What if enhancing your teaching craft and finding inspiration could be the highlight of your summer break? Join me on this exciting episode of the SuperSized PhysEd podcast as we explore a summer filled with growth and relaxation. We start with a deep dive into the powerful documentary "Long Time Running," which follows the final tour of The Tragically Hip and the incredible journey of their lead singer, Gord Downie. This moving story not only entertains but provides valuable lessons in resilience and cultural influence. Plus, I share how the Evernote app can revolutionize your note-taking and organization, making it a must-have for educators aiming to stay efficient and prepared. Next, get ready for some exciting updates and opportunities. Discover the benefits of signing up for the Supersizedphysed.com newsletter, packed with resources tailored for your summer break. I also discuss my book "The Teacher, the Chef, and the Hockey Player," which tells the heartwarming story of a PE teacher's transformation through mentorship. Thank you to everyone who has supported the book so far! And don't miss the sneak peek into my upcoming second novel, due for release next year or possibly sooner. Make this summer a season of both relaxation and professional growth by tuning in! Take care PE Nation, Dave
What if enhancing your teaching craft and finding inspiration could be the highlight of your summer break? Join me on this exciting episode of the SuperSized PhysEd podcast as we explore a summer filled with growth and relaxation. We start with a deep dive into the powerful documentary "Long Time Running," which follows the final tour of The Tragically Hip and the incredible journey of their lead singer, Gord Downie. This moving story not only entertains but provides valuable lessons in resilience and cultural influence. Plus, I share how the Evernote app can revolutionize your note-taking and organization, making it a must-have for educators aiming to stay efficient and prepared. Next, get ready for some exciting updates and opportunities. Discover the benefits of signing up for the Supersizedphysed.com newsletter, packed with resources tailored for your summer break. I also discuss my book "The Teacher, the Chef, and the Hockey Player," which tells the heartwarming story of a PE teacher's transformation through mentorship. Thank you to everyone who has supported the book so far! And don't miss the sneak peek into my upcoming second novel, due for release next year or possibly sooner. Make this summer a season of both relaxation and professional growth by tuning in! Take care PE Nation, Dave
Hello and welcome to the Super Size Phys Ed podcast. My name is Dave and today I'd like to talk about summer and what we can do in the summertime to better our craft, better our profession and some of my favorite things that I'm listening to or reading or what have you. So, without further ado, here we go. All right, thanks for tuning in PE Nation. I'm so glad you're here today.
Speaker 1:
So I've seen a lot of things online about people not doing anything this summer, like I'm just going to relax, I'm going to go to the beach, I'm going to just do nothing the whole summer. And look, I get that, I do, I get that. It is definitely a time for recharging your batteries, getting ready for the next school year and just decompressing from last school year, if you are already on summer break, like I am. But I think there's things we can do and things we can help ourselves with by doing or listening to or just taking some kind of action this summer to make ourselves better and to get ourselves ready for the next school year. So I'll make this a boomer today. Let's go with a few things that I like right now, that I'm using or I'm listening to or I'm reading or just I'm thinking about. So these are some of my summer favorite things, or things I love. So, with that being said, here's number one. All right, number one is actually a documentary I just finished watching and if you're not into documentaries, I really think it's a great way to learn about different cultures, different businesses and, you know, just different professions and all sorts of things, obviously. So the one I just finished was called Long Time Running.
Speaker 1:
Now it is about a band called the Tragically Hip. Hopefully you've heard of them. They were a Canadian band and it is all about how Gord Downie, the lead singer it was a final tour. He had inoperable brain cancer and he knew his time was short and they got together for one last tour and I want to do a whole episode on him soon because I've been so fascinated by him lately. I'm going to credit Andy Vasily on some of this because he kind of got me into them a little bit.
Speaker 1:
And I grew up in Buffalo, as most of you know, if you've been listening for a while and the Tragically Hip were they did okay in Buffalo. I guess they were not big, but they were okay in Buffalo. But they really never made it big in the United States and it's just fascinating to watch this documentary, though, on how the band changed. Well, they didn't change Canada, but Canada embraced them as their own. I told my wife because she doesn't get it either they were like the U2 of Canada. Let's just say the way U2 is to, let's say, ireland or really even the world. But let's say to Ireland, the Tragically Hip were to Canada, even the world. But let's say to Ireland, the Tragically Hip were to Canada and it's just a fascinating journey that they had over 30 years. They started in the late 80s, it was closer probably to 40 years total and just what they did for Canada and how he became an icon. And he wasn't some crazy famous person that just kind of walked around like he's the greatest and things like that. It wasn't like that, but it just his journey, especially at the end. Um, it documented the last tour before he passed away. So great documentary. And again, I want to do a whole. I'm going to do a whole podcast on him and the tragically hip, uh, coming up soon Cause whole, I'm going to do a whole podcast on him and the Tragically Hip coming up soon, because I've just been listening to them just nonstop lately and again, when I get into something, it's scary sometimes because I just keep going deeper and deeper. So anyways, long time running.
Speaker 1:
It's called and is about the Tragically Hip and is awesome, and that is number one. Number two is an app that I used to use a long time ago and it's also a website. It is Evernote, and I know that's not like a secret or anything like that, but Evernote is awesome for note-taking and for taking little snippets of anything of anything recipes, taking audio clips, just recording different things and then putting it into different notepads and books like digital booklets. Now it is expensive when I log back in, but I started using it again because I've been writing my second book and I listened to something which I'll actually come to in a little bit with one of my boomers, and the author just really wanted to promote Evernote as just a game-changing app, which it is. Again, if you're a note-taker like me, you have to have something on your phone to take notes, and Evernote has been great. It's like a digital notepad that then you could take it and do different things with it. There is a free version, which is what I'm using right now.
Speaker 1:
If not, it's kind of expensive, but what I do is I use Evernote plus my note-taking app on my phone, just the default one, and I transfer things to it. So to me that's a that just works really well, and you don't have to be writing a book to take notes. You should be, in my opinion, just looking around everywhere for inspiration, for you know, just on TV or as you walk around town or as you're driving, there's all sorts of things that, at least in my mind, are important to PE and to my craft and my career, that I can just like just get ideas from, and so a note-taking app like Evernote and or even just your regular note-taking app, is very important. So have something that you can jot down notes, either physically or digitally. And again, evernote plus the note-taking app is just a game changer for me. So that is number two Evernote plus whatever you got app is just a game changer for me. So that is number two Evernote plus whatever you got.
Speaker 1:
So number three is a book I listened to recently called the Miracle Morning for Writers, and that is a spinoff of the Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod, and so if you're not a writer, the Miracle Morning would still be really great for anybody, and it basically just gets you in the mode of getting up early. I know it's not easy for some people and I usually am a morning person, but it's hard. Sometimes my hours keep changing and they keep getting earlier and earlier, so it's harder, but in the summer definitely, I've been using this and hopefully it'll transfer over to my next school year. So the miracle morning for writers is about basically getting up early and writing and going through your craft, but not just writing. Getting other things done as well, like exercising and then praying or meditating, and just getting things in a systematic order so that you can. It's not even it's habits you're forming over time every day, just every day. This is what you're doing every day and understanding that you only have so much energy per day and and getting things done in the morning is a great way to you know, have a win, have a few wins before in my case, before my whole family gets up. I've been done writing for 30 minutes to an hour. I've got a workout in, I've done my praying and meditation I don't really meditate, but praying and reading my Bible, if that's your thing, and just getting things systematically done and then the rest of your day. I'm not saying you should be a couch potato, but it just gets you those little wins that add up over time and those become big wins after weeks, after months, and so it's a really good resource. I don't know if I did it enough justice, but it's a great book. Again, it's the Miracle Morning for writers, but even just the Miracle Morning is a really good resource and thing to listen to or to read.
Speaker 1:
Number four I'm going to go with a fiction novel, an audio fiction that I'm almost done with. I'm not quite done with, so I don't want to I spoil anything and I can't because I don't know who did it. It is a mystery. It is called Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson, and there actually is a sequel that I want to listen to. It is something about everyone on the train is a suspect. I think it's the second one.
Speaker 1:
Now, again, I did not finish it yet. I have about an hour left in the book and it's really good and it's really well done. It's. It's as someone described, I guess, in the comments of the book it's like a cheeky detective novel where he's kind of playing to the audience as he's talking a little bit to us as a listener. It's really well done and honestly, I don't listen to a lot of fiction because my mind starts to wander, like when I'm in the car or I'm walking or I'm running the treadmill or I'm whatever. You got to pay attention.
Speaker 1:
So I mostly do nonfiction books. In general, I mostly read nonfiction, but I want to throw a fiction one out there because I just don't talk about fiction novels enough. My wife reads a ton of fiction and I read a ton of nonfiction, but this one's really well done and again, on the audio version is great. I have not obviously read the regular version, but again it's called Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone, and it's again. It's not a gruesome thing, it's well. Yeah, people die, but it's kind of lighthearted and funny at times and it's just really well done, like I said. So that is a great fiction one to listen to. So try it, give it a chance.
Speaker 1:
And that is number four. All right for number five. Look, I've given you a documentary, I've given you a fiction book. I've given you a nonfiction book, I've given you an app or two combined together. So now it's really just about having a project. I think that's the best way to put it Now.
Speaker 1:
It could be anything. It could be gardening, it could be getting better at chess, which was my goal last year. I love chess but it's just been very frustrating to me lately. I haven't seen the results I've wanted to really see. But anyways, have a project. So mine is finishing my book, my second book. I'm very dedicated to that. Every morning I get up and I write. I write for at least a half an hour to an hour each day. It depends on the section I'm trying to finish or if I'm in that flow where I'm just going, going, going and time just is flying, which does happen. I'm also obviously trying to get this podcast going again or like getting more consistent. So have a project.
Speaker 1:
Don't just sit around the house and do nothing, because you I think you're going to regret it Like I would. I've. I always seem to regret something at the end of summer, where I you know, my wife and I, or my kids we make lists of things we want to do, place we want to go, things we want to see, and we do a lot of them, and there's always something you're not going to do. But I would say have a project Again. It could be painting a room, it could be anything, but keep yourself busy. You don't have to be busy all the time. Definitely, relax, I do relax. I'm not a crazy person. I do relax. But have something to keep you going, keep you motivated, and something you can see at the end of summer. You can be like, wow, I accomplished that. So that is number five. Have a project dude and do that. The final one today.
Speaker 1:
Number six is brainstorm for next year. Get a I guess we talked about a note-taking app, but also get a, I'd say, a paper and pencil notebook kind of thing, and write down some goals, some things you want to do for next school year. I'd say get a plan together. Don't wait till the first week of school. There's things, at least for me, always change. I'm losing a para and we are in the process of trying to find a new one. My schedule has changed as far as the times on some of the classes and also the number of classes we're going from, which is crazy. We went from five kindergarten classes last year to eight this coming year, and you know things change like that, where it's just it's up and down with number of classes, how many you're going to see at a time. You know just things like that.
Speaker 1:
So brainstorm new ideas, constantly be learning, looking online for ideas, looking all over the place for ideas. Again, it could be a book, it could be a documentary, it could be as you're walking around town, it could be anything. But look for new ideas, jot them down, brainstorm for next year. And yeah, don't just don't stop learning over the summer. I guess is my big thing on that. Keep going. And yeah, that's number six. And uh, yeah, that's number six. All right, everybody, no need for a cowbell tip of the day today, and if there was one, I'd say just think about these things over the summer. Let's keep moving, keep pushing, keep, uh, learning. Just never stop learning and growing in your craft. Always try to get better and you have a plan. Don't just walk into next school year with nothing and just say it took two months off and my brain is mush, as always.
Speaker 1:
You can go to supersciencephysedcom for more information or to sign up for my newsletter. I will be putting one out for summer very shortly and you could always purchase my book if you'd like. It is the Teacher, the Chef and the Hockey Player, and you could always purchase my book if you'd like it is the Teacher, the Chef and the Hockey Player. And again, that is about a struggling PE teacher that learns different skills, different principles to guide him along his way and he meets kind of mysterious mentors in the process. So, yes, I appreciate you that have purchased the book and again, I'm working on the novel number two, which hopefully will be out next year sometime, I'm hoping even sooner than that. So, with that being said, have a great day, week, weekend, wherever you are, whatever you're doing, I see you and you are awesome PE Nation. Take care and keep pushing our profession forward. We'll be right back Bye.
