A Podcast for School Librarians to Listen to

 

The podcast I chose to listen to: How to Be a Better Human by TED and PRX

The episode I chose: 

Summary of the podcast episode:

The host, Chris, and Dr. Becky Kennedy, who was named the "millennial parenting whisperer" by Time's magazine have a conversation about different relationships in life, whether that between bosses and employees or parents and their kids. They talk about how repair is so important and how to get good at it. They mention how humans combine their behavior with their identity and Dr. Becky advises that we should separate them. Dr. Becky talks about how she is a parent that wants her children to balance their needs with other traits such as generosity. 

Most interesting part:

Chris said that when he reworded what he was saying to his students when he was teaching 5th grade students, he could notice a change. For example, instead of saying "you're the kid that says bad words", he said "you're the good kid who said a bad word". After he said that, he said he could feel a shift in his relationship with the kid. 

3 things I learned:

- Saying sorry is more powerful if there's been time. Like if you are saying it in the moment, it seems like you are only saying it to move on. However, if you say it two days later, it seems like you've been reflecting on it and it's more of an opportunity for conversation.

- To understand what someone is dealing with, you have pause, acknowledge the problem, and connect with them. You have to form a bridge to walk into each other's worlds. A lot of the times, people (especially kids) just need someone to hear what they're saying and to validate them, instead of just being in "fix" mode. Understanding someone is an action.

- Confidence is not just feeling good about yourself, its about trusting that you know yourself.

What is useful for our library + why:

This podcast and this podcast episode in particular is important for libraries/ librarians because the two speakers teach us how to build meaningful relationships around, especially between teachers and students. They also provide tips on how to word things so that they don't impact students negatively.

Post is also posted on Instagram!

My Winter Break:

I had lots of fun this winter break! Although a lot of the time I was just studying for my upcoming French final exam, I did go on a mini road trip to Seattle and hung out with my friends a lot. The first weekend, we drove to the outlet in Seattle to do some Christmas shopping and I just relaxed with my family. Then all that week, I studied a bunch of French until I went ice skating with my four friends and got chilli at Tim's after. I also went to the mall with my friend the day before school started. I really like this time of year because it's just a time to relax and look back on everything you did in the year. Chrsitmas is also just a really fun time to spend with family and eat lots of good food. 

In terms of books, I finished one (Lessons in Chemistry) and started another one (Crazy Rich Asians). Even though I had plenty of time to read, I feel like during breaks I don't read as much because lay on my bean bag and watch Netflix.