I listen to podcasts to learn, be inspired, and get motivated almost every day. When I need to be inspired or get a fresh idea, I know I can pop in my earbuds and get what I need from other educators who are out there sharing through this media. Listening to podcasts is truly personalized professional development at it’s finest.

If you’ve never listened to podcasts before or want to try out some of my personal favorites, here is this year’s EDU Podcast Tasting 2.0:

Click the image to access the interactive menu

You can use the menu on your own to explore great education podcasts and you can share it with teammates! If you are a school leader, you can consider using it to allow staff to personalize their professional development and care for their minds and bodies with Podcasts and Pedometers. Read my original post about Podcasts and Pedometers here and to see last year’s Podcast Tasting Menu which offers different podcasts.

Last year on my campus, we offered Podcasts and Pedometers to staff as PD. Here’s how it worked – staff came to work early or stayed late for 30 minutes outside of their contract hours. During those 30 minutes, they listened to a podcast as they walked around the building or jogged outside and filled out a half sheet of paper which asked them to record what podcast they listened to, one reflection, and one application for their classroom or practice.

This year, for version 2.0, I am taking a note from Jennifer Bell, Principal at Kirk Elementary, who offered podcast PD but utilized a Google Form for staff to record their reflections and applications.

I am also adding a gamification feature that staff can “unlock” the ability to listen at home, in the car, or anywhere outside of our school building after completing 2 sessions on campus and checking in with an administrator after. These check-ins are just to make sure they understand the process, are able to listen to the podcasts on the menu, are able to complete the Google Form reflection to receive credit, answer questions, and show them how to subscribe to podcasts if they don’t know how.

Staff may complete as many or as few 30-minute sessions as they choose up to the set cut-off date. At that time, we will give staff hours in the professional development system for their listening and reflections!

Intrigued by this Podcast Tasting Menu idea? Check out these other examples that were shared with me that my original post inspired:

Shake Up Learning’s Postcast PD Choice Board for Teachers

Region 10’s Pedometers and Podcasts Menu

Podcasts for PD Choice Board by Cheyenne Green