The popularity of podcasts is soaring, with U.S. statistics showing their number has grown from 550,000 to 750,000 over the past year alone. This month we present a selection of podcasts for teachers by teachers, covering everything from successes and failures to teaching methods, humour and classroom management.

  • Close your textbooks. ‘Podcasts In Class’ switches up the lesson plan – Brand spanking new from the CBC, “CBC Podcasts in Class” was launched on September 3, 2019. They aim to tap work teachers have already been doing. According to Leslie Merklinger, the head of CBC Podcasts, “We often hear from teachers that they use our podcasts in the classroom. Providing them with comprehensive support materials seemed like a natural next step.” One example for teachers addresses the challenge of teaching the new Indigenous curriculum without “colonizing” it. Similar themes include wider views of history, such as The Province of Jamaica, that tells the story of Caribbean Sleeping Car Porters on the railroads.
  • Adventures in Teaching Podcasts – Thompson Rivers University’s Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching offers Adventures in Teaching Podcasts, where you will “Hear from educators in K-12 and from the university level as they illustrate learning concepts, practices and principles through the telling of their own classroom adventures. Told in an easygoing, conversational style, these stories will resonate with teachers of all levels.”
  • Teaching Podcasts – Player.fm is a teaching podcast super-hub, offering a dizzying array of podcasts across the educational spectrum, from Ed Tech and Higher Ed to Inclusive Education and Teaching Trends. According to their website, “Being a teacher is a very challenging and a highly responsible task. If one wants to be a good teacher, they need to self-develop and upgrade their knowledge throughout their lives. Listening to podcasts can help teachers upgrade their knowledge even if they are short of time to attend seminars and workshops.” Below, a sample of one of their picks:
    • The Cult of Pedagogy Podcast – Former middle school teacher in the USA Jennifer Gonzalez hosts the intriguingly named, “Cult of Pedagogy” podcast, with the “hope to create what I did not have myself: a vibrant, encouraging, stimulating community of teachers, supporting each other toward excellence….” Episode titles range from “Repairing Harm: A Better Alternative to Punishment,” and “How to Spot Dyslexia and What to Do Next,” to the humorous, “The Time I Made a Fart Sound During a Test.”
  • 7 Great Educational Podcasts To Subscribe To In 2019! – Teacher Cast Educational Network recommends, somewhat late in the year, seven educational podcasts for 2019; in their words, “There are dozens of educational podcasts and podcasters popping up in the educational field.  Here is a list of some of the tried and true, and fully tested podcasts that are great for you and your ride to work.” These include Teachers on Fire, covering innovative k-12 classroom teachers, and the TeacherCast Podcast, “…a fun podcast that features educators, tech companies, and others discussing the hottest topics facing today’s educators,” among others.
  • Listen and Learn: The 40 Best Educational Podcasts in 2019 – “Forty Best” indicates the range of choices available from the College Info Geek. From the website: “These 40 educational podcasts are all great shows that’ll help you learn more, thus adding more productive hours to your day. They might even help keep you entertained on laundry days as well.” Happily, they also offer a short list of eight podcasts, with names such as, “Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders,” “You are Not So Smart” and “Philosophize This!”
  • 10 Minute Teacher Podcast – Finally, via YouTube,  a motherlode of no less than 385 videos of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast, “…a 5-day a week podcast where Vicki Davis…chats with today’s most amazing educators, thought leaders, and classroom teachers. Listen to teachers from around the world talk about how they overcome the challenges of teaching to be remarkable for their students.”

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