What My Students Taught Me

Columbia Journalism School's Teacher Project

A podcast featuring teachers reflecting on one of their most challenging and memorable students — whenever possible in counterpoint with the student’s version of the same events. What My Students Taught Me is created and produced by Columbia Journalism School's Teacher Project with partners including the Atlantic.com and public radio stations across the country.

  1. 02/27/2019

    The Student Who Taught Me To Share Unconditional Love

    Sixth-grade teacher Elvalisa Guzman often sees parents fade into the background at her Chicago public school of mostly Mexican immigrants. They often assume they can’t do much to help academically. But through one quiet student, Guzman comes to appreciate the unseen power of unconditional parental love. This episode was produced in partnership with The Teacher Project and WBEZ.

  2. 02/20/2019

    The Student Who Taught Me To Hold Students Tight

    When Ericka Mingo went from teaching high school to teaching adults at National Louis University, she thought her new students would need less from her. She realized every student, regardless of age, needs to know their teachers are there for them. This episode was produced in partnership with the Teacher Project and WBEZ.

  3. 02/06/2019

    The Student Who Encouraged Me To Put Learning Ahead Of The Rules

    Everything in Rebekah Ozuna’s classroom is designed for the little bodies and fast-firing neurons of 3- and 4-year-olds. Tiny chairs. A carpet for story time. Colorful bins full of blocks and toys. Even the windows are low to the ground so her students can see outside. Ozuna teaches in an inclusive special education setting at Knox Early Childhood Education Center on San Antonio’s South Side. Half of her students have disabilities; half don’t. Two years ago, one of her students, Naomi Campos, made the teacher take a closer look at her priorities. She realized that sometimes the way she taught didn’t fit her students, as well as her classroom, does. This episode was produced in partnership with the Teacher Project, Texas Standard, and public radio stations across Texas.

  4. 01/30/2019

    The Student Who Taught Me It's Never Too Late

    Perhaps the hardest part of being a high school teacher is seeing students drop out or fail to graduate. In her second year teaching at Grand Prairie High School, Rebecca Dodd formed a special connection with student Cheyenne Musgrave. "She was a student that just captured my heart right off," Dodd says. "She reminded me so much of one of my own children." When Cheyenne withdrew from school on her 18th birthday, Dodd took it hard. But the story didn't end there. This episode was produced in partnership with the Teacher Project, Texas Standard and public radio stations across Texas.

  5. 01/16/2019

    The Student Who Taught Me Not To Take It Personally

    When Lotus Hoey started teaching English as a second language a few years ago, she felt right at home. Her own parents immigrated from China, so she had to learn English at school, too. “Initially, when I first started school, I did not speak any English at all. I only spoke Cantonese Chinese and as I was growing up, it was difficult for me to continually translate for my parents who spoke no English,” Hoey says. When her students come to Pershing Middle School in Houston from places like Central America, the Philippines and Sudan, Hoey can relate to them pretty easily. Or at least, she could, until she met Emiliano Campos. This episode was produced in partnership with Teacher Project, Texas Standard and public radio stations across Texas.

  6. 12/19/2018

    The Student Who Proved Grades Aren't The Only Measure Of Success

    Karen Sowers was a young, idealistic history teacher at Lakeview High School in Garland, Texas when she met Donald Pierson. Donald was charming and charismatic, but completely uninterested in school. For years, Karen thought he was her biggest failure. But, long after Donald left her class, an unexpected encounter taught Karen she’d shaped Donald’s life in ways she couldn’t have imagined. This story was produced in partnership with Texas Standard.

  7. 12/13/2018

    The Student Who Taught Me To Search For - And Nurture - Hidden Gifts

    Sandy Lyons heard about Da’Keondrick Whitley a long time before he set foot in her second-grade classroom at Presidential Meadows Elementary School in Manor, Texas, northeast of Austin. She learned to look past his reputation, and search for his hidden gifts. This episode was produced in partnership with Texas Standard.

  8. 12/14/2017

    The Student Whose Cockiness Tested My Patience

    Teacher Jerome White knew from the first moment he met Donald Meyer that the student was a math whiz—and that Meyer was very aware of his natural abilities. White struggled in his first year teaching Donald pre-calculus at New Orleans’ Lusher High School to convince the student to focus in class, do his homework, or recognize that he might have something to learn. “It wasn’t a malevolent act on his part,” White says. But he “seemed to think he was above it all.” Nonetheless, Donald earned good grades, and after several months of teaching the student, White felt like they hit something of a stride. That was a good thing: White taught all of Lusher’s most advanced pre-calculus and calculus classes, and he knew that he would likely have Donald in class for three straight years. Donald’s junior year went fairly smoothly, and he aced his first Advanced Placement Calculus exam. But by the start of the student’s senior year, everything changed dramatically. Donald was wrestling with a lot of problems outside of school, and he struggled to complete much work at all. White faced a challenge that would have seemed unbelievable just a year earlier: convincing the math whiz that he could pass math.

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Ratings & Reviews

4.9
out of 5
14 Ratings

About

A podcast featuring teachers reflecting on one of their most challenging and memorable students — whenever possible in counterpoint with the student’s version of the same events. What My Students Taught Me is created and produced by Columbia Journalism School's Teacher Project with partners including the Atlantic.com and public radio stations across the country.

Information

  • Creator
    Columbia Journalism School's Teacher Project
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2019
  • Episodes
    16
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    What My Students Taught Me