276: Stanzas that celebrate teachers with Taylor Mali

It is teacher appreciation week and we are thrilled to have the award winning Taylor Mali on the show to shower teachers with stanzas of support and care.

Taylor talks about his brand new book “The Teachers I Loved Best,” as well as the collaborative process behind that book.

Listeners may remember his TED Talk ‘What Teachers Make’ that has now been viewed over 800,000 times.

On this episode we talk further about what it means to be an educator, how and why we need to expand on our definition for educator as well as the significance of emotional intelligence.

To connect with this week’s guest you can find him across social media:

Website: TaylorMali.com Twitter: @TaylorMali Instagram: taylor_mali

Learn more about our guest:

TAYLOR MALI is a four-time National Poetry Slam champion and one of the original poets on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam. The author of six books of poetry including Late Father & Other Poems, he is also the inventor of Metaphor Dice, a game that helps writers think more figuratively. He lives in Brooklyn. OTHER FUN FACTS ABOUT TAYLOR MALI:

 • In a game of SCRABBLE he once earned a score of 581.

 • He is a 13th-generation resident of New York City, descended from Dutch settlers who arrived on island as immigrants and invaders in 1624.

 • He convinced 1,000 people to become teachers and then donated 12” of his hair to the American Cancer Society.

• He was once the voice of all Burger King commercials.