Two Illinois teachers recruiting the next generation of educators | Teachers' Lounge Podcast

Two Illinois teachers recruiting the next generation of educators | Teachers' Lounge Podcast

You might think you want to be a teacher until you come face to face with 30 kids.“There's nothing worse than getting to your junior year of college, being placed in your first observation, and going, 'I hate second graders.'”We talk with the teachers who lead the Southern Illinois Future Teachers Coalition about giving students early opportunities to see if the career’s for them…and recruiting the next generation of teachers.

We interviewed students every month as they started their own small businesses | Teachers' Lounge Podcast

Every year, we bring you our classroom correspondents. They’re a group of students in a club or activity whom we interview every month through their season or semester!Over the years, we've featured an upstart esports team, a speech club, a school play and, this past fall, a student newspaper. This spring, our correspondents were students in the Whiteside Area Career Center's CEO Program, where they built their own small businesses from scratch!

A school year in the life of a teacher, 2025-26

Ever curious what the school year is like for a teacher? We interviewed DeKalb middle school English as a Second Language teacher Caio Gomes every month to track a school year in his life. Follow his journey on a new Teachers' Lounge podcast!

An Illinois special education educator who teaches because of his experience as a special education student | Teachers' Lounge Podcast

On a new podcast, we talk with one of the few special education teachers who were special education students themselves. Hear a young Illinois educator’s unique path into the classroom!

Exploring the underlying purpose of education | Teachers' Lounge Classic

We're revisiting our 2024 conversation with Joseph Flynn. He's an associate professor of curriculum and instruction at Northern Illinois University. He's also the university’s executive director of equity and inclusion.