The Primary Teacher Friends Podcast: An Encouraging & Informative Place for K-2 Educators

Hey there, teacher friend! I’m extra excited to share the news I have for you today. Can I get a drum roll? 🥰

The Primary Teacher Friends Podcast is LIVE! I’ll be bringing my quirky Southern voice to you with encouragement, strategies, tips, and insights to make your teaching journey enjoyable and successful. Those two things really can, and should, go together, and I’m all about helping you find them both!

This Podcast is for you if….

This podcast is for you if you’re a primary teacher (Kindergarten, First or Second grade), if you’re passionate about giving these little learners the best start possible, and if you dream of feeling joy in being a teacher.

Do you know that literacy is vital to our students? Do you believe that every student can learn? Do you strive to see those lightbulbs come on after a tough lesson? Do you believe that some of the most valuable gifts you can give your students don’t show up on a standardized test?

If so, then you are a DIFFERENCE MAKER! I believe in you, and I want to help you reach your full potential as a teacher.

Are you stressed about this upcoming school year with the uncertainty and the need to be ready to go virtual? I’ll help you get ready!

Do your students sometimes seem more interested in their neighbor’s story, what’s for lunch, or the color of their pencil than the lesson you spent hours putting together? We’ll talk about student engagement!

Do some aspects of literacy, like phonological awareness, challenge you in being able to reach every student? I’ve got you covered!

Do you want actionable strategies you can implement immediately to help with sight words, letters, sounds, and phonics? You’ll get them!

Expert Advice for Teachers

I’ll be interviewing guests like Dr. Jean Feldman and so many more to bring different perspective and tons of experience to you. Here, you’ll find consistent encouragement to keep you going on the tough days and help you soar on the better days. I don’t just preach it, though. The tools and strategies I’ll share have been carefully developed and are research backed. They are strategies I use in my own classroom.

The Heart Behind the Mic

Let me tell you just a little about myself and why I believe in primary education and why I believe in you. This is why I’m here.

Teachers are heroes, and no one will ever convince me otherwise. Is it okay if I get personal with you for a minute? I want to share a piece of my heart so you’ll understand what motivates me to serve you with this podcast, the blog I write, and the content I create on Teachers Pay Teachers.

I’m from Eastern Kentucky. You may have some mental images starting already. I promise the stereotypes aren’t all true! However, times can get really hard around here, and I didn’t start life with things being easy for me at all. My momma did everything she could to provide every opportunity possible, but there just wasn’t much to provide.

My beacon of hope came from the teachers in the little country schools. For someone who has a difficult start in life like me, education is the golden opportunity. It’s the open window. It’s the way out and into the life you want to make for yourself.

I realized that, and I held on to that opportunity. Thankfully, I had teachers who helped me as I studied my way through school, college, and on to a master’s degree. I’m a first generation college graduate in my family, and I’m the first teacher in my family. Now I have a beautiful family who I love, who love me, and I have the chance to nurture three daughters through childhood and help them dream of the future they want.

Because of teachers, I get to work everyday in a career that isn’t a job. It’s a calling. But you know what? It isn’t the hours they spent on lesson plans, the perfectly executed wording of a history lesson, distinguished scores on standardized tests, or the time they spent grading assignments that really saved me.

What made the most difference to me were the relationships those teachers built with me. They encouraged me, believed in me, and gave me the hope to picture a courageous future for myself.

Yes, the lessons and test scores were important. I couldn’t have gotten here without them. But without the motivation that came from teachers who knew I could, I wouldn’t have been successful.

You are the PLANTSMAN of Human Potential

Primary teachers, you are saving a child’s life every day in your classroom. You are having a profound impact on the little learners you touch. Don’t ever minimize how important this is.

You may be the only person in a child’s life who shows them that they matter. It may not be the students you expect. The effect you have may not be seen for years. Sometimes you’ll never know what a difference you made for a child. Some will come back and share that with you, but believe that it’s happening, whether you know it or not. 

Think of a plantsman, or plantswoman, who gardens with enthusiasm and knowledge. They put in hard work to prepare the ground for seeds, plant the seeds, and nurture the plants until they sprout and grow. Eventually they become mature vegetation.

You are a plantsman of human potential. Sitting in front of you are the future teachers, doctors, business owners, parents, inventors, and social workers. For this year of their lives, you are one of the most influential people they know.

Primary teachers nurture the seedlings so that they provide vegetation. You give students the chance for a good beginning. Without a good foundation, it’s difficult to build a successful future.

The foundation of knowledge you help learners have multiplies as they go through subsequent grades in school.

The trust you enable learners to build in you as a teacher is the basis that teachers who come later rely on.

You provide them with the tools and opportunity to read. A child who isn’t a proficient reader by the third grade is four times more likely to drop out of high school.

Teacher, primary education is where it’s at. You lay the groundwork that is vital to your students’ futures. Without you, we wouldn’t have successful generations coming up and becoming ready to take on the challenges of our world.

You provide hope.

So, this podcast is for you. While I schedule interviews, plan topics, and create content, it’s with you in mind.

Every Thursday, come over here for encouragement, strategies, tips, and tools from me and other educators who believe in you and how vital you are. Because you are! Embrace how much you matter to your little learners, and let that motivate you when the teen numbers and tricky spelling words come.

Does this sound like your kind of podcast? If so, join our friend group of primary teachers! Click HERE to listen to the latest episode or catch up on previous episodes. While you’re there, don’t forget to subscribe! You won’t want to miss the excitement I have planned for you.

If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a review. This really helps to get the word out so we primary teachers can find each other and grow together, and it will enable me to keep content like this coming.

If no one else tells you this today, or this week, let me do it. You matter! Let me encourage you along the way, and we’ll brighten our futures one child at a time.

See you on the podcast!

XOXOXO