English teacher Alyssa Guzman and host Evelyn Lauer discuss the challenges of being a first-year educator during the pandemic and the experience of presenting diverse texts and controversial conversations in a conservative community, especially this school year.
Guzman is a first-year teacher out of Lincolnwood, Illinois. Her time at Niles West High School led to her becoming passionate about reading, writing, and the power of words. She pursued those interests at the University of Iowa, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in English and creative writing in 2018, and her Master of Arts in secondary English education in 2020. She believes a very important aspect of her job is ensuring her students take in a diverse array of authors and that they leave her classroom thinking critically about the world around them.
You can follow host Evelyn Lauer on Twitter @evelynalauer.