Episodes
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These days my inbox is filled with two kinds of questions.
Can you give me some advice for writing end-of-year reports?Do you have suggestions for making summer planning easier?Luckily, I have thoughts on both of those topics. You can find lots of information about them both on the blog. But I mention this just because it points out the dilemma that teachers face right now.
The blog post for this episode.
Waldorf at Work, my Substack newsletter. -
In this episode, I take a look at the Waldorf traditions and ceremonies that mark students' development and transitions. Waldorf is really good at marking time in this way and it's one of the things many of us really love about Waldorf Education.
The blog post for this episode.
Waldorf at Work: My super-practical, actionable Substack newsletter.
Email me about summer mentoring.
Interested in my Summer Planning course? I'm in the process of deciding if I'm going to run this course. Let me know if you're interested. -
Missing episodes?
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Interested in following me on my new adventure? You can subscribe at:
waldorfatwork.substack.com
Also in this episode, I talk about the question I hate most: "Am I Waldorf enough?" I talk through the assumptions that are embedded in this question and some of the reasons why they are completely misguided.
Because, newsflash, Waldorf is not about playing the flute, singing songs, or spending lots of time outside. It's about doing those things out of an understanding of the impact that they have on students. And you can be a great Waldorf teacher, even if you don't know how to draw a horse.
Read more of my ideas about this in this post on Waldorf at Work. -
How do you demonstrate your commitment to learning and growing? What mistakes have you made recently? How do you show others that it's okay to make mistakes? And how do you make sure you're REALLY okay with making mistakes?
Finding these answers has been a big part of my work recently, and my own path as a learning, growing human being -- even as a grown-up. It's also the topic of my new project Evolving Pigeon -- even old birds learn and grow.
Here are links to some of the things I talked about this week.
Evolving Pigeon
Instagram
Facebook
A Waldorf Journey
Send me an email or a DM with your own growth mindset experiences. -
A brand new episode catching you up on why I left teaching and what I'm doing now.
Mentioned in this episode
My website, A Waldorf Journey
Blog post about my decision to leave teaching
Blog post about telling my students
A post about walking the growth mindset talk
My new project, Evolving Pigeon, for adult fans of the growth mindset
The Practical Art of the Waldorf Classroom
My other courses
My curriculum guides
Follow me on Instagram
The Facebook group
Interested in mentorship or sponsorship? Email me at [email protected] -
Recently I was working with some teachers who are getting ready to teach 7th grade and we were talking about the creative writing block most often called Wish, Wonder and Surprise. We had a conversation about each one of these gestures and what makes them different from each other. And we talked about how to have this conversation with students.
Wish
Wish is pretty clear. When I taught 7th grade, the students and I talked about the difference between a wish, a hope and a dream. And we talked about how these words take on a different meaning when your wish, hope or dream is for someone else, or when it’s for the world.
Surprise
Surprise is also fairly clear. It’s that feeling when you’re confronted with something so unexpected that it takes you off-guard. It’s easy to confuse surprise and wonder in this way, but surprise is much more unsettling. Surprise can cause someone to feel a little fearful.
Defining Wonder
And then there’s wonder. Wonder is a feeling that is much more difficult to define. I know, as a teacher, that wonder is a feeling that I want to inspire in my students. I have this sense that wonder is essential to the learning process, but I have a hard time describing what it is.
So, in preparation for this episode, I did a little research. I found an article on neuroscience that attempts to describe the role that wonder plays in learning. Here are some of the things the article said:
Wonder is an inner desire to learn that awaits reality in order to be awakened.The scope of wonder is greater than that of curiosity.Wonder is the center of all motivation and action in the child.Wonder is what makes life genuinely personal.Beauty is what triggers wonder.Another article defined wonder by describing the play, exploration, imagination and discovery that often happens for students outside the classroom as they play outside or pretend with friends. And the article sadly mentioned that most of this is left outside the door when students enter a typical classroom. That sense of wonder and awe is not inspired when they take a test or fill in the blanks on a worksheet.
I also found a school website that tried to summarize and define wonder as it described the school’s curriculum. They tried to define wonder by describing phenomena like …
caterpillars turning into butterfliesbean seeds sproutingthe phases of the moonthe sun rising and settingthe movement of the cloudsContemplating these phenomena was probably the closest I got to actually understanding and settling on a definition of wonder in my research.
Experiences of Wonder
The thing is, wonder is really hard to define, but you know it when you experience it. So I decided to think about moments in my own life when I remember feeling what I would describe as wonder.
My examples of experiences of wonder
My poor efforts at defining wonder
an inbreath, like your breath is taken away a little bitviewing something you’ve seen before completely differentlyan openingAnd this last bit is why wonder is so important to learning. When students enter a state of wonder, an opening is created. A possibility arises for them to view the world differently and to come to a different understanding.
Wonder in the Classroom
So, if wonder is so important to learning, how can we create
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It’s August, so I’m headlong in planning mode. And though there are many things competing for my time these days, working on my planning is one the tasks that I actually look forward to every day.
It’s also the one thing that teachers ask me for the most help with. I feel lucky that planning is something that I enjoy so much, and it definitely makes a difference in my classroom. I start the year feeling prepared. I head into every new block with a solid plan. And I start each day knowing exactly where my lesson is going.
Now, all this planning isn’t to say that I’m not flexible. I definitely recognize the value of deviating from the plan when necessary, and I do that often. But having a plan gives me the confidence to feel free enough to deviate. It’s the plan that allows for the creativity. It’s that old from form comes freedom notion.
So, how can you love planning? There are two main things that make the planning love happen for me.
Supplies
The first is supplies. I confess that I’m a sucker for stationery and beautiful office supplies. I’ve used a variety of different planning systems through the years and I’ve found success with all of them. I find that switching things up every now and then makes me love my planning even more.
Some of my most popular blog posts and podcasts have been about the planning systems I’ve used. I’ll link to them in the show notes.
What Waldorf Teachers Do in JulySupplies for Waldorf Teacher PlanningHobonichi for TeachersHow Notion Has Completely Transformed My LifeHow to Plan Your School Year AND Enjoy Your SummerHere are some of the supplies that make my planning experience enjoyable. (I’ll link to some of these in the show notes and some of them are affiliate links.)
a nice fountain pen (Lamy, TWSBI)a planner (Hobonichi, Ink+Volt, Papier, Plum Paper)a notebook (Notebook Therapy, Rhodia, Clairefontaine)a large sketchbook (Dick Blick, Denik)Want a Plum Paper planner for 10% off? Email me at [email protected] and I’ll send you the coupon.
Having a Plan
I’m going to go over this just briefly because I teach a whole course on developing a planning system, but the point here is to plan your planning. Know what aspect of your planning you need to work on and when you need to do it. Here’s how my planning system breaks down.
Yearly Planning
Monthly Planning
Weekly Planning
Daily Planning
I hope taking a deep dive on planning has been helpful for you and that you’ll find yourself inspired to enjoy your planning a little more.
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Register for my summer productivity course.
My history as a middle school teacherHow our work will change
What we’re doing to set a solid framework
Building Habits
homeworkFinishing their workEngaging with our lessonsGeneral classroom behaviorBuilding a Culture of Caring
we’re good people and we’re working togetherwe’re on the same teambuilding up an image of each individual as a caring individualbuilding an image of the class as a whole being caringbuilding a reputation for them to live up toHow Middle School Will Change Things
less focus on me as the teacher/authority; much more social with each otherfocus on the contentlooking out at the world togethercontrast the morning versesLinks
My substack newsletter
Teaching Children to Care
Facebook group
Buy me a cup of coffee
Send me an email.
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Join me as I make my way through The Growth Mindset Coach — a month-by-month guide for teachers. Each month I’ll record an episode about it and I’d love to hear what you think!
Audible (affiliate link)my curriculum guidesThe Growth Mindset Coach by Annie Brock and Heather HundleyMindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol DweckOutliers by Malcolm GladwellGrit by Angela Duckworth
In this episode . . .TARGET from Carol Ames
TaskAuthorityRecognitionGroupingEvaluationTime -
Join me as I make my way through The Growth Mindset Coach -- a month-by-month guide for teachers. Each month I'll record an episode about it and I'd love to hear what you think!
Skillshare (my affiliate link)my curriculum guidesThe Growth Mindset Coach by Annie Brock and Heather HundleyMindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck
In this episode . . .Teacher feedback stems
I noticed howLook at how much progress you've made onI see a difference in this work compared withI admire how hard you have worked onI can see you really enjoyed learningCould it make a difference if youhave you considered trying a different strategy toYou're on the right track here and might considerOne awesome thing about your work isI really like the way youOne thing that helps me isThis could improve ifMy favorite part of this wasI noticed that -
Promos
My biostructure and systems in the classroommentorship and evaluationmy Practical Art of the Waldorf Classroom coursethe importance of the social-emotional curriculumskill-building vs. imaginative contentkeeping Waldorf teaching inspiring
Audible -- Get your free trial by hitting my link.
Skillshare -- I'm loving Skillshare. Free 14 day trial with my link.
My curriculum guides -- I've got a guide that will help you teach and give you just the amount of help that you need.
Things I Talked About This Week -
Promos
Creating and Enjoying a Life I LoveBeing ProductiveAtomic HabitsChangeNew Ideas
Audible -- Get your free trial by hitting my link.
Skillshare -- I'm loving Skillshare. Free 14 day trial with my link.
My curriculum guides -- I've got a guide that will help you teach and give you just the amount of help that you need.
Content
Things that made me happy in 2020.Stuff Mentioned
NotionTodoistGoogle ClassroomSuperhumanAtomic Habits -
Home Resource Guide
This free Waldorf-at-Home Resource guide goes through 4 of those basic ideas that can help you create a harmonious Waldorf home, and maybe even realize that you're doing a pretty good job of getting there already.To get this free guide, just go to awaldorfjourney.com/homeguide and I'll send you the free pdf.
Holiday Gift Guides
To see my Waldorf art gift guide, which gives indications for art supplies that will be useful throughout the grades, just head to www.awaldorfjourney.com/artsupplies.And to find a list of recommended books, head to www.awaldorfjourney.com/giftbooks
Devices
MacBook Proexternal monitor2 webcamsApple trackpadVarmilo mechanical keyboardiPad and pencilHP printer/scannerFurniture
standing desk from Fully — whiteboardhand-me-down chair — next on my list to upgradearm for camerathe chair I want to geta standing stool possibilitySoftware
ZoomGoogle ClassroomNotionRoutines
sharing my desk — main lesson pages and dictationcorrecting drafts on the iPadbreakout roomschat, virtual backgrounds, profile photos, etc. -
As we enter into the holiday season, I thought it would be a good chance to talk about Waldorf and festivals. I know that the festivals were one of the things that drew me to Waldorf when I first discovered it, and though they are lovely, my thoughts about them have changed through the years. I'm happy to share some thoughts about the festivals with you in this episode.
Waldorf Gift GuidesThe holidays are approaching and if your family is anything like mine, the grandparents are asking what they can give the kids for the holidays. How can we give them some direction and request gifts that align with our Waldorf-inspired values, while still remembering and modeling gratitude?
To help with this, I have put together a couple of different Waldorf gift guides, which you can access for free — not even an email address is required by hitting the link in the shownotes.
To see my Waldorf art gift guide, which gives indications for art supplies that will be useful throughout the grades, just head to www.awaldorfjourney.com/artsupplies.
And to find a list of recommended books, head to www.awaldorfjourney.com/giftbooks
Both guides are right there on the website, easy for you to access. The Amazon links are affiliate links, which means I get a small commission, at no cost to you. And if you're grateful for these resources, you can hit the link to send me a cup of coffee right there on the page, or just go to www.awaldorfjourney.com/coffee
community-buildingcreating turning points in the yearconnecting with something higher
Follow me on Instagram.
Join the Facebook group.
Buy me a cup of coffee.
Content
Investigating the why and how of Waldorf festivals.
Three main purposes behind Waldorf festivals (according to me):Exploring each of these can give us a framework for investigating the festivals and determining how to honor them in a meaningful way. Festivals mentioned in this episode:
MichaelmasMartinmasDivaliDay of the DeadWinter Spiral -
This week we're going to talk about child development. We've all heard about thinking, feeling, and willing of Waldorf education. This episode is all about where you can find thinking feeling and willing in child development and which aspect you should be focusing on when.
This episode is being brought to you by my curriculum guides, which you can find at my website awaldorfjourney.com/shop. I’ve got a variety of guides throughout the grades -- Whether you’re teaching botany, rocks and minerals, physics or astronomy in the middle school; or consonants and vowels in first grade, I’ve got a guide that can help you out. Homeschoolers and classroom teachers in a variety of settings have found my guides to be helpful, so I hope you’ll check them out. And if you’re just wondering about how to go about setting up your main lesson structure, every guide includes my Main Lesson 101 material, which will break it all down for you. Just this information alone is really valuable, so you might consider purchasing a guide, just to help you get started with your planning. I really recommend either my Astronomy or my Rocks and Minerals guides -- those subjects are just so fascinating and both of those guides give a really good picture of what it’s like to plan a Waldorf main lesson.Again, you can find all of my guides at my website, www.awaldorfjourney.com/shop
Buy me a cup of coffee.
Instagram
Facebook
Content
0-7 -- the willing phase
7-14 -- the feeling phase
14-21 -- the thinking phase
More information about my course The Practical Art of the Waldorf Classroom.
An image of the Waldorf approach to human development, sometimes called "the cosmic bathtub." -
This week we're talking about one of my secret weapons for making this Waldorf teaching work so much easier. It took me awhile to figure it out, but having a structure and a set of systems will make this job so much more sustainable. This week I'm going to talk about some of the rhythms I've established in my teaching and how you can keep a balance between new, exciting inspiration and regular routines and rhythms.
This episode is being brought to you by my new course, Feedback and Record-Keeping for Waldorf Teachers. I've offered this course in the past, but it's been updated and brought over to my own platform so it's more available.I strongly believe that providing feedback and keeping parents, students and administration updated on student progress is a place where Waldorf teachers have fallen short in the past. We want our students to feel good about their work and not have to face criticism. But monitoring progress and having those sometimes difficult conversations helps us keep our teaching relevant and can help inspire confidence in parents and administrators.
This course walks you through a process for providing feedback in a way that is age-appropriate so it will inspire your students to achieve and let them know that their work matters. With audio and written content and 8 lessons pertaining to the different types of feedback you'll provide, I'll talk you through the process. And the course includes all the templates you'll need, wherever you are on the journey.
You can sign up for the course at awaldorfjourney.com/recordkeeping.
creating templatesmy template for providing feedback in 4th grade
Content
Yearly RhythmsMonthly Rhythms
planning at the beginning of a blockmy block plan templateWeekly Rhythms
a blog post about our dictation rhythmDaily Rhythms
a blog post about my daily review planningDon't forget to prep your story every day -- it wouldn't be Waldorf without it! -
This week we're talking about Waldorf Parenting. I've got some pretty strong opinions (they maybe even a little controversial) and some basic ideas to help you create an intentional Waldorf family life for yourself and your children.
This episode is being brought to you by my ebook The Waldorf Home. If you’re interested in reading ideas, suggestions and tips for making your home more aligned with your children’s waldorf education, check out my book at www.thewaldorfhome.com.Also, if you’re a homeschooling parent or a teacher, check out my curriculum guides at www.awaldorfjourney.com/shop. There you can find my first grade bundle where I go through how to introduce the consonants and vowels through the fairy tales. It’s one of my most popular guides, so I hope you’ll support the podcast and check it out.
Rant about "Waldorf enough."ConnectWorkCreateExplore
ContentEmail me: [email protected]
Instagram
Facebook -
Many of us are teaching in ways we never expected before and it's pushing us far beyond our comfort zones. We miss working with our students in person, but the news isn't all bad. I, for one, have been amazed at how much learning and connection is actually happening in our distance learning arrangement.
In this episode we'll talk all about distance learning, some things I've learned and how you can make the most of this medium.
This episode is being brought to you by my free workshop, the 3 classroom management strategies every waldorf teacher needs to know, which is being released the week this episode goes live.I’m really excited to offer this workshop because I think it is something that isn’t talked about enough in our training courses and it is exactly what Waldorf teachers need to be thinking about right now.
Just head over to www.awaldorfjourney.com/workshop to sign up for the workshop.
Also, registration opens soon for my new course, The Practical Art of the Waldorf Classroom. In this course we’ll talk about some big topics that should be on your mind during the school year.
Rhythms and RoutinesClassroom managementImagination in the classroomWorking with parentsWorking with studentsContent Outline
Where we've been and where we are nowStudent engagementAssessment and feedbackSelf-CareLinks to Things Mentioned
The Distance Learning Playbook, Grades K-12Compassion Fatigue resourceThe Caregiver's Bill of Rights -
This week we're talking about feedback and record-keeping for Waldorf teachers. We'll explore the different types of feedback you need to give and who you need to consider when putting together your feedback plan.
Promo
This episode is being brought to you by my course, Feedback and Record-Keeping for Waldorf Teachers. I've offered this course in the past, but it's been updated and brought over to my own platform so it's more available.I strongly believe that providing feedback and keeping parents, students and administration updated on student progress is a place where Waldorf teachers have fallen short in the past. We want our students to feel good about their work and not have to face criticism. But monitoring progress and having those sometimes difficult conversations helps us keep our teaching relevant and can help inspire confidence in parents and administrators.
This course walks you through a process for providing feedback in a way that is age-appropriate so it will inspire your students to achieve and let them know that their work matters. With audio and written content and 8 lessons pertaining to the different types of feedback you'll provide, I'll talk you through the process. And the course includes all the templates you'll need, wherever you are on the journey.
You can sign up for the course at awaldorfjourney.com/recordkeeping.
studentsparentsadministrationyourself
Content
Tracking student progress is something Waldorf teachers don't do enough and it's actually a place we could take a cue from our public school counterparts. If we want to be respected as the professionals and authorities we are when it comes to children's development, we need to take it seriously and be responsible about tracking that information and reporting it to parents, students and school administration.
People who need to be considered in your record-keeping plan:If this feels overwhelming and you don't like the administrative aspects of this work, consider signing up for my record-keeping course. You'll get guidance through all of the record-keeping requirements of this work, and templates that will help it all come together.
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This episode is being brought to you by my free workshop, the 3 classroom management strategies every waldorf teacher needs to know, which will be released in later this month (October 2020.)
I’m really excited to offer this workshop because I think it is something that isn’t talked about enough in our training courses and it is exactly what Waldorf teachers need to be thinking about right now.
Just head over to www.awaldorfjourney.com/strategies to sign up for the workshop.
Also, registration opens soon for my new course, The Practical Art of the Waldorf Classroom. In this course we’ll talk about some big topics that should be on your mind during the school year.
Rhythms and RoutinesClassroom managementImagination in the classroomWorking with parentsWorking with studentsThis is my signature course and it's been really popular in the past. I'd love to have you join, though enrollment is open for a limited time. Just head to awaldorfjourney.com/practicalart to get more information.
parent participation and involvementgrowing independencetaking responsibility for your educationrealizing the importance of human connection
Episode Content
Read the blog post that goes with this episode.Ways to connect with me:
email: [email protected]
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