Classroom Narratives: Healing in Education

by Joseph Weisler

Season 5

From the Classroom to Congress: Why Leadership Begins with Service with Amanda Bell

📝 Episode Synopsis What happens when a scientist, substitute teacher, and congressional candidate all become the same person? In this episode of Classroom Narratives: Healing in Education, Dr. Joey Weisler sits down with Amanda Bell to explore an unconventional career rooted in one common purpose: serving others. After nearly 25 years with the U.S. Geological Survey, Amanda stepped away from federal service and into Wisconsin classrooms as a substitute teacher—experiences that ultimately shaped her decision to run for Congress. Rather than focusing on politics, this conversation examines what classrooms reveal about leadership, empathy, educational equity, and civic responsibility. Together, Joey and Amanda discuss why schools function as community hubs, how respectful disagreement can be taught through critical thinking, why educators deserve leaders who understand education firsthand, and how teachers often influence lives far beyond the walls of their classrooms. Whether you're an educator, school leader, student, or someone passionate about building stronger communities, this episode is a reminder that meaningful leadership always begins with listening—and with a genuine commitment to serving others. 🔗 Show Links and Resources IG: amandabellforcongress

S5 · E6

Jul 24, 2026

26:20

Teaching with HEART and SOUL: ENGAGEMENT Beyond a Right Answer

📝 Episode Synopsis In the third installment of the HEART series, Dr. Joey Weisler explores the Engagement pillar and challenges one of education's most persistent questions: How do we get students to care? Reflecting on experiences ranging from teaching Night in middle school to designing an innovative college business writing course, Joey argues that authentic engagement isn't created through compliance or performance. Instead, it emerges when students see themselves in their learning. This episode introduces two complementary forms of engagement—academic and emotional—and offers a practical framework for helping students connect classroom content to their own experiences while maintaining healthy instructional boundaries. Whether you're teaching literature, science, mathematics, or elementary school, this conversation invites educators to rethink what meaningful participation truly looks like. In This Episode Why one student's comment—"I don't care about this class"—changed Joey's approach to teaching. The difference between academic engagement and emotional engagement. Why students often participate to sound "right" instead of to think deeply. Introducing the Reveal • Relate • Justify framework. Helping students make personal connections without turning the classroom into group therapy. Why emotional learning should remain connected to academic purpose. Designing multimodal opportunities for students to demonstrate learning. Why silence isn't always disengagement. Helping students become active participants instead of passive recipients. Preparing students for the next HEART pillar: Awareness. Key Takeaways: Students engage when learning feels meaningful. Intellectual and emotional engagement work best together. Personal connection should deepen comprehension—not replace it. Great discussions invite interpretation instead of simply rewarding correctness. Engagement begins when students recognize themselves within the learning. Show Links and Resources 📌 HEART SOLO SERIES SEGMENTS: 💛 Teaching with HEART and SOUL: "The Look" That Taught Me to Care, Not Carry 💛 Teaching with HEART and SOUL: The HABITS That Evolved Community Beyond Compliance

S5 · E5

Jul 22, 2026

18:45

Listening Beyond the Answer: Narrative Medicine, Grief, and the Courage to Witness with Dr. Rondalyn Whitney

📝 Episode Synopsis What happens when we stop trying to fix people's pain and instead learn how to truly witness it? In this episode of Classroom Narratives, Dr. Joey Weisler welcomes narrative medicine practitioner and occupational therapist Dr. Rondalyn Whitney for a profound conversation on grief, storytelling, and compassionate listening. The discussion ultimately invites educators to reconsider what it truly means to respond responsibly—not by carrying another person's pain, but by helping them know they do not have to carry it alone. In this episode, we discuss: What narrative medicine is—and why it is rooted in deep listening rather than treatment. Why stories, literature, and writing can become powerful tools for witnessing rather than fixing pain. Dr. Rondalyn Whitney's personal journey through widowhood and how writing every day for "a year and a day" became an act of survival. The role of educators as compassionate witnesses while maintaining healthy professional boundaries. Why classrooms should make space for difficult conversations without becoming therapeutic spaces. How literature helps students develop empathy by learning to "deeply read" both texts and people. The difference between responding to students and feeling responsible for saving them. Why authentic listening often requires becoming comfortable with uncertainty and not immediately searching for solutions. 🔗 Links and Resources 📌 Rondalyn Whitney's website 📌Rondalyn Whitney's ResearchGate 📌Habits of Widows (by Rondalyn Whitney) 📌Lies in the Afterlife (by Rondalyn Whitney) 📌 Columbia University: Narrative Medicine Workshops 📌CLASSROOM NARRATIVES SEGMENT: Beyond the Text: Creating Safe Spaces for Emotional Learning with Dr. Adam Wolfsdorf

S5 · E4

Jul 15, 2026

53:01

Teaching with HEART and SOUL: The HABITS That Evolved Community Beyond Compliance

📝 Episode Synopsis In the second installment of the HEART series, Dr. Joey Weisler explores the first pillar of the HEART framework: Habits. Reflecting on his early years as a college professor, Joey shares how he once believed academic rigor meant assigning more work—until both his students and his own life revealed a different path. This episode examines how simple, predictable classroom routines can foster psychological safety, increase student ownership, and strengthen engagement without sacrificing rigor. Through practical examples—from classroom circles and invitational language to flexible assessment choices—Joey argues that effective habits aren't about controlling students; they're about creating structures that invite them into meaningful learning. Dr. Weisler justifies that earning respect from students does not come the quantity of work assigned; but rather, the quality in which content can be responded to. Whether you teach elementary school, high school, or college, this conversation offers practical ways to rethink routines so that students feel both challenged and supported. 💭 Memorable Takeaway Great classrooms aren't built on rigid compliance—they're built on predictable habits that invite students into learning. 🔗 Show Links and Resources 📌 CLASSROOM NARRATIVES SEGMENT: Safe Enough: Redefining Healing, Safety, and Story with Dr. Jamie Marich 📌 HEART SOLO SERIES SEGMENTS: 💛 Teaching with HEART and SOUL: "The Look" That Taught Me to Care, Not Carry

S5 · E3

Jul 8, 2026

16:51

The Power of Love in Caregiving: Winston Meikle on Connecting With Care Instead of Fear

📝 Episodic Synopsis What happens when caregiving stops being driven by fear and starts being rooted in connection? In this deeply reflective episode of Classroom Narratives: Healing in Education, Dr. Joey Weisler sits down with nurse leader, educator, healthcare innovator, and author Winston Meikle for a conversation that bridges the worlds of healthcare and education through one shared reality: the emotional weight of caring for others. Drawing from more than four decades in nursing and patient advocacy, Winston explores burnout, survival mode, patient-centered care, authenticity, and the emotional toll that helping professions often place on the people within them. Together, Joey and Winston discuss the parallels between hospitals and classrooms, the fear-based systems that shape caregiving professions, and why genuine human connection may be the very thing that protects caregivers from losing themselves. The conversation also dives into Winston’s developing “Power of Love Theory,” energetic presence, trauma, emotional healing, and the importance of remaining authentic in professions that often pressure people to emotionally disconnect. This episode is for educators, nurses, caregivers, leaders, and anyone trying to serve others without abandoning themselves in the process 🔗 Show Links and Resources 📌 Winston Meikle's website 📌 The Power of Love a Nursing Theory: When science meets spirits, A new kind of nurse is born (book by Winston Meikle) 📌 Classroom Narratives podcast segment with Ron Yap

S5 · E2

Jul 1, 2026

34:35

Teaching with HEART and SOUL: "The Look" That Taught Me to Care, Not Carry

📝 Episode Synopsis In the first installment of the HEART & SOUL series, Dr. Joey Weisler shares the deeply personal story that helped shape the foundation of the HEART framework. Long before he entered a classroom as a teacher, Joey recognized what he calls "the look"—the quiet expression carried by people who simply want to feel visible. Through reflections on a high school friendship, and the loss of the friend to suicide, and the lessons learned from years of trying to help others heal through direct intervention efforts, Joey explores the difference between caring for people and carrying people. Along the way, he examines how empathy can become both a gift and a burden, and why educators need structures that allow them to support students without sacrificing themselves in the process. This episode serves as the emotional origin story behind HEART, offering listeners an invitation to reflect on their own motivations for entering education and challenging the belief that seeing someone's pain automatically makes us responsible for solving it. 🔗 Links and Show Notes 📌 Join HERE for the HEART and SOUL book launch 📌 CLASSROOM NARRATIVES segment: Stepping into the classroom – An introduction to the "Classroom Narratives: Healing in Education" podcast journey with host Joey Weisler 📌 CLASSROOM NARRATIVES segment: From Disillusionment to Fulfillment: Teaching with the HEART...A Mindset by Dr. Joey Weisler 📌 CLASSROOM NARRATIVES segment: Listening Beyond the Answer: Narrative Medicine, Grief, and the Courage to Witness with Dr. Rondalyn Whitney

S5 · E1

Jun 24, 2026

27:57

Season 4

Making Moments Matter: Weisler Alumni (Pt. V)-- Growing Up Through Grief, Friendship, and Parkland

📝 Episodic Synopsis In this special “Weisler Alumni” segment of Classroom Narratives: Healing in Education, Dr. Joey Weisler reconnects with Haylie — a former Parkland-area student now studying sociology and higher education at Georgia Southern University. Together, they reflect on growing up in the aftermath of the MSD tragedy, navigating grief during adolescence, and the educators who helped make school feel safe, human, and healing. Haylie opens up about losing her father to glioblastoma during middle school, the friendships that carried her through, and the classroom environments that helped her breathe during difficult seasons of life. From calming writing exercises and stream-of-consciousness journals to the impact of compassionate teachers, this conversation explores what students remember long after the lesson plans are gone. At its heart, this episode is a reminder that sometimes the smallest moments in education — feeling heard, welcomed, and emotionally safe — become the moments students carry forever.

S4 · E24

Jun 17, 2026

14:28

Adjust the Flame: Exploring Anger and Emotional Intelligence in Schools with Dr. Mitch Abrams

📝 Episodic Synopsis ‼️ PROFANITY LANGUAGE ALERT in this episode ‼️ What if anger itself isn’t the problem? In this powerful episode of Classroom Narratives: Healing in Education, Dr. Joey Weisler speaks with psychologist and anger specialist Dr. Mitch Abrams to unpack one of the most misunderstood emotions in education and society. Drawing from his book I’m Not Fcking Angry: Adjust the Flame to Get What You Want and Need*, Dr. Abrams challenges the idea that anger should simply be suppressed or feared. Instead, he explores the critical distinction between anger and aggression, the relationship between trauma and emotional dysregulation, and why emotional intelligence must be intentionally taught—not assumed. Together, Joey and Dr. Abrams examine classroom power dynamics, teacher burnout, school violence, emotional validation, and the hidden psychological realities shaping student behavior. From Parkland to Sandy Hook, from prisons to classrooms, this conversation confronts the difficult truths educators quietly carry while offering practical strategies for emotional regulation and healthier school culture. This episode is not about “staying calm at all costs.” It is about learning how to recognize emotion before it reaches the breaking point—and understanding what happens when people feel unseen for too long 🔗 Show Notes and Resources 📌 I’m Not F*cking Angry!: Adjust the Flame to Get What You Want and Need (Book by Dr. Mitch Abrams) 📌 Dr. Mitch Abrams website 📌 For Dr. Abrams' Beach scene Imagery & Visualization script + PMR Muscle Relaxation Script, please email mitchabramspsyd@gmail.com

S4 · E23

Jun 10, 2026

1:08:02

When Presence Becomes Prevention: School Safety, Trauma, and Educator Voice with Abbey Clements

‼️DISCLAIMER‼️ This segment discusses themes of violence within communities, significantly around Sandy Hook Elementary School (2012). Please take care of yourself while listening. In this deeply moving episode of Classroom Narratives: Healing in Education, Dr. Joey Weisler sits down with Abbey Clements, a second-grade teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School during the tragedy of December 14, 2012. Drawing from the anthology If I Don’t Make It, I Love You, Abbey reflects on survival, grief, educator presence, and the invisible emotional labor teachers carry in the aftermath of collective trauma. Together, Joey and Abbey explore what it means to “show up” for students when there are no perfect words, why educators are often excluded from conversations about school safety, and how teacher advocacy itself can become an act of prevention. The conversation also highlights the work of Teachers Unify to End Gun Violence, the national organization Abbey co-founded alongside Sarah Lerner to amplify educator voices, support impacted communities, and advocate for trauma-informed prevention efforts nationwide. From Sandy Hook to Parkland and beyond, this episode is a powerful reminder that sometimes the most important thing a teacher can do is simply remain present. 🔗 Show Links and Resources 📌 If I Don't Make It, I Love You: Survivors in the Aftermath of School Shootings (anthology edited by Amye Archer and Loren Klineman) 📌 Teachers Unify to End Gun Violence (also check out their sign-up page here) 📌 Teachers Unify podcast 📌 Classroom Narratives: Sarah Lerner, Paula Reed, Adam Wolfsdorf

S4 · E22

Jun 3, 2026

49:05

"The Pie Just Gets Bigger”: Parenting, Identity, and Emotional Survival in Schools with Dr. Julie Davelman

What happens when parents, teachers, and students all feel pressure to “get it right” — but nobody was ever given the manual? In this deeply reflective episode of Classroom Narratives, Dr. Joey Weisler sits down with clinical psychologist Dr. Julie Davelman to explore the emotional realities underneath modern education: parent burnout, frustration tolerance, identity formation, perfectionism, divorce, college transition, and the overwhelming pressure families carry while trying to support children “correctly.” Together, they unpack why so many students struggle not because they lack ability, but because they lack space to fail, recover, and develop resilience. The conversation moves beyond surface-level conversations about achievement and instead asks what children, teachers, and parents actually need in order to function, grow, and feel emotionally safe. From “good enough parenting” to the myth of work-life balance, Dr. Davelman offers a compassionate but grounded perspective that reminds listeners something essential: Humans are far more complicated than the manual ever promised. 🔗 Show Resources 📌 Dr. Julie Davelman profile with Abrams Psychological Services 📌 BLOG: Can this help you? – Learn psych tips and techniques that can help you in everyday life 📌 The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents by Lisa Damour, PhD 📌 Facebook and Linkedin Dr. Julie Davelman 📌 Classroom Narratives segments: ~From Teacher to Attorney: Frances Shefter on Advocacy, Equity, and the Stress-Free IEP ~The Pooped-Out Teacher in Loco Parentis: Dr. Dre on Presence, Consistency & Care ~Meeting Your Inner-Hero and Healing Your Inner-Child: with Ron Yap @mentalhealthceo ~Empathy Without Self-Abandonment: Unhooking from Survival Mode in Leadership and Teaching with Leila Boutaleb Brousse

S4 · E21

May 27, 2026

1:03:37

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