Teachers' Lounge

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 and much more...

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 would would also go away."How the Jazz Problem set the stage for modern moral panics.

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 democracy. That's on a new Teachers' Lounge.

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.

On a new Teachers' Lounge podcast, before we kick off 2025…we're looking back one more time on some of the best education stories we told on Teachers' Lounge in 2024.

On our last episode of the year, we're revisiting some of our favorite Teachers' Lounge conversations of 2024.

On a new Teachers' Lounge podcast, why being bilingual is a superpower…and how many schools are teaching it in 2024.

"If you're working with clay, some people may think 'oh, this is just a teapot.' That teapot can be a lot more. There can be a lot of other issues spinning around up there."

On a new Teachers' Lounge, a social studies teacher who's also an elected school board member talks about why you should pay attention to your local school board.

A Rock Valley English professor helping his students get registered to VOTE…and answer questions for students who have never voted before…“One of my favorite questions. Was, it was actually a student in my class, and she said, Okay, so I show up at a community center or a church and like, what happens?”We're putting the COMMUNITY in community college on a new Teachers' Lounge.

A music teacher puts a soundtrack to climate anxiety…with classical music…“If I'm going to continue spending hours each day practicing music from the past, then I also need to find a way to bring that to bear when coping with the present.”Composing the Climate…hear the music and conversation on Teachers' Lounge.

"I don't need a student to like my class. I know that I've done my job when a student says, 'Oh my gosh, I can't drive my car without thinking about physics anymore!' or 'I'm always seeing physics through everything, and it's driving me crazy!'"We're headed to the lab on a new Teachers' Lounge podcast.

Middle school can be an awkward time…let alone middle school P.E. class…so any breakthrough is a big deal!“I love those moments. I even go and have those personal conversations with those kids, like, ‘hey, it was awesome to see you out and moving today. This was probably the best day ever,' and then they sit there and smile,” she said. “They take that home with them.”Get your gym shoes on for a new Teachers' Lounge out now here on WNIJ.org or wherever you get podcasts.

On a SPECIAL episode of TL, our education show turns 5 YEARS OLD and we're celebrating by revisiting some of our favorite moments over the years.Join us for a “Best of” Teachers' Lounge out now on WNIJ.org or wherever you get podcasts.

Kathy started her teaching career in 1965 and…to say they threw her right into the deep end…oof."When I started teaching, as a teacher, you were extremely isolated," she said. "You were closed in this room with them. In my second year of teaching, I had 50 3rd graders!"We talk about how in the world you teach that many kids at once, how she evolved as a teacher as she got older and adapted to new teaching styles and technology. We hear some of her favorite stories from over the years and much more.

On a new Teachers' Lounge podcast -- we all want to eat good food and we all want to live in a beautiful home. So, when you teach Food and interior design like Katey -- it's not that hard to make the lessons feel relevant.

On a new Teachers' Lounge podcast, Tracey teaches agriculture, woodworking, welding, horticulture and sometimes she needs to learn yet another skill to help one of her students, like building guitars."He literally starts laughing. He goes, either you're the best teacher ever, or you have no idea what you're doing! I'm just chuckling. I have a kid who has this need, I can reach the kids need by learning this new skill. I'm going to learn this new skill."Building her students' confidence…and whatever else they want to build. It's on a new Teachers' Lounge.

On a new Teachers' Lounge podcast, the professor who penned “Modern Motherhood: An American History." We also talk about her work to empower women at every stage of their career.

it's time for a geography class. Well, HUMAN GEOGRAPHY -- which teaches the WHY of WHERE. My chat with a 2024 Illinois Teacher of the Year Finalist.

We interviewed the same teacher every single month during the school year to give you an honest look at the hard work that goes into teaching every day.

In our student correspondent segment, we follow a group of students in a club, sport, or activity throughout their entire season -- the highs and lows and the friends they make along the way.

On a bonus episode, WNIJ' Maria Gardner-Lara's conversation with a Palestinian graduate student in the College of Education at NIU.

On a new Teachers' Lounge podcast, Professor Joe Flynn doesn't want to teach future educators how to teach nouns and verbs.“I want to teach people about what is behind all of that," he said. "I want to teach people about what's the functioning and purpose of education in and of itself.”Teaching as a tool for profound growth -- or oppression. It's on a new Teachers' Lounge.

On a new Teachers' Lounge podcast, an agriculture teacher talks about food, farms, and her family of students.

On a new Teachers' Lounge podcast, an agriculture teacher talks about food, farms, and her family of students.

This week, it's the 2nd and final part of our conversation with Northern Illinois University Distinguished Teaching Professor, Dr. Gulsat Aygen. Dr. Aygen is a world-renowned Linguistics teacher, author, and translator.

On a new TL Podcast, world-renowned linguist, NIU professor, andformer political prisoner — Dr. Gulsat Aygen.“How did I end up being more human than I ever was, despite all the torture and dehumanizing circumstances I was in, I always think about this.”Listen to part 1 of our conversation about her life AND the ultimate goal of education. That's on a new TL out now on WNIJ.org or wherever you get podcasts.

On a new Teachers' Lounge podcast, we're heading to Peter's alma mater to talk with the founder of an award-winning program for first-generation college students.

On a new Teachers' Lounge podcast, Rockford's Lathrop Elementary School Principal Daniela Boer!Daniela has had a fascinating career. She's from Brazil, came to northern Illinois as an exchange student in high school, went back home, taught in Brazil, lived in Mexico, and, eventually, returned to the U.S. to teach in Rockford.

On a brand-new Teachers' Lounge Podcast, get your dancing shoes on because we're talking with dance teachers from Vargo's Dance in Geneva, Illinois!

What are the most important education issues of the year? WNIJ's Peter Medlin and NIU's Jason Klein share everything you need to know.

This week, we're revisiting our 2022 conversation with Dr. Kathleen “Kadi” Billman. This is an episode unlike we've ever had. We're diving into some heavy, emotional topics today. Until her retirement during the pandemic, Dr. Billman was a professor of pastoral ministry, pastoral theology and director of the Master of Divinity program at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Billman also taught a class called “Caring for the dying and bereaved."

Paraprofessional. Teachers' aide. Instructional Aid. The other teacher who comes in to help. Whatever you might know them as — paraprofessionals can be the glue that keeps classrooms together.

Before 2024, we revisit a few of the education stories from Teachers' Lounge that stuck out to us this year. Some of them are very serious, some are uplifting or even fun — but they're all important.

A look back at some of our favorite Teachers' Lounge conversations in 2023. If you've never heard our show — think of this as a great holiday sampler!

Everybody needs a coach…including teachers.“We can spend entire careers standing by ourselves in a room full of students with nobody to bounce ideas off — and that's a shame.”How an instructional coach helps teachers help their students.

On a new Teachers' Lounge, 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. It's nerve-racking,” said Mira.Hear that conversation and much more on a new Teachers' Lounge.

On a new Teachers' Lounge podcast, Susan's been teaching 2nd grade for a long time and the technology changed so much. But, sometimes you still have to go old school -- literally.

This week, we're chatting with Michelle Roberts! She teaches deaf and hard of hearing students at Community High School District 155 in Crystal Lake. She's an adapted Physical Education teacher, helping make games and sports accessible for students with disabilities.

On a new Teachers' Lounge podcast -- there's something about learning in the great outdoors that makes school so much more exciting! We're talking to a STEAM teacher with a passion for outdoor education. Listen now!

We're revisiting our 2021 conversation with comic book artist and art teacher extraordinaire: Marcel Walker!

On a new Teachers' Lounge podcast, it's not often 17 and 70-year-old students share the same classroom. But that's every day in this adult education class. Learn more about adult education and English language learning!