Teaching Beyond Borders with Joel Miller

Uncover the path that led Joel to his current role as Curriculum Development Manager at the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), where he continues to fuel his passion for economics by crafting resources for teachers nationwide. From his beginnings as a sixth-grade teacher in Forsyth County to shaping young minds as a high school social studies instructor, Joel has inspired many students, including many new to the country, to overcome cultural and linguistic hurdles. Listen as he recounts heartwarming success stories and the privilege of watching his former students flourish both academically and personally.

Transcript

Devin Pintozzi: 0:01

This podcast spotlight for success is our way of highlighting the incredible success stories happening in education right here in our home state of Georgia. Today, we're thrilled to be joined by Joel Miller, who has made a significant impact in the field of social studies. We'll explore his journey, insights and the positive changes he's creating for students and teachers. So let's get started. Joel, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Joel Miller: 0:27

Yeah, thank you, Devin for this opportunity. I was a Georgia educator for 14 years in Forsyth County, Georgia, just north of Atlanta, Started out as a sixth-grade teacher after the Great Recession. That was the first teacher job that was offered to me and graduated quickly to where I was intended to be. I believe in the high school level teaching history, all the histories, world, US, ESL and economics, where I really found my jam.

Devin Pintozzi: 0:58

That's wonderful. Can you tell us some of the success stories, or maybe a special milestone, that you encountered during your teaching career?

Joel Miller: 1:07

Yeah, you know. So success stories, I think the best ones are those that kind of resurface, right. So emails from former students and communications running into them. Actually, we were out last night here in Athens just grabbing dinner and I was like, okay, a couple of those guys look really familiar. And as we were eating, moments later, a group of guys came up and three of them had been former students of mine and I was just like wow, like you know, it's really cool. What are you guys up to, what are you studying, and things that they remember from your class. Like you know, those are success stories. Seeing them out in the world, you know really, that's the success.

Joel Miller: 1:50

It's like get out there now and do something with yourself. But, yeah, lots of students as an ESOL teacher in Georgia I mean I had, you know, kids that had been in the country weeks, you know, learning what it's like to navigate the culture, the language you know. So really just having a chance to work alongside students for the year that I taught them or the semester I taught them, those are the real privilege of being a teacher. Right, being an educator is seeing the growth and getting to walk alongside students in their journey.

Devin Pintozzi: 2:24

That is wonderful. Tell me again what was the name of the school system you were with?

Joel Miller: 2:28

Forsyth County Schools

Devin Pintozzi: 2:29

Forsyth

Joel Miller: 2:30

That's right up near Lake Lanier a water source for Atlanta. Wonderful yeah, come up and visit us, okay.

Devin Pintozzi: 2:35

Yeah, it's a great area. I love Lake Lanier. Can you tell me a little bit about your experience when you segued Now? When you segued now you're with Georgia Council of Economic Education, is that?

Joel Miller: 2:44

Right. So actually the Georgia Council was instrumental in developing me as an economics instructor. Okay, and so I work now with the Foundation for Economic Education, which is in a similar space economics, education and curriculum development.

Joel Miller: 2:58

So I'm the curriculum development manager for FEE, as we're lovingly called, foundation for Economic Ed, based in Atlanta. But we have a teacher network now that's growing really rapidly all 50 states, I think 20-something countries, using our weekly resources. So that's been a really cool thing and, honestly, I was watching the guys at the Georgia Council do their thing. That ultimately led me to learn that I myself have a gift, an ability to write lessons and then demonstrate those for teachers, and it's a very rewarding role that I'm in now.

Devin Pintozzi: 3:35

Wonderful. Are you working with? Is there a special partner or a special experience you've had doing this kind of work, and how was that segue from being in social studies to deciding on really focusing on economics as your field of special studies?

Joel Miller: 3:53

It's great. Being here at the Georgia Council for the Social Studies Conference is a lot of fun because I'm reminded of where I began, right like just the journey of being kind of a history nerd, getting invited into a classroom and being responsible for the instruction for these kids you know who are just all over the place. And the journey of getting into econ, I think, started with some workshops that I had gone to. I wanted to go.

Joel Miller: 4:23

I think the first Georgia Council workshop I ever went to was on trade and it was paired with a book. We got to read a book called the Travels of the T-Shirt in a Global Economy, and I remember as part of that workshop, we actually had to agree to write a lesson and so we read the book. We talked about trade, we got a bunch of free resources, and then we agree to write a lesson, and so we read the book. I was like, wow, economics, unlike history, it's every day, it's everything. It's really about, you know, making choices. And so the things that I was into individually, such as being outside, hiking sports, global news I could integrate that really easily without the constraints of the standards that you have to teach explicitly in a history course, which have their place. But for me personally, as a creator and someone who likes to be entrepreneurial, innovative, I'm an idea person. Idea aiding is a hobby. I really found my niche in econ.

Devin Pintozzi: 5:30

That's awesome. So how do you integrate all of those kind of outdoor activities with your work with the Foundations for Economic Education?

Joel Miller: 5:38

Well, so one connection just this Monday I wrote an assignment on really the tragedy of the commons. But if you're familiar, this is peak leaf season in New England.

Joel Miller: 5:50

And particularly in the White Mounds of New Hampshire, where I do have a family connection. There are lots of economic lessons being learned by locals who are being overrun by tourists right.

Devin Pintozzi: 6:03

Oh, I've heard about that!

Joel Miller: 6:04

yeah and so it's become a problem, like certain neighborhoods have even hired police and sheriff's officers to close roads. But people are producing externalities negative externalities on the environment, on the communities and so on, and so the lesson was really about hey, how could we rein in these externalities? And so I challenge students in the lesson to think about how private property ownership actually gives a lot of empowering, choice and decision-making to individuals. One thing I learned while I was researching the lesson was that 80% of New Hampshire's trails ATV trails are privately owned, but through agreement, voluntary agreement these property owners are able to allow tourists from all over the world to come and enjoy the public spaces or the private spaces, right, but in a public way the beautiful spaces, and so it's just a really it's a cool lesson, and so that was a lot of fun writing, because I'm visualizing myself, you know, hiking through the mountains and being there, but that's just one example.

Joel Miller: 7:12

One thing that we try to do with our platform, teachers. fee. org, which is a free resource online for educators, online for educators is to write timely assignments, lessons, resources linked to news stories, because that is the most challenging thing is really relevancy, right, like you can hit rigor, you can hit the relationship piece, but making things current and relevant. Like teachers usually don't have time to do that, right, I mean I never, rarely, did I ever have time to wow the students with like oh my gosh, I just heard about this on the radio yesterday. Um, and so we try to do that every week. Provide classroom ready resources for for teachers to use. I mean we have a lot of really exciting products at teachers. fee. org so I would encourage teachers who are listening to check that out. So that's my pitch.

Devin Pintozzi: 7:59

That's awesome. Yeah, I got to get those plugs in, joel. Let me ask you what are you hoping to get out of the conference here?

Joel Miller: 8:05

Well, honestly, Devin, this is difficult. As an exhibitor, I have a product that I know benefits lots of teachers, right? Yes, so I would love to be in sessions right now. Oh okay Learning some of the innovative approaches. I'll get a chance to do that. I'm leading a few sessions as well on our personal finance inquiry lessons this morning.

Joel Miller: 8:25

And then later today on the significance of the national debt on your personal finances. Oh, and I have a guest speaker coming on from DC, actually for about 10 minutes, so it's going to be really exciting.

Devin Pintozzi: 8:36

Wow.

Joel Miller: 8:36

And tomorrow we're talking about AI and how it's a tool to leverage the process of creative destruction and, ultimately, how individuals can be empowered through the use of this new technology that's on the horizon. So seven things that are changing in the world and three things that are not going to change, so I think it'll be a fun talk.

Devin Pintozzi: 8:53

Wow, that sounds fantastic. Sounds like a great program and I'm sure you're going to learn a lot by interacting with the educators in those presentations.

Joel Miller: 9:02

That's the favorite part of my job now.

Devin Pintozzi: 9:05

That's awesome.

Joel Miller: 9:06

Being in the room with teachers

Devin Pintozzi: 9:07

That's awesome.

Devin Pintozzi: 9:08

Well, Joel thank you so much for your time Foundations of Economic Education, and we look forward to working with you in the future.

Joel Miller: 9:16

All right. Well, thanks for putting on this podcast. Devin's a great idea. It would be a great way to highlight all the wonderful exhibitors and educators here who are trying to help teachers do their job.

Devin Pintozzi: 9:25

All right, thank you, joel.