Teaching Science in Elementary School is crucial for nurturing young minds. But as educators, finding the time and resources to create engaging lessons can be a challenge. That's where this podcast comes in.

Welcome to Naturally Teaching Elementary Science, the show dedicated to supporting elementary teachers in their quest to bring authentic and place-based science experiences to their classroom. I'm Victoria Zablocki, a certified elementary teacher turned outdoor educator. With over a decade of experience coaching teachers on effective science teaching methods, I'm passionate about making science accessible, understandable, and fun for educators and students alike.

Join me as we explore strategies for teaching science in elementary school with practical teaching tips, insightful interviews, picture book reviews, and more. Whether you've taught for a long time or just started your teaching journey, this podcast is your trusty resource for enhancing your science curriculum. So let's grow together.

All right, everybody, welcome back to the Naturally Teaching Elementary Science podcast. My name is Victoria Zablocki, and I'm your host. So the new year is right around the corner, which is typically a time for reflection, appreciation, and new beginnings.

In this episode, I'm going to take inspiration from these traditions and share with you some things I've learned about this podcast over the last six months, express my gratitude, and share some new things to look forward to. This episode will be short but sweet. So for the last time, and I'll explain later, here we go into Naturally Teaching Elementary Science.

[1:41]

So I'm going to start with things that I've learned. This podcast is six months old, but even in such a short amount of time, I've learned a lot. So I think the biggest thing that I've learned is that I love podcasting.

I figured I'd like it, but didn't know that I'd love it. Was it awkward at first to sit in my closet and talk to myself? You bet.

But then as I've heard from listeners and met people across the country sharing their passion for science and outdoor education, I treasure the time that I spend working on my podcast, which then helps me push forward in bringing you more great content and guests. Which leads me to the next thing that I learned. Podcasting really does take a lot of time.

This isn't to scare anyone off who may be considering starting a podcast. I'll tell you, if you're on the fence about it, I encourage you to do it 100 percent. I'm sitting down, creating an outline, sometimes researching background info, recording, editing, scheduling the episode, putting together show notes, and scheduling the show notes just to get the episode live.

And then afterwards, you have to do social media. But one helpful step in the process was that I was lucky enough to take the Podcasting for Educators Prep School, which I'll put a link for in the show notes, if you're interested in taking it yourself. It is worth every single penny.

That course taught me everything and then some about podcasting, which helped speed up my learning curve and process substantially. Even with that help, are there places I could tighten up this process? For sure, and I'm hoping to do so in the new year.

This last six months has taught me what time of the day works best for accomplishing these steps, and I've created templates for most things by now to save time. But I'm still looking and learning to be able to tighten up the process and spend a little less time on the podcast logistical side. However, one area that I will not spend less time is the thought process and the outlining.

I want to make sure that you as the listener get the best content that you can. The last thing to mention that I've learned also kind of bleeds into my gratitude. I am so grateful to those of you who tune in each and every week.

There's a steady set of people that pop on each Monday to hear the newest episode, and it makes me hopeful that I'm helping you and in turn helping your students fit more science into your elementary school schedule. From the data on the back end, I've learned that the guest episodes are favorites as well as the science activity episodes. And I'll make sure to keep that in mind as I plan future content.

That being said, if you have any ideas for topics or guests that you'd like covered, please message me on Instagram at Naturally.Teaching or email me at Victoria@naturallyteaching.com and I'll get them on the calendar. I want to make sure I'm giving you what you need. Not just what I think you might need.

[4:18]

So, sticking with the gratitude, I want to say thank you to my family. I am so appreciative of them for being patient with me as I pursue this podcast. I found ways to work on this podcast mostly without interfering with our normal schedule or time together, but on the off chance that I have to put together show notes while we watch a movie as a family or I'm proofing the edited episode while I do dishes, my family has been nothing but supportive, so thank you Zablocki crew.

My mom and dad have even been roped in and have come over to watch the kids while I've recorded interviews and my husband has our daughter at gymnastics, and that's been super helpful, so thank you mom and dad as well. I'm also very appreciative of all the guests that I've been able to bring you so far. I'm grateful to say that many of them are friends or acquaintances from time in the field, and I very much appreciate their gift of time and the sharing of their knowledge.

I've also connected with new people in the field and I'm so happy to be a part of the greater conversation, which is something else that I'm grateful for. Also, I'm grateful for getting the chance to talk one-on-one with Sara from Podcasting for Educators to talk about this podcast and ways to improve it for you, the listeners. Her expertise, passion, and creative flair gave me lots of ideas for providing you with a better listening experience. So thank you, Sara.

[5:32]

And then that brings me on to the new beginnings. So one thing that will be changing with the podcast is the name.

So I mentioned earlier, this is the last time for Naturally Teaching Elementary Science. Not because I'm getting rid of the podcast, but because I'm changing the name. So come 2025, the Naturally Teaching Elementary Science podcast will simply be Naturally Teaching Elementary.

This change does two main things. It will give me the chance to be more open about the topics we talk about. There will still be a focus on elementary science, how it can be integrated with ELA, and how to take learning outside.

But now we'll be able to add math, social studies, art, and more. This also gives me the opportunity to bring on guests with different focuses that relate to elementary education as a whole. For the logistics of this change, if you're already subscribed or are following this show, it will still be in your library just under the new name.

If you haven't started following this show yet, make sure to search for Naturally Teaching Elementary as of January 1, 2025, and you should find it pretty quickly. This change came about from that conversation that I had with Sara from Podcasting for Educators. Our hope is that this change will also help make this podcast appealing to all elementary teachers and homeschool families, not just those invested in teaching science in their classroom.

As you've heard from myself and guests, teaching science in the elementary classroom is important for developing questioning skills, critical thinking skills, observational skills, and other science-based skills. Teaching science in elementary school also can aid in teaching time-management skills, attention to detail, elongating focus, and more. This is part of the reason I'm so passionate about teaching science with elementary-age children and why I'm making this change to break down potential barriers for teachers and homeschool families who may find science intimidating.

Another change that will be made with the podcast is a new intro and outro. You'll hear the same music, but it will be shorter, about half as long. You're welcome.

After six months of podcasting, I've seen trends towards 15 to 30 second intros and read statistics and preferences from listeners for shorter intros. So I will jump on that bandwagon come 2025. And lastly, something new to look forward to is an activity index that I'm aiming to launch by March 1st, 2025.

As this podcast grows and I share more and more activities, I realized it's becoming more challenging to remember which episode, which activity came from. And in the event you want to go back and listen to the description again, it would be hard to find those. So keep your ears open for more info as we get closer to March 1st.

This index will have the Next Generation Science Standards listed with the names of applicable activities and links to the show notes for those episodes, so you can listen on the web or go to your podcast player. I'm also going to include the timestamp for the activities so you can jump right to the info you need.

[8:21]

So I want to thank you again for being a listener of this podcast.

If it wasn't for you and others like you, I'd just be the crazy science lady talking to herself in the closet. You and your students make this passion project meaningful. As always, if you have any questions or you just want to chat ideas, get a hold of me on Instagram at Naturally.Teaching, or you can email me at victoria@naturallyteaching.com.

And don't forget to check out the show notes for this episode at naturallyteaching.com/episode33, where I'll have the link to the Podcasting for Educators Prep School if you're interested. I hope you had a great winter break and you have a wonderful new year. And until next time, keep exploring, keep learning, and keep naturally teaching.

Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode of the Naturally Teaching Elementary Science Podcast. I hope you found it informative, inspiring, and full of actionable insights to enhance your science teaching journey. Connect with me on social media for more updates, science tidbits, and additional resources.

You can find me on Instagram and Facebook at naturally.teaching. Let's continue the conversation and share our passion for elementary science education together. Don't forget to visit my website at naturallyteaching.com for all the show notes from today's episode.

If you enjoyed today's episode, please consider leaving a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback helps me improve and reach more educators just like you. Thank you again for listening, and until next time, keep exploring, keep learning, and keep naturally teaching.