Teachers' Lounge
Host Peter Medlin connects with teachers, students and leaders in education as they discuss the biggest issues impacting classrooms.We want to hear your experiences as an educator. Send us a note to teacherslounge@niu.edu
Episodes
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.
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January 3, 2025 • 53 mins
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.
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December 20, 2024 • 64 mins
On our last episode of the year, we're revisiting some of our favorite Teachers' Lounge conversations of 2024.
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December 6, 2024 • 48 mins
On a new Teachers’ Lounge podcast, why being bilingual is a superpower…and how many schools are teaching it in 2024.
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"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."
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November 15, 2024 • 55 mins
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.
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November 1, 2024 • 58 mins
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.
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October 18, 2024 • 54 mins
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.
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October 4, 2024 • 61 mins
"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.
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September 20, 2024 • 51 mins
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 ...
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September 6, 2024 • 49 mins
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.
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August 30, 2024 • 37 mins
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 ...
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August 16, 2024 • 50 mins
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.
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August 2, 2024 • 60 mins
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 ...
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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.
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July 5, 2024 • 50 mins
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.
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June 21, 2024 • 74 mins
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.
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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.
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On a bonus episode, WNIJ' Maria Gardner-Lara's conversation with a Palestinian graduate student in the College of Education at NIU.
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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.
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