Echoing With Sound- Gavin Foster’s P3

Now an elementary teacher with HPEDSB, Gavin Foster has worked in Ontario, Quebec and South America. He taught elementary and secondary students in both public and private education systems. As an educator, his passion is the arts, particularly music, and he believes that art is the doorway to the mind and the best way to engage and energize students. Computers have been a hobby of Gavin’s since the age of 6 - when he broke his family’s computer 3 times in 3 months. Tired of paying for repairs, Gavin’s parents encouraged him to learn, very quickly, how to fix whatever he broke. A new podcaster himself, Gavin said that he is thrilled to be a guest on the Personal Playlist Podcast.

Gavin’s podcast, called Gav Session, can be found on voicEd Radio. His podcast is about how he engaged a class of Grade 7’s who lost their faith in the education system by allowing them to self direct their learning through a project and his trials and tribulations through that adventure. His grade 8 class now has a podcast of their own. I was thrilled to hear that the P3 played a role. “I got listening to The Personal Playlist Podcast, and I thought this is really cool.” Gavin reached out to me, and we spoke about using it with is class. The P3 began as a project for my students. His Grade 8 class was looking for something different, so he “spitballed ideas” with them, and they landed on developing a podcast. “It took the better part of two months for the class to create the questions they want to ask people…” They created a title, a logo and worked out the parameters to make the assignment work inside the curriculum while also meeting everyone’s interests and needs. There are twelve 8 Steps In podcasts up already, and they have a lot in the queue. Gavin and one of his students, Margaret, were just interviewed on CBC’s Ontario Morning with Wei Chen (11 min 45 secs in).

When asked about preparing for his appearance on the P3, Gavin responded saying, “I was born to be your guest.” He had learned about this show at an IT conference in the Fall, and he remembers his immediate interest and excitement in the concept. He was really challenged when trying to think of his three songs, and even after he decided on them, he made some changes. On May 6th, when we recorded, The Coalition for Music Education in Canada celebrated 15 years of Music Monday, which is one of the P3 affiliated hashtags, making it an extra special occasion.

Gavin’s nostalgic song comes from an artist famous for his parodies. He saw this as a song that instantly transports him to a specific place and time. Gavin told a story of when he got this album as part of a package of CD’s through the once well-known Columbia Record deals. He shared the story of a friend of his playing kazoo at the chorus, and he fondly recalls the and fun and hilarity with his buddy. This song actually helped the original artists sell more of their album even though it pokes fun at the hit song from this epic grunge band. Gavin told a story about Barenaked Ladies responding to having one of their songs parodied as a sense of arrival and level of achievement like that of being on The Simpsons. Here is Weird Al Yankovic's take on Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit with Smells Like Nirvana:

Gavin’s identity song was originally Troubadour by George Strait about being a storyteller and musician. Upon reflection, he felt that he needed to make a different selection, and he settled on a song that is “...about a belief that music carries some sort of magical power that nothing else does, that it can instantly transport you to a place or can instantly change your mood for the better on a dime, or make your entire world just open up.” As a music teacher, he sees that he has to be the “keeper for that magic power” and imbue classrooms with the enchantment that is music. “I know that music reaches everybody at different times and in different ways.” Here is Triumph’s Magic Power:

Gavin’s pick-me-up song pairs well with his previous choice. The magic power of the music is like the jaws of life. As Gavin describes the video that he would direct for this song, he shares that he imagines a man in a coma on a hospital bed and, as the guitar riff leads you in, he pictures his heartbeat and life blood pumping again. Whenever Gavin hears this song, it always brings him joy. Gavin relates this to all music, quoting the lyrics, “Invisible airwaves crackle with life…,” Music is that powerful freedom referred to later in the song. Gavin spoke about Tom Petty’s song, The Last DJ, and other songs that refer to the radio. “This song is about the music, not the person on the radio...and that you give the emotional feedback to the song.” This great Canadian band wrote this song as a tribute to radio, and it is their only entry on The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Here is Rush with Spirit of Radio:

If you want to reach out to Gavin, you can find him on Twitter @gavsession or by email at gavsession@gmail.com. You can also go to his website to see all that he does. There are links to the music that he writes and composes as well as a new page that he started this year in celebration of his 40th birthday because he began performing for the first time in 25 years and becoming more active in the musical community. Gavin has presented at a variety of education and educational technology conferences. He is an EdTech Team Presenter, Google Certified Trainer, Certified Sountrap Expert and FlipGrid Ambassador and more.