Beyond My Years:
Listen to chronicles
from the classroom.

Meet our host, Ana Torres.

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In each episode, Amplify Bilingual and Multilingual Specialist Ana Torres gathers teaching tips, lively stories, and hard-won lessons from veteran teachers around the world. Over her 30 years in teaching, Ana has developed a passion for biliteracy and multiculturalism. And on Beyond My Years, she’s excited to connect with legendary educators from all subject areas about their lives in education—and what they wish they’d known as younger teachers.

Episode 4: Teaching with determination, starring Khamphet Pease

Today on Beyond My Years, host Ana Torres learns all she can learn from the life stories and lessons of Khamphet Pease. As a refugee from Laos, Khamphet shares the difficulty she experienced navigating a home culture that did not encourage education or career ambitions for women. Despite that, she laughs over her stubbornness that she sees as an integral part of what has motivated her to chase her dreams, spend over 20 years as a STEM teacher, and what earned her the presidential award for excellence in mathematics and science teaching. Due to gendered norms and expectations, she almost lost out on the future she truly wanted. Since then, she has made it her mission to champion a learning environment where young girls feel they belong and can thrive in STEM fields. Khamphet takes Ana on a journey through all the lessons she learned along the way of managing work/life balance, creating a classroom culture of trust, and the importance of finding a mentor during the hardest teaching years of your life. Once back in the classroom, Eric Cross and Ana check in on Eric’s first two weeks of back-to-school and discuss practical ways to take care of yourself first so you can then take care of your students.

Episode 3: Teaching with resilience, starring Fawn Nguyen

Today on Beyond My Years, host Ana Torres learns from Fawn Nguyen, a math educator with over 30 years of classroom experience! Fawn tells Ana the story of her near-death experience being lost at sea while escaping Vietnam, and explains how it shaped the sense of gratitude she leads with in the classroom. She also discusses what it means to be yourself in the classroom, the importance of sharing your mistakes with your students, the merits of practicing advocacy vs. authority with students, and how she has dealt with feeling dismissed as a minority working in education. Taking all those lessons back to the classroom, Ana and Classroom Insider Eric Cross then discuss connecting with students through shared struggles and challenges.

Episode 2: Teaching for life, starring Eric Jones

Today on Beyond My Years, host Ana Torres becomes a student of Eric Jones, an educator who came out of retirement at 80 years of age to help with a national teacher shortage—thus becoming the oldest paid teacher in Britain. Eric shares his insights with Ana about building a collaborative classroom and what it means to teach children, not content. He also reflects on how the trajectory of his life changed when one man recognized and encouraged his desire to be a teacher.

Episode 1: Teaching with heart, starring Joyce Abbott

Today on Beyond My Years, host Ana Torres soaks up wisdom from Joyce Abbott, an educator so passionate about her students that she inspired one of them to go on and write the hit show “Abbott Elementary.” Joyce tells Ana all about her experiences working in a Title 1 school and what it means to know the community of Philadelphia. They also discuss how Joyce’s time serving in the military informed her work as an educator, how she transformed a challenging classroom during her first year teaching, how it has felt to witness the success of “Abbott Elementary,” and the passion she sees as her driving force. Taking all those lessons back to the classroom, Eric and Ana then discuss teaching tips and strategies for connecting with students.

Episode 0: About Beyond My Years

Join host Ana Torres and her classroom insider, Eric Cross, to learn what the new Amplify podcast Beyond My Years is all about. Together, they dig into the essence of what it means to be an educator, the challenges that come with it, and how Beyond My Years will connect with it all. Plus, you’ll get a sneak peek into what’s ahead, including conversations with legendary educators (like one who was an inspiration for a hit TV show).