Classroom Narratives: Healing in Education

📝 Episode Synopsis What happens when caring for students begins to feel like responsibility for healing them? Dr. Joey Weisler sits down with ceremonial healer, teacher, filmmaker, and co-creator of the Natural Trauma Release Method John Whitehorse for a candid conversation about the complicated language of healing—particularly for educators and other caregivers who routinely encounter pain they...

📝 Episode Synopsis What happens when a child’s difficulty focusing becomes a belief that they simply are not smart enough? In this episode, Dr. Joey Weisler speaks with MindSpring Innovations CEO and co-founder George Molakal, co-founder Bryan Throckmorton, and Professor Lalit Johri about the growing fragmentation of human attention. Beginning with two fathers’ experiences watching their children...

📝 Episode Synopsis When schools talk about supporting student mental health, teachers and counselors are often working toward the same goal—but not always together. In this episode of Classroom Narratives , Dr. Melodie Workman shares the findings from her research exploring how stronger collaboration between teachers and school counselors can better support student mental health. Together, we dis...

📝 Episode Synopsis What do students remember decades after they leave our classrooms? According to legendary music educator Dr. David Gregory , it usually isn't the lesson plan. Drawing from more than fifty years in education and the stories behind his new book Students as Teachers , Dr. Gregory reflects on the moments that shaped not only his students—but himself. Together, we explore why consis...

📝 Episode Synopsis After tragedy, many people want to help—but few know how. In this episode of Classroom Narratives , Dr. Joey Weisler speaks with Jen Marr , founder of Showing Up LLC, whose work supporting the Sandy Hook community and responding to the Boston Marathon tragedy reshaped her understanding of empathy, leadership, and human connection. Together, they explore why showing up isn't sim...

📝 Show Notes In this milestone 100th episode of Classroom Narratives: Healing in Education , Dr. Joey Weisler revisits the question posed to guests throughout the series: What is the “secret sauce” for improving education? When Joey began the podcast in 2024, he believed he was searching for redemption from the teacher he remembered himself as during his first year in the classroom. Across 100 ep...

📝 Episode Synopsis Every classroom is filled with stories that students haven't yet found the words to tell. In this episode, Joey speaks with filmmaker, advocate, and Align33 Media founder Morgan DiPrimo to explore what educators can learn from hundreds of conversations with survivors, clinicians, families, and researchers navigating eating disorders and recovery. Drawing from her own lived expe...

📝 Episode synopsis Schools are built on relationships—but they're also shaped by policies, politics, and the people making decisions behind the scenes. So what happens when those worlds collide? In this episode, Dr. Joey Weisler speaks with with educator, coach, school leader, and novelist John Infortunio, author of Destroyed by the Events of the Day , for a conversation about the realities that...

📝 Episodic Synopsis In this concluding episode of the HEART series, Dr. Joey Weisler reflects on an unexpected conversation with a college student that affirmed everything the HEART framework was designed to accomplish. After weeks of sitting outside the classroom door, afraid to enter, one student finally found the courage to come inside. What followed became a reminder that meaningful teaching...

📝 Episode Synopsis What if the greatest obstacle standing between us and success isn't failure—but our expectation that success should come easily? In this episode of Classroom Narratives , Dr. Joey Weisler welcomes psychologist, former counselor educator, and sports performance consultant Dr. Vonetta Kalieta for a powerful conversation about resilience, identity, perfectionism, and the psycholog...

📝 Episode Synopsis In the final installment of the HEART series, Dr. Joey Weisler explores the Truth pillar and asks what may be the most important question of all: What do students do with everything they've learned? Beginning with a classroom tradition in which students read Joey's own screenplay about the aftermath of the Parkland tragedy, this episode examines how storytelling can become a br...

📝 Episode Synopsis For generations, education has celebrated the teacher who arrives first, stays last, answers emails at midnight, and sacrifices everything in the name of serving students. But what if those habits aren't signs of dedication at all? In this episode, Dr. Joey Weisler speaks with educator, speaker, and author Dr. Yvette Dixon-Ledford, author of Teacher By Day: A No-Guilt Guide to...

📝 Episode Synopsis In the fifth installment of the HEART series, Dr. Joey Weisler explores the Resilience pillar and reframes one of education's greatest misconceptions: that struggle signals failure. Through stories ranging from a classroom disagreement in college literature to a powerful eighth-grade "No Puedo" ceremony that continues to shape his teaching today, Joey argues that emotion is not...

📝 Episode Synopsis What makes students genuinely want to come to school? In this episode of Classroom Narratives , Dr. Joey Weisler sits down with principal, speaker, and author Shaun Hurtado to explore how school culture is created—not through slogans or assemblies, but through thousands of intentional interactions between students, teachers, and leaders. Together they discuss why every student...

📝 Episode Synopsis In the fourth installment of the HEART series, Dr. Joey Weisler explores the Awareness pillar and asks one of education's most important questions: Why does this matter? Reflecting on a first-year teaching assignment that left both him and his students uninspired, Joey introduces a different vision for learning—one where curiosity replaces compliance and students move beyond si...

📝 Episode Synopsis For decades, health education has focused on what students should eat. But what if the bigger question is how students think about food, their bodies, and themselves? In this episode of Classroom Narratives , Dr. Joey Weisler sits down with registered dietitian, nutrition therapist, and author Lauren Dorman to explore the emotional side of nutrition and why lasting health begin...

📝 Episode Synopsis What happens when a scientist, substitute teacher, and congressional candidate all become the same person? In this episode of Classroom Narratives: Healing in Education , Dr. Joey Weisler sits down with Amanda Bell to explore an unconventional career rooted in one common purpose: serving others. After nearly 25 years with the U.S. Geological Survey, Amanda stepped away from fed...

📝 Episode Synopsis In the third installment of the HEART series, Dr. Joey Weisler explores the Engagement pillar and challenges one of education's most persistent questions: How do we get students to care? Reflecting on experiences ranging from teaching Night in middle school to designing an innovative college business writing course, Joey argues that authentic engagement isn't created through co...

📝 Episode Synopsis What happens when we stop trying to fix people's pain and instead learn how to truly witness it? In this episode of Classroom Narratives , Dr. Joey Weisler welcomes narrative medicine practitioner and occupational therapist Dr. Rondalyn Whitney for a profound conversation on grief, storytelling, and compassionate listening. The discussion ultimately invites educators to reconsi...

📝 Episode Synopsis In the second installment of the HEART series, Dr. Joey Weisler explores the first pillar of the HEART framework: Habits . Reflecting on his early years as a college professor, Joey shares how he once believed academic rigor meant assigning more work—until both his students and his own life revealed a different path. This episode examines how simple, predictable classroom routi...

📝 Episodic Synopsis What happens when caregiving stops being driven by fear and starts being rooted in connection? In this deeply reflective episode of Classroom Narratives: Healing in Education , Dr. Joey Weisler sits down with nurse leader, educator, healthcare innovator, and author Winston Meikle for a conversation that bridges the worlds of healthcare and education through one shared reality:...

📝 Episode Synopsis In the first installment of the HEART & SOUL series, Dr. Joey Weisler shares the deeply personal story that helped shape the foundation of the HEART framework. Long before he entered a classroom as a teacher, Joey recognized what he calls "the look"—the quiet expression carried by people who simply want to feel visible. Through reflections on a high school friendship, and t...

📝 Episodic Synopsis In this special “Weisler Alumni” segment of Classroom Narratives: Healing in Education , Dr. Joey Weisler reconnects with Haylie — a former Parkland-area student now studying sociology and higher education at Georgia Southern University. Together, they reflect on growing up in the aftermath of the MSD tragedy, navigating grief during adolescence, and the educators who helped m...

📝 Episodic Synopsis ‼️ PROFANITY LANGUAGE ALERT in this episode ‼️ What if anger itself isn’t the problem? In this powerful episode of Classroom Narratives: Healing in Education, Dr. Joey Weisler speaks with psychologist and anger specialist Dr. Mitch Abrams to unpack one of the most misunderstood emotions in education and society. Drawing from his book I’m Not F cking Angry: Adjust the Flame to...

‼️DISCLAIMER‼️ This segment discusses themes of violence within communities, significantly around Sandy Hook Elementary School (2012). Please take care of yourself while listening. In this deeply moving episode of Classroom Narratives: Healing in Education, Dr. Joey Weisler sits down with Abbey Clements, a second-grade teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School during the tragedy of December 14, 2012...