Great teachers have an impact that is truly immeasurable. A blind person teaching blind students how to use a table saw? A career educator, with a rich history connected to the civil rights era, and with decades of wisdom and experience? A heart transplant patient, a school custodian, and an immigrant, all of whom became teachers? A graduate of public schools who is grateful for teachers’ influence? A second-career educator? A teacher of the year? This episode has it all. Listen to this montage episode and you will have a new appreciation for teachers and what they do.
1:50 – Felicia Mayfield - the noble field of education
2:45 – George Wurtzel - blindness is not the loss of your knowledge and skill
5:20 – Cassidy Magill Evans - a great teacher...
6:45 – Anjelika Riano - support students and keep them focused on a vision
7:55 – Tylan Bailey - treat others well and make a difference
9:55 – Amy Gropper - challenge students to intrigue them
12:15 – David Reynolds - go against the grain every now and then
14:35 – Christy Todd - persistence, not perfection
15:55 – Vlada Galan - world leaders or educators?
In order of appearance, here are links to the full episode for each guest featured in Episode 57 - Great Teachers Matter Greatly.
Episode 12 - Felicia Mayfield
Episode 37 - George Wurtzel
Episode 56 - Cassidy Magill Evans
Episode 2 - Anjelika Riano
Episode 48 - Tylan Bailey
Episode 44 - Amy Gropper
Episode 52 - Christy Todd
Episode 6 - Vlada Galan
Lead. Learn. Change. main podcast page (access to all episodes)
Other Teacher Appreciation Episodes:
2024 – episode 55 – What Great Teachers Do – May 2, 2024 – 15 minutes
Episode Summary
We all have stories about our favorite teachers. Sometimes those memories are about how they led their classes, making everyone feel accepted and valued, and sometimes we recall a humorous moment, or maybe a hat or other accessory that became that teacher's "brand." More often, however, we look back fondly on how that teacher made us feel, what he or she did to help us learn, or the way their concern and understanding was conveyed to us. If you are a great teacher now, you are also building a storehouse of memories. Thank you. If you don't serve in a teaching role, you know someone who does, regardless of their job title. Take a moment to share a word of appreciation with that person. Great teachers make a difference. Let them know that you've noticed.
2023 – n/a
2022 – episode 38 – Great Teachers – Everyone Knows One – May 6, 2022 – 13 minutes
Episode Summary
Released for Teacher Appreciation Week, but pertinent at any time, this episode consists of a brief compilation of comments from Lead. Learn. Change. podcast guests who highlight the importance of teachers and remind us of the impact that great teachers can–and do–have on the lives of those they serve. If you are an educator, listen and be inspired to keep making a difference. Whatever your role, consider taking a few minutes today to contact a current or former teacher and say, “Thank you.”
2021 – episode 34 – Many Voices, One Message – Teachers Matter – April 30, 2021 – 15 minutes
Episode Summary
Released for Teacher Appreciation Week, but pertinent at any time, this episode consists of a brief compilation of comments from Lead. Learn. Change. podcast guests who highlight the importance of teachers and remind us of the impact that great teachers can–and do–have on the lives of those they serve. If you are an educator, listen and be inspired to keep making a difference. Whatever your role, consider taking a few minutes today to contact a current or former teacher and say, “Thank you.”
David (00:17):
This episode's release date coincides with Teacher Appreciation Week 2025. Yet its message is meaningful at any time to acknowledge appreciation for great teachers. This installment of Lead. Learn. Change. includes excerpts from eight great podcast guests whose comments are worth revisiting. There's also one piece of commentary from me, the host. Each guest's thoughts about teaching and learning always prompt me to reflect on my beliefs, and sometimes they lead me to change my perspective. At other times they help me recall an example of a concept they're emphasizing. Either way, I benefit during the conversation and when listening. Again, an interesting fact, this is the first Lead. Learn. Change. episode that includes remarks from a guest whose parent is one of the other featured guests. The themes from Felicia, George, Cassidy, Angelika, Ty, Amy, Christie, and Vlada focus on wisdom, possibility, relationships, and impact. Your takeaways could be different of course, but whatever you remember will undoubtedly bring to mind a great teacher that you know. And that great teacher might be you. Here's your call to action – consider taking a few minutes today to share a word of gratitude with a teacher who made a difference in your life. You'll be glad you reached out and your teacher will be as well. Let's get started. First, we are reminded that great teachers understand that what they do truly serves as a critical link to the future of our great country. Listen to Felicia Mayfield, educator and person extraordinaire, from episode 12.
Felicia (01:58):
Well, I have two points of view, and the first one is when I went into education, I was told that it was the most noble field. I have no reason to believe that it was anything other than that. I bought into it being the most noble field that one could actually learn, and train, and lead. And the reason I was told that it was the most noble field was that teachers perpetuate democracy, because without an informed citizenry, you have no democracy. So I felt very privileged and honored to be an educator because I was indeed part of the future of this great democracy and experiment called the United States of America.
David (02:49):
Next, George Wetzel, a blind woodworker, cross country skier, Volkswagen mechanic, Subaru tv commercial actor, and teacher – featured in episode 37 – makes it crystal clear that great teachers skillfully use knowledge, patience, and belief in their students to build life-changing confidence, demonstrating that virtually anything is possible with the right mindset.
George (03:12):
And I tell people who, especially people who become newly blind and everything I says, “Just because you've lost your vision doesn't mean all the knowledge that was in your head just fell out the bottom of your right leg and is now laying on the floor and you don't have it anymore. The 40 years that you spent learning or being an architect, or learning or being a financial planner, learning or being an auto mechanic, a woodworker, whatever it is, that knowledge didn't go away.” I've always said that you give me a person who has had a trade for their whole lives and has now become blind, I can teach you to be a blind person in a relatively short period of time. I can't teach you to be a fantastic artisan that you spent 40 years of your life learning to be. That I can't do.
George (04:08):
You've already done that process, that knowledge is still in there. I just have to show you a way to get it out through the ends of your fingers into whatever you want it to be. I sent you some pictures and some statements from some of my past students and I have never, when I take one of the people who I'm teaching and using industrial arts as a tool to teach confidence, it is never my thought when I teach probably 90% or 99% of those people that they will ever become a woodworker. But what I can do is show them that with a little bit of guidance and a little bit of knowledge from somebody, I can walk you through the processes to produce a beautiful piece of furniture. Whether you could ever go back and reproduce that totally on your own, in most cases, the answer is absolutely no. They couldn't do that, but I've walked them through the process. I didn't do the work for them. I showed them where to put their hands. I showed them how to turn the saw on and off. I showed 'em how to push a piece of wood, and it is their hands, my knowledge, and they produce an excellent piece of furniture.
David (05:19):
Now listen to an excerpt from episode 56, as Cassidy Magill Evans, the young heart transplant recipient reinforces what all of us know – that a great teacher is a caring person, that a great teacher really enjoys what they do, and that a great teacher learns from their students.
Cassidy (05:36):
There's different characteristics and qualities that make a great teacher. I feel like somebody who is obviously caring. You have to care about your students. You have to care about not just their education and their learning, but also their well being. In the area that I was teaching in, it's kind of a rural area, and so with that, some poverty and things of that nature, I feel like you have to reach the whole child. You have to take care of their basic needs before you can take care of their cognitive needs because if you don't do that, then they're not going to want to learn or they're not going to learn. Someone who's caring, someone who's empathetic, takes care of them. You have to be passionate about teaching. If you're not passionate about it, then you're going to be miserable. You have to be passionate about learning, being a lifelong learner, someone who's always wanting to learn. Like I said before, students are going to teach you stuff just like you're going to teach them things, so you have to be willing to learn from them. Some things you might not want to learn from them, but you have to be willing to learn from them.
David (06:46):
From the second episode of the Lead. Learn. Change. podcast, from the summer of 2019, Angelika Riano, an immigrant from Ukraine more than 25 years ago, recognizes the challenges that many students face and overcome because they want to learn. And a great teacher's role is to consistently maintain a focus on the future while addressing the significant needs of students
Anjelika (07:09):
…impressed and I learned from my students, resilience of human spirit. Through how many things those children ages of 14 to 17, sometimes 18 came through. It's really hard to comprehend, but they’re still at school, they still want to learn every day. Some of them work all night and come to school in the morning because they want to learn. So I learned that education and work of educator never ends. So it goes twofold to support them – social, emotional support provide for them because you can imagine they live through a lot of trauma, and then teach them language. Also keep them in school and in all that, giving them vision.
David (07:54):
Tylan Bailey's story, episode 48, includes a season of homelessness and his amazing move from school custodian to teacher, in the same school district. In addition to his own beliefs about great teaching, Tylan continues to be inspired by one of his former teachers, especially when it comes to how to treat others.
Tylan (08:12):
Like I said before, I originally in my mind, I thought I was going to do kindergarten and then I said I was going to do special ed, and as it got to that point where I got to Georgia State, I was like, it's PE that I need. PE because I started to see the technology taking over. Working in the school, you start to see the students around you – like these kids, they're not as active as when I was a child. That might be what I need to do, be a PE teacher, get these kids off this technology, because the tablets, the phones, and the computers, laptops are taking over and if I can do my part where they start to enjoy it, maybe even they put the laptop or the tablet down for 30 minutes and go outside and play because I taught him a game or I did something for thim, I feel like I'll be doing my part.
(09:04):
And that's why I started to think about it. And then when I was in high school, coach Kitchens was, he was actually my PE teacher twice. He's my PE teacher at one of the elementary schools I went to, and then he was a PE teacher at one of the high schools I went to. So I saw him when I was seventh grade, and then I saw him again when I was 10th, 11th grade and seeing him and seeing how he worked, how he treated the students, how he treated his colleagues, how his colleagues treated him, I started to see that's a guy that I can look up to. As I got into the PE major, I just started thinking about how he treated students and how he treated people, and that motivated me even more like, “Okay, this is somebody I can look up to. I can follow that path of how to treat students and how to treat other people.”
David (09:53):
In episode 44, Amy Gropper explains that whether teaching is a first or second career, there is a moment in one's life when great teachers realize that they need to teach to be fulfilled. And as has been mentioned by other guests, learning occurs when teachers design truly engaging experiences that give students multiple opportunities to succeed.
Amy (10:13):
I have had an interesting path indeed, and when people ask me how I became a teacher, I always think back to my number one rule, which is every “never” you utter in life, it becomes your roadmap. And one of my first “nevers” was in high school when I said, “I will never be a teacher. I hate school.” And fast forward just a few short years and I found myself out in San Diego. I'd grown up in New Jersey following my life dream, which was riding horses for a living. And what I found was that even though I had ridden my whole life, I wasn't nearly the brave rider I wanted to be. What I was really good at was teaching people how to ride, and I found that my sweet spot were that middle school age group. So when I realized that horses really weren't going to be the thing that was going to get me through my life, I went back to school and ended up moving towards becoming a middle school teacher that then really started my story. David, you were my first assistant principal, so you saw me at the very beginning because I was a little older, I had a little more confidence than I would've had. I just gone straight through from high school into college and out as a teacher in my early twenties. I wasn't that much older, but I had had a lot of experience working with that age group already, and I love challenging them. I thought that really that was the way to engage them and intrigue them. So I created a lot of different projects with that in mind.
David (12:14):
During a conversation with a guest, I realized that breaking convention is necessary at times, especially when dealing with students. Just because a certain practice has always been in place doesn't mean it should continue unquestioned, and just because a different idea might seemingly run counter to the way we've always done it doesn't mean that a change is a bad thing. It may be better, it might be good. Do students benefit? Consider it.
There was a recurring experience there at Otwell Middle School that every so often, I think it might've been every two weeks or so during a morning component that I think might've been called advisement, my role was to cover the in-school suspension space for the teacher who is normally there. I wasn't really chomping at the bit to go cover in-school suspension necessarily, but that was my responsibility. So I decided that instead of going in and just being an overseer of the space and of the students that were there – they'd made some poor choices –
David (13:19):
I didn't want them to have to sit there and be silent and that sort of thing. So instead of just going in and sitting and making sure they did whatever their assigned work was, I read to them, and I read children's books. And these were middle schoolers and they were the ones who were sort of the toughest kids in the school most of the time. And I do remember specifically that my wife, Debbie, has a book from childhood called 50 Famous Fairytales, and that I had another favorite book called Herschel and the Hanukkah Goblin, and I read that book, both of those every time I was in there. And lots of times we had our frequent flyers and it was the same kids, and they would request The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean, and Squibbs and Crackers as some of their favorite stories. And I had no problems when I was in there. It wasn't about me. They had legitimate anticipation. I think that they were going to enjoy that 45 or 50 minutes for a change. That aligns in my view with some of what you said about the conditions for learning. It's nice to have the nudge that you provided to look at our practices through a different lens and not just what's always expected or always traditional processes and procedures. I think you have to break convention every now and then if it's for learner benefit.
David (14:37):
Christy Todd, a recent Georgia Teacher of the Year is front and center in episode 52 and tells us that becoming a great teacher is a process, a journey. It doesn't happen overnight. Like any endeavor worth pursuing, persistence matters. Great teachers keep on working at being great teachers. That's good advice for anyone in any sector.
Christy (14:59):
Yeah, absolutely. That takeaway being better tomorrow than you are today.
David (15:04):
Yes.
Christy (15:04):
I actually had the opportunity to speak this past week to some college education students who haven't gone in the classroom yet. And so they sort of asked that question, “What is it like? How do you navigate all of these different things that are happening and what's your advice?” And my advice was don't walk into teaching thinking you're going to get an A in everything. It's not going to happen because it's a learning process. So go in and focus on one or two things that you know need to do well for your students and your school, and you might get a B, you might get a C, or you might get a D in another area, and that's okay as long as you show up the next day and you do something a little bit better and eventually at several years in, then you get to that place where you feel like you have mastery of teaching.
David (15:55):
Our final guest segment comes from Vlada Golan, episode six. Vlada is responding to a prompt about the motivations and impacts of world leaders, because she interacts with many of them, and the motivations and impact of educators. Her answer should encourage every great teacher.
Vlada (16:12):
Absolutely. Educators are citizens in our community that give so much selflessly, that serve. They go into it for the right reasons. They do not have the greatest salaries. They do not have the greatest opportunities, but they go into the system to make a change, and they get involved for all the right reasons. And it is unbelievable to think how many educators in my life have had an impact on me. I wouldn't be where I am today without educators from the public school system, from the private school system, from the university system that I've had all along the way. Of course, there's parallels. Unfortunately, I think leaders are sometimes not as selfless as educators. Leaders have salary incentives. There's a lot of incentives in becoming a leader of a leading global economy or a leading country. I just don't think we say thank you enough to our educators for what they do every day selflessly. And you look back and realize that these people made profound changes in your life. I had a professor who had a profound change in me. I had a high school teacher who had a profound impact on me. These people really matter. Very selfless. So I think the award here goes to educators, not even global leaders,
David (17:36):
Links to the complete conversation with each of these guests can be found in the show notes, and you can peruse other episodes via the main podcast page link found there as well. The show notes also include links to each previous teacher appreciation episode from the Lead. Learn. Change. podcast. On a personal note, I want to say thank you to all great teachers who selflessly share their talents with anyone who wants to learn, who consistently extend kindness to others and whose generosity makes real progress possible. Thanks for listening today. Find the Lead. Learn. Change. podcast on your search engine, iTunes or other listening app. Leave a rating, write a review, subscribe and share with others. In the meantime, go lead. Go learn. Go make a change. Go!