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 revisiting a pair of our favorite conversations of 2024. Some teachers just exude enthusiasm in a way that, as Marianna Ruggerio would say, infects you with passion. Marianna is a physics teacher at Auburn High School in Rockford and our conversation left us infected with her passion for physics and for learning.
We talked about how she teaches her students to think like a physicist, what that really even means, and dispelling misconceptions about physics that might make students feel like it’s not a class for them.
Also, sometimes you have a conversation that stops you dead in your tracks. That’s how it felt having the honor to talk with NIU distinguished teaching professor Gulsat Aygen. Dr. Aygen is a renowned linguistics teacher, author, & translator. She’s had an unbelievable life, from growing up in Turkey, spending time as a political prisoner in the 1980s, coming to the U.S. to study and then teach at Harvard and then at NIU. We had a wonderful conversation about her life and the ultimate goal of education. We start off talking about teaching English as a non-native speaker.
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 saying goodbye to our group of students from Hinckley-Big Rock High School. They just finished 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. They tell us about their upcoming holiday concert and give us a sneak peek at what’s on their holiday wish list this year.
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.
