jarrod@thepegeek.com https://scribie.com/files/c4ed2352cf474ae5902c2aa7fb465840854b4d09 07/01/16 Page 1 of 7

00:00 Speaker 1: Welcome to the official podcast of the ConnectedPE Community, the home of 21st century professional development for physical educators. Join the community now at connectedpe.com. 00:14 Jarrod Robinson: Hello everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the ConnectedPE podcast. And as always, this is an absolute pleasure to be here. Now, we're really excited because we have our first member spotlight session today, with a community member and just absolute rock star. Renee, how are you? 00:29 Renee Cabassi: Good, thanks, and yourself? 00:31 JR: Yeah, not too bad. Sitting here on this wintry sort of day. Where are you joining me from now? 00:38 RC: I'm in Perth. It's not too bad, we've got sun shining outside but a little bit cloudy. So nice winter's day here. 00:45 JR: Perth is a tremendous place. If you're listening and you've never been there, highly recommended. I only seem to get over there occasionally, but it's just a great place. So have you always been in Western Australia, in that part of the world? 00:57 RC: Yeah, born and bred over here. Grew up in the Southwest in the country, and moved to the city to finish my high school career, 'cause there was no high school. There was no year 11 and 12 in the town where I grew up. So, had to move to Perth and I've been here ever since. 01:14 JR: Yeah. So then, that sort of led you into the teaching path? Or was there something much earlier on in your... In your childhood that led you down that track? 01:25 RC: Yeah. Well, I've always been a big sporty person. And being in a country town that was what we [01:31]. We played a lot of sport, and there wasn't a lot of different sport where I grew up, but I did whatever I could. So I wanted to do that at uni, into the health kinda line of things. I didn't do teaching to start I did exercise physiology, thinking I wanted to get into rehab and be like a physiotherapist. But did that, tried that rehab line of work and thought I'm better off, rather than waiting for somebody to get injured and then helping them get better, I wanted to be a little bit more preventative with that. 02:03 JR: Yeah, I like that. That's a really good way to think of it. 02:05 RC: Before somebody gets injured I wanna help that. So, my first job was actually in the mines in WA. 02:13 JR: Really? 07/01/16 Page 2 of 7

02:14 RC: Yeah, [chuckle] it's a big part of the WA state is mining works. So, I was a Health and Lifestyle Coordinator onsite, which meant I was trying to get big burly blokes to stop smoking and slow down their drinking and get to the gym. Which was really interesting. [chuckle] 02:33 JR: It would've been a challenge, 'cause it's like that indulgent lifestyle when they fly in and out, and they're there for short periods and... 02:41 RC: That's right, there were so... It was only just starting that kind of work when I was up there, and I tell you just getting into the psyche of it and the mental health of it, and it's only just starting to come out now how difficult that lifestyle is. And how much support they need. Yeah, so I started that but ended up moving out of that, 'cause it actually got a little bit too about the money. And it got a little bit depressing in fact. So I thought, "Well, I'm gonna go to the opposite and I'll go work for a charity." So then I went and worked for the charity for five years, working with young people living with cancer, the charity's called CanTeen. 03:22 JR: Yeah, amazing. Did you like it? 03:22 RC: Yeah, I really, really loved that and I really loved working with young people. And then that's what led me to go back and do my teaching degree. And I did that, and then I started teaching. 03:33 JR: That's a seriously interesting journey. I didn't even realize. That's really awesome. And do you think some of those things that you got along the way have found their way into your teaching philosophy? Like the preventative aspect or things of that nature? 03:49 RC: Yeah, definitely. I think there's things that I've learnt and seen along every part of my journey that has been really insightful and just given me, like we were talking about before, that real holistic kind of approach. From the people that I met upon the mine sites, where... When I saw people come to the mine site for the first time, they were so full of energy and healthy and all this. And then after, slowly watching them over three or four months, it deteriorated and it was so sad to watch. And I suppose, it got me thinking about mental health, and balance, and all those things. 04:25 RC: And then working with young people living with cancer, you see them go through some really difficult times. And yeah, that... I suppose that's just a... It was a real eye opener to see how people, young people embrace life and wanted to take on the world, and they... Anything's possible, like a totally different type of energy. And then going into high school and working with typical teens, and the moods. And that's so different to working with young people living with cancer and that shocked me for awhile, like the difference in attitudes and energy, and having to adapt to that and cope with that. And then, change how you talk and motivate people, because they're so different. All of those populations are so different. 05:12 JR: Yeah, I find that whole journey really interesting. Something that I've sort of observed from you is that you're really quite reflective as well. And you've got your blog, which I happen to get via email, it's one of the only blogs... Actually, the only blog that I get via email. So where did that start for you? Where did this blogging curiation happen? 07/01/16 Page 3 of 7

05:32 RC: That started in... When I did my Dep ED. We had to do an... We were asked to do an assignment and it, basically the assignment was anything IT, just do anything. And I didn't even know where to begin and I suppose I was just overwhelmed, which I talk about that a bit in my blog. I was just overwhelmed with... There was so much out there and I didn't even know where to start. So I thought, "Well, I'll start writing about the things that work or the things that don't, and at least that'll be like my journal that I can refer back to." And it was really good for me 'cause it made me sit down and think about what it is that I am doing or I'm not doing, or I could be doing better, or I see other people doing. And it's not until you give yourself time to do that, that it really brings clarity to some of the ideas that you have or some of the experiences that you've had. 06:26 JR: I think it's really powerful. It's exactly the same reason mine started out. Had you guys had something similar in your first year over in WA where you have to go from being provisionally registered to then, full registered and part of that journey is documenting it? 06:39 RC: Yeah, yup. 06:42 JR: And that's literally the reason why mine started. I was like documenting things that worked and things that didn't work, and then one person commented. I'm like, "Wow. Someone reads this?" 06:52 RC: [chuckle] Was it your mom? 06:53 JR: Well, yeah I think so first. She's like, "Hey, I published this... " Anyway, this is where it begins. 07:00 RC: Yeah. That's exactly right. 07:00 JR: It's tremendously... Even if no one reads it, the whole process of putting out your own ideas, I think, is really quite powerful. Where's the blog? Where can people find it? 07:09 RC: It's a WordPress blog and it's called 'Aim High Jump Often'. It's a bit of a play on words. 07:15 JR: I love it. 07:15 RC: Because I 'spose... Yeah, I was trying to aim high and jump often is about taking risks every now and again and stepping out of your comfort zone. But actually, I'm a netballer. Well, netball's my sport. Don't tell anyone, 'cause it's a bit of secret, but my key thing is to jump. 07:32 JR: Really? That's the secret on the field. On the court? 07:34 RC: Yeah. I'm quite short for a netballer. So, my jump is my secret weapon. [chuckle] 07:39 JR: I love it. 07/01/16 Page 4 of 7

07:40 RC: It's not a [07:40]. 07:41 JR: It's so revealing in the name too. I didn't know the background to it. But it has many connotations, like other hidden layers too. 07:48 RC: Exactly. 07:49 JR: Like repeated efforts and things that we wanna instil in students. So, over the course of your journey, I'm sure that learning using tech and trying things in the classroom, there's been situations where you've made some of those errors? Things that haven't gone quite... 08:03 RC: Yeah. 08:04 JR: Can you think of anything or just anything that maybe didn't work out straight away? 08:09 RC: I think most... Not majority of the time... Well, yeah. Actually in the beginning, we're now... The school I was at, when I first got there kids didn't have tech, they weren't one to one. But then they slowly started introducing it. And so then all of a sudden, one of the year groups had a laptop, but it's like they were just handed it and not much else was done. 08:36 JR: [08:36]. 08:37 RC: Yeah. It was hard to keep them focused on this when they had this shiny new toy in front of them. And then, the WiFi wasn't great. And so, things would work but then wouldn't work, and you always had to have a plan B. In the beginning, it was so hard even just... If WiFi was working, then you were spending your time trying to keep people focused and on task. But as apps come about, and we're using tablets now, I suppose the tablet is in my hand and I can control it a lot more than before, whereas if the computer was in their hands. So, that helped a bit. It helped me to get control a bit more, and now that I understand the piece of equipment in my hand I can help them use it as well, 'cause you need to teach them how to use it or it's just a shiny toy. 09:30 JR: The shiny object syndrome is real, isn't it? 09:33 RC: Yeah, oh totally. 09:35 JR: It's a big issue. I've suffered from it before. I still do when it comes to personal use of new toys and all sorts of things. Like, we just got a brand new puppy and I'm suffering from shiny object syndrome there. When I discovered that there's these cool cam cameras that you can use to watch them and throw treats [09:55]. 09:56 RC: Oh my goodness, yes. 09:56 JR: All from an app. So, this is shiny object syndrome leading me down this path of maybe doing something that probably doesn't need to happen. 07/01/16 Page 5 of 7

10:04 RC: Doesn't? Yeah, that's right. 10:05 JR: And that happens in the classroom. I've done it before. You pick this new tool and maybe all of a sudden, it probably didn't serve the purpose. I think that's testament to that jump repeatedly philosophy that you can make mistakes and try things and I think that's really quite powerful. So, great note to finish on. I'm super excited to have you on the show as our first member spotlight, and look forward to seeing you in the community. 10:31 RC: Thanks very much, Jarrod. 10:32 JR: You're welcome. Thank you. 10:34 RC: Cheers. [music] 07/01/16 Page 6 of 7

Thank You for choosing Scribie.com Cross check this transcript against the audio quickly and efficiently using our online Integrated Editor. Please visit the following link and click the Check & Download button to start. https://scribie.com/files/c4ed2352cf474ae5902c2aa7fb465840854b4d09 07/01/16 Page 7 of 7