“I had this great mentor, a literacy mentor, and she was creating a lesson plan with me. We were doing a lesson plan to ‘Dream the Impossible Dream…” says Mika Yamamoto. “And in the process she made me articulate my impossible dream, and that was when I was in this terrible abusive marriage that … Continue reading Episode 22 – Mika Yamamoto

“I like to think of it as choice ready, which is to say I think every kid needs to graduate with very high levels of reading, writing, quantitative, social and civic skills,” shares Cami Anderson, co-founder of ROADS, a network of charter high schools dedicated to court-involved youth, and former superintendent of schools, first … Continue reading Episode 21 – Cami Anderson

Through perseverance and reflection, listen in as Mareike shares her passion for helping students reach their full potential and become active citizens.

“Every kid has a smart phone in his pocket, most kids have iPads or tablets or devices like that, and with these mobile devices we can have access to the world,” says Mr. João Couvaneiro, a High School history teacher in Almada, Portugal and a 2017 Top 50 Finalist for the Global Teacher Prize. … Continue reading Episode 19 – João Couvaneiro

“I mostly teach Raza, I mostly teach Mexican youth,” says Jackie Rodriguez-Vega as she explores the effect of the current political climate on the Latino youth she teaches, which also include young people from Puerto Rico, Honduras, El Salvador and more. “They already know what’s going on. They know that people in positions of … Continue reading Episode 18 – Jackie Rodriguez-Vega

"...we have to believe no matter what, in our kids, in who they are, where they come from, and love them, period. That's it, there's no asterisk, no side note, no subtext, that's it. And if you can't do that, if you can't love the kid in front of you, no matter religion, no matter race, no matter ethnicity, nationality, immigration status - if you can't love the kid in front of you, without them having to do anything or ever speak a word, then this isn't the field for you."

“Veteran teachers mostly just know that this one aspect of their day is not going well and they’ve usually tried a few things and they just need another set of eyes that are saying, ‘Well this is what I see, and this is all the good things and maybe this is just what we … Continue reading Episode 16 – Louise Craig

“We have to be activists,” reflects Phil S. Quinlan, 7th grade social studies teacher in Scottville, MI, as he discusses what he believes is the role of educators when discussing the current state of politics with students. “How did all of a sudden our profession become demonized?” he continued. “I have an opinion on … Continue reading Episode 15 – Phil S. Quinlan

Employment trends in rural areas show that the number of people employed in agriculture is decreasing - Daisy describes how this often leads to students not having access to resources, or even the awareness of the potential they could reach with a quality education.

"...math practices are like life practices and there is a place for everyone to find success."