Imagining If and Leading the Way- Dr. Jennifer Williams’ P3

Recognized as a transformational leader in education, Dr. Jennifer Williams has dedicated herself for over 20 years to the field of education through her roles as a professor, school administrator, literacy specialist, and classroom teacher. In her current non-profit work, Jennifer helps to build schools in refugee camps and in remote areas of Africa, Asia, and South America, and she supports global school programs to empower students and teachers to take action on social good. She is the author of Teach Boldly: Using Edtech for Social Good (published by ISTE) and, in addition, she is the co-founder of TeachSDGs, the United Nations-appointed organization that has connected more than 30,000 international educators to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Jennifer is a professor at Saint Leo University in both the College of Education and the College of Graduate Education, and she champions teachers, preservice teachers, and students to prepare for their futures in a world that will prioritize ingenuity, innovation, and exploration. She writes for Edutopia, Education Week, and the International Literacy Association and is the co-founder of Edcamp Tampa Bay and Edcamp Literacy. She is a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert, a Kahoot! Founding Ambassador, a Nearpod PioNear, and a Squirrels Alpha Squirrel. In 2016, Jennifer was named #33 of the 200 Top Education Influencers and in 2017 named #13 of the Top Women Edtech Influencers by Onalytica based on her work in education and educational technology. Jennifer is inspired everyday by teachers and students that are catalysts for making the world a better place!

We spoke about her non-profit work including Teach SDG’s and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). Jennifer sees herself as an educator, first and foremost. She was teaching in Grades K-12 for 20 years. “In 2014, based on the work I had been doing with classrooms around global ed and peace curriculum, connecting students with technology to the world, I took that leap of faith…” She started working in higher ed, with preservice and practising teachers. Her non profit work began with the question about who was bringing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals to the classroom? “The SDG’s are 17 goals that we together as a world have agreed upon...to work towards and reach by the year 2030....We have our very own Global Goal in Education (#4)...” In 2016, they started as two people and have grown beyond North America and are now over 30, 000 educators working to bring these goals into classrooms. “It’s more than just the the 17 goals; it’s about social good and empowering students to take action on things they are passionate about, making sure everyone has access to not only sharing their ideas out with their world but to taking action on their ideas.” This is more than an add on. Her best advice to teachers is to embed global connection and the SDGs into their day and giving students the chance to find out more about things that matter to them.

Jennifer has been speaking and writing about this work for a while, and last year ISTE approached her about creating a publication. Teach Boldly is available now for pre-order and will be released in September. There are a lot of global events that happen then including International Day of Peace and The Global Assembly at the UN, plus it’s back-to-school time. “In the book, I go into more of these stories of classrooms and teachers and students that are taking action on good and talking about differences between awareness and advocacy and what does activism means...edtech has been a really great space for innovation and for these social good types of projects.” She also speaks about teachers finding their voices and discovering the make in peacemakers. Jennifer is happy about the final product, and she is excited to see how it will be received.

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Jennifer became part of my PLN when I apprehensively yet enthusiastically became a connected educator. Through Twitter chats like EdBeat with Sean Gaillard and What is School with Craig Kemp, Jennifer was a kind, knowledgeable educator who I started following immediately, and she emanates joy and her lovelof of education in all that she does. Meeting her in person at the Connect Conference in Niagara Falls last month was a powerful experience. She is great hugger.

When asked about the process of preparing for her guest appearance on the P3, Jen responded enthusiastically. “I love your format with these three songs…” She spoke about how the song categories are like anchor items, and it reminded her of how when you ask students something in class, they share more and feel less vulnerable when there are anchored in an idea. “I knew right away what my songs were.”

Jennifer’s nostalgic song comes from a musical adapted from a famous children’s book by Roald Dahl. It’s in Matilda, but this song, book and musical all mean so much to her. Jennifer refers to the plot of the book and how the the message is about the power of a teacher to change a life as well as the power of a student to make an impact on an educator. This song is about how both the teacher and the student, Miss. Honey and Matilda, long to be grown up to make decisions and be able to take action on their lives. “The way Broadway and the arts are able to bring stories to life is remarkable.” Here is When I Grow Up:

Jennifer’s identity song comes from a John Lennon classic. She recalled being a Six Flags with her friends and recording Imagine in the sound booth. “This song is that imagine if…for me. It’s the song of peace, but it also leaves us, at the end, with this invitation to take action.” She reminds us that we must take action by finding our passions and unapologetically moving on them. She continues by encouraging people with shared beliefs to assemble and mobilize. This song is about “finding your voice, finding your passion early and being bold...in the search for a better world for people and for planet.” Jennifer says that this song is often perceived as a utopian vision of the world, but she believes that it’s more about coming together and working towards the greater good. “Struggle will continue...struggle makes us who we are.” Feeling proud to be an educator right now, this song embodies so much of who she is and what she believes. Here is John Lennon’s Imagine:

Jennifer’s pick-me-up song is a dance-in-the-kitchen, sing-loud-in-the-car song. “I love this band. They bring so much joy and whimsy, and they are just kind of kookie...They bring a fun folk type of vibe...you can see that they're happy together.” Here's a video that Jennifer filmed while at a recent concert. Jennifer made the comparison to a PLT who’s collaborating beautifully and have really got it. “This song talks about love and joy and play and learning and being.” Here is Flowers in Your Hair from The Lumineers:

When reflecting on the experience of sharing her 3 songs, Jennifer shared how she felt. “I feel comfortable and happy and complete. These songs...you really hit on all the different areas that make a complete person…” She was happy with the podcast format but resisted singing out loud. We happened to have recorded her P3 on what became Jennifer’s most “connected day”. Here’s what she tweeted:

You can find Jennifer through many channels. She is accessible through Twitter and Instagram @JenWilliamsEDU and you can learn about her work through her website JenWilliamsEDU.com. Jennifer loves to hear from people wherever they are most comfortable. Coming up, Jen will be at the Heart of Innovation in Iowa and, at the end of the month, Jennifer will be at ISTE, and you can follow her tweets from the sessions as she shares out her learning. She will be travelling to Europe with her family this summer.