Teachers' Lounge

Before we get too far into 2026, let's take one more look back at some of our best education stories we reported in 2025.

On a new Teachers' Lounge, we're revisiting a few of our favorite education conversations of 2025 as we finish up the year.

On a new Teachers’ Lounge Podcast, an Ottawa High School special education teacher helping her students transition to college…from knowing their rights to picking their classes.

On Teachers’ Lounge, it's Ann Montzka Smelser.She's the Director of the Suzuki Strings Program at Northern Illinois University.Ann’s a practitioner of what’s called “the Suzuki method of music learning.” It’s based on the idea that music talent isn’t inherent, it’s something that’s nurtured through positive encouragement.

On a new Teachers' Lounge, Bob Chikos! He’s a special education teacher at Crystal Lake Central High School.He's involved in education policy at the state level, working on reports about the teacher pipeline and school psychologist shortages.Bob also recently took a fascinating trip around Illinois

We're revisiting our 2022 chat with Princeton middle school social studies teacher David Gray.He and his students worked on a project called “The Four Freedoms & Beyond," based on President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union speech just before the U.S. entered World War II.

A fateful trip to Haiti showed Vienna superintendent Joshua Stafford why public education is a gift. We also talked about the history of education in America, standardized testing, school safety, and his recent journey to Singapore through the Fulbright program.

An Northern Illinois University physics educator knows that all it takes for kids to get excited about science is their natural curiosity about the world around them.“I've compared it to to listening to a song in a language you don't understand. You can you can hear the melody. You can appreciate the beauty. But if you learn that language, then all of a sudden you know what the song is about. You understand the subtext. So, we can appreciate the world around us, just like that song, but it's written in the language of math and science."It’s here on a new Teachers' Lounge!

On a new Teachers' Lounge, a psychology professor who comes into class every year a little mean to show students how often their first impressions are wrong. We also talk about giving her students tools to de-stress and her own journey into the classroom.

Joey Brewer has spent the past two decades teaching history and social studies at rural schools in western Illinois -- the region of the state often known as Forgottonia.

This week on Teachers' Lounge, we're revisiting our 2022 conversation with the founder of the LIGHT education initiative. It's a project to empower students to become human rights leaders in their community.

John Gelasi knows school band can be really meaningful…“Kids tell me, 'the only reason I was able to get up and go to school this morning is because I knew I had band today,'" he said. The award-winning northern Illinois music educator on everything from the magic of learning an instrument to his previous career in actual magic. It's on a new Teachers' Lounge podcast.

We talk with a DeKalb teacher from Brazil about helping other international teachers come to the US. We’ll learn about his own journey and much more on new Teachers’ Lounge podcast.

On a new Teachers' Lounge, a Rockford teacher taking STEM education to new heights…literally. We’ve got airplanes, solar backpacks, medical detectives and more…it’s on a high-flying new Teachers’ Lounge podcast, now!

On a new Teachers' Lounge, two local teachers wrote a new book called “Your Words Are Fire” on how culturally-responsive teaching helps kids learn. What it means to be culturally-responsive and what it’s like releasing their book in the Trump era. Learn about all of that and much more...

On a new Teachers' Lounge, we interviewed a group of Rockford elementary school students every month of the school year this year. And, this spring, we featured students from the Somonauk, Sandwich, & Leland FFA organization!

Ever curious what the school year is like for a teacher? We interviewed DeKalb 5th grader teacher Dominique Yackley every month to track a school year in her life. Follow her journey on a new Teachers' Lounge podcast!

On a classic Teachers’ Lounge episode, it’s a unique burden and responsibility to be the only Black teacher at your school.“I take it so seriously, because a lot of times this is a child's first interaction with an African American person, or at least a positive role model, unlike a stereotype which they may have seen in a movie or something," she said. "It's nerve-racking."Hear that conversation and much more...

On a new Teachers’ Lounge podcast, a Marengo music teacher breaks down the barrier between students who love music and students who typically join a school band.

On a new Teachers’ Lounge podcast, a music teacher with the Rockford Symphony Youth Orchestra tells us how students have fun while playing really high-level music.