Warriors of Education Podcast

On Season 2 Episode 16- I speak to Andrew Jordan Nance author of the children's book Puppy Mind and mindfulness educator. We speak about the connection to theatre education and mindfulness training, the benefits of meditation and how young minds really take to this work. "Mindfulness is breathtaking!"

Andrew Jordan Nance has been an educator since 1990. He is the author of four published books; The Barefoot King, The Lion in Me, Mindful Arts in the Classroom, and the bestseller, Puppy Mind. He is the founder of Mindful Arts San Francisco; a program of the San Francisco Education Fund that provides volunteer mindfulness educators to teach in SF public schools.  On KTVU’s SF Loves Learning Mr. Nance was the featured Mindfulness Teacher and his adapted five-episode series of Puppy Mind premiered on KTVU and is distributed to school districts around the country. For almost thirty years he taught performing arts to students from diverse backgrounds, and for eighteen years he was the Conservatory Director at San Francisco’s New Conservatory Theatre Center. Nance is also an award-winning actor and director. He is on the board of directors of several educational nonprofit organizations including Mindful Life Project in Richmond, California and San Francisco’s New Conservatory Theater Center. He is the recipient of the Points of Light Award, a national honor recognizing his volunteer efforts to bring mindfulness to youth.

You can find Andrew on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as Andrew Jordan Nance

This week on Season 2 Episode 15, I speak to Dawn Le Roux a teacher in Mauritius, an island off of the coast of Madagascar and author of the book Ripple Effects- You're Not Crazy: Teaching In A New Era, about how teachers can create systematic change through rewriting the "good teacher" narrative, building an internal sanctuary, becoming comfortable in conflict and establishing clear boundaries. After dealing with her final burnout during the pandemic Dawn faced the choice of choosing herself or choosing teaching. We learn about how she overcame her burnout and in turn wrote a book about this journey

On Season 2, Episode 14 We head to Surrey, England to speak to secondary language teacher Daniela Florio. We talk about the similarities and differences between how the US handled education during covid and what was happening in the UK. "What we were hearing was that the US was leading the world in online learning" while things were very different than that here in the US.

Daniela Florio came to Surrey from Italy in 1992. She has taught languages in several secondary schools. In addition she teaches Italian as well as Italian cooking.

Her website is: https://fluentwithdani.com

On Season 2 Episode 13, I speak to Marianna (Masha) Freydlin a 16 year ESL teacher, who's dealt with chronic illness and received a life saving transplant We talk about her incredible journey as a NYC public school teacher, and uses her experience to frame her work as a human centered educator. She developed "The Teacher's Lounge" on Facebook, a platform to support teachers and The New Teacher Mentoring Society

Marianna Freydlin MA, MSED, Ed.M  is a NYC public school teacher who has spent over 15 years in ENL/ESL classrooms in a diversity of neighborhoods and schools. She specializes in a human centered approach to education for both students and teachers. A former NYC Teaching Fellow, she is passionate about coaching and mentoring the next generation of education leaders. Through her work @The Teachers Lounge (on FB) and The New Teacher Mentoring Society, she supports educators to meaningfully impact their students and communities.

In this week's Episode 12, Season 2 of Warriors of Education I speak to Zane Messina and Benjamin Sterling two teachers from Bastrop Texas, outside of Austin.  Zane is now a former ELA teacher after leaving Walsh Middle School due to the struggles with decisions made around returning to the classroom.  Ben became the president of his union fighting for the safety of his students and teachers during the pandemic ( which he is still fighting for currently).  We talk about the struggle with online learning, the dangers of teaching during the pandemic and the insane board meetings about mask and vaccine mandates.

Ben Sterling is the president of the Round Rock Teacher's union Education Round Rock.and a theatre teacher in the district as well as a parent of a school age child.

Zane Messina worked at Walsh Middle School where he taught 8th grade ELA for  5 1/2 years. In addition to his ELA classes, he also started a tabletop game design class where students designed, developed their games. Since resigning from teaching in Dec. 2020, Zane has become a full time game designer, developer, and freelance writer.   

On this weeks episode 11, I speak to Donovan Taylor Hall aka "Donofriend",  a youth advocate and educator that teaches kids how to build positive self identity.  We talk about his work helping students learn to take care of themselves mentally and physically using specific skills such as self talk, positive self identity, and making learning safe-  skills that also translate for ourselves too!

Donovan Taylor Hall has been featured on the Today Show, NowThis, DailyMailTV and several podcasts to talk about the importance of positive youth development. Donovan teaches his self skills curriculum through coaching, speeches, and online content. He is currently working on creating an educational entertainment show to help reach an even bigger audience of kids. 

You can find him on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as "donofriend".

On S2E10, I speak to Terry Kinder, a guest from last season,  a middle school teacher from north central Florida. We talk about her return to the classroom after being remote all of last year and how they survived 3400 cases of Covid by the third  week of classes. She also talks about the relief of finally teaching in person again and the challenge of the politics in Florida.

Terry was featured on the national news last year speaking about the pressure of assessments.

On Episode 8, S2, I speak to Danna Thomas, the founder of Happy Teacher Revolution, an organization and initiative on a mission to increase teacher happiness, retention and professional sustainability by providing educators with the time and space to heal, deal and be real about the social-emotional demands they face on the job.  We talk about the demands on teachers, how mental wellness is essential to have a successful classroom and community. "It takes a village to raise a child- this is taking care of the village"

Danna Thomas is a former Baltimore City Public School teacher turned founder of a global initiative to support the mental health and wellness of educators Happy Teacher Revolution.  Danna served as the national spokeswoman for the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) Maryland and the “Music for Mental Health” Campaign. She is the recipient of the 2019 Johns Hopkins Community Hero Award and the 2019 winner of the Johns Hopkins Social Innovation Lab. Danna’s favorite form of self-care include playing backgammon, community hot yoga and rocking out on the saxophone.

In S2E7 I speak to Olivia Swisher, a middle school art teacher and MORE activist in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.  We discuss how the pandemic was an impactful time to be an art teacher as well as the work she has done with MORE ( movement of rank and file) including the fight for smaller class sizes.

Olivia Swisher is a 4th year middle school teacher at a public school in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and is a member and organizer with MORE the Movement of Rank and File Educators Caucus of the UFT. Olivia teaches art and social and emotional learning. Before switching to public education Olivia worked as a museum educator at the Guggenheim Museum and the Jewish Museum where she developed and taught art programs for individuals with disabilities.