Teachers' Lounge

On Teachers’ Lounge, it's Ann Montzka Smelser. She's the Director of the Suzuki Strings Program at Northern Illinois University. 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.

On a new Teachers' Lounge, Bob Chikos! He’s a special education teacher at Crystal Lake Central High School. He's involved in education policy at the state level, working on reports about the teacher pipeline and school psychologist shortages. Bob also recently took a fascinating trip around Illinois

We're revisiting our 2022 chat with Princeton middle school social studies teacher David Gray. He and his students worked on a project called “The Four Freedoms & Beyond," based on President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union speech just before the U.S. entered World War II.

A fateful trip to Haiti showed Vienna superintendent Joshua Stafford why public education is a gift. We also talked about the history of education in America, standardized testing, school safety, and his recent journey to Singapore through the Fulbright program.

An Northern Illinois University physics educator knows that all it takes for kids to get excited about science is their natural curiosity about the world around them.“I've compared it to to listening to a song in a language you don't understand. You can you can hear the melody. You can appreciate the beauty. But if you learn that language, then all of a sudden you know what the song is about. You...

On a new Teachers' Lounge, a psychology professor who comes into class every year a little mean to show students how often their first impressions are wrong. We also talk about giving her students tools to de-stress and her own journey into the classroom.

Joey Brewer has spent the past two decades teaching history and social studies at rural schools in western Illinois -- the region of the state often known as Forgottonia.

This week on Teachers' Lounge, we're revisiting our 2022 conversation with the founder of the LIGHT education initiative. It's a project to empower students to become human rights leaders in their community.

John Gelasi knows school band can be really meaningful…“Kids tell me, 'the only reason I was able to get up and go to school this morning is because I knew I had band today,'" he said. The award-winning northern Illinois music educator on everything from the magic of learning an instrument to his previous career in actual magic. It's on a new Teachers' Lounge podcast.

We talk with a DeKalb teacher from Brazil about helping other international teachers come to the US. We’ll learn about his own journey and much more on new Teachers’ Lounge podcast.

On a new Teachers' Lounge, a Rockford teacher taking STEM education to new heights…literally. We’ve got airplanes, solar backpacks, medical detectives and more…it’s on a high-flying new Teachers’ Lounge podcast, now!

On a new Teachers' Lounge, two local teachers wrote a new book called “Your Words Are Fire” on how culturally-responsive teaching helps kids learn. What it means to be culturally-responsive and what it’s like releasing their book in the Trump era. Learn about all of that and much more...

On a new Teachers' Lounge, we interviewed a group of Rockford elementary school students every month of the school year this year. And, this spring, we featured students from the Somonauk, Sandwich, & Leland FFA organization!

Ever curious what the school year is like for a teacher? We interviewed DeKalb 5th grader teacher Dominique Yackley every month to track a school year in her life. Follow her journey on a new Teachers' Lounge podcast!

On a classic Teachers’ Lounge episode, it’s a unique burden and responsibility to be the only Black teacher at your school.“I take it so seriously, because a lot of times this is a child's first interaction with an African American person, or at least a positive role model, unlike a stereotype which they may have seen in a movie or something," she said. "It's nerve-racking."Hear that conversation...

On a new Teachers’ Lounge podcast, a Marengo music teacher breaks down the barrier between students who love music and students who typically join a school band.

On a new Teachers’ Lounge podcast, a music teacher with the Rockford Symphony Youth Orchestra tells us how students have fun while playing really high-level music.

How can students be expected to make hard decisions about their future when the world feels like it’s changing faster than ever? A book -- written as a fable -- designed to help students plan their life. It’s on a new Teachers' Lounge podcast.

On a new episode, it's our chat with Chris Mrofcza. He's a counselor at Hiawatha High School. We had a great conversation about the unique role school counselors play. He helps students consider their future, what career they want to pursue or classes they should take, and also provides meaningful mental health support to students in need.

Andrea Gustafson! She’s an English teacher, speech team coach, and head of the drama department at Morris Community High School. Morris is her hometown, so it’s been really meaningful to build a career at the same school she went to and continue the legacy of the teachers who inspired her.

On a brand-new Teachers' Lounge, Julie is a physics teacher who encourages her students to learn through play. Sometimes that looks like rolling food cans down the hallway and sometimes that looks like her students growing synthetic rubies in a microwave!

On a brand-new Teachers' Lounge Podcast, we’re talking about America’s first school culture war: JAZZ!"Jazz was seen as more of a lifestyle, and so if you are interested in jazz, you were, as critics believed, also interested in drinking, in smoking, some degree of sexual activity. The belief was that if you could dissuade young people from not being interested in jazz, that all these other vices...

What’s the point of social studies?"Some students will go on and be doctors and some will be lawyers and some will be blue collar workers, but all of them are members of society," said Teresa Kruger. "The whole point of social studies, to me, is to prepare you to be that really active, participatory person in our in our democracy."Helping students find their voice and use their power in a democrac...

NIU's Jason Klein joins the show to dive into some of the most important education issues of 2025

A group of northern Illinois students put on their school’s first ever theatre production this fall. Hear the full journey from auditions through opening night. It’s on a new Teachers' Lounge, out now on WNIJ.org or wherever you get podcasts.