Exploring Learning, Music, and Life- Tina Zita’s P3

Tina Zita is a modern learning resource teacher with the Peel District School Board. She is an educational thought leader, a TEDx speaker, as well as an AQ course designer and facilitator for Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at The University of Toronto. According to the March issue of Professionally Speaking (pg 4-5), the magazine of the Ontario College of Teachers, Tina contributed to the Teacher Leadership AQ guidelines design and the creation of a new resource to support AQ course providers.

Global citizenship is very important to Tina. She was on the planning committee for this inaugural year of the DigCitSummit in Toronto. The conference was held was at OISE this past Fall and the team, led by Jennifer Casa Todd, was aiming to “work towards solutions, promote best practices, and empower citizens to be the digital change,” as noted on the voicEd page where a few of the conversations were captured. The summit was a great day of learning that I was so happy to be at. Tina noted that they built on some thinking from ISTE regarding: digital activism, digital communicator, digital self. Our guest added, “...It’s about kids seeing a platform that they can use to advocate for change.” Tina said that she tries to model that, always taking an active learning stance and learning alongside students.

Tina’s 2016 TEDx Talk was on innovation. In it, she spoke of those grand moments that become what so many perceive as innovation which often makes it difficult for more people to see themselves as innovators.. Even though it was dark in the room, and it was hard to see the audience the way the stage was lit, Tina noticed that people could see themselves in what she was saying. She learned that those small moments and habits of innovation really change our perspective and attitude towards innovation.

Tina was challenged in preparing for her appearance on the Personal Playlist Podcast. “I was a little stuck.” Although the nostalgic song was obvious for her, she found the identity piece a bit of a struggle because she had never attached a song to her identity. She reflected on her playlist and noticed that many songs did not capture her, even if she loved them. “I realized how much I love words because I kept looking at the lyrics...” The lyrics were what drove a few of her selections.

Tina’s nostalgic song was more about her past than the song itself. Tina’s parents moved to Europe when she was 6, and she lived there until she was 16. They travelled to different countries and attended local schools. This song comes from a big European boy band from the time, and this song makes her think of Grade 9 in Italy. For her and her friends at the time, it was all they talked about; they had the group’s t-shirts and stickers. Then she made a massive change on her return to Canada and skipped two grades. “It was a big shift; I went from 20 minutes north of Milan to a farmer’s field in Flamborough with kids that all had grown up together since they were in kindergarten...When the Take That made it to Canadian radio that year...it was this bridge moment for me, when music had been that kind of connector that just made me feel safe.” When she hears the song, Tina thinks about all the great moments of her life and the grand transition back to Canada. Here is her “guilty pleasure that makes [her] go back in time, Back for Good:

Tina chose her identity song because of its powerful words and how the artist always makes you feel through her work. When she was looking at the lyrics, she loved many of the messages including being the person you say you are and advocating for others. “I thought of that whole philosophy of education and what you would want others to say about you later on.” Those are the pieces that she was hoping people would say about her- that she lived her creed that that she advocated for others. Every song of this artists has a moment of action that really inspires her. Standing up isn't easy, and the struggle to do what’s right isn't always a straight path. This song was released as part of the soundtrack for the film Marshall starring Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad and Kate Hudson. Here is Stand Up For Something performed by Andra Day and Common.

Tina’s motivational song is by a French artist that she stumbled across through a conversation with her brother. One of her songs was on the soundtrack of a Levi’s commercial last year, and Tina dove into her work and background to discover her process for making music using a “maker mindset” and alway innovating. These songs are her go-to when she is using music for activities with adults and children.

Here is Heads Up by Jain:

While Tina loves all of the songs on her playlist, she is still exploring her identity through song, her own personal musical ethnography. She may have to revisit the her P3 if she finds something that speaks to her more directly. Still, she enjoyed the experience calling it a, “Great time to reflect and do something I haven't done before.”

Tina tries to push her own learning. She likes to explore design and photography. If you want to reach out to Tina, you can find her on Twitter or Instagram at Miss_Zita.