Walking Paths- Peter Cameron's P3

Peter Cameron is a teacher with twenty-four years of experience at the junior level in Thunder Bay, Ontario. His work within the classroom has been featured by National Geographic, CBC News, As It Happens and Owl Magazine. Peter has presented workshops from the local to international level. He is the Canadian National Geographic Education Ambassador, an Apple Distinguished Educator, a SMART Exemplary Educator, a Google Educator, a National Geographic Educator, and he sits on the Google Earth Education Advisory Board. Peter delivers many of his workshops and keynotes “virtually” and is an important voice in education. Peter and I first met when Allison Fuisz brought him on the #ONedchat team, and I am always happy to learn from him through his blog posts, tweets and whenever he comes on VoicEd Radio.

Peter has accomplished many things in his career thus far and is an invaluable resource. He actually tried to discourage me from using this detailed introduction because he is a humble man and dedicated educator, but I insisted. Peter believes in the power of connections and the profound ability that we all have to make a difference. He just started a class podcast saying that he and his students are, “Collecting stories and listening to other people’s stories,” and he is already feeling great about it. Peter said, “The theme of our podcast, The Make a Difference (MAD) Podcast, is about how we can be difference makers, who are our difference makers, how we can help one another to be better people.”

Peter has been developing the Make a Difference theme for while now. This M.A.D. idea began several years back through projects in his classroom. They evolved from a tradition that began as a yard sale around the Christmas season. After maintaining this yearly giving experience with a former colleague, Peter determined that he wanted his students to take ownership of giving. As a result, he used a Genius Hour approach with the Make a Difference Project that he continues today. Last year, Peter partnered with Derek Rhodenizer to bring the virtual education conference, #MADPD, to the world. “I want to provide a filter for [new educators] or anyone in education.” He and Derek encourage teachers to share one idea that makes a difference for them and/or their students in education. This year’s MAD PD is the second year running will take place on May 6th, 2018 with presenters from around the world.

Peter was among the first people I contacted to invite onto the Personal Playlist Podcast. His initial response in August was that he, “...was not a huge music guy.” This is an important point to address as this is not a show about music. It’s one about people- educators. When I started this as a project in my classroom, it was an avenue to bring the individual into the classroom. In the same vein, this show is an avenue to the individual through their song choices. Upon further reflection, Peter asked for a reminder about the song

prompts in late September. When requesting a date several months later, Peter said, “That gives me time... I’m going to be intentional about listening and reflecting over the next couple of months.” Peter’s process shows the need for learners to have the time to think, process and own a task. When he was on the show, I asked Peter about how choosing his playlist went, and he responded, “ This was a task that I was quite uncomfortable with, but I also embraced it because I’ve learned, through teaching, that it’s never going to be perfect. I’m going to make mistakes, but this was a process that gave me the opportunity to think and reflect.” By the time Peter sent me his three songs, he reported that he actually enjoyed the challenge.

Peter’s nostalgic song is one he referred to as “synonymous with my beginning of adulthood.” For him, it’s nostalgic because of the lead singer’s enduring words ,which gave him feelings of friendship and are part of “What it means to be Canadian.” When considering the band and it’s lead singer, Peter said, “He was always true to himself... They are a band that I always appreciate and listened to.” Peter is speaking about none other than the Tragically Hip and their lead singer who will live on as a piece of Canadiana, Gord Downie. Peter came on #ONedMentors after Gord’s passing to speak about many things. Gord’s words and honesty are important fabrics of our country’s narrative. He spoke about Gord on Derek’s A Word in Progress, and referred to a conversation he and a colleague had with CBC’s Lisa Laco about using the Secret Path as a tool to engage learners in conversation about Residential Schools and Truth and Reconciliation. For Peter and so many other’s, Gord’s messages are enduring ones.

When it comes to the music of the band and its lead singer, they bring Peter to the past and to the present. Peter spoke about the music as central to many memories but also as grounding points for his life today. He spoke about the music “...bring[ing] me back to many different memories in my past, whether or not it be sitting around a bonfire with a bunch of friends or at a house party, enjoying a couple beverages with my friends, or being at the university at the pub.” Peter reflected, “Back then, it was more about self indulgence…and more about myself, but then I think about Gord Downie and who he was...he always hoped for better...He wanted the next 150 years of Canada to be better than the first 150.” He spoke about his commitment to the First Nations, Metis and Inuit (FNMI) communities in Thunder Bay, bringing Elders into his classroom, getting his students connected with people, places and language that is part of the change that needs to happen in our country. Peter connected that message to himself as a person who can always improve, and he related it to education in Ontario, adding "... there are things we can do to help move our system forward.” There are so many reasons why he loves the band and why Gord Downie's music has stuck with him for his whole life. Here is New Orleans is Sinking by The Tragically Hip.

“You gotta do what you feel is real,” is one of the quotes Peter alluded to in the lyrics of his nostalgic song, and he added the lines, “Look up to the Lord above and say hey man thanks.” Being real and thankful is part of Peter Cameron. His identity song relates to another band that has been pivotal throughout our lifetime. According to our guest, this song is about, “Seeing beauty in the world and being happy with what you have...recognizing and celebrating all the gifts that my life has to offer.” Peter is an optimist who wakes up every day truly grateful for what he has. His goal is to spark that feeling in all of his learners. “I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel all over the world.” He thinks about his students and the many who have never had the chance to see outside Thunder Bay. Peter makes it his mission to bring the world to his classroom and to help his students see what opportunities they could have. He uses technology to reach out to experts and bring them into his classroom in order to give the students a greater spectrum of possibility, but he also wants to encourage children to put their devices away and, “...see the beauty in their own backyards...” Here is Beautiful Day by U2:

As a perfect segue, the continuation of Peter’s quote above is, “...your adventure can be anywhere.” Peter’s pick-me-up song is about living your life to the fullest and seizing opportunity. “Along the path of life, there’s going to be bumps. There’s going to be summits and there’s going to be valleys, lots of valleys. It’s in going through the valleys that you reach the summit. And once you reach one summit, stop and enjoy the view and bask in the sunshine. But, understand also that there are other summits to find and climb...” That is a philosophy that Peter models for his son and his students. One of the first times he heard the song that he chose the last on his playlist, Peter was putting together a video for his class’s Make a Difference Day. He ended up using this song to go with the video that captures and highlights the projects in which his students had been so deeply engaged. Here is I Lived by One Republic as the soundtrack of his class’s video.

Peter was content with his P3 (click on the link to listen) seeing a connection between his song choices. “They are all kind of intertwined.” As he reviewed the songs, sharing their common threads, Peter added why it was crucial to teach students that, regardless of circumstance, they can make a difference in their own lives. It’s a way to do our part as educators. He spoke about, “...the importance of having every student recognize that they can make a difference for themselves first, and they are in charge of their destiny.” If you want to reach out to Peter, you can connect with him on Twitter or through his blog and website . Making a difference is something we can all consider in our personal and professional lives. Here is a video that he created called Paths that surely make a difference to his students and anyone else who views it.