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, it’s my conversation with Ann Montzka Smelser!
She’s a music teacher, although she often says “I don’t teach the violin, I teach children and their parents.”
Ann is the Director of the Suzuki Strings Program at Northern Illinois University where she teaches kids from 4 years all the way through high school.
It’s part of the NIU Community School of the Arts, which offers a variety of music programs.
Ann’s a practitioner of what’s called the "Suzuki method" of music learning. It’s based on the idea that music talent isn’t inherent, it’s something that’s nurtured through positive encouragement from teachers and parents.
We also sit down with Bob Chikos! He’s a special education teacher at Crystal Lake Central High School in Crystal Lake, Illinois.
In that role, he gets to teach a little bit of everything from math to English and, like most special ed teachers -- he has the advantage of getting to know students and their families over multiple years and multiple classes.
Bob’s also been involved in education policy at the state level with Teach Plus and Advance Illinois where he's worked on reports about the teacher pipeline and school psychologist shortages.
We had an awesome conversation about haunted physics labs, space observatories, teaching science across the world, the chemistry of kids in a classroom, and why he thinks many students misunderstand what science actually is.
We also have a "classroom correspondent" on the show. They're the teacher we interview every month of the school year on the radio show to trace a school year in their life.
This year, our correspondent is Caio Gomes! He teaches English as a Second Language at Clinton Rosette Middle School in DeKalb.
Also, we have student correspondents on Teachers' Lounge. It’s where we follow a group of students in a club or activity.
This fall, our student correspondents are actual correspondents. They are the reporters and editors at the Kaneland Krier, the award-winning student-run newsmagazine at Kaneland High 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 hasn’t gone anywhere. You can still catch episodes every other Friday on WNIJ.org or wherever you get podcasts.
