In this episode of The Balanced Educator podcast, we’re interviewing Amanda Warren, an Educalme Teacher alumni and Educalme Classroom teacher.
Amanda Warren lives in a small town in Vermont with her husband, and their one-year old kiddo Hattie. Amanda is Co-Director and a teacher at Bridge School, a small, independent elementary school that focus on the four key values of: community, creativity, exploration, and communication. Amanda studies Conservation Biology, and Education at Middlebury College, and has a M.Ed. in elementary education from Lesley University. When not at school, Amanda can be found training for marathons, birding, and serving as Vice President of the Board of Directors at her local natural foods Co-op.
Amanda tells us about how her independent school is structured, it is quite different from a traditional school. With the small class sizes and mixed age learning environment teachers are able to support their students with student led learning and they tailor topics and projects to their students’ unique interests and needs.
Amanda talks about how looping in her school has allowed her to develop great relationships with her students and has allowed her to really get to know each students’ learning styles. The small school and teaching team allows them to remain flexible and adapt to their students’ needs.
Amanda explains how they turned the challenge of fidget spinners being brought to school into a rich learning topic across the curriculum.
Amanda compares her experience and the challenges in a more traditional school to her small independent school.
Amanda explains how the older students in her school mentor the younger students and how they develop meaningful relationships across K-6.
Amanda explains why, even though she’s trained in teaching yoga and mindfulness, she chose to take Educalme Teacher and use Educalme Classroom rather than teaching it herself.
Amanda talks about how her students are transferring what they’re learning during their Educalme Classroom practice to their lives inside and outside of the classroom.
Amanda explains what her biggest takeaways are from taking the Educalme Teacher course and who she would recommend this course to.
You can learn more about Bridge School and connect with Amanda at https://bridgeschoolvermont.org/.
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