The Passionate Teacher to Her Class with Mariah Martinez
Beautiful Teaching consultant Mariah Martinez shares how she came to love classical education and dedicate herself to the craft of teaching. Mariah is a literature teacher with a knack for helping high schoolers engage with stories and ideas without infantilizing her students, and she is not afraid to go head to head with ideologically inspired class comments. In this episode, Mariah offers sound advice for fostering the proper relationship between teacher, student, and text, plus she shares her method for practicing classroom narration.
About Our Guest
Mariah Martinez has worked in education since 2015 as a teacher, curriculum developer, and mentor teacher. Mariah was introduced to a progressive version of classical education through her high school's International Baccalaureate program. She was later immersed in a traditional classical atmosphere through her honors program in college. Mariah attended the Honors College at Houston Baptist University, where she received a B.A., double majoring in philosophy and English. She also holds an M.A. in humanities with a concentration in classical education from the University of Dallas. She is certified as a 7-12 ELAR instructor in Texas with an additional ELL (English Language Learner) supplement. Currently, she teaches at a Founders Classical charter school in Northeast Texas and works as a freelance consultant for Beautiful Teaching.
Show Notes
In this episode, Adrienne, Trae, and Mariah have a wide-ranging conversation about establishing the proper relationship between teacher, student, and text. Mariah is admittedly not the "fun teacher." Still, students enjoy her classes, make discoveries in her classroom, and learn to take up a posture of humility and understanding toward the stories and ideas she teaches.
Some topics and ideas in this episode include:
- Rewards and Risks of Class Discussions
- How to Respond to Ideological Comments
- How to Foster a Posture of Understanding
- The Role of Narrative Across Subjects
- Avoiding the Infantilization of Teenagers
- An Engaging Approach to Narration
- Mariah's Online Course - Teaching Disputation: Well-ordered Thinking for a Disordered World
Resources and Books & Mentioned In This Episode
- The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
- "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" by Christopher Marlowe
Beautiful Teaching Online Courses
Mariah's Favorite Quote:
"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."
– Henry David Thoreau
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Credits:
Sound Engineer: Andrew Helsel
Logo Art: Anastasiya CF
Music: Used with permission. cellists: Sara Sant' Ambrogio and Lexine Feng; pianist: Alyona Waldo
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