earlier, i spoke with rebecka peterson, the 2023 us national teacher of the year. tulsa, oklahoma. rebecka peterson, you've been a teacher now for well over a decade but you've described your first year of teaching as quite a difficult one. why was that? yeah, so, i started teaching at the college level and then, after three years of teaching at the college level, i switched to the high school level and it was that — that year of switching that was really a challenge for me, right? i went from this classroom where students were paying to hear what i had to say to this classroom where students were more or less forced what i had to say, and that was a shock to my system and, to be honest, i wasn't sure that was going to make it. i thought, you know, "this is hard" but eventually, i found my rhythm and i found that i absolutely loved teaching high school students and they have become the best pieces of me. you're an immigrant of swedish—iranian descent. you went to school in many countries around the world before you arrived in america. do you find that us classrooms

earlier, i spoke with rebecka peterson, the 2023 us national teacher of the year.a, oklahoma. rebecka peterson, you've been a teacher now for well over a decade but you describe your first year of teaching as quite a difficult one. i was that? yeah, so, istarted a difficult one. i was that? yeah, so, i started teaching at the college level and after three years of teaching at the couege three years of teaching at the college level, a switch to the high school level and it was that year of switching that was really a challenge for me, right? it went from this classroom where students were paying to hear what i had to say to this student web —— this classroom students were forced what i had to say and it was a shock to my system and to be honest, i wasn't sure i was going to make it. i thought, you know, this is hard. but eventually, ifound my rhythm and ifound eventually, ifound my rhythm and i found that i absolutely loved teaching high school students and they have become the best pieces of me. you students and they have become the best pieces of me.- the best pie

rebecka peterson, the us national teacher of the year, thank you forjoining us. teacher of the year,the shelves of public schools hitting a 21—year high in 2022, according to a report by the american library association. a pen america report lists over 1,400 instances of individual book bans that affected 874 unique titles from july to december 2022. bans are the most prevalent in the states of florida, missouri, utah, south carolina and texas, which tops the list with over a38 book bans. and they include works by acclaimed authors like the bluest eye by toni morrison, the handmaid's tale by marget atwood and a court of mist and fury by sarah] maas. these titles depict stories that touch on themes of violence, sexual abuse, loss and/or lgbtq+ topics, providing new hurdles for educators in their classrooms. for more on this, my colleague caitriona perry was joined friday by tamara gilkes borr, us policy correspondent for the economist. she was a new york city public school teacher for five years. and mary wood, an english teacher at chapin high school in south carolina. she began by a