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Dave Makings is a professor of Education Technology at the College of Southern Idaho. Since 1981, he’s been working with aspiring teachers on how best to use cutting-edge technology in their classrooms. It all began for Makings and his class with Bank Street Writer, an early word processing model. Thirty years later, he teaches students about Adobe Connect, a web-conferencing software; ThinkFinity, a math and science lesson plan database; and Blackboard, a curriculum delivery system — among many other technologies they can incorporate to become better teachers.

Interestingly, Makings grew up on a farm and initially studied zoology, but found himself working for decades in the education technology arena. How did that life path unfold? The answer, within this interview, is very interesting.

The state of Idaho is doing some forward-thinking things with education right now, too: mandating online learning and allowing teacher evaluations to have parent input. Makings addresses both of those topics, as well.

We hope you enjoy this discussion with Professor Makings. Next week, our guest will be Alan Blankstein, the President of the HOPE Foundation, who will be talking about his transition from “high-risk” youth to a collaborator with multiple districts to make sure their schools get it right.

Visit our archives and/or subscribe to the podcast via iTunes!

For more examples of how teachers can incorporate technology into their classrooms, we encourage you to check out our report from 2011 about Mooresville, NC:

Thanks for listening, and we hope you keep coming back!

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Angela Maiers could probably best be defined as an education consultant, but she can speak to so much more. As the ‘About’ section of her website will tell you, her path has always been about teaching and communication. Small example: her website has 12 ways for someone to get in contact with her.

In this edition of the Learning Matters podcast, Angela speaks to Rachael Wettenstein about evolving notions of education, how technology has changed the game, and what exactly a ’21st-century classroom’ should look like.

We hope you enjoy the discussion — and if so, follow Angela on Twitter and subscribe to her channel on YouTube.

This podcast is also available on YouTube:

Happy holidays to all! We’ll be taking two weeks off from the podcast, but we’ll return around January 4th with Vanderbilt professor Gilman Whiting.

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icouldbe.org is an award-winning online mentoring program connecting high school students from diverse communities with mentors from across the country — in the process cultivating meaningful relationships between students and e-mentors, and helping the students to explore their interests and dreams for the future. Since 2000, icouldbe.org has used their research-backed curriculum to help 20,000 students discover their passions and take action to realize their career and educational goals.

Kate Schrauth is the Executive Director of icouldbe.org; she’s been working with at-risk students since 1990, when she founded the Artists for Humanity program in Boston. E-mentoring has significantly emerged in recent years, and in her visit to the Learning Matters podcast, Kate discusses the model for the program, the importance of mentoring, the organization’s fundraising model, and much more.

You can also check out a YouTube version of this podcast right here:

Next week on the podcast: education consultant Angela Maiers.

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John and AFT President Randi Weingarten appeared in conversation on December 14, 2011 at the JCC in Manhattan; it was part of the ongoing Learning Matters conversation series.

Above, you can listen to the full audio from the event (roughly 1 hour and 14 minutes long); please bear in mind that periodically, there is explicit language on the clip.

The next JCC event is February 15th, 2012 — and the guest is former NYC Schools Chancellor Joel Klein. Click here for tickets.

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Natalie B. Milman, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Educational Technology and Coordinator of the Educational Technology Leadership Program in the Department of Educational Leadership at The George Washington University’s Graduate School of Education and Human Development. She earned her doctorate in Instructional Technology from the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education with a graduate specialization designed to prepare technology leaders. She has taught at the elementary school level as a second grade, a science specialist, mentor, and technology teacher in Los Angeles County, California. Her current research interests include one-to-one laptop and tablets initiatives, student engagement and learning through distance education, strategies and models for the effective integration of technology into the curriculum at all academic levels, and the use of digital portfolios for professional development. She has published numerous articles and presented at many conferences. She has co-authored two books about digital portfolios. She is the co-editor of the Current Practices Section of the journal, Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, and is an officer in two AERA SIGs: 1) Technology as an Agent of Change in Teaching and Learning (past Chair, Program Co-Chair, Secretary/Treasurer) and 2) Portfolios and Reflection in Teaching and Teacher Education (past Chair, Secretary/Treasurer, and Program Chair; current Webmaster).

In this edition of the Learning Matters podcast, Milman speaks to LM production assistant Rachael Wettenstein about the three roles of teachers, her observations of the 1-to-1 laptop and iPad programs in middle/elementary schools, innovative uses of Skype in the classroom, the growing digitial divide, and the pros and cons of online learning (Milman has been teaching online for over a decade). At the end of the podcast, Wettenstein and Milman speak about today’s learners: are they inherently different than learners of previous generations?

If you’d like to learn more about Dr. Milman’s work, consult her search results on Google Scholar.

This podcast is also available on YouTube:

Next week on the podcast (Dec. 14): Kate Schrauth, Executive Director of icouldbe.org.

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Welcome to the third edition of the relaunched Learning Matters podcast. In this episode, Learning Matters web producer Ted Bauer speaks with UPenn vice dean and professor Doug Lynch about various issues in education, including his business plan competition. Lynch draws pointed contrasts between corporate education and public education, and is candid about the notion of success and failure within the field. Enjoy the conversation.

This podcast is also on YouTube:

Next week (Dec. 7) we’ll feature an interview with George Washington University professor Natalie Milman, so be on the lookout for that.

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In this, the second episode of the relaunched Learning Matters podcast, web producer Ted Bauer speaks with Allan Collins, a Professor Emeritus of Learning Sciences at Northwestern and a fellow at the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, among other notable titles. (For a fuller look at his research and publications, consult his Google Scholar search results.) Collins co-authored a book (with Richard Halverson of the University of Wisconsin), Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology, and in this podcast, he discusses his career arc, the role of technology in schools, how we need to view the current problem, and what exactly the role of a school in America should be in 2011.

Enjoy this informative discussion — and stay tuned for next week’s episode (coming on November 30), with UPenn professor Doug Lynch.

This podcast is also on YouTube:

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The Learning Matters podcast has been relaunched! In this episode, Rachael Wettenstein speaks to Stacie Harrison, Dennis Cummings and Mary Lord, three of the key voices behind eGFI (Engineering, Go For It!), the nonprofit American Society for Engineering Education’s K-12 outreach program. eGFI is a multi-platform endeavor (magazine, website, newsletters) designed to inspire more students, especially women and minorities, to become engineers. There is also a website for K-12 teachers with free engineering related lesson plans and class activities. The eGFI website is entirely free.

The printed eGFI magazine, engineering flash cards that explain the top engineering disciplines, engineering posters, and new kids’ book “If I Were an Engineer” can be purchased in the eGFI online store.

In this interview, you can hear common misconceptions about the profession, why the U.S. is falling behind in science and how that can be addressed, and much more. Enjoy listening!

If you consider yourself a more visual person, this is also available on YouTube:

When the TV show Sesame Street began 42 years ago, it wasn’t all that common for kids to go to preschool. In fact, about 70% of kids stayed home until they went to kindergarten. The creators of the show sought to bring a bit of the preschool experience to the many kids who didn’t actually attend school.

Today, the stats are almost reversed — about 60% of kids under five are in some kind of structured preschool program — but the goal of Sesame Street remains the same: to reach out to the population of preschool-aged kids who do not go to school and prepare them for the school experience.

Producer Amanda Thieroff sat down with Dr. Rosemarie Truglio, one of the wizards behind the curtain at Sesame Workshop, the non-profit company that produces Sesame Street and other educational programs.

In cash-strapped Chicago, schools are facing cuts at every level. This includes programs for Chicago’s littlest students: preschoolers.

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) provides free preschool for about 30,000 three and four years olds, but that’s not even half of those who need early education.

With too many preschool-aged kids and not enough money, CPS faced a difficult choice: Should it serve more students but spend less on each one? Or should it spend more money but serve fewer students?  In the end, it chose to serve as many students as it could, even though that meant programs would last only 2.5 hours a day and would be closed in the summer. This situation creates a host of challenges for working moms in Chicago.

In this podcast, we examine three specific cases of mothers fighting to maintain balance.

John Merrow, Cat McGrath and David Wald of Learning Matters report.

This is a companion podcast for our PBS NewsHour program, “Small Schools: Big Reforms?” Watch it online here.

This is a companion podcast for our PBS NewsHour program, “Small Schools: Big Reforms?” Watch it online here.

This is a companion podcast for our PBS NewsHour program, “Small Schools: Big Reforms?” Watch it online here.

This is a companion podcast for our PBS NewsHour program, Evaluating Teachers: Are Teacher Unions the Solution? Watch it online here.

This is a companion podcast to our PBS NewsHour program, Evaluating Teachers: Are Teacher Unions the Solution? Watch it online here.

To learn more about Li Li Li, or to donate, please visit www.lililiread.org.

This interview is part of a series on Haiti’s schools after the earthquake. Click here for the full story.

Photo credit: Judith Scherr.

Purchase Edwidge Danticat’s book Eight Days on Amazon.

This interview is part of a series on Haiti’s schools after the earthquake. Click here for the full story.

This podcast is an extended interview from Part 4 in our ongoing coverage of the national Race to the Top competition. Listen to more podcasts and watch the full series online here: Race to the Top Series.

Is Rhee unfairly campaigning for Fenty? Or merely speaking her mind?

This podcast is a bonus feature for Episode 12 in a 3-year series covering Michelle Rhee’s reform efforts in Washington, DC. Watch episode 12 here. Or follow the full series here.

75 DCPS teachers were fired this summer under the new teacher evaluation system, IMPACT. Learning Matters producer Amanda Thieroff spoke with Claudette Carson, a former elementary school teacher in the DC public schools about teaching, IMPACT, and what she’s doing now that she’s been terminated.

10th grader Jennifer Addo immigrated to New York from Ghana in 2009, and grew up speaking Twi (pronounced “Tree”) - a traditional West African language. She now attends the Coalition School for Social Change in East Harlem, New York - a neighborhood where more than half of the population identifies as Hispanic.

(Note: This story was produced by youth at the Coalition School for Social Change in collaboration with the youth-media program Children’s PressLine. Because English is Jennifer’s second language, she may be hard to understand at times throughout the story. Please feel free to use the transcript below to follow along.)

For more information on Children’s PressLine, please visit www.cplmedia.org.

Transcript

[Sound up: street sounds, cars passing]

[Jen, walking: Right now, I’m on 125th and 5th avenue. I’m about to cross the street.]

Jen: My name is Jennifer. I’m from Ghana.

I came here with my dad and my two twin sisters.

My mom’s in Ghana with my baby sister. She did not get a visa.

[bus passing]

[entering school, walking upstairs]

Jen: In the morning like 8 o’clock… It’s ESL class. I’ve been in that class for like…eight months.

[Sound up: Neva in front of class]

Jen: My first language is Twi. When I started school I started speaking English, when I was like six years.
Like…Ghana we speak English, but we don’t speak like how Americans speak. Americans, they speak it fast. But in Ghana we don’t speak it fast like that. So when I come here it was difficult for me.

[Neva: Nerlandi, will you read us your response please? You're too shy? Oh my goodness...]

Jen: I don’t know, I feel shy. I feel shy when I’m talking. I’m not shy when I speak Twi, but sometimes English, my accent is not good so…that makes me shy.

[laughing, Spanish speaking in class]

Jen: Most of the kids speak Spanish in the class.

Auri: My name’s Auri, I’m from Dominican Republic.

Carlos: My name is Carlos, and I’m from Dominican Republic.

Ranfis: My name is Ranfis, I came from the Dominican Republic.

Jen: They’re Dominican, they’re Puerto Rican people.

Carlos: Most of the people in the ESL room is from Dominican Republic. In my house they only speak Spanish, my mother, my grandfather, me, my sister, my brother…

Auri: My mom, my cousins, my dad…

Ranfis: My father speaks Spanish sometimes and sometimes he speaks English…

Auri: All my friends mostly I speak Spanish.

Jen: I don’t speak Spanish. Just me.

[post - buzz sound]

Jen: When I was first coming here, I didn’t know…I didn’t even know that they got some Spanish people here. The only thing I knew was blacks and whites, that’s it.

Jen: When I came here, they gave me a Spanish class, but I didn’t know nothing about Spanish. So I told them I can’t do it.

Jen: It’s hard for me.

Jen: When you’re with the Spanish people and they’re speaking Spanish, you don’t know what a person is saying. That is hard.

[post - music]

Carlos: When I speak Spanish I feel like I’m in my country. In Dominican Republic.

Daniel: When I was with my friends, my family speaking Spanish.

Carlos: That’s my natural language.

Ranfis: I feel more comfortable because I know Spanish better than English and I understand everything they’re saying and I don’t feel like…

Jen: …that’s my language and because I know everything…everything in there, so. When I’m talking, I’m good.
[beat]

Jen: I wish there were other people in this school that speak Twi.

Jen: If you are the only one in school that speak Twi or one language that no one can even hear you when you’re speaking it, it’s sad. So she’s speaking with them.
Jen: And I’m like, [fade out music] Oh my god, I wish my school got the same. I would speak with them.

[Beat. Fade in classroom]

[Classroom B Roll: Neva: Do you think English in the United States, do you think it’s a good idea to have English as the universal language?]

Daniel: Yes.

Neva: Why?

Daniel: They say, the more languages you know, the more your pocket grows. [laughs]

Jen: My teacher in ESL Class is Neva. [My name is Neva and I am an ESL teacher here at the Coalition School for Social Change.]

Neva: If they start speaking Spanish to each other, that’s fine. Obviously when the material is presented, chalk and talk I like to call it, everybody is in English and for the purpose of academic responses, each student will respond in English.

Neva: Most English as a Second Language Teachers would agree, when they’re speaking amongst themselves, they can speak in their own heritage languages.

[Classroom: Neva: Explain how these jobs, performed by immigrants, contribute to the American economy...Daniel: many jobs are filled by immigrants who cannot speak English but they are able to contribute to the American economy by taking jobs that other Americans may not desire…]

[Neva: Good class, good class. Have a nice weekend!]

Jen: I want to be a nurse. My auntie says, no, set the high one first. If someone ask you, be like you wanna be a doctor.

Jen: She said you need to know Spanish when you working. Cause…someone might come there and the person don’t know how to speak English so you got to translate it for the person.

Jen: I think I want to take Spanish again.

[post - music]

Jen: I miss my mom a lot. I miss her. My auntie was like, oh, I’ll take you to a visit, and I was like, I’m not going, I’m not going. I want to get my job, do everything before I want to go there. When I get my job…I’m going to visit, oh my god. I wish it’s happening.

Jen: I’ll be like, oh mom…I’m here! She’ll be happy.

Jen: For Children’s PressLine, I’m Jennifer Addo.

In one of the most closely watched teacher contract negotiations in the country, Washington, DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and union leader George Parker finally agree on deal breaking issues such as tenure, performance pay, and hiring and firing policies. In June, district teachers voted overwhelmingly in favor of the new contract, which offers them a 21.6% salary increase as well as performance pay incentives of up to $30,000 a year.

Over the course of the two and a half year-long negotiations, Parker and Rhee spoke candidly with John Merrow about the role of unions, the national implications of the contract, and why it took so long to come to an agreement.

Oct. 9, 2007

“I am a change agent. And change doesn’t come without significant pushback and opposition.” - Michelle Rhee

Download audio file (83.mp3)

In this interview, Michelle Rhee talks about why Mayor Fenty chose her and why D.C. schools have failed for so long. (15: 26 min / Download Transcript)

Nov. 26, 2007

“The union has never been the problem.” - George Parker

Download audio file (89.mp3)

In this interview, Washington Teachers’ Union President George Parker suggests that Rhee’s reform efforts could threaten union rights. (12:14 min / Download Transcript)

July 22, 2008

“Am I a benevolent dictator? Maybe.” - Michelle Rhee

Download audio file (113.mp3)

In this interview, Rhee reflects on her controversial first year, including her relationships with the community, the City Council, and Mayor Fenty. (16:29 min / Download Transcript)

July 22, 2008

“We are now a competitive school district, where student achievement may well determine our existence.” – George Parker

Download audio file (112.mp3)

In this interview, George Parker discusses a lack of accountability in unions, and updates us on contract negotiations and teacher morale. (13:07 min / Download Transcript)

Sept. 30, 2008

“We are not afraid of accountability” George Parker

Download audio file (123.mp3)

Pressure is mounting on George Parker to reach a contract agreement. In this interview, he shares his views on performance pay and tenure, and suggests that an impasse may be close at hand. (6:45 min / Download Transcript)

Oct. 7, 2008

“If we have ineffective teachers in the classroom, the goal is to not have them in the classroom any longer.” – Michelle Rhee

Download audio file (124.mp3)

In this interview, Michelle Rhee argues that, without significant changes in the way principals and teachers are held accountable, the “dance of the lemons” will only continue. (9:28 min / Download Transcript)

Jan. 27, 2009

“Tenure is the holy grail of teacher unionism” - Michelle Rhee

“I think the challenge in this contract is that there is opportunity versus sacrifice” – George Parker

Download audio file (210.mp3)

With the national teachers’ union now at the table, contract negotiations take on even greater national significance. In this interview, Michelle Rhee and George Parker discuss the major sticking points which include teacher compensation and tenure. (9:53 min / Download Transcript)

May 3, 2009

“I can’t control what the media says or does.” – Michelle Rhee

Download audio file (244.mp3)

In this interview, Michelle Rhee discusses the impact of national media coverage on her relationship with D.C.’s teaching force. (10:36 min / Download Transcript)

May 3, 2009

“It created a culture of low morale…lowest that I’ve seen since I’ve been in DC Public Schools and I’ve been here for 25 years.” – George Parker

Download audio file (243.mp3)

In this interview, George Parker reflects on the last 17 months of negotiating with Rhee and talks about a “culture of fear” in D.C. schools, as well as his views on pay-for-performance and special education. (10:29 min / Download Transcript)

Aug. 17, 2009

“As long as the Mayor wants me here, I will be here.” – Michelle Rhee

Download audio file (257.mp3)

In this interview, Rhee looks back on her time in office, and considers her mistakes along the way. She hopes to reach a contract agreement when teachers return for the next school year. (12:04 min / Download Transcript)

Aug. 17, 2009

“There is the pressure of knowing what we do will affect more than just what happens in DC.” – George Parker

Download audio file (256.mp3)

In this interview, George Parker and John Merrow discuss pay-for-performance, one of the most controversial issues in the contract. (13:59 min / Download Transcript)

Nov. 17, 2009

“I think the Chancellor has lost a lot of respect of some very, very highly qualified and committed teachers.” – George Parker

Download audio file (260.mp3)

In this interview, George Parker questions Rhee’s decision to hire 934 new teachers in the spring, then lay off 266 teachers just six weeks into the school year.(7:11 min / Download Transcript)

Michigan’s governor actually brought in an Emergency Financial Manager to deal with the situation. His name is Robert Bobb, and he’s got a lot of critics – especially DPS employees who fear that Bobb has an agenda to turn all of Detroit Public Schools into charters. Why might they think this? Well, foundations that support charter schools are paying almost one third of Bobb’s salary. Just what is Bobb’s agenda for the Detroit Public Schools?

Full disclosure: this podcast mentions the Broad and Kellogg foundations. Learning Matters has had support from the Broad Foundation for our coverage of New Orleans and Washington, DC. That grant has not been renewed. Our ListenUp! Youth Media Project has a current grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Osiris’ “Circle of Courage” is one strategy the school is using to try and help students stay out of trouble and pass their classes. But how much can sitting in a circle and talking really help?

This podcast is an extended interview from Part 3 in our ongoing coverage of the national Race to the Top competition. Listen to more podcasts and watch the full series online here: Race to the Top Series.

Connor graduated from Princeton College with a PhD in Classics in 1961, and went on to be a professor there for over twenty years. He then worked as the president of the Teagle Foundation, which advocates for liberal arts in higher education. Currently, he serves as the senior advisor to the president. Producer John Tulenko interviewed Connor about why he thinks liberal arts education remains as a valuable path for American students.

For more information on The Teagle Foundation, visit www.teaglefoundation.org.

The Asia Society is trying to change the reputation of America’s education system. Its created a network of 20 schools that try to answer the question, what should today’s students learn about the world? This network of schools, called the International Studies Schools Network, teaches foreign languages, connects students from across the globe to work on projects together, and seeks to embed global history in all facets of education. So, how are they doing? Producer John Tulenko speaks with Tony Jackson, Vice President for Education, Asia Society.

For more information visit www.asiasociety.org.

Photo credit: Jami Saunders.

Today, Teach for America (TFA) is the country’s largest provider of teachers for America’s low-income communities. Wendy Kopp sat down with us in Spring 2008 to talk about TFA’s core values, some bright alums (including Michelle Rhee) and how TFA is influencing DC and New Orleans school districts.

This video is part of our series following the day in the life of a Teach for America recruit. Watch the entire series here and weigh in with your comments.

Whether the additional funding will produce a better application remains to be seen. When winners are announced in April, many will be curious to learn who got help and who did not.

This video is part of our series covering the Race to the Top. Watch all related videos and listen to more podcasts here.

We joined her in Pueblo Colorado where she confronted a room full of skeptical teachers and parents.

This video is part of our series covering the Race to the Top. Watch all related videos and listen to more podcasts here.

Arizona is ranked 50th in the nation in per-pupil funding.  On top of that the Tucson school district had to cut 10% of their budget last year.  Nonetheless Fagan is optimistic that innovative thinking will improve Tucson schools and reverse a steady decline in attendance.  For her sake it better work — only three of the five members of the Tucson School Board voted to hire her.

John Merrow spoke with Dr. Fagen to find out how Tucson schools are weathering the “great recession.”

Can it be stopped?  The Ford Foundation is trying. 10 years ago it launched the International Fellowships Program, a 350 million dollar effort to nurture talent in developing countries and keep it there.  In this
podcast, we hear from the program’s director, Joan Dassin.

Dassin runs one of the largest international scholarship programs in the world and after hearing her you’ll want to tell your friends all about it.

Learn more about the International Fellowships Program: http://www.fordifp.net.

1. What percentage of college students attend community college?
A) 12%    B)  25%    C) 35%    D) 50%

2. To reform community colleges, President Obama proposes to spend?
A) 12 billion   B) 3 billion    C) 500 million    D) 100 million

3.  What’s the graduation rate at community colleges?
A) 35%    B)  22%     C) 55%     D) 65%

If you missed any of these questions, then you should learn more about community colleges.   They are overflowing with students seeking to save on college tuition and laid off workers seeking to train for new careers.  The President considers community colleges crucial to the economic recovery and wants them to get far bigger and better in the years to come.

In this podcast, Dr. Kay McClenney, discusses her just released report on the state of community colleges. “The Community College Survey of Student Engagement” polled thousands of students at some 300 campuses to find out what works in this fast growing section of higher education.

Read the report online: http://www.ccsse.org.

[Answers: 1) D; 2) A; 3) B.]

In a conversation with John Merrow, Ravitch, a former Assistant Secretary of Education under George H.W. Bush, questions the federal government’s new role in public education.

But there’s a catch: in order to compete states must promise to raise standards, track student performance and tie it to teacher pay, turn around the lowest performing schools, mainly by opening charters and more. The requirements are already causing a stir in the education community.

In this interview, John Merrow interviews Jodie Gittleson, Eve McCarey, Crystal Proctor and Tina Bradshaw-Smith, four DC teachers who were laid off during the Reduction in Force (RIF).

Podcast producer Selly Thiam interviewed Jason Kamras, one of the architects of IMPACT and the Director of Human Capital Management for Washington, DC’s teachers about the evaluation system and how he thinks it is going to change teaching in Washington, DC.

Ron Fairchild is the Director of the National Center for Summer Learning, an organization focused on creating awareness and promoting policy change for summer learning opportunities. He shares why summertime can be a risk for many low-income children across the country.

In 2000, McCourt talked with John Merrow about teaching–what it was like when he began and how it changed over the years.

Listen to the radio program above.  Below is an excerpt of the interview that first appeared on NPR.

Full transcript (PDF)

INTERVIEW EXCERPT:

JOHN MERROW: Could you talk about those first few days and weeks of teaching where you must’ve felt like just turning and running.

FRANK McCOURT: It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. And I had done hard things before. The first of … surviving that childhood in Ireland, I think. But then when I came here, uh, all the jobs I had were menial jobs, laboring jobs. Loading and unloading trucks and ships. The … the piers, the warehouses, down around la– … (Inaudible) Street and Laight(?) Street. So, it was very, very hard physical work and I was in great shape but to go before five classes a day, fi– five days a week of American adolescence is the most daunting thing I’ve ever done.

JM: And of course, the kids knew it.

FM: Oh, they knew it. But the thing is, I think what saved me was … was my accent. Because if I’d walked in there as an ordinary American high school teacher, they would’ve said “Here we go again.” But, uh, the minute I opened my mouth they’d say “Hey, yo, teach, you Scotch or somethin’?” And they were interested in where I came from. And, uh, and then when one of the girls said “Hey teach, you’re cute.” (Laughs)

JM: And you turned beat red.

FM: I was very … I didn’t– I didn’t know anything about American teenagers. They’re a dangerous species. And I … I have … sometimes I have to look back on that and give myself credit for survival. Just in a kind of a dogged, desperate way going in there everyday.

JM: You didn’t … you didn’t get much help from supervisors.

FM: Oh, you got no help at all. No. You were thrown into the classroom and that was it. And they’d come in and observe you. They … if you were a … if you were a substitute teacher, as I was, you were observed three times a term. So that’s six times a year. And generally, their observation reports were negative. And of course they were negative. How could you … and they themselves, the supervisors and the administrators were generally people of limited teaching experience.

JM: Let … let’s connect this conversation to teaching today as we go along through your own memoir. I mean, do you suppose it’s that much different for a new teacher today? You were thrown in, sink or swim.

FM: No. It’s not much different at all because first of all, human nature doesn’t change. Kids are the same. Kids are tough. And kids are constantly seeking out your weaknesses. That’s their business anyway. They pit … pit themselves against you. And the people who were … who are the supervisors generally, I’d say, 95 percent of them have had that limited teaching experience. And all they do is sit there and they’ll … they’ll write up an observation report…

JM: So it’s a kind of “gotcha” attitude?

FM: It’s “gotcha,” yeah. Because and they … they have … they have less teaching experience and they get higher salaries. That’s the craziness in the education system. That the farther you get from the classroom, the more money you get. The more … the more you’re rewarded.

JM: You get rewarded for getting out of teaching.

FM: You get, yeah, you get your reward for leaving the classroom. And there’s something wrong with that. It would be like to saying to a brilliant surgeon “Leave the operating room and take this desk and we’ll give you much more money.”

JM: Crazy system. Do … do you miss teaching?

FM: Oh, yeah. I miss it because well, I wouldn’t have the energy for it now. Uh, I miss it because of the immediate … the immediate results you get for it. You don’t know about the long ranges of it. You don’t know what you’ve done for them or to them. But you see, you know, when the– when a class is going well. You’ve had that experience yourself. You know what it’s clicking. And you see from … and you see them sit up. And you see kids with the … with the short attention span. They’re paying attention because whatever is going on in the classroom is magic. That was the part that I loved.

JM: What was your way in teaching?

FM: My own way, you have to discover your own style and that … that takes a long time (Inaudible) nearly 30– really 30 years in the classroom consid– with … with … community colleges and so on. And it took me 15 years to … to become a teacher. To fi– to become comfortable in the classroom. To … to find my own style. To go my own way and to do … and they did leave me alone at Stuyvesant. I had to say that for the … the principal and the … academ– the chairman of my department.

The main thing that the kids taught me was to tell the truth. And just to say “We’re in this together.” Because you’re learning about teaching, you’re learning about your subject and you’re learning about the human heart and you’re learning what the chemistry of your class. All of this is going on, and it’s very complicated, and nobody’s ever written about it.

JM: But you say, to find your own way. But you’d been to college… and you’d been told about teaching. There’s a teacher training…

FM: Well teachers … to teacher train … they … these are professors who … who wouldn’t know what to do in a college … in … in a … in an English high school class. They wouldn’t not … they have all kinds of theories of … there was a … a course down at NYU called “Principles and Practices of Secondary Education” taught by a high school principal who is now an assistant professor or something like that. He didn’t know anything about teaching. You couldn’t … you … you have to get into the classroom. It’s like, uh, Michael Jordan in college was not given great credit. He was not … an A player. But then, he went to the Bulls and becomes the … the greatest basketball player ever. He had … but he … and there are kids in … who imitate him. You can’t imitate Michael Jordan. You can imitate Hemingway but you’ll never be Hemingway.

JM: But does this mean that you … you just don’t believe in teacher training?

FM: It has to be done by teachers. It has to be done by in the classroom. It has to be an internship. That you can’t sit in the … in the college classroom and talk about teaching unless you have teachers come in, veteran teachers, who will come in and talk … well, what’s it like. What the chemistry of a class is like. And how to open up the kids and how … and then a lot depends on yourself. How you open up yourself. I know it’s a … it’s a bit of a cliché, this opening yourself up. But you have … you have to do something like that. You have to do something that’s individual.

JM: So you … can a good teacher be trained? A good teacher is born, not made?

FM: Well, it … a good teacher … can you teach somebody how to write a poem? You can’t. You can help them. You can suggest and hint and suggest but, uh, I think … I think there are … a good teacher is … you can’t make a teacher. I think … there is an innate quality, there’s a personality … but then, I think the only way of … of finding out is to be in the classroom three or four years in front of the kids and you’ll find out.

We’ve been following him for the past two years, chronicling his efforts to fix New Orleans’ troubled schools by bringing in Teach For America Recruits and modernizing classrooms (just to name a few).

In this podcast, John Merrow asks Paul Vallas for a “quick list” of what he has accomplished so far in New Orleans and what is on the horizon for his third year.

Hartford High was divided into four small, career-themed academies each with its own principal and wing of the building. The change seems to be working. Test scores are inching upward, parents are becoming more involved and students are changing their aspirations.

So why, with over half a billion dollars in federal education stimulus money flowing to Connecticut—money intended to promote reform and protect jobs—is Hartford Public High School laying off teachers?

In this podcast, producer Selly Thiam talks with program producers John Tulenko and Jane Renaud to talk about what they discovered while producing this segment about the effects of the stimulus package on the Hartford School District.

In this podcast, producer John Tulenko sat down with Marc Porter Magee, Chief Operating Officer of ConnCAN to discuss the changes including school choice, a new policy in Hartford, which allows families to choose to send their kids to any school in the district.

In this podcast, Branche talks about the challenges of running a traditional public school in a charter dominated system.

In this podcast, Sharon Clark talks about her school’s success.

Orleans Parish School Board president Woody Koppel is skeptical of Vallas’ plan to fix his failing schools by “charterizing” the district. In this podcast, he talks about the future of his district and more.

In this podcast, Joe Daschbach, a research assistant at the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education at Teacher’s College at Columbia University, talks about Vallas’ push for charter schools, his performance as superintendent and whether New Orleans trusts him to fix the schools.

Before Michelle Rhee became chancellor of the Washington, DC public schools in 2007, an average of 15 teachers a year were put on the plan. Today about 150 teachers are on the plan. Still, that’s not even four percent of the DC teaching force. The percentage is much higher at Darrin Slade’s school, where he has 40 teachers.

In this podcast, Darrin Slade talks with John Merrow about the 90 Day Plan and how he implements it in his middle school.

We’ve been covering Ron Brown Middle School this year as we follow the reform efforts of Michelle Rhee, the controversial new Chancellor of DC Public Schools. The week after their story appeared in the Washington Post, we spoke with some students and 7th grade teachers at that school about safety and discipline.

Green Bay schools have to provide more basic needs than ever—food, supplies, clothes for children—while trying to raise academic achievement.

In this podcast, David Wald, Managing Producer at Learning Matters, sat down with producers Valerie Visconti and Tania McKeown to talk about the growing number of homeless youth in Green Bay’s Public Schools.

Listen to the story of Marion Delray–she’s a mother in Green Bay, Wisconsin who found herself suddenly homeless. She talks about how homelessness has affected her children and their education . . . and how her children’s school has stepped in and offered her the support she needed to get back on her feet.

Duncan shares his thoughts on best strategies, and how he hopes to impact an education system where 3 out 10 ninth graders fail to graduate.

Weingarten offers her opinion on how the new secretary should use his budget and explains why she thinks national standards should be his priority.

Mr. Cross details the challenges Duncan will face as he aims to spend his department’s $160 billion budget. With over 200 special interest groups and countless superintendents clamoring for his attention, Cross says Duncan has a tough job ahead.

In 1976, John Merrow asked similar questions on his NPR program–and it’s surprisingly relevant today.

Visit EdAdviceForObama.org to learn more.

She is currently on the faculty of NYU’s Steinhardt School of Education as senior scholar and adjunct professor. We spoke with her about the U.S. educational system and what advice she has for President Obama.

Part of our project, Education Advice for President Obama.  Visit the site to learn more and hear more advice.

We traveled to Northern Ireland to talk with Michael Wardlow, CEO of the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education. In this podcast, he discusses the impact ‘integrated education’ can have on ensuring lasting peace in a country rife with religious conflict.