A lot can happen in three years. What does a review of the past three years lead you to focus on in the next three? In this five minute episode host David W. Reynolds shares a few thoughts about a three year time period. Share your reflections and ideas via email – LeadLearnChange@icloud.com.
May 31, 2019 - Episode 1
May 31, 2022- Episode 39
Changes
Constants
Learning
Public school students
Public school teachers
What can and will you do?
The unknown inside the known
Make a difference
Grad numbers 2019 - https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2020/66-point-2-percent-of-2019-high-school-graduates-enrolled-in-college-in-october-2019.htm
Grad numbers 2020 - https://www.thinkimpact.com/high-school-statistics/
Grad numbers 2021 - https://www.thinkimpact.com/high-school-graduates-that-go-to-college/
Number of students in U.S. public schools - https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372
US population - https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/us-population/
David Reynolds (00:11):
What matters most in learning the challenge, the thrill, the benefits, interacting with other people or something else entirely. What is the connection between leading and learning? Does change drive learning or does learning drive change? What's more important, teaching or learning? Is everyone a leader, a learner, a teacher want answers? Listen in as we address these intriguing issues through commentary and with guests who share their thinking and tell us their stories. Lead, learn, change the next 1096 days. The release date for this episode is May 31, 2022. Three years ago, today on May 31st, 2019, the first episode of the Lead Learn Change podcast was published. That's 1096 days because there's a February 29th in there. 1096 days ago, COVID was not a word any of us uttered today. It's unlikely that any of us haven't been impacted by the virus in the past 1096 days. Expected and unexpected milestones characterized the economies of nations, presidents, prime ministers, and other elected officials entered and exited the stage of world leaders.
(01:44):
Culture shifted. Disagreement and unity continued to coexist. Technology accelerated further. An argument can be made that everything is different now or that nothing truly changed at all. One constant in this world of flux was learning. In the 1096 days since the first episode of this podcast was released, learning has been ever present. Newly married couples learned how to function as a family. Little children learned to talk, walk, read, and express themselves. Medical professionals and patients learned how to manage previously unknown illnesses and symptoms. Business owners and employees learned how to pivot and deliver goods and services in innovative ways, and educators learned more about learning than any of us could ever imagine. Many of us learned how to listen, the value of patience and that priorities and principles matter. What else occurred in those 1096 days? Here's a fact for you. More than 9 million students graduated from high school in the United States.
(02:56):
That's a lot of graduates. Here's another number. In the fall of 2020, the approximate midpoint of our 1096 days, there were nearly 50 million students enrolled in public schools in the US, 50 million. There are only 335 million people give or take in the entire country. Employing a bit of estimation acrobatics, that means that approximately one of every seven people in the US is enrolled in a public school. Therefore, it follows that there's a good chance that as a parent, other family member, employer, coach, mentor, or educator, you have had an impact on at least one of these students, or you will have an impact on one of the next 9 million. What part could you play in supporting students who are about to graduate? What can you do to help a student who will graduate next year or the year after? Is there something you will do that would benefit a great teacher?
(03:50):
Think ahead 1096 days, three years from now, what do you want to be able to say about the 1096 days that just passed? I hope to have released another 39 episodes. I want to be well on my way to publishing the second book. I want our organization, PAGE, the Professional Association of Georgia Educators to be thriving and supporting teachers in ways that matter most. I want to be able to point to more than a few pivotal moments where I made a positive difference. I want to be enjoying and being grateful for good health and meaningful relationships. Of course, I cannot possibly know what the next 1096 days will bring, but I do know that most of the thoughts about the past three years, those things that were just mentioned a few minutes ago, will still be part of our lives. Economic stability and wise leadership will still be sought after culture and technology will still impact us all. Disagreement and unity will still be embedded in our interactions with others. Millions upon millions of students will still be benefiting from their public school education and great educators will still be contributing. More than any of us could ever imagine the last 1096 days mattered. The next 1096 days might matter more. Thanks for the leadership you will demonstrate, the learning you will impart and the changes you will help others navigate. Here's to the next 1096 days.