No Teacher Left Behind: A Podcast About Educators, Health & Wellness

Many edu­ca­tion pro­fes­sion­als enter the field because they would like to make a pos­i­tive impact on the lives of young peo­ple. They exert a lot of ener­gy as teach­ers to ensure that their stu­dents are healthy men­tal­ly, emo­tion­al­ly and phys­i­cal­ly. Peo­ple who work as teach­ers often for­get to give atten­tion to their own well­ness. Sad­ly, this often leads to low teacher reten­tion rates and high turnover.

In this pod­cast, Jami­ah Ben­nett, jour­nal­ism stu­dent at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Con­necti­cut, talks with Michele Femc-Bag­well, Direc­tor of Teacher Edu­ca­tion at the uni­ver­si­ty, and oth­er edu­ca­tors about the impor­tance of edu­ca­tor health.

Guest Speak­ers on Episode I: “Wel­come to the Classroom” 

Katie Grant, mas­ter’s stu­dent study­ing sec­ondary Eng­lish edu­ca­tion. (Pho­to cour­tesy of Katie Grant)

Guest 1: Katie Grant

Grant is a mas­ter’s stu­dent study­ing sec­ondary Eng­lish edu­ca­tion in the Neag School of Edu­ca­tion at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Connecticut.

In Episode I, Grant sheds light on the ebbs and flows of being a teacher that many peo­ple may not think about. She dis­cuss­es her expe­ri­ences as a stu­dent teacher and the toll it took on her phys­i­cal and men­tal health.

Guest 2: Michele Femc-Bagwell 

Michele Femc-Bag­well, Direc­tor of Teacher Edu­ca­tion, at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Con­necti­cut. (Pho­to Cour­tesy of UConn School of Edu­ca­tion and Michele Femc-Bagwell)

Femc-Bag­well explains her research on teacher health and well­ness. She acknowl­edges that the work of a teacher extends well beyond the class­room, espe­cial­ly when a teacher puts their heart into their work.

Femc-Bag­well pro­pos­es a few solu­tions to improve teach­ers’ expe­ri­ences in an effort to bet­ter their over­all health and wellness.

 

Jami­ah Ben­nett, senior at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Con­necti­cut. (Pho­to Cour­tesy of Judah) 

Host: Jami­ah Bennett

Ben­nett is a health and well­ness enthu­si­ast, sto­ry­teller, and an aspir­ing edu­ca­tor. In “No Teacher Left Behind,” she explores the inter­sec­tion of these three by delv­ing into the top­ic of teacher health and wellness.

 

Lis­ten to Episode I of ‘No Teacher Left Behind” pod­cast below: 


TOP PHOTO: A teacher engages stu­dents in a tra­di­tion­al class­room set­ting. (Pho­to Cour­tesy of NeON­BRAND via Unsplash)