Connecting the Scenes
Guest Blog by Alex T. Valencic
I’ve been listening to the Punk Rock Classrooms podcast for a long time now. I am not even certain when I started listening, but I have listened to every single episode that Josh and Mike have dropped over the years. I have a confession to make: punk rock music isn’t really my thing.
I’ve tried. Really! I’ve listened to their Spotify playlists, I’ve let my YouTube music account randomly play through punk music and, while there have been a few songs or groups that have piqued my interest, for the most part, I am more of a mainstream alternative rock/pop guy. I will listen to a wide range of music, from heavy metal to country to R&B to jazz to instrumental and so much else. But when it comes to the punk scene, I’m just not a huge fan. I’ll listen when it is there, but it isn’t going to be a top pick for me.
I’ve always appreciated how Mike starts each episode assuring listeners that they don’t have to actually be punks to be a part of the Punk Rock Classrooms crew. I have always felt included and I love being connected with them and several other amazing educators I have met through their podcast.
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My cousin Casey lives in Pennsylvania. We first connected through Facebook and while I’ve never met him or his wife in person, I have gotten to know him and his family fairly well. Casey is a member of post-hardcore punk band called Fastfall. It isn’t really the type of music I’d listen to, but I can appreciate that it brings him joy to be a part of the band.
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My friend Josh introduced me to the band Sabaton several years ago and I just cannot get enough of their music. I listen to it all the time, especially on Friday afternoons after students have left for the day and I am still working in my office. Even though they are very different than my typical alternative rock/pop music, I’ve become a huge fan.
My friend John recently shared this meme on Facebook:
I was like, “Hey, I like Sabaton, I should check out this other group!” Well, it turns out that Bolt Thrower is quite a bit heavier than Sabaton and while I really enjoy their instrumentals, their vocals are just not for me.
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Not too long ago, I was listening to my cousin’s band and I realized that Josh Buckley would probably be interested in checking them out, so I shared a link and a quick message about how my cousin is part of a post-hardcore punk group in Erie, PA, and that I thought Josh might be interested. After our brief discussion about Bolt Thrower and Sabaton, I suggested that my friend John check out Fastfall, too. Ove the last few weeks, I’ve probably shared Fastfall with at least a dozen people. It isn’t my scene but it is theirs!
How does this connect to education?
In my role as the Professional Learning Coordinator in my EC-12 school district, I often explain that my job is to help connect teachers with the tools and resources they need so that they can teach better. Sometimes my suggestions fall flat. Sometimes we plan a professional learning experience and the teachers come back to me and say, “You know, that person was really knowledgeable in their field but it just isn’t quite what we needed. Let’s look further.” And that’s okay! Just like music suggestions don’t always connect, sometimes the professional learning we are participating isn’t the perfect match. Of course, sometimes it takes more than one attempt.
I once heard a highly-regarded specialist in PLCs speak on a podcast and I remember thinking, “Man, that guy is so full of himself! It is like he is saying, ‘If you don’t do it my way, you’re doing it wrong!’” A few months later, he was the keynote speaker at an event I was attending and I found myself approaching the keynote with dread. Instead, I took several pages of notes and thought, “Wow, that is exactly the message I needed to hear!” I went back to his podcast episode and listened to it again and thought the same thing! To this day, I don’t know what it was about him that irked me so much that first time. It reminds me of this scene from Mr. Holland’s Opus:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G09s31vPxZ8]
I don’t have to be a kindergarten teacher to help our kindergarten teachers connect with experts in their field. I don’t have to teach high school science to connect the secondary science teachers with professional learning opportunities for folks like them. I don’t have to be a middle school reading specialist to know when a conference will have sessions specifically designed for middle-level reading teachers. And so on. My role isn’t to be the expert in all things. Rather, it is to know who the experts are, to know what the teachers in my district need, and to help connect them to the right scene!
