In a departure from the typical TTE conversation, I talk in this episode with Felicia Keller Boyle about her two podcasts, The Bad Therapist Show and What Your Therapist Thinks (if you’re already looking up the latter podcast, you are joining thousands of others who listen religiously). So we’re talking podcasting but, actually, we're talking about emotions. We’re therapists, after all.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Teaching through Emotions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

We talk about

* navigating the guilt of making money and why women in particular can struggle with it

* behind the scenes of how What Your Therapist Thinks reached the top of the podcast charts

* managing the pressure of having a crazy successful podcast

* strategies for overcoming fear and doing the things that scare you most

* Felicia’s specific challenge to help you build your psychodynamic muscles this week

Listen all the way to the end of this episode to hear Felicia’s challenge. She and I would love to hear your results! Leave a comment if you’re comfortable sharing.

For my non-teachers out there: Check out What Your Therapist Thinks! Relevant to absolutely everybody!

And PLEASE please please please: Fill out the TTE survey! I truly need to hear from you what you like, don’t like, want more of, want less of. Include your email address so you can be eligible for the drawing on Valentine’s Day that will get you a free TTE Tee or mug. It shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes of your time. Thank you so much in advance!!!

External links

The Bad Therapist Show

What Your Therapist Thinks

The Bad Therapist coaching page

Jeremy Enns

Guanyin

Credits

Founder and Host: Betsy Burris

Co-Host: Joe Johnson

Producer: Jullian Androkae of PodVision

Audience Development: Andreea Coscai of PodVision

Music: Tom Burris/Jabbering Trout

This one’s from a while back about a teacher who was so fed up with a student who was a huge “pain in the ass” that she wanted to quit. Right then and there.

And I’ll be damned if she didn’t turn that relationship around in the most dramatic way.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Teaching through Emotions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Joe and I talk about the difficult circumstances surrounding this teacher’s and this student’s situation and the hypotheses she and I came up with that helped her return to school and dig into their relationship. It’s kind of a miraculous story imho.

This story is relevant to non-teachers, too, in that it encourages openness to but also curiosity about behavior that might seem weird but might actually be an unnervingly pointed cry for help. Which some of us are in positions to respond to — without being nefarious saviors!

We discuss

* nefarious saviors

* furries and Joe’s and my amazingly limited knowledge of them

* why students might actually court negative attention

* doing aikido with super irritating students

* the fine line between caring too much and not caring enough

* Joe’s awesome alliterative axiom

Share your thoughts! Leave a comment! Share this episode! Share a story of your own with us! 413.239.4158. We love hearing from you!

And there's more…

I’m so eager to hear from you that my team and I have put together a survey to get a mid-season formative assessment from my listeners. I really want to hear what you like, don’t like, want to hear or read, etc. Please take a few minutes to give me your honest feedback! I’m a therapist, so I can take the truth.

As incentive, anyone who responds will have their email address put in a nice hat from which I will pull a winner — of a TTE “Stay in Your Effin’ Garden” T-shirt! I myself have one (as you might imagine), and I love it. Soft, perfect fit, extremely useful message. Get to that survey as soon as is humanly possible — we’ll pull the winner on Valentine’s Day. Wow! What a love-ly gift!!

Teaching through Emotions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Credits

Founder and Host: Betsy Burris

Co-Host: Joe Johnson

Producer: Jullian Androkae of PodVision

Audience Development: Andreea Coscai of PodVision

Music: Tom Burris/Jabbering Trout

God, I hate AI. And I love this interview. Jesse Dukes, producer of the magnificent podcast on AI in schools called The Homework Machine, discusses the findings his podcast team lays out about the complicated ins and outs of a “drunk guy” (as I put it) who has “crashed the party” (as Jesse and The Homework Machine puts it). Jesse (not the drunk guy) is so articulate and so sensitive to the information his team’s research gathered and reported that listening to him talk is just plain enjoyable! Whether you care about AI in schools or not!

But you should care.

This is a super important and complicated issue. Please listen. It’s food for thought we really need to digest.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

We discuss

* multiple “disruptions” in schools (not just AI)

* how teachers are responding (and could be) to AI

* the shocking reality of how districts are responding to AI

* how students are responding to AI (you might be surprised) — and why

For our non-teacher teachers: Hear Jesse’s wisdom: If you want to feel hopeful, talk to a teenager. Right on!!

External links

Rand report: “AI Use in Schools Is Quickly Increasing but Guidance Lags Behind”

Stanford article: “Cheating: The AI Elephant in the Classroom”

Teaching Systems Lab, MIT

Teach Lab podcast

The Homework Machine

Credits

Founder and Host: Betsy Burris

Co-Host: Joe Johnson

Producer: Jullian Androkae of PodVision

Audience Development: Andreea Coscai of PodVision

Music: Tom Burris/Jabbering Trout

It’s a good thing when parents are involved in their children’s educations. When parents establish routines for getting homework done. When parents attend Back-to-School nights, parent-teacher conferences, and student performances. When parents contact teachers with concerns or questions about their children’s experiences at school.

But it’s a bad thing when teachers go all nuclear on their children’s teachers.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Teaching through Emotions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

In this episode, Joe and I chew on a teachers’ story of a parent who decided the right thing to do one night, right around dinner time, was to send an angry, accusatory email to their child’s teacher. Sound familiar? I fear it does to too many of you. In which case, this episode is for you!

We discuss

* what a ghost moose is

* possible explanations for reprehensible Mama Bear behavior

* why passionate (read “pissed-off”) parents are a gift

* how to engage with people you want to hate

This episode is helpful for parents, too, whether you have a child in school (and might be tempted to go ballistic on a teacher someday) or don’t (and might be tempted to go ballistic on someone else someday). Or if someone has gone ballistic on you! There’s good stuff for everyone in this episode.

I would love to hear about a time when you had to deal with an irate person who was spewing on you. Leave a comment! Leave a voice memo on the TTE hotline! 413.239.4158. Be in touch!

Thanks so much for listening.

Happy holidays, everyone!

Credits

Founder and Host: Betsy Burris

Co-Host: Joe Johnson

Producer: Jullian Androkae of PodVision

Audience Development: Andreea Coscai of PodVision

Music: Tom Burris/Jabbering Trout

From Teacher of the Year to burnout and depression to “the best year of school that I’ve ever done.” In this conversation, you’ll hear the story of physics and math teacher Stephanie Watroba’s dramatic journey through burnout — what it was like, why it happened, and how she got through it.

It’s an informative and intense conversation.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Teaching through Emotions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

We talk about

* the ebb and flow of daily burnout

* a possible meaning of negative talk in the teachers’ lounge

* the role of the internal critic in burnout

* warning signs of burnout

* how to “make friends” with burnout

It’s not just teachers who experience burnout, of course. This episode is for everyone who gets depleted and cannot care for themselves when they’re not meeting their own and others’ high expectations. Stephanie’s experience and insights are universally valuable.

* Ms. Stephanie Watroba started working at Berkshire Arts & Technology Charter Public School in 2013 as a physics teacher. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics with a minor in Mathematics from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and is a proud member of Sigma Pi Sigma, the physics honors society. She has held the titles of math team leader, science team leader, and teacher of the year in her prior years at BART. She currently teaches physics, calculus, and pre-calculus. In her spare time, she enjoys video games, dungeons and dragons, horseback riding, and ballet. *

Credits

Founder and Host: Betsy Burris

Co-Host: Joe Johnson

Producer: Jullian Androkae of PodVision

Audience Development: Andreea Coscai of PodVision

Music: Tom Burris/Jabbering Trout

Teaching through Emotions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

I’m on a roll with the boys-and-men-in-trouble theme here. My last rant dropped two weeks ago, on November 7th. It was about a bunch of youngish Republicans (all over 30 years old, apparently) who texted each other racist, misogynistic, anti-Semitic and generally hate-filled messages with evident glee. Today’s rant is about school-age boys and their rel…

Here is a guarantee: You will never hear an interview like this one anywhere else. Because it’s a family affair! A Holiday Family bonus episode of TTE! In which my beloved daughter and I chit-chat about basically the things that matter the most to us.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

We talk about

* living attached to your soul

* how school teaches us to sin

* why hatred isn’t bad

* how the divine works

* what organismic learning is

And much, much more. Listen to the very end where Mae gives us an assignment and I invite you to share your work right here in the comments:

If you’re not a teacher and you look at the list above, you’ll agree that this conversation is relevant to everyone. I mean, souls? sin? hatred? the divine? organismic learning? Who wouldn’t want to listen in?

If you do, thank you. As always.

Note: A regular TTE podcast episode will not drop next Thursday because it is, of course, Thanksgiving. The next regular episode will appear in your inboxes the following Thursday, December 4th. And it’s a(nother) good one! About burnout! Be sure to tune in!

Have a loving Thanksgiving.

Credits

Founder and Host: Betsy Burris

Co-Host: Joe Johnson

Producer: Jullian Androkae of PodVision

Audience Development: Andreea Coscai of PodVision

Music: Tom Burris/Jabbering Trout

This episode is really fun because the teacher whose story we wrestle with, Donna, is actually in the virtual studio with us! What you get to hear is a simulation of a (very small) Teacher Support Group where Joe and I ask the types of questions we would ask in a real TSG and work with the data Donna’s answers provide. Listening will bring you into the world of TSGs, where teachers and I get to unpack difficult experiences with curiosity, compassion, and perspective-changing psychodynamic insights! Wahoo!!!

Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Teaching through Emotions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

We talk about

* what sarcasm might mean (you won’t want to miss Joe’s analogy)

* how students can use teachers as proxies for their parents

* the “amazing” value of detaching from hurtful experiences

* whether or not teachers should be “bullet proof”

* managing the desire to get revenge

* how teachers can be superheroes

Not a teacher? This episode is for you, too. If you’ve been hurt by sarcasm yourself, our conversation with Donna will turn your head around.

Got your own stories of student sarcasm? Of the surprising hurt? Of your effective — or, better yet, ineffective — response to it? Let us hear it! Call the TTE hotline at

413.239.4158.

Thanks for listening, as always.

Credits

Founder and Host: Betsy Burris

Co-Host: Joe Johnson

Producer: Jullian Androkae of PodVision

Audience Development: Andreea Coscai of PodVision

Music: Tom Burris/Jabbering Trout

Yep, I’m biased: I am certain that teaching is spiritual. Not because teachers need to be religious but because the tasks of teaching human beings require heart-based skills: faith, care, love, “unconditional positive regard for difference” — skills that do not necessarily come naturally all the time and therefore demand care and attention themselves. How can teachers (hell, and parents and other caregivers) develop and sustain these skills amidst the chaos of everyday life?

In this episode, I explore this question and others with Mark Longhurst, an inspiring pastor, writer, and publications manager for Richard Rohr’s Center for Action and Contemplation. We talk about teaching, parenting, and just living as a spiritual practice, how seeing the “holy ordinary” in daily classroom moments can activate deeper meaning and aliveness for teachers and students.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Teaching through Emotions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

We talk about

* Flowing with the chaos of parenting and teaching

* Detaching from identities to promote healthy attachment

* The benefits and perils of viewing the classroom as a sacred space

* Embracing the quest for aliveness in teachers and students

* The importance of “settled bodies” in classrooms

For my non-teachers out there: The “holy ordinary” is everywhere! Where can you tune into it in your own lives? What keeps you from it?

Got a story about your own holy ordinary? Send me your thoughts:

(413) 239-4158.

If you found something valuable here, consider leaving a rating or review wherever you get your podcasts. And share this episode with your friends! All of it really helps.

External Links

the holy ordinary by Mark Longhurst (Substack)

The Holy Ordinary: A Way to God (Book)

My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem

Fierce Love: A Bold Path to Ferocious Courage and Rule-Breaking Kindness that Can Heal the World by Dr. Jacqui Lewis

Credits

Founder and Host: Betsy Burris

Co-Host: Joe Johnson

Producer: Jullian Androkae

Audience Development: Andreea Coscai

Music: Tom Burris/Jabbering Trout

This episode takes us back to a Teacher Support Group I led over a decade ago at a school steeped in chaos. What seemed like an unproductive, blame-filled space was actually an unconscious mirror of the school’s deep dysfunction—a fascinating concept called parallel process. Joe and I examine how systemic issues infiltrate individual classrooms and what teachers can do to cultivate a healthy learning environment against incredible odds.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Teaching through Emotions is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

We talk about

* how the group’s dynamic echoed the school’s wider culture of chaos

* what makes school holding environments chaotic

* a gendered pattern of blame

* empowering strategies for teachers to cultivate healthy classroom cultures

For my non-teachers out there: The dynamics of group behavior, the impact of leadership, and the power of individual action within a dysfunctional system apply far beyond school walls.

Have a story about your school’s culture, or a time you navigated chaos? Share it with me: 413.239.4158. If you enjoyed this episode, consider leaving a review or rating on your podcast app. It helps us reach more teachers!

External Links

teachingthroughemotions.com

Credits

Founder and Host: Betsy Burris

Co-Host: Joe Johnson

Producer: Jullian Androkae

Audience Development: Andreea Coscai

Music: Tom Burris/Jabbering Trout

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