Kerry Gallagher is the St. John’s Prep Assistant Principal for Teaching and Learning, ConnectSafely Director of Education, an EdSurge Columnist, ASCD Emerging Leader, a TEDx and Keynote Speaker, and an attorney.

I was fortunate to do an Ignite at ISTE in 2016 at the same time as Kerry. She was so amazing that they asked her to come back and do her presentation again before the keynote in front of 6,000 people. She was amazing! Below are excerpts from the podcast that was recorded several months ago.
 
About you and your family
I’m a mom of two girls; Shannon is 9 and loves to write and create. Morgan is 6 years old and is wild and adventurous. I’m married 13 years and am lucky enough to be close to my parents, my siblings, and their spouses. We go skiing together in New Hampshire every weekend in the winter. Being a mom and an educator, I feel like I won the lottery. It’s a great combination of things I love to do with the people I love to be with.
 
 
What was it like for you as a learner
I think of learning in two different ways; learning because you want to versus learning because you have to. I was a competitive dancer and skier. That learning was physical and kinesthetic and I was passionate about it. There was also some competition that made it fun to work together with my teammates. I love that kind of challenge in learning. I was learning because I wanted to. The other way is what I learned in school; learning because I had to. I was really good at playing the game of school. Give me homework. I can do it well and get my grade. You tell me I have a test coming and I know how to study and prepare for it, take it, and get my grade. When I think about the way I am planning learning for teachers or students in the classroom, I really want them to feel the way I felt about dancing and skiing. I want them to feel that passion and that energy and drive. I want schools to build passion in our learners so they want to do better and improve themselves.

There are two reasons to become a teacher. 1: Because you love the subject matter like chemistry, or early American history, or math. 2: Because you are passionate about working with children. No matter which was your reason for becoming a teacher, if you can challenge yourself to be both passionate about what you are teaching and who you are teaching, then that’s where the magic happens. If your learners know that you desperately care for them and you have this deep fire in your belly for what you teach, then you’ll hook them just because they see your passion. They will want to feel that way too. Connecting to their everyday lives is a really easy way to do this. Just modeling that enthusiasm is a great way to start.
 
Your background in teaching
My major was politics. In college, I worked on campaigns, studied philosophy, and took on a second major in education focusing on education policy. When it came time for me to pick an internship during senior year, I decided to do student teaching. Quickly I discovered I was in the right place. I was happy to be in a room full of teenagers talking, laughing, and getting creative with them. The school I did my student teaching is the first school I ended up working in. I taught high school civics, U.S. history, and law and ethics that the first year. I was totally exhausted but loved it. I only taught at that school for a year because I got an offer from a school in Massachusetts. It was a good move for me to be closer to my family. For the next 12 years, I taught at the middle school and high school levels and learned the interdisciplinary approach and mindset. I am now at St. John’s Prep where the teachers are exploring and investigating interdisciplinary approaches.
Listen to the examples Kerry shares here…