Stories From Educators

Educators share experiences and innovations.

Fried Onions, Feather Beds, and Intro to Chinese

posted Apr 15, 2013

Here's a typical day at Brooklyn Free School.

Free to Be Me

by Gia Rae Winsryg-Ulmer

posted Apr 15, 2013

Gia Rae Winsryg-Ulmer knew she found her place to teach when she walked through the doors of Brooklyn Free School three years ago. See how Gia and BFS honor children's rights to be themselves and become the happy, healthy, and independent thinking people they are meant to be. This is Gia's Story.

How Does Nature Do That?

by Margo Farnsworth

posted Feb 01, 2013

Former park ranger-turned-professor Margo Farnsworth believes that biomimicry is one of the most important new tools for sustainability. It gets her students outside and unleashes their scientific and entrepreneurial minds.

Permaculture Helps Us Remember Who We Are

by Lilian Hill

posted Dec 19, 2012

Lilian Hill has a vision that the next generation of Hopi people will be healthy and find solutions to the challenges they face. Through Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture, she reconnects Hopi people of all ages to traditional farming and ecological wisdom.

Putting Teen Health First

by Judy Pruim

posted Oct 11, 2012

Judy Pruim's candid story takes you behind the scenes of Muskegon High's Teen Health Center—a place where students feel safe, and their success and well being are supported.

Go Local! Learning In and Outside the Classroom

by Sarah Anderson

posted Sep 17, 2012

Sarah Anderson writes of her unexpected journey of becoming a teacher and how place-based education has helped her empower her students and strengthen democracy in her community.

Changing the Course of Dyslexia

by Bob Broudo

posted May 02, 2012

President and headmaster Bob Broudo of Landmark School passionately believes that we have a civic responsibility to help students with language-based learning disabilities discover who they are as learners and how they can learn.

My Greatest Teaching Moment

by Jesse Hagopian

posted Mar 14, 2012

High school history teacher Jesse Hagopian celebrates the moment when his students started making their own history.

When You Tell Them My Story, Please Mention That I Like Flaming Hot Cheetos

posted Dec 21, 2011

What happens when students are given the honor and onus of writing a complete stranger's story in poetry form? Middle school students from rural and urban Oregon took the risk, transforming preconceived notions—from gangs to trailer trash, stuck up rich people to redneck hicks— into bridges.

Weathering Walker's Storm: Staying Positive in Wisconsin

by Jean Abreu

posted Oct 25, 2011

Jean Abreu talks candidly about Wisconsin Governor Walker's legislation, and how her school community in Wisconsin pulled together to protect what they worked so hard to create.

Tales of a Beginning Teacher

by Brendan Clarke

posted Sep 01, 2011

Brendan Clarke reflects on his first day of teaching, and why he left the classroom to rebuild our connection with the natural world.

Horses as Healers

by Lorna Shepardson

posted Jun 09, 2011

What do you do with a teenager who’s angry, depressed, disconnected, or all of the above? Lorna Shepardson knows a magical gift horses possess that can help bring young people from the depths of darkness to a glimmer of self-confidence. This is Lorna’s story.

Get Your Skysight On!: How to Change the Way We Perceive the World

by Daniel Dancer

posted Apr 12, 2011

Oregon artist and teacher Daniel Dancer helps young people understand how animals, Earth, and humans are connected. By being part of a human painting, students are instilled with the power to change the world and protect endangered species.

Getting Inside the Heads of Students With Asperger Syndrome

by Dan Coulter

posted Feb 09, 2011

How do you help a student with Asperger Syndrome discover his strengths and thrive in the classroom? Dan Coulter helps teachers understand what goes on inside the head of a student with Asperger Syndrome.

Want Successful Students? Meet the Parents

by Girlie Forman

posted Dec 22, 2010

Girlie Forman shares her personal experience, her sense of humor, and food to connect with her high school students—and their families.