Yugoslavia, New Jersey, Amsterdam, Georgia, France, Tennessee, Ukraine – wherever people live and learn, great teaching resonates with all of us. Do my teachers really know me? Are they willing to help me learn? Do they create connections and build confidence? Are they encouraging, approachable, and interested in my ideas? Yes, yes, yes, and yes again, to all of the above! Listen as Anjelika (not featured on the cover art), George, Howard, Ivana, and Julia reflect on their experiences as students or teachers, or both. If you find yourself agreeing with what you hear, commit to reaching out to a teacher in your life and expressing your gratitude for the difference they made in your life. You'll both be glad you did.
00:00 Introduction
00:50 Ivana Isailovic
3:00 Howard Malitz
5:20 Anjelika Riano
7:50 Julia Roland
9:20 George Wurtzel
Links to full episodes
Canva's Style Match photo editing tool was used in the creation of the episode cover art.
(00:09):
Although this short compilation of insightful observations from five podcast guests was released for Teacher Appreciation Week 2026, the truths embedded in this episode are as universal as they are evergreen. Great teaching never goes out of style. A full transcript of this episode is available on your podcast player. Let's get started. Our first excerpt, episode eight, is from Ivana Isailovic, a professor from Yugoslavia with ties to France, the United States, and the Netherlands. Great teachers are creative and are excited about their students' interests and ideas.
(00:54):
There are a lot of teachers in France who really changed my life who were extremely generous and extremely rigorous. And even now, whenever I'm in Paris, I try to meet up with them. And I think the reason why I like them so much is, one, because of their generosity, that's kind of a common characteristic. They're extremely generous and extremely patient with all of their students. And I grew up in France in Paris in an extremely diverse neighborhood, class-wise and ethnicity and race-wise. So they were extremely generous with us and extremely patient and supportive. I remember that in the middle school, I had this brilliant idea one morning to basically, how do you say that?
(01:58):
Put together a performance, a theater performance. We were reading a writer, a French writer from the 18th century, and we all kind of liked the theater play. And one morning I thought, why wouldn't we just put together a performance? And I talked to my French teacher, Madam R_____, who is still a wonderful woman. And to my history teacher, Madam B____, and they were extremely excited. They hired a professional actor to help us put the performance together, and we did it. It took us five months and we did it. And it was an extraordinary experience. And I was very lucky. We were all very lucky to be surrounded with supportive adults.
(03:00):
Our second clip, episode four, is from Howard Malitz, a second career educator who uses observation skills honed as a scientist to create a desirable learning environment. Great teachers are approachable and get to know their students.
(03:18):
I would say that being a teacher has been much more fulfilling. The interaction with a group of students in the ages from 14 to 18 and the opportunity to really teach them more than just chemistry – I will say about character, about manners, about life's ups and downs, because as a teacher, depending on how willing I was to make connections with the students, they would see that, "Oh, I'm a person and a teacher." So breaking down that wall of Mr. Malitz-to-student and seeing that they could just come in and say a life question and to guide them in a direction, because they're picking out colleges and they're picking out courses and they're limited to their resources of their parents, adults really, or maybe aunts, uncles, things like that. But here's a teacher…that I've actually talked about my transition from being a scientist to being a teacher so they know that my previous experience is with science.
(04:25):
So they ask me questions and to be in a position to guide them is much more fulfilling than a patent. As you asked me that question while I think, okay, this is certainly helping people, it's not in 3D, it's in the background helping people, but when I'm face to face with Josh, just throw out a name or Max and saying, "Hey, Max, you don't seem yourself today. Do you need any help with anything?" And they just say, "Yeah, I have a test coming up and I was wondering if we could talk about some other things going on and just with scheduling because they have the homework due and it's just a lot." So I just sit with them and help them plan their time. Now, that's not my actual job if you look at my job description, but they notice that I'm organized. They said, "How do you get organized? Because everything's all over the place. Can you help me get organized?" So that type of interaction is much more fulfilling for me.
(05:23):
Our third piece is from Angelika Riano, episode three, a teacher with a fascinating story that began in a communist country and continued in California, Georgia, and Tennessee. Great teachers are passionate about their work, and their dedication makes more of a difference than facilities, technology, or money.
I always believed that, of course, we need electricity. We need some buildings, that all requires money. But from what I experienced generally in America, it's a country of miracles. Look at all grants they have, like 21st Century was one, $1.2 billion. It's money everywhere, and the research after research shows, it's a very little impact if you don't really combine this with talent, right? So I also know that the best schools don't have the best buildings. They may not have the best technology, they do not have best technology. And some of the classrooms, most successful classrooms around the world that I observed, they may have much fewer resources than we have here. And maybe just the board, the marker and the teacher. So, but when you have the talent they can ignite that passion in another educator.
You have talented teacher and who can reach that student and who goes to make the connection all kinds of different ways. And that leader who can surround the child and their learning community with the same vision, and mission, the miracles can happen. But throwing talent . . . your staff is everything. You know, if you give me somebody who is not, maybe not knows how to get it through their head, how to teach them English really well, but they’re positive, that spark of light and they’re willing to learn. And they love students, and they’re talented educators in any all and other areas. Give me five of those, and throwing talent works.
The fourth Sound Bite, episode 35, is shared by Julia Roland, an artist and the daughter of a lifelong educator. Great teachers create connections and offer encouragement that builds confidence and breeds success.
(07:51):
I really want to say, actually, a lot of my teachers this first year, my professors this first year at SCAD, especially my 3D professor, Margot Ecke, she was amazing. I mean, the 3D class we were in, it was a foundations class, so most of us had no experience doing 3D work. And so at the beginning, I was really, really struggling to try to grasp the concepts and how to make a model. And I really had to talk to her and just get a lot of extra help on the side, how can I do this? And we did a lot of problem solving together and it was like she was my professor, but she was also ... I felt like we were on a team. And speaking of that class, I won first place in a SCAD competition called Beyond the Dot. And I feel like if I had any other professor, I wouldn't have been able to do that.
(08:52):
She was so encouraging with her words. "I believe you guys can really do this,” because at SCAD, I mean, we only have 10 weeks in a semester, so the projects and everything, it goes by really fast. So there are multiple late nights where you're working on a project trying to finish things and just hearing her in the back of my head, "You guys can do this. You've already come so far.” It's very helpful.
(09:19):
The fifth and final word, episode 37, comes from George Wurtzel, a blind teacher, mechanic, skier, and woodworker. Great teachers draw on their life experiences to prepare their students for the next challenge, and they are always willing to help others.
(09:38):
There are some people in the world who have the attitude that if I tell somebody my tricks or my magic way of doing something, that somehow that will diminish me and make them better than me because now they know how to do what I do and maybe they'll start to do it better than I do. And I have never, ever, ever had that in my head. I've always thought that if I know how to do something and you want to learn how to do it, I'm going to teach you how.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Teacher Appreciation Week, or any week, is a good time to take a few minutes to locate a current or former teacher who helped you become who you are today and thank them for the impact they made. Such words of gratitude are always welcome. 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!