The Final Bell For Teachers Ed Podcast

The Teachers Ed Podcast ends today and it’s personal. I’m not dropping an announcement and walking away; I’m sitting with you for an honest thank you, a clear apology for the times I went quiet, and the real reason I can’t keep building this the old way. Educators do not have extra time, extra energy, or extra patience for things that don’t serve them, and I’ve felt the weight of that every time you pressed play after a long day.

I take it back to March 2020, when schools shut down overnight and teachers were handed laptops and told to figure out remote learning through a crisis nobody trained us for. That’s when I started recording at my kitchen table because we needed something real: not a district memo, not a lifeless professional development deck, but a place to talk about the pressure, the joy, the exhaustion, and the purpose of teaching. That mission stays, but the structure has to change if I’m going to serve you with consistency and care.

So here’s the shift: Teachers Ed is ending, but nothing disappears from your feed. We’re rebranding and evolving into Homeroom Attendance, launching late April from a brand new Homeroom Media studio. Expect better sound, a bigger table, more guest voices, more in-person conversations, YouTube video episodes, and an education news segment designed to inform you and help you do the job while feeling better doing it. The promise is simple: you are not the problem. This show exists to help you navigate the systems that are.

Stay subscribed, share this with a teacher or school leader who needs it, and when Homeroom Attendance launches, come listen and leave a review so more educators can find the room.

www.EdwardDeShazer.org

Transcript

For Burnt Out Educators

SPEAKER_00 0:00

If you're an educator that's passionate, but you're tired and you're burnt out and you're wondering what to do next, this is a show for you. We're gonna learn together, we're gonna recharge together, and we're gonna grow together so you can be the best you and serve your students and your community to the best of your ability.

The Podcast Ends Today

Why The Show Started In 2020

Owning Inconsistency And Burnout

Rebrand To Homeroom Attendance

What The New Show Includes

Stay Subscribed And Spread The Word

Gratitude And Final Sendoff

SPEAKER_01 0:22

60 episodes, five years, one pandemic, um, a lot of late nights, definitely some missed recording sessions. And honestly, there were some stretches where I did not fully uh show up. The way I tell educators to do their best to show up, and yet here we are. This is Edward DeShazer, and welcome back to the Teachers Ed Podcast. And this is the last episode of the Teachers Ed Podcast. Before I get into what's happening and why, um, I just want to sit with you all for a second uh because this episode is not just an announcement, but really it's a thank you and an honest conversation for me. It's something I've been building toward without fully knowing it. And if you're a first-time listener joining me, welcome. You picked an interesting day to show up. If you've been rocking with me since 2020 in March, uh you found this show somewhere in the middle. This one's for you, and I'm hoping that you have a chance to hear every word. So let me just take a second and take you back. March 2020, schools were shut down overnight, teachers were handed laptops, told to figure it out via Zoom, and they were sent home to somehow keep educating kids through a crisis that nobody prepared us for. The whole world seemingly stopped. And education, the thing that we dedicated our entire lives to felt like it was falling apart in real time. And I started the Teachers Ed podcast in that moment, sitting at my kitchen table, wondering what was going on, what was next, but knowing that educators needed somewhere to go. And not because I had it all figured out, because I was figuring it out in real time, just like everyone else. Um, but I just knew that we needed something. Uh, and we needed something that wasn't a district memo. We needed something that just wasn't another professional development PowerPoint that nobody asked for. Uh, we needed something that felt real, and I wanted to create a space where we could talk about the actual experience of being an educator, the pressure, the joy, the exhaustion, the purpose, every little bit of it. So I hit record and I kept it recording. Um, I'm gonna be honest with you. Uh, this show, I feel I've tried to build it around, being honest with you all, and that's what this has been about. But you know, 60 episodes, 60 plus, I don't know what the exact is, uh, but 60 episodes over five years is not a consistent cadence. There were stretches where I showed up every week, locked in, in a rhythm, and there were stretches where months passed and I went quiet, even you know, just currently this last month. Life happened, priorities shifted, and sometimes for me, I just wasn't in the right head space because I wanted to make sure I gave you something that was worth your time. I don't like wasting people's time. And I think about that because I know some of you are educators and you're waking up at 5:30 in the morning and you're still showing up for your kids, you're getting home, still showing up for your family, even when you're running on empty, and the least that I could do for you uh was show up. And I didn't always do that. And I want to start this episode by owning that. And here's what I also know every single episode I put out, I meant it. When I showed up, I gave you guys everything I had, whether it was by myself or with guests, uh virtually and in person. And what I've learned in five years is that I want to build something that makes it impossible to not show up. Something with infrastructure, uh, something with an environment and the community to match the mission. That's what we're building now. And here's the good news in the bad news situation. The bad news is the Teachers Ed podcast is over. This is the final episode of the Teachers Ed podcast. Excuse me, the good news. You don't have to go anywhere. I'm not leaving. Uh, this show is not disappearing from your feed. You're not gonna be losing anything. What's happening is gonna be a rebrand, a full evolution of what we have been doing. And this podcast is gonna be going to be turning into homeroom attendance, which is gonna be launching uh late April out of our brand new homeroom media studio. Uh, same host, same heart, same commitment to educators, uh, but it we're gonna have a bigger table, better sound, more guests, uh, and really just more honest conversations about what it actually looks like to navigate education right now, not just to survive it, but to actually thrive in it. And for a while, you know, when I started this, I was talking specifically to uh teachers, and then I started shifting into some leadership thing, and it was confusing for people. Um, and I don't want to confuse you, I I want to pour into you and I want to bring you value. So, homeroom attendance uh is the show that I always wanted to build when I first hit record in 2020, and now I finally have what I need to build it right. So here's what's coming to give you an uh a feel for homeroom attendance. My hope is that it feels like you're walking into the teacher's lounge and the right conversation is already happening. Uh, no corporate conversation, no Pinterest PD energy, uh, just real talk, practical tools, people who get it, uh, current events, news, all of the things that make education education. Uh, we're gonna have more guest voices. Um, hoping to do a lot more in person with this new studio, educators, leaders, people who are doing the work every single day and have something real to say about it. Uh, we're gonna be expanding to YouTube, uh, video episodes. We're gonna have an educational news segment that's gonna be coming out, uh content that actually informs you and also helps you do your job better while feeling better uh doing it. The episodes are gonna be a little more, a little cleaned up, more focused, uh, structure like your homeroom. You know, you come in, we take attendance, you get what you need, and you and you walk out ready to go. And and and the through line, you know, through it all, what's never what's not gonna change is educator is not the problem. Uh you are not the problem. And this show exists to help you navigate the systems that are the problem. While reminding you every single week while you walked into that building in the first place. Um, that's my promise, and and that's what I'm keeping. And we're gonna get better than we ever have. So here's what I need from you. Stay subscribed. The feed is not changing. You don't have to look for a new thing. We are just changing the name of this one to that to make it easy for people that have been rocking with us. Uh, tell a teacher friend, tell a school leader, um, anyone in your world that you think needs to hear this. And when we launch, show up. Come check out the first episode. Uh, because here's what I know about educators. You show up even when things are hard. You show up even when systems fail you. You show up even when the resources aren't there, and you show up when nobody claps for you. That's who you are. That is your purpose, that is who you have been designed to be. And the least I can do is build something for you that is worthy of that. So, for five years, 60 episodes, just want to say thank you. Um, and every moment in between, from the first one sitting at my kitchen table uh to the last one today, sitting in my office at home. Uh, the bell is ringing on the Teachers Ed podcast, but class is just getting started. So, as I wrap this one up, close this out the way I've closed so many episodes out. As always, what I want you all to do is keep believing in your students, keep believing in your coworkers, and most importantly, keep believing in yourself. I'll see you in April. This is Edward DeShazer, and this has been the Teachers Ed podcast for the last time.

SPEAKER_00 9:51

Peace.