Episode 12: Teacher Headlines, DOE Dreams & The 50-Minute Flop

Send us a text

📘 Episode Description:

In this episode of the Playing Teacher Podcast, we debut a brand-new segment: 🎤 Teacher Headlines with Janine Brugge, where we explore what’s really going on in the world of education—both the serious and the absurd.

This week, we take a hard look at the NYC Department of Education’s failed initiative known as “Inquiry” or the “50-minute” plan—an attempt to create time for professional development and student support that went sideways due to a critical failure: not involving teachers in the process.

We unpack:

• Why top-down educational mandates often backfire
• What actually helps teachers help students
• The importance of autonomy, voice, and classroom-informed planning

💡 Key Message: If you want authentic student support and better PD, trust the teachers.

Plus, we lighten things up with some funny classroom moments and analogies from our week—because if you’re not laughing, you’re probably crying into a stack of ungraded papers.

Support the show