In case you didn’t know, our podcast Teachers’ Lounge is also on the radio! We’ve got all the interviews with Illinois teachers and education stories you love -- along with exclusive segments -- in a monthly, hour-long show on WNIJ.
On this episode, we’re talking with Cacie Miller! She’s a music instructor at College of DuPage, director of music at United Lutheran Church in Oak Park and creator of the musical project “Composing the Climate” that uses classical music to explore themes around climate change.
We talked about suggestive power music has, especially when we use it to channel our emotions about something -- like climate. Cacie also channels that same power -- music as spiritual guide -- in her work in church as well.
We talk about her journey learning and teaching music and the teachers who’ve made a big impact on her -- including Beethoven.
Also, Marianna Ruggerio! She’s a physics teacher at Auburn High School in Rockford, Illinois.
We talked about teaching students how to think like a physicist, what that means, and dispelling misconceptions about physics that might lead students to think it’s not a class for them.
“When you think about ‘Who is a physicist?’ people think of Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, you're thinking about old white guys who are geniuses, in their room coming up with these things all alone -- which is not how science is done!”
Marianna wants to infect her students with passion. She’s so thoughtful and enthusiastic about her work that it’s not surprising her students start to feel that enthusiasm too -- the infection spreading -- as they start thinking like physicist.
We also catch up with our classroom correspondent: Dominique Yackley! She’s a 5th-grade teacher at Founders Elementary School in DeKalb. As our correspondent, we interview her every single month to follow a school year in a teacher’s life.
On top of all that, we see what’s going on with our student correspondents! They’re students we’ll talk with on every episode of Teachers’ Lounge. We’re following a group of students at Hinckley-Big Rock High School as they embark on their school’s first-ever fall production. AND we’ve got a group of 8-year-old students from Spectrum Progressive School in Rockford to keep us in the loop with everything going on for them in elementary school.
If you’ve never listened before, our show is based on an idea -- we’ve all had teachers in our lives who shaped who we are. And we want to hear about the teachers who inspired you. Every educator we have on Teachers’ Lounge, whether teacher, coach, counselor, or professor, is nominated by our listeners.
So, tell us about the person who comes to your mind. Shoot us an email and nominate an educator at teacherslounge@niu.edu and they could be on the show!
Don’t worry – the podcast isn’t going anywhere. You can still catch episodes every other Friday on WNIJ.org or wherever you get podcasts.
