In this special series of Classroom Caffeine in collaboration with the Stories-To-Live-By Collective, we highlight this group of K–12 teachers from across the state of Florida and former teachers now in higher education who are working together to sensemake and take action. We talk with educators and researchers who are working together to explore how literacy teaching can respond to the climate crisis. Since 2021, they have gathered in person and online to write, make art, share stories, and reflect on how climate change is shaping our classrooms and communities. Supported by grants and partnerships, they hold regular workshops a nd virtual meetings, creating space for teachers to learn from one another while navigating challenges like book bans, censorship laws, and the realities of living through major hurricanes.
Through this work, the group is studying how teachers use stories, place-based activities, and multimodal composing to bring climate change into English Language Arts classrooms. Their collaborative research asks: How do teachers tell stories about climate change? How do they navigate the political, social, and environmental pressures of their schools? And how can they build new literacies that prepare young people for more just and livable futures?
In each episode of this special series, we talk with a collaborator in the Stories-To-Live-By Collective about their experiences, connections, and learning through this work together.
Dr. Alexandra Panos grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and taught middle school in Chicago before doing her PhD in rural Indiana. Her parents and sisters moved to Florida 25 years ago, so this has been a second home for quite a while, although she only just moved her in 2019. It was her experience of learning to be an engaged Floridian, socially, politically, and environmentally, that led her to convene work related to the intersections of her passions: literacy, teacher power, and education for the climate crisis. She lives in St. Petersburg with her partner, two rescue dogs, and Drusilla, the cat, who demanded to live with them in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.
Alex is an Associate Professor of Literacy Studies and Affiliate Faculty in Measurement and Research at the University of South Florida. Alex is the principal investigator in the Stories-To-Live-By Collective.
To cite this episode:
Persohn, L. (Host). (2025, Sept 9). A Stories-To-Live-By Conversation with Alex Panos. (Season 6, No. 2) [Audio podcast episode]. In Classroom Caffeine Podcast series. https://www.classroomcaffeine.com/guests. DOI: 10.5240/0961-9AD3-E8F2-0A28-7965-U
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