Teacher Stories

Author Bob Katz shares the extraordinary story of a gifted 4th-grade teacher named Elaine Moore, the central character of his book Elaine’s Circle: A Teacher, a Student, a Classroom, and One Unforgettable Year. One reviewer writes, “There are books that you read that stay with you all your life—Elaine’s Circle will be one of them.”

If you’d like a chance to receive a free, signed copy of Elaine’s Circle, go to www.teacherstories.org.

In this episode, Katz explains how Moore managed to rally her class, her school, and the whole community around Seamus Farrell, one of her students who developed a terminal illness. We also get a glimpse of Elaine’s unique perspectives on teaching and education. “Elaine's abiding theory of education,” Katz says, “is that the classroom is a community…Caring about classmates and belonging to the group was precisely the behavior Elaine had been cultivating beyond the math, the reading, the science, the grammar. Elaine wanted her students to experience the sharing, and the intimacy, and the trust that can develop in a group. She wanted them to understand that the learning they struggled so hard to achieve had a purpose, and the purpose was to help not just themselves but also others.”

In his book, Katz writes, “Elaine had no burning maestro's desire to launch a prodigy or cultivate a superstar who, years hence, in accepting the Nobel or Pulitzer or Oscar, would remember to thank her for all she had done. Her objective was more modest and more real. ‘We teach,’ explained [fellow teacher] Joan Johnson, speaking of Elaine and herself and others, ‘to create these kids who can go on and do life better.’”

We also learn from Katz a bit of the book’s back story—how he came to learn about Elaine Moore, why she was initially reluctant to share her story, and what became of Elaine and the student after his book was published.

Bob Katz’s story is one for the ages—a poignant reminder of what quality education looks like and the debt of gratitude we owe to teachers like Elaine Moore, who prepare students for life.

Clarence Page has been writing for the Chicago Tribune for over 50 years and has been the recipient of numerous journalism awards. Now a columnist, he says his job is to explain, not just report the news. "Our own country is more complicated for the average person, and that's probably because communication is so much better. You learn about so many different crises going on here and there with a level of immediacy and contact that we didn't have before. So I feel like my mission is more important now than it ever was."

It's quite possible that Page would have devoted his career to something else, perhaps being an astrophysicist, if he had not been inspired by his high school journalism teacher, Mary Kindell. "I learned everything from her...People ask, where did you learn journalism? I said, well, mainly [writing for] my high school newspaper," Page says. So confident was Mrs. Kindell that Page would be a successful writer, she left a note in his high school yearbook asking that he remember her when he won his first Pulitzer Prize. 

But Page had another influential teacher in his life - his grandmother. Reflecting on the divisive nature of today's political climate, Page said, "My grandmother always said that, remember wherever you go, your people enter with you...In other words, you're representing, whenever people look at you, you're representing black folk one way or the other...either positively or negatively. You represent your people and you put that knowledge in my head and other folks' heads. But she also taught me not to be resentful about things that don't go your way because you're going to get a lot farther with a happy attitude than you will with a bitter and depressed one. Those little non-academic, but very real life lessons were what she was really good for. I carry that with me today."

This story is about a high school teacher's extraordinary efforts to support her students and her belief that relationships must come first. It's about a parent who takes the time to acknowledge this teacher's commitment to her son. And it's a story about mental heath and the struggles so many young people face today – struggles that affect their schoolwork, their relationships with friends and family, and the quality of their own lives.

In the 10 years leading up to the pandemic, feelings of persistent sadness and hopelessness—as well as suicidal thoughts and behaviors—increased by about 40% among young people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System.

The pandemic, of course, only made thing worse. During the pandemic, 29% of U.S. high school students had a parent or caregiver who lost their job, 55% were emotionally abused by a parent or caregiver, and 11% were physically abused, according to the CDC.

Numerous other factors like online shaming and bullying have also contributed to the crisis. The good news is that there are steps schools can take to help address the problem. One, they can increase the number of professionals who are trained to recognize and treat students suffering from mental health issues. Too many schools across the country have virtually none of these professionals. Another step is for schools to incorporate social and emotional learning programs at all levels of the system – the kind of programs that can dramatically reduce bullying for instance. Unfortunately widespread efforts to promote these programs have been thwarted because social emotional learning programs have become a new target in the culture wars in education. But if parents are able to cut through the noise they will see the true, sometimes life-saving, benefits of these programs for their children.

As the 2023 Grammy Award-winning Music Educator of the Year, Pamela Dawson has made it her mission to harness the power of music to connect students with diverse backgrounds and skill levels. With over 27 years of experience in teaching, Dawson has learned to create a safe and nurturing environment for her students, fostering a strong sense of community and belonging. "I think the most important thing is relationships...The students have to buy into you before you can give them anything," Dawson says. "My goal has never been to make performers. It's to change lives."

Dawson's innovative approach focuses on kinesthetic learning, a deep understanding of lyrics, and cultivating the relationship between music and the human experience.

In this episode, you will: 1) Discover the impact of music education for learning, connections with stories, and personal growth; 2) hear from two of Dawson's former students; and, 3) enjoy listening to the powerful and soulful singing of her student choirs.

America’s culture wars are driving great teachers out of the classroom, exacerbating a shortage that has reached critical levels in most states. The story of Willie Carver, an extraordinary English and French high school teacher from Kentucky, is especially tragic. He was selected as the state’s teacher of the year in 2022 and honored recently with 49 other outstanding teachers at the White House. He was beloved by his students and colleagues.

But Carver was also an openly gay teacher and the recent hostility toward LGBTQ educators and students simply became too much for him. In this episode Carver explains why he made the painful decision to leave the classroom. Three of his student also describe what it was like having him as their teacher.

na'im madyun reads a short story about a second grader named Ellis and her friend Coolidge, who prayed that their 3rd grade teacher WOULDN'T be the aging Mrs. Nimble.  The prayer wasn't answered, but by the end of the year, with Mrs. Nimble as their teacher, they offered another prayer -- that she wouldn't retire. It's an ode to teachers, madyun says--one that provides insight into the journey that led him to become a teacher himself.

Julie Hasson and Ken Futernick discuss some of the powerful lessons learned from the teacher stories she writes about in her new book, Safe, Seen, and Stretched - the Remarkable Ways Teachers Shape Students' Lives. 

Julie shares an inspiring story about her own teacher, Mrs. Russell, who, Julie says, laid the foundation for everything she has achieved. 

Julie also tells the story of an engineering student who recalled what it was like when he and his elementary school classmates first got a chance to play volleyball with the "big kids." They'd hit the ball so hard and it got so rough that eventually the younger ones quit playing.

But a teacher noticed what was happening and, "in all his genius," suggested a different way to play the game. He challenging them to hit the ball back and forth at least twenty times. To meet the challenge, the students taught one another how to keep the ball in the air, and from then on, at every recess, they all played a new version of volleyball -- the "the infinite game," they called it. It was here, as a young elementary student, that this engineering student first learned the power of collaboration, a practice he says is serving him well as an aspiring scientist.

Guests representing diverse political perspectives find some common ground on these controversial questions:

- What does high-quality history and civics education look like in a democratic society?

- What should teachers, particularly those who teach history and civics, be teaching our children?

- Do new state laws, like HB3979 in Texas and SB623 in Tennessee, that restrict what teachers can talk about with their students strengthen or weaken our democracy?  

- Should students learn about civics by solving real problems and working with government representatives?

 

Guests include:

- Ace Parsi, Director of Outreach and Engagement for Educating for American Democracy

- Amber Northern, Senior Vice President for Research at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute

- Danny Diaz, Director of UCLA's History-Geography Project and a former high school history teacher

Is it appropriate – even a good thing in this time of intense political division -- for social studies teachers to bring politics, current events, and highly controversial issues into the classroom?

Diana Hess is a former social studies teacher, now Dean of the College of Education at the University of Wisconsin, and a nationally recognized expert on civic education. Drawing upon extensive research on classroom practices, she argues that in a democratic society these topics must be part of the curriculum and that teachers can (and most often do) discuss them without being partisan.

A junior high school teacher, her school principal, and a teacher educator weigh in on critical questions about history and civics education in the era of fake news, social media, and heightened political pressure. 

-What does high-quality history and civics education for younger students look like and how can it help protect our democracy?

- Why should teachers promote civic mindedness and not just facts about how government works?

- Should all of American history be taught, including systemic racism and other anti-democratic structures?

- Should teachers attempt to make students feel guilt or discomfort about America's past?

- Can history about current events and controversial topics be taught in a non-partisan manner?

- How can school administrators support teachers who teach the whole American story? 

Guests include:

- Tracy Barnett, History Teacher, Hopkins Jr. High School, Fremont, California

- Corey Brown, Principal, Hopkins Jr. High School, Fremont, California

- Dr. Jennifer Hauver, Associate Professor of Education, Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Virginia