51 - Mandy Froehlich: EdTech Innovator, Speaker, and Author

MANDY FROEHLICH is the Director of Innovation & Technology for the Ripon Area School District in Ripon, WI. She is a blogger, speaker, and co-host on the @bamradionetwork’s Teacher's Aid podcast. She is also the author of The Fire Within: Lessons from Defeat That Have Inspired a Passion for Learning (https://amzn.to/2EdqBH4) and the soon-to-be-released Divergent EDU. In our conversation, Mandy recalls an experience of discouragement and burnout early in her career, and describes the formula that helped her recover and recapture her passion: avoiding negativity, reading uplifting and accessible education books, engaging on Twitter, and starting a blog. She explains the heart and message of The Fire Within: the journey to view past trauma not as a source of shame or stigma but as a potential source of strength in order to serve students better. She talks about the joys of raising teenagers, the benefits of working outdoors, and her top picks on Twitter, books, edtech tools, and more. Follow Mandy online here: TW: https://twitter.com/froehlichm IG: https://www.instagram.com/froehlichmandy/ Blog: https://mandyfroehlich.com/ Visit https://teachersonfire.net/ for show notes and links from this episode. Follow the Teachers on Fire podcast on social media! TW: https://twitter.com/TeachersOnFire. IG: https://www.instagram.com/teachersonfire/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/TeachersOnFire/