In today’s episode of My Disney Class Podcasts, Howie and Ryan welcome Dan Zehr, teacher, and host of the extremely popular Star Wars podcast called Coffee With Kenobi. Howie and Ryan have known about Dan’s work for some time and have been really interested in learning more and then after Ryan met him at the Disney Indy Meet, they learned that not only was he an incredibly genuine guy but the amount of projects and impact he’s having in both the educational and Star Wars Fandom circles is incredible! So Dan may not be a droid but he’s definitely the guy you’re looking for if you want to be inspired to bring your content to life in meaningful and engaging ways.
Not only is Dan the host of Coffee With Kenobi, a podcast that seeks to examine the Star Wars universe through a critical lens but he is also an English teacher at the high school level. He finds critical thinking in mythology and storytelling fascinating, as it helps us to understand more about our culture and ourselves. Dan has a Master’s in Teaching and Learning and loves film, as well as literature. He is also a member of The Rogues ( as Blue Leader ), a network of educators from Star Wars in the Classroom. Dan lives and teaches in central Illinois with his wife and three boys.
On the show today you will hear all about how Dan inspires students in his classrooms to make their learning meaningful and personal to them. He shares several of his classroom projects and philosophies that are sure to inspire you to stretch your teaching and practices hopefully will encourage your students to reach for the stars. We will also hear about Dan’s podcast, his passion for Star Wars, and some of his side projects like STEAM into Star Wars and a commercial he did for Target. After listening to this episode we feel strongly that you will agree that the force is strong with this master of teaching, Jedi Dan Z!
