter starting next week. This will share the previous week’s content but also give you the resources and ideas for classrooms that you’ve come to expect.

Wednesdays – Cool Cat Teacher Talk

• Early Morning – starting in mid-October, the Cool Cat Teacher Talk show will be released as an audio podcast in all places you listen to podcasts. I will air the first episode on the 10 Minute Teacher when the podcast launches to share with the listeners that it is a new show I’m creating and what it is.
• 11 am – YouTube Channel – The Video version of Cool Cat Teacher Talk will air one week after it debuts on FM Radio.
• 4pm – WDJY 99.1 FM Atlanta – shows will air a week before they air on my YouTube channel.

Saturdays – 10 Minute Teacher Podcast

• The 10 Minute Teacher podcast will be released for your Saturday listening. (You can still download and listen on Monday mornings as well but you may have to scroll back to Saturday in your podcatcher.)

Future Release Plans

• I have a contract for 52 weeks of Radio. Currently the radio (audio only) program will be released in Atlanta on WDJY 99.1 FM and on their streaming platform and will be released soon in Denver, Colorado. This means you can expect 52 weeks of Cool Cat Teacher Talk on the podcast and the YouTube channel.
• The video version of Cool Cat Teacher Talk will be available in Fairfax/DC, New Mexico, and San Francisco. When I have release times and programming schedules, I’ll share them via the newsletter and the sidebar of my blog here.

Why?

Why not? I want to be helpful. I believe that the work I’m doing, in addition to being a calling, is because of teachers, for teachers, to encourage teachers, and by helping teachers can help students.

Thank you, teachers, for making Cool Cat Teacher – this blog, the various podcasts, and social media platforms part of your source for ideas for almost 19 years. Thank you for forwarding the newsletters, podcasts, and blog posts. Thanks for sharing.

In this day of AI where AI scrapes my blog, spits out generative text, listens to podcasts, and does the same thing, our word of mouth about what we learn from, listen to, and find useful is more important than ever. Reviews on podcast platforms and comments on YouTube and social are more crucial than ever. In a day of posers and supposers, it may get harder to find real people doing the things you’re doing so whatever teachers you read, listen to and learn from — tell others, write reviews and share the shows to help humans be found amidst the noise.

Furthermore, it feels like some people are looking at classrooms more for entertainment value than for ideas of having more value as a teacher. Well, I value teachers. And while I doubt I’ll make it in education until age 94 like my mentor and hero, Mrs. Grace Adkins, as long as I’m here, I want to be helpful. If one teacher finds what I do useful, it is worth it to me because one teacher impacts thousands of students over his/her lifetime as a teacher.

Teachers matter. Parents matter. And oh boy, do kids matter.

I hope this new show and new avenues of sharing the incredible interviews from the 10 Minute Teacher podcast from over the years and into the future will add even more value to classrooms and schools now and in the future.

Thanks for listening and stay tuned! Lets talk about what matters.