Donita Torres and Francene Watson are experts in education. They're scholars, researchers, teachers. They're not podcasters! But, they want to talk about education and they want to talk to people who want to also talk about education.

The podcast is called OPTICal allusion, where OPTIC stands for Our Partnership, Teaching, Innovation and Change.

In each episode, Donita, Francene, or a combination of the two will help us reimagine what education could look like today. Their guests will share real stories, fresh perspectives, and actionable strategies that any educator, parent, or lifelong learner can use.

Whether you're here to enhance your own teaching, or just want to stay ahead of the curve in education, Optical Allusion has the insights you need to make a lasting impact.

[00:00:02] Francene Watson: and I'm Francine Watson from Washington State University.

[00:00:23] Fran, what is the name of our podcast?

[00:00:52] The space where we especially noticed new teachers going out into the field with incredible vision, [00:01:00] and then really hitting. The intense roadblocks towards change. So we thought, why don't we name it and build the stories around these kinds of visions. Brian, what's the name of our podcast? It is called Optical Illusion.

[00:01:35] Donita Torres: Yes, I'm excited for this first season as well because it captures the experiences of some teacher candidates, now first year teachers, that got to participate in some extended learning during their teacher prep program around master based learning, which is one of Washington State's initiatives.

[00:02:10] We have one candidate really spends time talking a lot about the pains of planning and how planning intentionally and the way they adjusted their thinking around learning and assessment improve their student learning. One of our candidates really focuses on love and wellness, which is really, you know, a touching and enduring podcast episode.

[00:02:32] Francene Watson: I know that is one super exciting piece of this is as teacher educators, we realized what's out there for what we would call new, you know, novice teachers or teachers in their quote, you know, induction zone.

[00:03:28] I think there is no one I would rather work with than you.

[00:03:56] I've always said those things, but really to it changed my mindset and [00:04:00] approach to it, which is, I think what people are going to hear in these podcast episodes is how these young teachers have done it. Starting with Chiari's one on community.

[00:04:17] Just tell the story. So a little learning curve. We're on a learning curve. The power of yet.

[00:04:23] Francene Watson: That's right. Thanks for listening. We will see you on the other side.