Bryon Carpenter Shares Earned Wisdom: Self-Care, Consistency, and Belief

Every person has a story that teaches valuable lessons. Bryon Carpenter shares his experience as a teacher, an EdTech specialist, a reflective podcaster, and the creator behind FreshAirAtFive.

In his responses below, he offers some great advice. I really appreciate him taking the time to share them with me. Enjoy!

Tell us a little about yourself, including your experience in education and anything else you’d like to share.

I have served at the Abbotsford Virtual School as a math and chemistry teacher (online) and media design teacher (in person) since 2010 in Abbotsford, BC, Canada. I took a leave from AVS in 2015-16 to serve the Abbotsford School District as a Helping Teacher for Technology.   During that time, I became a Google Certified Educator and met the EdTech Team, which inspired me to want to bring their Google Summit to Abbotsford.  We hosted two successful conferences in 2017 & 2018.  Before being a helping teacher, I did not consider myself “a creative” but my mind has changed as I have grown in my utility of EdTech tools, namely Adobe Spark (now Adobe Express), Google for Edu, and Microsoft tools.  In February 2024, I was invited to participate in the BC Ministry of Education working group on Artificial Intelligence in Education and how the ministry can support AI and Digital Literacy in our province. I also serve on the myPITA PSA Executive, giving back to our educational community in British Columbia.  A passion project is my podcast, FreshAirAtFive, which can be found on Spotify and Apple podcasts.

I say, "Technology is merely a tool, which, when wielded appropriately, can enhance this human endeavor we call education."

What have you learned from a colleague that has made you a better teacher?

It’s important that you take care of yourself and have a support system that can allow you to have a safe place to share how you are doing as an educator and human being. In my first year of teaching, a tenured teacher challenged me and said I needed to take care of myself. He said that if I didn’t take care of myself and figure out this well-being in my first 18 months of teaching, I wouldn’t make it past five years in this profession. That was one of the best conversations I had in my early years, and I encourage young teachers to make sure they are connected to someone who can support them outside of their classroom and school. My connections outside of my classroom extend to my Twix and  Bluesky communities, edu-content creators in the Vancouver area of British Columbia, and my loving family.

What “earned wisdom” do you have that other teachers can benefit from?

Consistency over intensity:  This idea takes me back to the small board book from my childhood called “The Tortoise and The Hare,” an old English fable that talks about the slow and steady work that the tortoise does during a foot race, compared to the intense ego-filled approach of the faster hare, who is too proud. No, I’m not suggesting that anyone who adopts an intense lifestyle is necessarily full of pride or uncaring. However, my experience is that a consistent, humble, hard-working attitude will take a person further nearly every time.  The former can lead to burnout.  I recently heard it said that hard work in and of itself does not protect from disappointment, but without hard, consistent work, you can’t make significant advances.

In present day, I’m a big Formula One fan. I enjoy watching it weekend after weekend as they travel around the world racing.  Formula One is the top elite international motorsport racing league. My fascination with Formula One is not just watching the cars drive around the track (though this is quite exciting) but the slow and steady pursuit by these teams to make incremental small changes to their racing program to consistently deliver and improve at each race. Watching a single race may seem intense; teams must step up and be amazing.  That’s true, but more importantly, if you’ve watched Drive to Survive on Netflix in the past few years or followed a season over its entirety, you will see that it is the steady, consistent “this is just another race” mentality, which propels teams to the top of the leaderboard.

So, what’s this got to do with education? As educators, this career can span our lifetime and involve many aspects of our lives outside of school each day. The pursuit of being a “lifelong learner” requires a learner mindset that requires consistent attention. Yes, we can go to a conference or a big-ticket event, which is intense and impressive, but what you do with that information after you leave flows into the consistency part of your life as an educator.

A consistent thing that I do to grow myself as a professional is to take in educational podcasts. I think I’m an auditory learner. This is how my podcast FreshAirAtFive began.  I started listening to podcasts and then reflecting on my learning as a way to record my thoughts and share them beyond myself on TwiX or Bluesky. I also went to Podcast Land at the end of the week. I get exercise while I do that my walking in my neighborhood as I listen at “five in the morning”. Both listening to podcasts and walking are not super intense. Still, over the long term, I have maintained a physically healthy body and grown my understanding of pedagogy, AI, and EdTech, as well as my PLN, which includes many educators and podcasters. It’s the consistent consumption of content that has brought me to the place where I am today. I wouldn’t have written this article had I not met Jeremy due to the consistent connection to the EduTwiX community.

So, my advice to you is to adopt a lifelong learning attitude if you don’t already have one. Figure out what’s a good learning method for you, whether it be podcasting (auditory), reading or watching video (visual), blogging on your own, or engaging with educators in some other method, …and doing that consistently.

What personal or professional development book (or both) would you recommend? Why?

“Balance Like a Pirate: Going Beyond Work-Life Balance to Ignite Passion and Thrive as an Educator“ by Sarah Johnson, Jessica Johnson and Jessica Cabeen

This book gave me a fresh lens for understanding that work/life balance is not just about the two-sided work/life balance; it’s about balancing the four quadrants of your professional life, your position, your personal life, and your passion. I read this book several years ago, and it still impacts my approach to my well-being and mental health.

Find an educational podcast that speaks to you if reading is not your thing. You could do that through Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or another podcast curation site. Listen to my podcast, as I will give you podcast suggestions to listen to each week and a brief summary in my reflection.

What is your favorite song on your morning commute to work? (or in general, if you’re retired)

“Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey. Why, you have to have something that you are hoping for.

Feel free to add anything else that you think would be helpful to educators.

If you’d like to connect with me, you can find me on TwiX (x.com/BryonCar) or Bluesky (bsky.app/profile/bryoncar.bsky.social). You can take in my podcast FreshAirAtFive on Spotify or Apple podcast and also find it at Educational Podcast Network (https://www.edupodcastnetwork.com/)

I hope something I’ve said here connects with you. 

Bryon Carpenter

Maybe you’re interested in sharing some of your “earned wisdom.” If so, let’s get in touch. I look forward to sharing your story with the Why Edify community.

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