Monthly Archives: December 2012

About Passion

Guest Host: Laura Yost

Education is about passion

I recently called up Alan and informed him that he’s my “idea friend.” He politely said that he was honored to be so, but he knows it comes with the joy/burden of being subject to wacky ideas about education, student motivation, faculty professional development, teaching and learning shenanigans, impassioned rants about library stuff, and all sorts of other flotsam. In fact, Alan and I share a passion for ideas, fun projects, and learning. So we got curious about all the other folks we know who have passion for education, and a particularly passionate lecturer at our school sprang to mind as good for a conversation on passion in education.

Dr. Laura Yost is passionate about many things – military history, central America, microfinance, teaching, and understanding cultures. Learn more about her here: http://faculty.kirkwood.edu/lyost/. We invited her into our studio to discuss passion in education – and learned quite a bit about history and sociology along the way.

How does your passion for education find outlet? What are you passionate about when it comes to teaching and learning? We want to hear your stories – comment below or shoot us an email.

A Career

Guest Hosts: Jack Terndrup & Mona Parekh

Education Is A Career

What does it mean to be a worker in an education setting, particularly an instructor? Coming off our last podcast in May with Mona, where we explored being a new online instructor, Alan and I have sort of been in a “What does it mean to be an educator” mode. We settled on exploring the theme of “Education is a Career,” and dug in with reading and conversation.

First we sat down with Jack Terndrup, a bit of a local celebrity here in our college. He’s a seasoned professor with a long history as an educator, but also a quick wit, great stories, and the sort of warmth that makes you want to learn from him, regardless if you’re a student or not. Jack teaches Education, and he also does a really enjoyable lecture on his 10 greatest teaching mistakes (and while that didn’t make it into the podcast this time, let’s just say puppets were involved). We also included some of Mona’s path to teaching, from her childhood kitchen table, where her friends begrudgingly learned math, to a highschool in the Bronx, and finally to Eastern Iowa and the Internet. In this podcast, you’ll hear Jack, Mona, and Alan discuss their paths to becoming formal “educators,” and what lead them to this career.

What got you into education? What keeps you there? We want to hear your stories, and your path!