Right now there is a lot of excitement about what's new in education.
Students and teachers, they are logged in on Chromebooks and laptops using more and more technology in the classroom .
Administrators are looking at new ways to measure student success.
Artificial intelligence is being increasingly used these days, and that includes in schools.
But with all this focus on what's new, there's an invaluable resource that we're really not paying enough attention to.
I just completed my 32nd year of teaching.
I was in the classroom for 30 even years. My math says I must have started when I was 15.
Well, you look like you did.
I first got paid for being a teacher from the 1st of September, 1969.
I am Ana Torres , a longtime educator and former classroom teacher, and on my new podcast, Beyond My Years, I am seeking out some of the most experienced educators from around the world. We're not gonna say older educators. We're gonna say seasoned educators.
I like seasoned. Yes.
These are the people who have experienced it all: Changing of standards, horribly timed principal visits, parent phone calls, second jobs. And not only did they survive, they've grown even more passionate about the profession.
In my next lifetime, I would still teach. I would go back to teaching. That's how much I love it.
I never got tired of it. I'm still not tired of it.
That's why on beyond my years, I am tracking down these teaching legends.
I'm still teaching, even now at 82 years of age, which makes me the oldest paid teacher in Britain.
And I'm also getting them to tell me how they've done it.
Anything that I feel like is new, it actually has a traces back. When I dig deeper, it's like, oh my gosh, this was a hundred years ago. It was just by a different name and , and that's comforting to know because we are not trying to invent anything new 'cause that's really hard. It's just we need to do it better.
On Beyond My Years, I am going to hear from long time educators. They're going to share their advice, their chronicles from the classroom, and all of the stories that shaped who they became as teachers.
They just assumed that I was gonna be another person who would abandon them just like the other teachers had. In fact, they actually had a betting pool amongst themselves. I later found out to see how long I would last and nobody bet that I was going to survive until the end of the year.
Beyond My Years is for educators, for lifelong learners, for advocates of kids education, and quite honestly, anyone who still remembers that incredible teacher who inspired you. Listen for all of the amazing stories that will make you laugh, make you cry, and just maybe change the way you think. This is Beyond My Years from Amplify coming this August. Subscribe now wherever you get your podcasts.