Ramona Meharg has an Honours Bachelor of Arts in History and English from the University of Guelph and her Bachelor of Education is from St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick (the home of the Tommies). She has been teaching for what she says seems like 10 minute but is actually 24 years. Some of her early teaching assignments include; teaching English in a Youth Detention Facility, Intermediate math and language arts, High School History and English, and time as a Special Education Department Head and Learning Support Teacher. Currently, and for many years now, she has been teaching students with Developmental Disabilities in a Secondary School Congregated Special Education class for the Thames Valley District School Board. Ramona is also the host of her own podcast on voicEd Radio titled I Wish I Knew EDU asking guests, among other things, what they wished they had known coming into the profession.
Ramona said that being on the P3 was on her bucket list. She has been an avid listener since the show began last July. She even brought the assignment into her classroom as the Personal Playlist Project, first modelling her own P3 for her students. It was amazing to she what she posted and follow her work and all the amazing work her students were sharing. Ramona said that her class was so engaged by the project that they couldn’t wait until their due dates to present. “They were so involved in it and so excited about doing it...they had another month to work on it on their own time, but the ones who were done early were begging to share; they couldn’t wait to share what they had with the class.”
Ramona grew up in Elgin County, in a small house, on a dirt road, surrounded by a loving family and influenced by her gigantic network of Dutch grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. She continues to be a small town girl, living only minutes from the home she grew up in and the people she loves. She stayed in Elgin County and made her life there because roots are very important to her. She referred to a quote from the novel in Tex, by S.E. Hinton’s saying, “There are people who go and people who stay”. Ramona likes to visit different places but she is, “...always eager to go home and reroot” herself. She knows in her heart that she is one of those people who stay. Her nostalgic song is part of her roots and was the source of her name. This was a song that was picked for her. Her parents used to go to the dances, and this was a song that they often danced to. She painted a beautiful picture saying, “as a child on Sunday mornings...he would get up and get the old record player fired up...my sisters and I would end up dancing with our dad, dancing on his feet in the living room.” It was also their Father-Daughter song at her wedding. Here is Ramona by Slim Whitman.
Ramona’s identity song is one that reflects what she hopes she is. She liked the song from the first time she heard it feeling that it has such a lovely message. The warm and comforting sounds of this artists complement the words and ideals of “showering the people you love with love.” Ramona asked, “How could you go wrong if you do that?” This opening track on the 1976 album In the Pocket features Carly Simon on backup vocals. It also relates to Ramona’s podcast because she wants to know what other teachers are doing to make a difference and how they shower their people in whatever educational roles they have. Here is Shower the People by James Taylor:
Ramona’s pick-me-up song is one that she describes as fun, one that makes her want to dance or even crank up on her drive home from work. This song is about “being positive and passing that possibility on..you just can't contain your joy.” Justin Timberlake wrote and recording this Grammy-winning song for an animated feature that he starred in opposite Anna Kendrick. There have been many videos for the song that include those with the adorable Troll characters from the movie of the same name. This “sunshine song” is one that she often plays for her students, in various versions. Here is JT’s upbeat, funky pop hit, Can’t Stop the Feeling:
Ramona discussed many of the songs and the messages that she may have chosen for her appearance on The Personal Playlist Podcast. Some of those songs include Keith Urban’s Only You Can Love Me Like This and the Beatles Obla Di Obla Da, which was actually the original choice for the theme song of this podcast before discovering the perfect fit of Stevie Wonder’s Sir Duke.
Our guest shared that she is interested in all things “techy”, developing rich educational experiences and building community in her classroom and school. She refers to educational technology as the leveller using the synonym equality for the technology her students use. She gave many examples of ways that technology can be a ramp to the same end as their peers, and why it is so important. In her One Word Challenge this year, Ramona picked the word relationships. She explained why relationships are foundational noting, “Nothing goes right in your classroom if you haven't built the relationship with the kids first.” Ramona is a Google and Apple Certified Educator and calls herself an A+ planner of field trips. She takes her learners out of the building as much as possible noting, “A lot of our kids never get out of their neighbourhood other than to come to school.” She described the joy that her students feel on field trips that makes her feel honoured to be in the job that she has. She will often tell people that she has the best job in the world and loves her time in the classroom with her students. Ramona is many things to many people including a devoted wife, a sister, a daughter, a podcaster, a blogger, and a mentor to new teachers. Ramona loves to learn new things, to garden, spend time with friends, bake and golf, and has been known to spend time on Twitter with her PLN.
I was a recent guest on Ramona's podcast. Check it out.