Copy Room Conversations

Jennie Brown has 800 students. Not in her lifetime, not in the last decade, right now, each and every week. Jennie teaches Elementary Music in Bluffdale, UT. She is a passionate teacher and learner, always looking for the next amazing thing to learn. Moving from the grade level classroom to the Music classroom has allowed Jennie to embrace Joy as a daily practice. Jennie uses team building activities, movement, singing, instruments...

Catherine Baker, my heart warms up at the sound of her name. If you knew Catherine, you’d know exactly what I mean. She smiles and lights up the room with her goodness. She’s kind and sweet, thoughtful and smart, and when she talks with you her energy and her eyes make you feel like you might be the most important person in the world. 

Catherine has seen heartache in recent years. While some might sour as a result, it seems she’s a...

If ever I had a kindred spirit, Kathryn McRitchie is it. We met in a class I was teaching at Stanford University one summer, Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching for Social Studies. She walked in with her “Moms Demand Action” tote bag and said good morning to me with her Tennessee accent; to say she had me at hello is just the truth. Since then we’ve remained in touch, developing a friendship grounded in the love of ou...

I came to know Shauna through her instagram, Teach for the Culture. The first thing I ever saw was a tshirt that said, “Joy and Learning Must Co-exist,” something I’ve taken on as a bit of a mantra if you remember Peter’s episode earlier this season. Her merch was so cute I loved seeing new things as she added them every couple of weeks. What I found myself doing, however, was sticking around not for her merch, but for her message....

Carlos' joy does not run loud like Peter’s and Ashlei’s, it runs quiet like a strong current under still water. It’s the sparkle in his eyes, the turned up corner of his shy smile, the feeling you get when you walk into his classroom and feel ready to be brave because you know your teacher has created a space for you to thrive, as if it was your birthright. 

And it is. It is your birthright to thrive. 

Every day I worked with Carlo...

Ashlei is lit from within with a joy that is pure goodness. Yes she will make you laugh. Yes she will lead the dance party. And, yes, she is good good good to the core. You can’t help but feel your vibration rise in her presence. If a rising tide lifts all boats, Ashlei’s energy lifts all spirits. 

Don’t be fooled by the dinosaur costume or the spirit week gear. This woman is nobody’s fool. And she won’t let you be either. She is s...

Each August is set aside dedicated to a book to help us get back into the thinking and doing of school. This season we look at pieces from my book, Nothing's Missing. Rather than share a story from the last chapter, "Rise Tall Toward the Sun," I am taking a few minutes to reflect and explore our role as teachers in this very complex time. How can we remember how to take action toward rising tall in our gifts as educators, so that o...

The short season in August set aside for a book to help us get back into the thinking and doing of school continues with a story from Nothing's Missing and the chapter, Wildflowers Don't Grow in Rows. Each story was chosen because it offers some reflection on the chapter theme I think will serve you well as you head back to school in the coming days. This one explores what a life might be like without "should" but, instead, grounde...

The short season in August set aside for a book to help us get back into the thinking and doing of school continues with a story from Nothing's Missing and the chapter, Feel the Fear and Walk on Through. Each story was chosen because it offers some reflection on the chapter theme I think will serve you well as you head back to school in the coming days. This one is a deeply personal leap brought on by finally, after a decade, trust...

Each August we'll read a book and the episodes for the short summer season with excerpts from the book as well as solo episodes about the theme of that book. This year, we're reading a book I wrote, Nothing's Missing: A Year of Reckoning, Release, and Remembering who I am. Episode two features from a story from the chapter "Hear the Call," which offers a window into why I became a teacher and how the lesson offered to me in the 4th...

We're interrupting the typical Copy Room Conversations with several short episodes released on Wednesdays and Sundays this August as we transition back into the thinking and doing of school. Each August we'll read a book and the episodes for the short summer season with excerpts from the book as well as solo episodes about the theme of that book. This year, we're reading a book I wrote, Nothing's Missing: A Year of Re...

We're interrupting the typical Copy Room Conversations with several short episodes released on Wednesdays and Sundays this August as we transition back into the thinking and doing of school. Each August we'll read a book and the episodes for the short summer season with excerpts from the book as well as solo episodes about the theme of that book. This year, we're reading a book I wrote, Nothing's Missing: A Year of Reckoning, Relea...

The last episode for our season on paying it forward drops on Sunday with my new friend, Mary Chai. I’ve long believed teaching to be a spiritual practice, one that stretches us as much as it saves us, one where we use every ounce of who we are in service to our kids, even the kids (especially the kids) who we wish some days were absent. Mary is the first guest I haven’t known and loved for years; in fact, the first day we met was ...