With Honors

It’s the first full week of May 2026, and that means it’s Teacher Appreciation Week. In this episode, I get to be a good student again and learn from the master, Gail Adcock. We also get to sit with the legend Amy Hawkins.. Together, we examine Khaled Hosseini’s 2003 novel The Kite Runner, what made it classroom worthy, and why it matters just as much to readers of 2026 as it did twenty years ago.With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find this show alongside our other podcast, Second Stage, on major platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.Also, throw some love at our brother podcast with Drew Haston, A Deadman’s Books. You can find him on Spotify and Apple Podcasts as well.This episode also features “Groove Delight” by Musinova and “Aspiration” by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

This week I talk to Whittney, a kid who knows just as much about pain and loss as anyone. She chose to explore how some of our popular literature examines that question too. Not “What’s the meaning of life” (which is probably just a trap question anyway), but “What makes life meaningful?”With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find this show alongside our other podcast, Second Stage, on major platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.Also, throw some love at our brother podcast with Drew Haston, A Deadman’s Books. You can find him on Spotify and Apple Podcasts as well.This episode also features “Groove Delight” by Musinova and “Aspiration” by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

Is The Great Gatsby still relevant to America in 2026? Is America in 2026 still a place where the wealthy billionaires cavort like Greek gods, and the poor trudge away in the valley of ashes between them? Jackson and I discuss his 5 reasons why this book still reflects America today.With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find this show alongside our other podcast, Second Stage, on major platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.Also, throw some love at our brother podcast with Drew Haston, A Deadman’s Books. You can find him on Spotify and Apple Podcasts as well.This episode also features “Groove Delight” by Musinova and “Sipping on Jazz” by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

There’s two starter types of Honors kids: the typically academically gifted kid, and the underdog hard worker who works their tail off for you. We’re five weeks out from graduation night. And this week, I’m sitting with one of those underdogs. One of our all-time favorites. Big Kev.With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find this show alongside our other podcast, Second Stage, on major platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YoTtube.Also, throw some love at our brother podcast with Drew Haston, A Deadman’s Books. You can find him on Spotify and Apple Podcasts as well.This episode also features “Groove Delight” by Musinova and inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

This week, the seniors have come back to the table and wanted to talk about what they could have done differently in their four years.With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find this show alongside our other podcast, Second Stage, on major platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.Also, throw some love at our brother podcast with Drew Haston, A Deadman’s Books. You can find him on Spotify and Apple Podcasts as well.This episode also features “Groove Delight” by Musinova and inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

This week comes with a bonus episode, one of several that are airing through graduation season, all about the typical high school senior’s experience in 2026. Have things changed so much since the 1980s? Were attitudes really that different when I was a senior in the 1990s? Are we basically seeing the same things now in the 2020s?With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find this show alongside our other podcast, Second Stage, on major platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.Also, throw some love at our brother podcast with Drew Haston, A Deadman’s Books. You can find him on Spotify and Apple Podcasts as well.Audio used in this episode includes “Groove Delight” by Musinova, “Sipping on Jazz” by Black Trend Music, and an excerpt from a YouTube clip of Road House (1989) with Patrick Swayze. Disclaimer: No ownership of these materials is claimed. All rights belong to their respective copyright holders. These materials are used in connection with commentary, criticism, review, and educational podcasting. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

Among the secular celebrations, March is also National Reading Month. And this week, some of my students wanted to discuss the emotional impact they get through reading. Maybe you won’t feel it the same way, but again, just because they celebrate this doesn’t diminish what you get out of it. Because like we always say in this classroom: “People are people are people.”With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find it and our new show Second Stage on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.Also, throw some love at our brother podcast with Drew Haston, A Deadman’s Books. He’s on Spotify and Apple Podcasts too.This episode features “Groove Delight” by Musinova and “Sipping on Jazz” by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

It’s here at last. On Friday, March 20, 2026, Project Hail Mary arrived in theaters, and for our class, this wasn’t just any old trip to the movies. This was an epic launch.With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find this show alongside our other podcast, Second Stage, on major platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.Also, throw some love at our brother podcast with Drew Haston, A Deadman’s Books. You can find him on Spotify and Apple Podcasts as well.This episode includes audio from: “Groove Delight” by Musinova; “Epic Inspirational Music” by BoDleasons; excerpts from the Project Hail Mary trailer on YouTube; the Project Hail Mary cover of Harry Styles’ “Sign of the Times”; and a mixed segment featuring the Project Hail Mary theme and Oasis’s “Champagne Supernova” from (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of these materials. All rights belong to their respective copyright holders. These materials are used in connection with commentary, criticism, review, and educational podcasting. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

It’s so rare to find poetry in the wild outside the classroom, but this week, we sat down with a legendary poet of our own. Dr. Erin Hoover teaches at Tennessee Tech University here in Cookeville, TN. She’s a single parent by choice, a poet, a professor, a prolific writer, and this year, she is Cookeville’s first-ever Poet Laureate.You can find more of Erin Hoover on her website: https://erinhooverpoet.com/With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find this show alongside our other podcast, Second Stage, on major platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.Also, throw some love at our brother podcast, A Deadman’s Books, with Drew Haston. You can find him on Spotify and Apple Podcasts as well.This episode also features “Groove Delight” by Musinova and inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

Last fall, Jackson wanted to pod about song lyrics, the way we study them in class with the TPCASTT framework. Today, he and Christopher are back to spend an afternoon of sophomore laughter and honors-kid thinking on song lyrics.With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find this show alongside our other podcast, Second Stage, on major platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.Also, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman’s Books. He’s on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, too.This episode also features “Groove Delight” by Musinova and inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

Basketball season is coming to an end again. Last year, three of our Honors girls involved in basketball sat down to recap the season. This year, two of our guys — Lucas and Henry — spin it again, not only to recap the current season but also to look ahead to their new role as commentators for next year’s football and basketball game live streams. But first, the boys’ and the girls’ basketball teams are headed to the playoffs. And before we know it, it’ll be March Madness again.Man, I love this time of year!With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find this show alongside our other podcast, Second Stage, on major platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.Also, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman’s Books, on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, as well as his show Haston Curation.This episode also features “Groove Delight” by Musinova and inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

We’re wrangling again with social commentary and with that familiar leap between what happens inside this classroom and what’s happening beyond it. Students were asked to debate the pros and cons of the US forcing an annexation of Greenland. Whether they personally agreed with the issue or not, they researched Greenland and developed positions for and against, to strengthen their debate skills and to evaluate the weaknesses in their own US-centric assumptions.With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find it and our new show Second Stage on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. Also, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman’s Book and Haston Curation.This episode features “Groove Delight” by Musinova and “Sipping on Jazz” by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

It used to be fictional names like Katniss Everdeen, or Winston Smith, or Guy Montag. Now it’s Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti. It used to be dystopian fiction, but now it feels every day like dystopian reality. This week, Honors English continues our work with social commentary, and two of my brightest voices, Saydee and Lainie, asked to review The Hunger Games as a cautionary tale for the culture they’re living in right now. The Hunger Games is a warning, and it’s a question, and it’s a test of who we are when power grows louder and opposition grows quiet. With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find this show alongside our other podcast, Second Stage, on major platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube:Also, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman’s Books. He’s on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.This episode also features “Groove Delight” by Musinova and “Still” by Soularflair, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

We’re back from Christmas break, back from a stack of snow days, and ready to start broadcasting the rest of season 2. And these episodes are produced by us, for us — genuine human content, but sometimes assisted by generative AI tools.Some might dash us for using Chat to generate the cover art for our Substack pieces, or for using Async to enhance the audio. But those are only assistive tools, not technology doing the creative work for us.Can AI tools create “creative” works? Are they creative expressions in this human sense? Or are we surrendering too much, too fast to the tide of generative AI trends?This week, class is moving from out of Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and into Sophocles’s tragedy Antigone, but the conversation remains the same: social commentary. How is our art, our music, our theater, our podcasting still a voice for legitimate social commentary? What are we bothered by, and what are we going to do about it? To frame that social commentary, we’re discussing the question of generative AI and art. Instead of lecturing for 60 minutes, Drew and I decided to model the content creation experience again, bringing the kids into the show and sharing the conversation, not simply forcing it.With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find this show alongside our other podcast, Second Stage, on major platforms likeSpotify:Apple Podcastsand YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman’s Books. He’s on Spotify atand Apple Podcastsas well as Haston Curation, on Spotify atThis episode also features “Groove Delight” by Musinova and inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

The end of the year is a time for reflection. And this year, the novel Project Hail Mary has been a HUGE feature of our honors classroom. It spawned so many conversations and questions. While some kids were distracted by all the science and experimentation that went into the book (one even criticized that it felt like the science sometimes got in the way of the story), most people couldn’t stop talking about the book. Here for one final conversation are Maylee and my co-teacher Drew, with our final end-of-the-year thoughts about Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary.With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find this show alongside our other podcast, Second Stage, on major platforms likeSpotify:Apple PodcastsYouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman’s Books. He’s on Spotify atApple Podcastsas well as Haston Curation, on Spotify atThis episode also features “Groove Delight” by Musinova and “Last Hero” by Alex Productions, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

This fall, Project Hail Mary became more than a class novel. It became the backbone for all our learning, through research projects, class discussions, projects, and novel study. By reading Andy Weir’s story early, students used it to fuel a STEM-centered research project, and then after Thanksgiving they returned to it for deeper, more thoughtful discussion. In this episode, my co-teacher Drew and I model a podcast-style Socratic circle with the class again, using conversation itself as a real-world writing skill, where curiosity, clarity, and collaboration take center stage.With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find this show alongside our other podcast, Second Stage, on major platforms likeSpotify:Apple PodcastsYouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman’s Books. He’s on Spotify atApple Podcastsas well as Haston Curation, on Spotify atThis episode also features “Groove Delight” by Musinova and “Last Hero” by Alex Productions, available here under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

In 2026, Andy Weir’s novel Project Hail Mary is coming to the big screen, but before that, it was our class novel for Fall 2025. I read the book last year and fell in love with Weir’s appreciation for science, his underlying notions that humans will be able to think our way out of any problems (if we really allow ourselves to). It resonated with me like his previous work, The Martian, and movies like Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar or Carl Sagan’s Contact. I knew that I wanted to use it in class this year, but I needed to use it before the movie came out (because so many students will just watch the movie instead of read the book).It was a huge success! Kids immediately started telling me how much they loved the book.In this episode, Summer and Trever spin loose on discussing their first reactions to the novel and our approach in class.With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find it and our other show Second Stage on platforms like Spotify:Apple Podcastson YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman’s Books. He’s on Spotify atApple Podcastsas well as Haston Curation, on Spotify atThis episode’s music features Epic Inspirational music by BloDeasons, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

As we approach the end of the year, we come in with a sackful of episodes. This week, Saydee and Kate end the year by drafting their favorite Christmas movies. While Kate may be shy to warm up to the pod mics, she and Saydee get energized when they think back on what these Christmas movies really mean for us: nostalgia, warmth, family.With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find With Honors and our new show, Second Stage, on platforms likeSpotify:as well as Apple Podcasts and on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brother podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman’s Books. He’s on Apple Podcasts and Spotify atThis episode features “Groove Delight” by Musinova and “Christmas” by Denys Kyschuk, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

I was born in Tennessee, but when my parents split I moved to Ohio. Forever after, I’ve found myself chasing that need to come back home. To belong to this land and to fit in with these people, my one true original community. And I’ve been blessed to be raised by so many wonderful women along the way: my mom, her sisters, my dad’s sisters and in-laws, grandmas, cousins. But there’s one iconic Tennessee woman whose voice will always sound like home: Dolly Parton.As a kid in the 80s, I watched the movie adaptation of Robert Harlan’s play, Steel Magnolias. It was a movie filled with people I knew, voices I craved, and a Southern community I missed so much it hurt. And even though I wasn’t a woman, I grew up among these women. I gained an ear for their joys, their sorrows, their gossip, their wisdom, for their delicacy and their grit. I’m surrounded by them still: in the jobs I’ve worked, in the classes I teach, in my friend groups, in my church.But America now is not the America I knew growing up. Steel Magnolias matters in an America that has grown to reject women. We vote them down not because of policies but because “her laugh is silly” or “she’s a liar, lock her up.” We watch a man who famously exploited women get elected to high office, who publicly shouts at a woman reporter, “Quiet! Piggy!” We demonize the word “feminism.”While America seems quicker than ever to belittle, silence, or distrust the very women who build our families and communities, Steel Magnolias stands like a nostalgic 1980s look back at an easier time. It reminds us how much we owe to the women who lift us, who mother us, who teach us, who keep us together.With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find With Honors and our new show, Second Stage, on platforms likeSpotify:on Apple Podcastsand on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman’s Books. He’s on Spotify atand Apple Podcastsas well as Haston Curation, on Spotify atThis episode features “Groove Delight” by Musinova and “Sipping on Jazz” by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

In this special (and belated!) Halloween installment, I get to sit with one of my brand-new, sharp-witted sophs in a deep-dive through the haunted heart of 1980s song lyrics. With the classroom bathed in eerie orange lights and spectral figures of legendary singers drifting behind us, Jackson leads me through his TPCASTT analysis of the lyrics to uncover how these singers reveal what haunts them: fear, longing, and obsession. Jackson’s lively banter, sharp insights, glowing enthusiasm, and sudden bursts of singing turn this spooky literary analysis into a thrilling ride through nostalgia, music, and meaning. It was perfect for Halloween and lovers of close reading alike.With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find this show alongside our other podcast, Second Stage, on major platforms likeSpotify:Apple Podcasts:YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman’s Books. He’s on Spotify atand Apple Podcasts:as well as Haston Curation, on Spotify atThis episode also features scary horror creepy music by HitsLab, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

Halloween is finally here! My favorite holiday of the season. The pinnacle of my time of year. I wait eleven long months to finally embrace October. It’s the month my wife and I got married, the month our first son was born, the month for leaves changing and cooler temps bringing a relief from oppressive summer, the month for foggy mists and woodsmoke hanging above the eaves. There is no scent quite as wonderful as the loam of leaves, or the pungent tingle of trick-or-treat candy inside a plastic jack-o-lantern, or the carved shell of a healthy pumpkin.Today, I’m sitting with two of my AP students to reflect on what high school seniors love about this time of year, too. If you could only have a Top 10, what would you include?With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find this show alongside our other podcast, Second Stage, on major platforms likeSpotify:Apple Podcasts:YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman’s Books. He’s on Spotify atand Apple Podcasts:as well as Haston Curation, on Spotify atThis episode also features scary horror creepy music by HitsLab, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

This week, two of my favorite students sat down to dish about their favorite book: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.(Barf.)I mean, not “barf.” I just never wanted to read the book. I know, I know, I’m being a stereotype right now probably, but it was never my scene to read Jane Austen. I’ve tried her work before, and I just didn’t like it. But I really like Summer and Ainslee’s work, their good hearts, and their dedication, so maybe I can give it a whirl. Even an irritable 40-something man might find a little Pride and Prejudice waiting.With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find this show alongside our other podcast, Second Stage, on major platforms likeSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0881bUWWdgkBdGzHlPNToi?si=b510a0cd363a4320Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/with-honors/id1797115480YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman’s Books. He’s on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/4HtulwbO10pOjV5hbdWOty?si=a23d92c90128476eand Apple Podcasts at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-deadmans-books/id1795582942as well as Haston Curation, on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/3O8GDUtqshbxFF7gU2FMwM?si=d15c2539fadd40fcThis episode features an excerpt of "Dawn" from the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack, as well as “Groove Delight” by Musinova and inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

I’m so lucky to be able to partner with Tennessee Tech University and be a mentor teacher to practicum students and student teachers. Student teachers stay the entire semester and are expected to take over as much responsibility as possible during their time. Practicum students, on the other hand, come by for a month or two during one class period, mostly to observe but also to get what hands-on experience they can. This year, we invited senior Miranda Boyd into our classroom. Today, she and I reflect on her practicum experience, what was successful and what was challenging, and where her experience is going to take her next.With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find this show alongside our other podcast, Second Stage, on major platforms likeSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0881bUWWdgkBdGzHlPNToi?si=b510a0cd363a4320Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/with-honors/id1797115480YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman’s Books. He’s on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/4HtulwbO10pOjV5hbdWOty?si=a23d92c90128476eand Apple Podcasts at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-deadmans-books/id1795582942as well as Haston Curation, on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/3O8GDUtqshbxFF7gU2FMwM?si=d15c2539fadd40fcThis episode also features “Groove Delight” by Musinova and inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

Most families send their kids to school, hopefully see them that afternoon or evening, and hear something about the school day. It’s a rare treasure to be able to spend the entire day with your kids, though, working in the same school they attend. You’re here with them for pep rallies and standardized testing, for class changes and ceremonies, for lockdowns and fire drills, for hall duty and bake sales, for snow days and the long days. This year, I have numerous kids who share the day with a mom or dad or, as in Sadie’s case, her grandma.This week is Mrs. B’s last at our school. And Sadie took this opportunity to share some fun memories they’ve had and talk with her “BB” about why family at school matters.With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find this show alongside our other podcast, Second Stage, on major platforms likeSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0881bUWWdgkBdGzHlPNToi?si=b510a0cd363a4320Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/with-honors/id1797115480YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman’s Books. He’s on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/4HtulwbO10pOjV5hbdWOty?si=a23d92c90128476eand Apple Podcasts at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-deadmans-books/id1795582942as well as Haston Curation, on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/3O8GDUtqshbxFF7gU2FMwM?si=d15c2539fadd40fcThis episode also features “Groove Delight” by Musinova and inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

In this week’s episode, two of the sweetest, nicest, kindest Honors kids venture into a lawless wasteland, an outlaw territory where rules do not follow and where the all-seeing eye is forbidden from watching. High school bathrooms. But Summer and Andrew aren’t here to just bewail the state of high school bathrooms. They also want to remind us why we can all be a little better. We need to stay hydrated, get our eight hours of sleep, and try — just try!! — to not be a deviant when you go to the high school restrooms.With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find With Honorson Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0881bUWWdgkBdGzHlPNToi?si=1HS8tQGXRyOgn1h5bs2pTgon Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/with-honors/id1797115480on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman's Books. He's on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/4HtulwbO10pOjV5hbdWOty?si=I5Tt07unQJWVhaFVsInP8A and Apple Podcasts at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-deadmans-books/id1795582942as well as Haston Curation, on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/3O8GDUtqshbxFF7gU2FMwM?si=b38ac16d08374671This episode features "Groove Delight" by Musinova and "Sipping on Jazz" by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

In this week’s episode, Maddie and Maylee discuss their initial impressions of sophomore year as well as the summer reading. Maylee went with the assigned novel, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. Maddie asked to read the alternate assignment, Yann Martel’s classic Life of Pi. Here, the two friends discuss overlapping parallels between their books: the search for identity, the meaning of faith, and the changing personality of You.With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find With Honorson Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0881bUWWdgkBdGzHlPNToi?si=1HS8tQGXRyOgn1h5bs2pTgon Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/with-honors/id1797115480on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman's Books. He's on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/4HtulwbO10pOjV5hbdWOty?si=I5Tt07unQJWVhaFVsInP8A and Apple Podcasts at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-deadmans-books/id1795582942as well as Haston Curation, on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/3O8GDUtqshbxFF7gU2FMwM?si=b38ac16d08374671This episode features "Groove Delight" by Musinova and "Sipping on Jazz" by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

Each week we’re showcasing one of the brilliant minds behind this season’s show. This feature gives them a shot at telling you what they care about, what their perspective on the world is, and where they’re going from here. This week we’re featuring another AP all-star. My first memory of her is when she and my daughter made a funny video their freshman year. And now, four years later, she’s grown in band, in her faith, in journalism, and in public relations. But recently she’s found out that reportage can sting, especially for those who don’t want to hear the truth.This week, I want you to meet Aubrey.With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. This episode features excerpts of music from “Heartbreaker” by Jahzzar and “Groove Delight” by Musinova, used here for educational non-profit purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

Ever fall in love with a book, get excited to see they’re making a movie out of it, and then get offended because they changed a character, or deleted a major detail, or added irrelevant material instead? No motion picture is ever going to live up to the hype you’ve generated in your own mind for a book you’ve spent weeks, months, or years with. But this week, three of the AP Lit girls walk us through their reactions to the adaptations for The Hunger Games trilogy, The Glass Castle, and the most recent version of Dune.With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find With Honorson Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0881bUWWdgkBdGzHlPNToi?si=1HS8tQGXRyOgn1h5bs2pTgon Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/with-honors/id1797115480on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman's Books. He's on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/4HtulwbO10pOjV5hbdWOty?si=I5Tt07unQJWVhaFVsInP8A and Apple Podcasts at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-deadmans-books/id1795582942as well as Haston Curation, on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/3O8GDUtqshbxFF7gU2FMwM?si=b38ac16d08374671This episode features "Groove Delight" by Musinova and "Sipping on Jazz" by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

Each week we’re showcasing one of the brilliant minds behind this season’s show. This feature gives them a shot at telling you what they care about, what their perspective on the world is, and where they’re going from here. This week’s first voice is one of the quietest, laconic voices I have in class this year, yet he’s also one of the most brilliant. Meet Camarkis.With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. This episode features excerpts of music from “Perpetuum Mobile” by Penguin Cafe Orchestra and “Groove Delight” by Musinova, used here for educational non-profit purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

It’s a new school year with a new group of students! In both Honors and AP, students complete the traditional first step of our journey together: the summer reading assignment. This year, the novel was Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. Zevin’s novel was about video games (which first hooked me), and true love, and friendship, and grief, and loss, and living all over again. In this first episode of the school year, I’m reviewing the book with a co-host who recommended it to me: Hannah Randolph, a former student in Honors 10, a former student teacher, and now a peer of mine in the department.Consider buying Zevin’s fantastic novel (and help convince her to be on our show and talk to the class).Also, this season we are launching a second podcast: Second Stage. It’s a show inspired by my college profs who taught amazing lessons through theatre and plays. Each episode considers a drama that ELA teachers may know of but which rarely gets enough play in the classroom. Why not? What merit does the play truly offer? And what are some cool things we could do to teach these plays?With Honors is a Free Zone Radio production. You can find With Honorson Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0881bUWWdgkBdGzHlPNToi?si=1HS8tQGXRyOgn1h5bs2pTgon Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/with-honors/id1797115480on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman's Books. He's on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/4HtulwbO10pOjV5hbdWOty?si=I5Tt07unQJWVhaFVsInP8A and Apple Podcasts at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-deadmans-books/id1795582942as well as Haston Curation, on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/3O8GDUtqshbxFF7gU2FMwM?si=b38ac16d08374671This episode features "Groove Delight" by Musinova and "Sipping on Jazz" by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

Ever since I first taught Honors English at our school, I’ve assigned a summer reading assignment. Beyond being a tradition or an assignment, I still believe summer reading is a healthy, useful routine. So many voices complain about “learning loss” during the summer months (and I agree, there is likely to be some, but not nearly enough so that I would ever, ever advocate for eliminating summer break. It may be an anachronism from an agrarian age of America, but the school year is far too packed with stresses for kids and adults both. Summer break is a vital must.). One way to combat any learning loss is to stay with the habit. You want to stay in shape? Keep doing your fitness. You want to stop gaining weight? Keep active and quit eating the slouchy foods. You want to stay in the top-tier brackets of your online competitive games, or among the top players of your sport? Keep playing, keep training, stay with it.I say this as a recitivist. I picked up jogging in high school, then quit when I began college and promptly gained weight. I picked up weightlifting in late college, then quit when I became a dad and teacher and gained even more weight. I know what it’s like to backslide, what it’s like to feel super sore from those first workouts returning to the gym. I also know what it’s like to have been a constant reader in high school and college, only to wane with the increasing activity of my phone. Putting the phone away, getting some reading glasses (now that I’m mid-40s), and hanging daily with my reader friends has brought me back from the edge. I know what it is to slip. And I know what it means to stay in shape.This summer my sophs were assigned a new book, one I’d never taught before. I considered going back to an old faithful like Life of Pi or The Alchemist, but I needed something new for this summer too. The mind and the heart and the life experience needed the stretch. So I picked Zevin’s novel Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.I anticipated a possible parent or student unhappy with the book. I did not anticipate so many parents or students unhappy with the novel. It really drove home the direction society has taken. But of course, parents should be concerned with what their students are learning in school these days. (And how wonderful that these parents aren’t blind to that!) As the teacher, my biggest concern is that I don’t want my students (or their families) flinching from a good read or good conversations. Zevin’s book has some cussers in it, and there is the scenario of the inappropriate teacher-student relationship. But Zevin doesn’t want us to applaud it. Zevin goes beyond it and gives us a book about relationships, videogames, childhood connections that drive our future adult selves, about grief, and innovation, and ambition.Today, I’m spending the episode walking my upcoming students through my process: how does Crockett approach a task like the summer reading assignment? How would he go through the first 50 pages? What does he annotate, and where does his thinking lead him?It’s still summer break (for at least a week or two, at any rate), but today I’m teaching again. Also: go watch the new Superman movie. You will feel really awesome about yourself and probably have the best afternoon ever after it.You can find With Honors on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0881bUWWdgkBdGzHlPNToi?si=1HS8tQGXRyOgn1h5bs2pTgon Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/with-honors/id1797115480on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brother podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman's Books. He's on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/4HtulwbO10pOjV5hbdWOty?si=I5Tt07unQJWVhaFVsInP8A and Apple Podcasts at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-deadmans-books/id1795582942This episode features excerpts from the Superman theme by John Williams, retro arcade music, and inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

S1 Summer School E2: Crockett, Haston, and Bryce"The State of Education (Part 1)"There are plenty of conversations that don’t need a microphone to matter. Those long, meandering ones that stretch across classroom desks or lounge chairs or chipped laminate tables in the teachers' workroom. Those end-of-the-year conversations that drift from lesson plans to life plans to whatever’s on someone’s true crime reading stack that week. But sometimes you realize a conversation does belong on tape. Not because it’s polished or prepared, but because it’s genuine. A once-in-a-blue-moon conversation with people you haven’t seen in forever, who might be gone for a while again. Once upon a time, it was their voices in this classroom, as our students. Recording a sit-down with them captures the authentic love we have for our students and the work we do, and it tunes in the worn-out laughter from the end of the semester. It hit upon something real about why we teach, why we stay, and why we sometimes consider leaving.Today’s episode is one of those.We gathered around a table on a Friday after school: me, my co-teacher Drew Haston, and Bryce Fox, a former student turned young dad who wanted to talk shop. He had questions about careers in education, whether it was worth it, whether it still made sense to pursue a path toward high school English, or maybe library science, or maybe something else entirely. He trusted us because he knew us way back when I had Bryce in class and Haston coached him on the field. And we trusted him enough to answer with more than just our professionally prepared teacher-voice answers.Also in the room: his wife Kelly, another former student with a smile that hasn't changed since sophomore year, and their baby boy.We talked about what works and what doesn’t. What the job asks of you and what it gives back, often in ways that don’t show up on a paycheck. We laughed a lot. We got a little nostalgic. We asked each other the hard questions. And more than anything, we remembered why school feels like a second home when it works the way it should.So, as summer break continues, grab a chair and settle in for part one of a rare kind of reunion: teachers, students, generations of voices, all still chasing the same thing. A better tomorrow.This is With Honors.You can find our show on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0881bUWWdgkBdGzHlPNToi?si=1HS8tQGXRyOgn1h5bs2pTgon Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/with-honors/id1797115480on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman's Books. He's on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/4HtulwbO10pOjV5hbdWOty?si=I5Tt07unQJWVhaFVsInP8A and Apple Podcasts at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-deadmans-books/id1795582942This episode features excerpts from W.G. Snuffy Walden's "Project Blue" from The Stand, nifty sound bites, and inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

Today’s episode was supposed to be a treat. Just a fun, end-of-the-year moment for Kylie and Hayley, two students who’ve helped anchor our podcast this season and who originally pitched this very idea back in their first recording. They wanted to taste-test Crumbl cookies and rate them, just for fun, just because. And we did. We laughed and told stories and joked about lemon cookies and Oreo overload. But like most things in our classroom, this small project was based upon a much bigger strategy.When I teach literary analysis, I always start with a strategy I learned from Dr. Michael Degen at Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas. We talk about the difference between Level 1 and Level 2 thinking. L1s are the raw material, the evidence, the details, the metaphors, the tone, the syntax. But the good stuff happens in the L2s. The inferences. The connections. The moments when the student-reader sees something on the page and decides what it means beyond the page. That’s the real art of analysis.In class, we start by teaching this strategy by looking at paintings and ads. "What is this really a story about, and why? What L2 assumptions are you getting? Because why? What L1 evidence leads you there?" In formal circumstances, we pivot this immediately into analytical writing.In this episode, Kylie and Hayley didn’t just taste cookies. They unwittingly pulled from that strategy and analyzed them. They pointed to their L1s: the flavor notes, the sweet-to-salt ratios, the texture contrasts, the unnecessary sprinkles, the bite-by-bite breakdowns. But then they made their L2 connections. This cookie might have reminded them of Gatsby’s glittering chaos. The nuanced notes of this one might have tasted like the disappointment of dating Romeo. Another cookie bite might have been a total flop, all style and no substance. What connections they made were clever and funny, but the taste test was also an honest application of the skills we spent all year building in class. And hearing it all come together in a goofy cookie-tasting session felt like the right kind of full-circle moment.It also felt like a chance to breathe. A little unpolished, a little messy, and all the better for it. This is our first episode to drop after the school year has officially ended, the beginning of what we’re calling our “summer school edition.” These are the recordings that didn’t quite make it out before the bell rang and the halls emptied, but they deserve a space here anyway. Because what the kids created, what they learned and said and laughed through, matters.This episode also gave me a chance to spotlight our Big Summer Reads. This year Honors 10 is diving into Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, a story about creativity, connection, and the way videogames mirror the lives we live. AP Lit is reading Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, a novel rich with voice and longing, paired with A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare’s tangled dream of love and illusion. And for the bold readers among us, we're tackling Stephen King's The Stand, an American epic that helped shape the adult reader I became. Coach Haston and I will be reading it in 300-page chunks and podcasting about it through the back-half of summer.But first: cookies. Lots of cookies. This is With Honors. And this is what literary analysis tastes like after a long semester.You can find With Honors on Spotify:on Apple Podcastson YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman's Books. He's on Spotify atand Apple PodcastsThis episode features excerpts from W.G. Snuffy Walden's "Project Blue" from The Stand, retro arcade music, and inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

I grew up in the pixelated TV light of the 1980s, when Nintendo and Sega didn’t just entertain. They baptized us into something new. I was nine years old when I first played Super Mario Bros. for the first time at my cousin Darrin’s house, and I remember that moment the way some people remember their first kiss. It was instant. It was electric. The 8bit music was like neon-pink candy in my ears. The colors of the scenes tickled my eyes. The hard plastic of the controller pressed itself against my thumb, branding me with the Nintendo arrow. And I was hooked. I played so much that I started inventing challenges for myself: playing upside down, playing backwards, testing the limits of what a controller and a kid’s imagination could do. I still get the sweats about nigh-unbeatable games like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I still remember waking from a dream in fifth grade, stuck somewhere deep inside Bowser’s castle, my brain insisting on figuring out the solution to this level.But even then, before I had the conceptual language for it, I knew this wasn’t just a toy. It wasn’t just sound and light and dopamine.It was story. It was stakes. It was agency.In today’s episode, Mary, Zoe, and Abi try to unravel that same mystery: why video games matter, why they aren’t just distractions, and how they might belong in a high school Honors English class. They wander sometimes. They gush over FNAF and Undertale and other favorites. But they also get somewhere honest. They reflect on empathy, on the upheaval of their childhood homes, on narrative choice, on the ways videogames let us step into a world and test ourselves, make mistakes, grow. Because being in the story changes the story. The videogame gives us a chance to claim power over a destiny that, in the real world, we are often denied.Books take us on a path someone else has paved. Games let us choose. Fail. Reload. Respawn. Try again. A novel’s ending is already printed on the page, no matter what you do, inevitable. But in a videogame, the ending is yours to shape, or to sabotage, or to chase down again and again until you get it right. That’s more than entertainment. That’s training for life.And for a lot of us (players, readers, thinkers), that’s a pretty good metaphor for growing up.These three girls are too young to have played the games I grew up with. They’ve never blown the dust out of an NES cartridge or played upside down on a beanbag chair until way past bedtime. But they know. They know what it feels like to lose yourself in a world, to learn something from it, to come out changed. And as we draw toward wrapping up this school year (and this season of our podcast), I think it’s fitting to place this episode here. With stories that move, that shift, that let us try again. With students who see art where others might only see screens.Give it a listen. And if you still think video games have no value to the developing human mind, you might just be playing the wrong ones.You can find With Honors on Spotify:on Apple Podcasts:and on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman's Books. He's online atThis episode features excerpts from W.G. Snuffy Walden's "Project Blue" from The Stand, retro arcade music, and inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

Some seasons in the classroom feel like an airliner taking off: loud, kinetic, every system strained to its edge. Other seasons feel like landing that jetliner: calculated, quiet, nothing flashy, just the long exhale of something safely brought home. And some feel like landing that jetliner in a fury of storm, screams, and alarms. This year, we felt a little bit of it all.And now, we're in the final descent. Books are put away. Room 117 is being packed up. The turbulence is behind us, and summer is straight ahead. Finally.This episode of With Honors was recorded just before we began that final descent. The end-of-course exams were one day ahead of us, vacation not far beyond that, and in the middle of it all, this moment. A chance to stop and ask: What have you carried through this year? What are you holding onto now?The answers weren’t rehearsed. They came in fragments, in passing thoughts, in sudden clarity. Some spoke of exhaustion, the kind that settles inside when you're holding up too much for too long. Some talked about the friction between school and home, between expectation and reality. A few surprised themselves, remembering how it felt to read as Mark Antony (or in Brian's case, how it felt to read as Caesar's wife Calpurnia). Some took the chance to throw their lazy group members under the bus, and some imagined what the testing season sounded like as a soundtrack. Quite a few are heading into summer with ambition: a job, a plan, a paycheck. Others just want quiet, to let the mind rest.There’s something honest about this group. Something I’ve come to admire. They’ve learned how to ask better questions, how to sit with complexity, how to name what matters without rushing to solve it. They've learned how to write about it, talk about it, and now, how to record shows about it.This episode doesn’t try to tie a bow on the year. Not just yet. It just listens. To where we’ve been. To where they are now. To what it means to come this far.You can find With Honors on Spotify:on Apple Podcastson YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman's Books. He's on Spotify atand Apple PodcastsThis episode features inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

Some relationships in this job stretch far beyond the bell schedule. They're not neatly tucked into gradebooks or graduation years. They don’t end with a final exam or a diploma. Some relationships, like the one Kyla and I share, just keep circling back, evolving, deepening, surprising us both with where they land next.In this episode of With Honors, I get to sit down once again with my many-times-over student Kyla. She was once a wide-eyed, ambitious honors 10th grader in my English class, quick-witted, thoughtful, a little unsure, but already burning with potential. Later, she became a senior in my AP Lit class, then my student assistant. Then she came back to visit during college. And came back again. And again. Eventually, she returned not just as a former student but as a peer when she was placed here as my student teacher. And now she’s launching into her own teaching career, guiding her own middle school students, who will undoubtedly return to her someday.To close out Teacher Appreciation Week, Kyla sat down with me for a conversation that feels like the full-circle kind. We talk about what it meant to be her teacher, what it meant for her to come back as mine, what scared her and what made her proud, how she found her own voice, and what it means to move from being taught to becoming the teacher.There’s laughter here, especially in the ending, when she tries her hand at impersonating me. There’s warmth and nervousness and reflection. There’s appreciation in both directions. Because this job, at its best, is never just about instruction. It’s about influence, and continuity, and the quiet power of showing up for each other across the years.If you've ever been shaped by a teacher or had the honor of shaping someone else, you'll hear something familiar in this episode: the way teaching weaves us together, year after year, into something bigger than any single lesson plan.You can find With Honors on Spotify:on Apple Podcastson YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman's Books. He's on Spotify atand Apple PodcastsThis episode features inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

Some Fridays just hit different.It was skinny block, we had coffee that could only be described as delicioso, and the three of us—Alondra, Coach Haston, and I—sat down in what can only be described as a perfect pocket of time. No formal script. No real agenda. Just a conversation that rolled from student growth to teacher growth, from being teens to becoming adults, from English class to the weight room to life in general. And laughter. So much laughter. That good natural laughter that leaves your belly a little sore and your coffee cold.This episode comes out as we launch into Teacher Appreciation Week, which feels especially fitting. Because this one’s a love letter, really: to the classrooms that shape us, the mentors who guide us, and the students who remind us why we do what we do. Alondra, now a sophomore, wanted to bring the two English teachers who’ve taught her—first Coach Haston in 9th grade, now me in 10th—onto the pod, not to spotlight herself but to shine some light on what it means to grow together. And man, what a gift that is.There’s something brilliant about getting to teach a student and then seeing them again a year later. Older, a little wiser, more confident. There’s something equally brilliant about looking across the table at your colleague and realizing: we’ve grown too. We’re not the same teachers we were when we met these kids. We’ve gotten better, and maybe softer. We’ve learned from them as much as they’ve learned from us.This isn’t just an episode; it’s a snapshot of gratitude. For the hard days (and there are plenty!) and the hilarious ones (which should be more plentiful!). For the ones who walk into our classrooms and surprise us, challenge us, teach us, and then somehow keep circling back. These conversations are a kind of time capsule now, one I can open whenever I need a reminder of what matters most.So, whether you’re a teacher looking for a little affirmation, a student who’s had a mentor change their life, or just someone who wants to sip their coffee and smile along with us, this episode is for you.You can find With Honors on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0881bUWWdgkBdGzHlPNToi?si=1HS8tQGXRyOgn1h5bs2pTgon Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/with-honors/id1797115480on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman's Books. He's on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/4HtulwbO10pOjV5hbdWOty?si=I5Tt07unQJWVhaFVsInP8A and Apple Podcasts at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-deadmans-books/id1795582942This episode features inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

In this (and every) episode of With Honors, we try to do something simple but important: have a real conversation.It seems that more and more often, we can't openly discuss the important things, because the important things lead to louder and louder arguments. Vitriol. Venom. Ideological entrenchment. But my purpose as a high school English teacher is to train our students to be better writers, critical thinkers, engaged readers, and more informed citizens.The line is often thrown about these days that teachers are indoctrinating our children (except, we mostly joke, that if we could indoctrinate the kids, we would start by indoctrinating them to turn in their work and wear deodorant). But I truly believe that most teachers would reject that, instead envisioning ourselves not teaching the kids WHAT to think but rather teaching them HOW to think. I don't want kids to merely parrot what a teacher tells them any more than I want them to have ChatGPT write their essays for them. I want kids to ask questions. I want them to question everything. We as parents, teachers, preachers, lawmakers, bosses, influencers, corporate tycoons, etc. have engineered a society with a set of rules. And it's my job as a parent, as a teacher, to help maintain those rules for the young who aren't yet ready to move beyond them. Like the Jurassic Park keepers, we maintain the fences to maintain the park. But eventually, the raptors test the fences. Kids test those rulesets. It's natural. I think the normal process of growing into adulthood requires us not only to test these fences but also one day to break them down. Because then we must figure them out for ourselves. Rebuild those walls, those rulesets, in the way we believe they are meant to be. Sometimes you keep the same bricks that were handed down to you, and sometimes you keep these bricks but not those bricks, or maybe you place them back in a different order. Becoming an adult means figuring out the paradigms for yourself and rebuilding them to be better.Which leads us back to the classroom. With Hunter and Solomon, talking Bradbury's classic, Fahrenheit 451.Originally Hunter had designed this to be a discussion about "Communist indoctrination and Fahrenheit 451," which had me hesitant. I didn't know if he had an agenda to push about Bradbury peddling a Communist agenda, or if he aimed to argue that the novel is the fulfillment of Communist teachings. But it turned out to be another down-to-earth conversation about what we read, what we think, what we don't know enough about, and what we hope for the future. Even though I knew we would find ourselves to be reasonable, it still surprised me how much the boys and I ended up agreeing upon. It gives me hope that, even in as argumentative and polarized a society as we seem to live in today, most people probably inhabit the calm, reasonable middle. It leads me back to a maxim I have reasserted again and again this year: if we can't talk about everything, then we can't talk about anything. We should be able to talk about it all. Not yell at each other. Not be unreasonable. But talk, and listen.Hopefully, you believe the world needs more real conversations, not just louder ones. In that case, this episode is for you.You can find With Honors on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0881bUWWdgkBdGzHlPNToi?si=1HS8tQGXRyOgn1h5bs2pTgon Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/with-honors/id1797115480on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman's Books. He's on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/4HtulwbO10pOjV5hbdWOty?si=I5Tt07unQJWVhaFVsInP8A and Apple Podcasts at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-deadmans-books/id1795582942This episode features inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

Get your opinions ready and your feelings slightly bruised, because Bella, Miya, and Ily are loaded with hot takes in this week’s episode of With Honors. The trio makes its debut on the pod by lighting the match on the class's attitudes toward books, names, music, whatever.First on the chopping block? Fahrenheit 451 and that ending everyone either loves or pretends to understand. Then it’s onto the summer reading: was the book actually that deep, or did we all just say that because it had short chapters and sounded smart? And in the most diabolical twist of all, the girls attempt to decode which Taylor Swift song fits their teacher’s vibe. Let’s just say… there’s a message in a bottle, and it causes ripples among the three weird sisters.It’s part literary roast, part cultural critique, and all delivered with the energy of three sophomores who’ve earned the right to speak freely... and a little sassily. Buckle up.You can find With Honorson Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0881bUWWdgkBdGzHlPNToi?si=1HS8tQGXRyOgn1h5bs2pTgon Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/with-honors/id1797115480on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wAlso, throw some love at our brotherly podcast with Coach Haston, A Deadman's Books. He's on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/4HtulwbO10pOjV5hbdWOty?si=I5Tt07unQJWVhaFVsInP8Aand Apple Podcasts at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-deadmans-books/id1795582942This episode features inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

Zoe and Callie crack open the emotional and ironic heart of Kate Chopin’s "Story of an Hour" in this week’s episode of With Honors. Chopin's story is used every year in ELA classrooms. It’s one of those tales that hides a whole thunderstorm of truth in a single moment: about the rules of marriage, social expectations, freedom, and the things we assume about the people closest to us. The girls take that apart with a kind of honesty and empathy, connecting Chopin’s 19th-century widow to the invisible pressure points of teen life today. What does it mean to want space? To feel trapped by expectations? To be misunderstood even when everyone sitting beside you in class means well? They don’t dodge the hard stuff. Instead, they lean into it, showing how a 600-word story can still spark big realizations about the way we live, love, and see each other (or fail to). Bonus points if you can catch the series of bells, voices, and intercom announcements from the end-of-day school chaos that threatened to steal the mic. It's the honest sound of a regular school day, but Zoe and Callie stay locked in, like pros, proving that when a story lands, nothing can really drown it out.You can find With Honors on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or our channel on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wThis episode features inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

This week, on a very special episode of With Honors and A Deadman's Books...Two teachers. One timeless novel. And a live studio audience of thirty-six teenagers who may or may not be paying attention (but definitely are).Mr. Crockett and Mr. Haston join forces in a once-in-a-century classroom crossover celebrating the 100th anniversary of The Great Gatsby. Part podcast masterclass, part literary love letter, and part witty dad hangout, this episode brings the heat from the Valley of Ashes straight to the front of our classroom.Why does Gatsby still resonate in the world of 2025? Is Nick Carraway at all sympathetic? Why should people quit saying "I wish we had a Gatsby-themed wedding"? And is the American Dream just a really shiny illusion with jazz hands?Stick around for the final act, when brave students step up to the mic to ask the wise men their burning questions and get answers they’ll never forget (or at least answers with great vocabulary).Don’t miss this special crossover event! And be sure to check out Coach Haston's work on his podcast, A Deadman’s Books, on Spotify! Find him at https://open.spotify.com/show/4HtulwbO10pOjV5hbdWOty?si=79dc55afad0e42f1 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

Testing season is upon us, and things are getting hectic around here, but that’s not stopping the students from rolling out some of the best episodes yet. In this teaser, I wanted to give a heads up to what’s coming to With Honors as we wind down the school year and rev up the podcast.First up? A major crossover event: our next full episode features a live, in-class recording with Mr. Drew Haston of A Deadman’s Books as we dig into The Great Gatsby in front of a live student audience. Coach Haston was a senior here when I started teaching, and now he teaches freshman English and journalism for my department. I've grown pretty close to him these last few years, and the class podcast wouldn’t even be here if it weren't for his influence. This episode was a neat trick to record. It’s got everything: literary insights, baseball metaphors, marriage stories, dad jokes, and even student questions at the mic. It was one of those singular moments of my school year, the kind you know you’ll never forget.You’ll also hear previews of what’s ahead: episodes from Solomon and Hunter as they tackle censorship, propaganda, and Fahrenheit 451 (and somehow deliver one of the funniest episodes yet). Also, Alondra teams up with Coach Haston, who was her freshman English teacher, for a co-hosted conversation that’s relaxed, smart, and full of heart (with a little caffeine-fueled pep, too). These aren’t just assignments. They’re honest, reflective, thoughtful conversations that mean something.We’re planning to release multiple episodes a week until summer break, capturing as many student voices as we can before the school year ends. You’ll also hear some bonus episodes with former students looking back on their time in class and how it shaped where they are now, plus a few summer surprises, if Coach Haston keeps jogging and continues getting genius ideas.Season 1 has been all about finding our sound, our rhythm, and our purpose. These episodes are full of voice, vulnerability, humor, and wisdom, and we’re so glad you’ve come along for the ride.Stick around. It’s about to get even better.Follow A Deadman’s Books on Spotify at http://open.spotify.com/show/4HtulwbO10pOjV5hbdWOty?si=6b05d146fff94c84 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

Get ready to turn the volume up! Liv and Tori have a lot to say (and play) in this episode of With Honors. From their favorite study tunes to the songs they swear belong on a Great Gatsby playlist, these two bring energy, insight, and more than a few strong opinions. They talk through how music shapes their focus during classwork, why certain lyrics feel tailor-made for Gatsby’s world, and how personal anthems help define who they are. Along the way, they connect attitudes of beauty and romance from Fitzgerald’s novel to the music that moves them most. It’s a smart, spirited conversation that blends literary analysis with genuine personality, exactly what the kids on With Honors do best.You can find With Honors on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or our channel on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5wThis episode features inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. We also reference pieces by some pretty famous artists: “Party 4 U” by Charlie XCX; “Young and Beautiful” by Lana Del Rey; “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody” by Fergie, GoonRock, and Q-Tip; “Shut Up My Moms Calling” by Hotel Ugly; “Lost” by Frank Ocean; and “More Than a Feeling” by Boston. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

This week on With Honors, Amberlynn and Katie take the mic for a patient, and at times delightfully unexpected, exploration of symbolism in literature. Starting again with Remarkably Bright Creatures, they unpack the deeper meanings behind characters like Tova and Marcellus and explore how age can be a symbolic season of life. From there, the discussion takes a darker turn into Edgar Allan Poe’s cautionary tale "The Masque of the Red Death." They balance Prince Prospero's symbolic role as a corrupt elite celebrity against similar corrupt celebrity figures of today. We discuss how isolation (especially that of the 2020 pandemic) feels eerily relevant to the world today. As students eventually do, they entertain the idea of a class pet. Since one girl is an FFA member working in a vet’s office and the other has experience raising exotic animals for fairs, finding the right symbolic class pet is right in their wheelhouse.This episode features inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license.You can find With Honors on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or our channel on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCweufFHJbylu4tR598SDj5w This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

In this episode of With Honors, Halle, Maddie, and Riley dive into Shelby Van Pelt’s 2020 novel Remarkably Bright Creatures, the summer read that kicked off their journey into Honors English. They share their reactions to the novel’s remarkable characters, discuss how it compares to other bright works from the class, and reflect on the themes that stuck with these creatures. Along the way, they offer pro-tips for next year’s Honors students, like what to expect, how to approach the summer read, and why it’s more than just another assignment.This episode features inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

In this episode of With Honors, Rhaleigh, Addison, and Taegan open up about the unique challenges of being students balancing Honors English with basketball season. Taegan shares what it's like to juggle intense practices, games, and coursework, while Rhaleigh and Addison reflect on their roles as managers supporting the team while managing school, work, and home responsibilities. The girls get real about handling pressure, mental health struggles, and the value of finding balance. They also share their excitement about the upcoming playoffs, their gratitude for a guidance counselor who feels like family, and their appreciation for teachers who show up to support them outside the classroom. Plus, they have some fun unpacking Gen Z slang — all after powering through an unexpected fire drill.This episode features inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

In this episode of With Honors, Wyatt and Zane join the quest to face down the ultimate literary beast: the dragon. Armed with our knowledge of symbolism, our pop culture expertise, and our love for all things fantasy, we charge headfirst into the legends to unravel why these creatures have captivated us for centuries. From the fire-breathing terrors of Western myths to the wise, celestial beings of Eastern tradition, we battle through layers of symbolism, Biblical lore, character depictions, movie references, and archetypal meaning. In this clash with the great wyrm of literary analysis, we try to uncover what dragons reveal about our fears, our ambitions, and the stories that define us.This episode features inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

In this episode of With Honors, sophs Kylie and Hayley break down their top 10 tips for approaching Honors 10 English. From the reality of Crockett's "half-sheet-of-paper" quizzes to the best strategies for reading and annotating novels outside of class, they share what they’ve learned along the way. Kylie discusses her perspective on balancing classwork against procrastination, while Hayley offers insight into adjusting to a new school and a new Honors arena. Together, they unpack what they wish they had known from day one, offering advice, anecdotes, and a few laughs along the way.This episode features inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

In this episode of With Honors, "Words in Motion," sophomores Mary and Kara explore the art of poetry and how tools like TPCASTT can transform the way we read and analyze verse. As they walk through the TPCASTT process step by step, they discuss how tone, imagery, and structure shape meaning. They also reminisce about previous classes and why poetry isn’t as intimidating as it first seems. Mary shares how her perspective on poetry has evolved through practice, while Kara reflects on both her and her family's attitudes toward poets like Edgar Allan Poe and Will Shakespeare. Together, they show that poetry analysis isn’t about finding a single right answer, but rather about engaging with the text in a meaningful way.This episode features inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com

In this episode of With Honors, sophomores Larissa and Wesley dive into Frieda McFadden’s thriller The Housemaid and the unsettling ways it plays with perception and deception. As they discuss the danger of judging a book by its cover—both literally and figuratively—they reflect on how first impressions can be misleading, not just in literature but in life. Wesley shares how his initial assumptions about The Housemaid were completely upended, while Larissa connects the novel’s themes to the misconceptions she had about taking an Honors English class. Together, they unpack why those snap judgments can be limiting, how their perspectives have shifted, and what this class has taught them about looking beyond the surface.This episode features inspiring piano music by BlackTrendMusic, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license.Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jcrock.substack.com