Teacher Tales Spirit of Teaching

In this episode, we will meet Hayes, a fascinating man of many talents…and sounds! As a jazz musician and film composer, Hayes understands the power that sound has on humans…and we are not talking music, but sound. Having worked as a teacher with young people in all kinds of capacities since the early 90s, Hayes is now using his love of the art of sound to help teachers in the classroom. He is about to release a new book, Creative Sound Play for Young Learners: A Teacher’s Guide to Enhancing Transition Times, Classroom Communities, SEL, and Executive Function Skills (Routledge, Eye…

In this episode, we will have a truly inspiring conversation with Matt, an award-winning teacher in New Jersey whose enthusiasm and passion for teaching is contagious. Need a lift to rise up to your greatest potential, just listen to Matt! He says that his greatest passion is to make kids feel like they can flourish and be risk-takers in their learning journey. Matt believes that students are just an extension of the teacher and that we need to be coaches, role models and lifelong learners in order to inspire our students to experiment and let their creativity and curiosity run…

In this episode, we meet Ebony, a Spanish teacher of color who gets real with us about what it is like to be a teacher post-pandemic and in a large metropolitan city in Georgia. Ebony reminds all teachers that we are only ONE person with limited time, and that we are only ONE brick in a foundation of lifelong learning. WOW! Teachers cannot expect to be perfect, should set boundaries and have healthy outlets to prevent burnout. Ebony says that perfection is the enemy of good and that students don’t need a perfect teacher, but rather one who cares and…

In this episode, we will gain another perspective on education and be deeply inspired by yet another fabulous educator, this time from the post-secondary world. Grant is a college professor at Georgia Southern where he not only researches and is an expert on chivalry, but he also is a Medievalist and Renaissance scholar. Additionally, he…

In this episode, we will gain great insight on education from an international perspective. My guest, Brantley, is the East Asia Education Director of Dwight Schools, and she shares with us the great need for students to be exposed to an international curriculum, to develop intercultural skills and to strive for global citizenship through their…

In this episode, I have a personal conversation with Adrienne, a teacher who helped lift me up and kept me going when I was ready to quit and leave the profession. So many teachers are feeling this now, and it is so critical that we realize how important it is to not be negative and…