Like so many people around the world, I felt disconnected and isolated during dark days of lockdown. For my ninety-something year old mother-in-law in the UK, Doreen, the feeling of separation was acute. We bought Doreen, (AKA “Milly” - a play on mother-in-law) an iPad and were able to use FaceTime as a literal lifeline. It was during one conversation when Milly was feeling a bit down about her deteriorating eyesight when she made an off-hand comment…”Well, I guess I’ll never get to write my book about my life story…”
It was like being slapped by a wet fish (queue comic head shake):“But, I’m an ADE with dormant powers - I CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT!”
And so the Mondays with Milly podcast was born. It attracted a modest following, until word got out amongst some UK and Australian media that there was a nonagenarian podcaster on the loose…
Fast-forward to 2024, the podcast has been listened to more than 120,000 times across more than 50 countries.
While Milly has lapped up the attention, this project isn’t about numbers and likes, it’s about legacy. Milly imparts her humour, her wisdom and gives us a good dose of perspective about the big things and the small things in life - spanning ten decades.
During 2023 I decided to turn the first series of the podcast, which covers the Great Depression era and WW2, into an ePub for older primary-aged students - partly because the podcast app isn’t easily accessible in many schools. Embedded in the ePub are audio files of the podcast.
My plan is to publish it to Apple Books (the book and a link to download the Pages study guide) but I’d love some teacher and student feedback about how effectively the book and study guide resources engage students - in Milly’s story and what life was like in the past. If you have a classroom of age-appropriate students (or even a small group) who might be willing to invest some time to read, listen and engage with the study guide, I’d love to hear from you. Below you’ll find a copy of the book (Pages version) and the Pages study guide.
Tip:
To view the Pages file as an ePub (in the Books app), download the Pages document (MwM The Book), open it, then follow the steps below…
May 14, 2024
I love this! What an amazing way to connect our wonderful “elders” with our classroom learners. Your study guide is so creative and it is my guess that it will really engage the students in Milly’s story and the history she is teaching. I’m passing this along - such potential for history teachers and all learners.
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