Brothers Who Teach

For our season finale, we’ve got Mom on the pod! Lydia Brenneman was a school psychologist in St. Marys, Ohio for 19 years. She talks to us first about the (8!) different colleges she went to and how she shifted from an interest in medicine to psychology (2:20). Then she shares about how, after serving for two years in Palestine, she began her work as a school psychologist: what it was like, how it changed over her career, and how it compares to private school (8:32). We also talk about the ways counseling and school psychology overlap and how teachers should handle students with learning differences, before getting to mom’s career move to go to seminary and eventually become a chaplain (16:35). Mom tells us not a funny story but one of the many jokes she would use for comic relief in the hospital, and then Jameel has one last crack at the trivia question (25:00).

For Mother's Day, we got to talk to two sisters who are also mothers who also taught with Joseph. The Michalski Sisters (Bethany Tribbett and Deborah Rife) share their experiences as teachers and mothers: how they got started (2:50), what it was like teaching while pregnant (15:00), their decisions not to return to full-time teaching (23:15), and whether or not they might return (31:35). Then Deborah and Bethany share stories about a funny dress-up day and an inappropriate comment (35:55) before Joe tries to answer a Geography question.

The students are back! This time, Joseph brought on two students from his Algebra II class: Trix Franks and Xavier Rivera. We ask them all about life as a student: what time of the year is most busy for them (4:00), how they stay organized (8:45), how they spend their time at home (14:00), college plans (18:45), what they see students struggling with (21:35), and more. Then Xavier and Trix both share funny stories related to their involvement in the school play (39:10), and Joe tries to answer an astronomy trivia question. Trix and Xavier are both outstanding students, and we feel grateful to have had them on the show!

We aren't going to give too many details about this episode, because it's a pop quiz episode! Meaning Jameel and Joseph have come up with questions for each other, but neither knows what the other is going to ask. So we aren't going to tell you, either. You'll just have to listen to find out...

Don't worry; we will still have a funny story and trivia at the end (30:50).

Our guest this week is Dan Hawthorne, history teacher at Rensselaer High School. Dan was a mentor to Joseph during his first year of teaching, and we brought him on the show to talk to us about engaging with young teachers. After telling us about how he got to Rensselaer, Dan talks about the high rate of turnover at his school and how it can be combated at schools in general (6:00). Along that line, we talk about what responsibilities veteran teachers have in regard to helping their younger counterparts (17:09). Finally, Dan also tells us about his own mentor (24:45), how he keeps up with new trends, asks us a BBQ question(!) and then gives us a funny story about dealing with students who talk too much during discussions (35:57). We finish as always with trivia, in this case Joseph trying to answer a question about Greek mythology.

In this episode, we talk about the dreaded interview process. We begin by looking back at our own interview experiences and if we would change anything if we could go back (2:50). Then we look forward to talk about what kinds of things teachers should think about when considering a school (11:15). After that, we get into the interview itself: what to do and what not to do, and why teaching demonstrations are vital (19:10). Finally, Jameel vents about being misled by his tennis players this week, and Joseph once again tries to answer a trivia question correctly (28:34).

Our second installment of Career Day features Jameel’s barber who is also named Joe: Joseph Rollice and his wife Ashley run Clipper & Comb, quite possibly the best barbershop in Western North Carolina. Joe the Barber talks to Jameel about his high school experience and barber school (7:40), starting his own business with Ashley (28:00), and his curiosity about teaching (33:25). Joe’s funny story is about a mistake he made in his early days as a barber (43:00), then Brother Joe comes on to share his thoughts on the interview and to offer Jameel a trivia question (45:55).

Follow Joe the Barber on Instagram @clipperandcombbarbershop

Brothers Who Teach does not shy away from the hot topics! Some people have said the new AP African-American Studies course is indoctrinating. For this episode, we brought in someone who has actually read through the curriculum: James Uhler is assistant academic dean at Christ School, has worked with The College Board in helping design the curriculum for AP US History, and has taught his own semester-long African-American History course. We talk with him about Ron DeSantis' claims about AP African-American Studies: first, if Black history should be a standalone subject (4:40), then if the specific parts of the course that DeSantis criticized are problematic or not (9:18), and what if anything in the latest curriculum update could be used to provoke the culture war (19:45). We then take a step back from this specific course and talk about why courses like this, that focus on one identity or time period, are important (29:30), and why there is paranoia around school curricula in general (35:00). Then James tells us a story about students in his African-American History class learning a lesson from the real world (48:45), and Joe tries to change his luck and actually answer a trivia question correctly for a change (52:20).

Our previous State of the Arts episodes revolved around our former band teachers. This time, we're interviewing a former classmate: Marissa Lewis! Marissa teaches choir at Wapakoneta City Schools in Ohio. She begins by telling us how she got to her current position. Then we ask how her experience as a teacher has been similar and different to when we were students (9:05). Hint: Covid made things a lot different. Marissa also shares about a time when her job and a lot of the arts programs in St. Marys were under threat (16:00), before giving us her version of the ideal music program (18:35). We wrap up with a funny story where Marissa wanted to impart wisdom, but instead put her foot in her mouth (26:15), and Joe asks Jameel a ChatGPT-generated trivia question.