A Waldorf Journey Podcast

Latest Episodes:

The Ins and Outs of Teaching the Same Students Year After Year | AWJ #13 Mar 05, 2017

Show notes

I recently put out a call for questions on social media and received some great topic ideas. I thought about plowing through all of the questions in one episode but realized that many of the questions deserve their own episode. This is one of those questions.

In this episode I go through the comments and reactions I get when I tell people I've taught the same group of students for five years. I share my own thoughts about the experience and the various looping models I have seen in place at various Waldorf schools.

What kind of looping arrangement does your school work with? Do you like it? What do you consider to be the biggest benefits of teaching the same students for several years. Drawbacks?

Participate in the conversation by commenting on the website.

Managing Media and Screen-Time | A Waldorf Journey Episode #12 Dec 20, 2016

Show notes

In this episode I am happy to address the topic that I hear about the most from Waldorf parents -- media and screen-time. Though the benefits of limiting screen-time are clear, many Waldorf parents struggle with how to make limited media a reality in their homes.

Some of the things you'll hear about in this episode include . . .

My kindergarten parent evening story that brought home the importance of limiting media exposure
A teacher's perspective on why you should limit media exposure
Strategies for making it easier to minimize media exposure in your home
Suggestions for healthy ways to engage with media when you do decide to allow screen-time

It's a complicated and challenging topic that can inspire guilt and shame in parents who don't manage it as well as they would like, and my goal is to minimize those negative feelings by empowering parents to make conscious decisions that work for their own families.

Media Episode Notes

Some of the things I mention in the podcast . . .

My new ebook The Waldorf Home. Now available for purchase and download

Our Facebook group A Waldorf Journey | Teacher Tribe

The Facebook page A Waldorf Journey

American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations

Are you interested in hearing some thoughts about the challenges of media for older children and teenagers? Social media brings along with it a whole different set of challenges that parents need to think through and carefully guide for their children. Is this a challenge you are facing? Let me know in the comments if this is a relevant topic for you and your family!

Resources

Other media-exposure and screen-free resources

Media Mindfulness from the Denver Waldorf School

Media and Waldorf Education YouTube video from the Marin Waldorf School

Media Philosophy from the Waldorf School of the Peninsula

Working with Children When You're Emotional | A Waldorf Journey Episode #11 Nov 21, 2016

Show notes

My students and I had a difficult reaction to the presidential election and the day after turned out to be one of the most difficult days of my teaching career. That day inspired the topic of this episode -- Working with Children When You're Emotional.

There are lots of different ideas out there about whether parents should conceal their emotions from their children or not. In this episode I talk a bit about my thoughts on the matter and share some of my own experiences.

I apologize for the coughing and my shaky voice -- I'm still recovering from a cold.

Some of the things I mention in this episode:

My new ebook The Waldorf Home. Please check out the website for more information. It's all about using the power of connection to create a more conscious and intentional homelife. I'd love to hear your questions and stories about creating a Waldorf home. Email me at meredith@awaldorfjourney.com. Your content could be featured in the book!

Check out this Psychology Today article about showing emotion in front of children.

Read the blog post about my post-election lesson plan.

I'd love to hear about your experiences discussing the election, or other upsetting topics with your children. What do you do when you're emotional and you must go on caring for your children? These are the things that challenge us most as parents and teachers. Let's support each other with our ideas.

Working with Learning Differences in the Waldorf Classroom | A Waldorf Journey #10 Oct 09, 2016

Show notes

This week I talk about a lively conversation that happened recently in the Facebook group. I hope you'll enjoy the episode. Here are links to some of the things I talk about.

The blog post for this episode.

A Waldorf Journey Facebook Group

Learning Disabilities of America website

Trainings

Remedial Education Training Program at Rudolf Steiner College

Rudolf Steiner Centre Healing Education And Remedial Training

Books

The Extra Lesson by Audrey McAllen -- Unfortunately this book must be out of print. It is sold out at Rudolf Steiner College bookstore and ridiculously expensive on Amazon.

The Symphony of Reflexes by Bonnie Brandes

Therapies and Remedial Strategies

Cranio-Sacral Therapy

Email me at meredith@awaldorfjourney.com.

Main Lesson Rhythm | A Waldorf Journey Podcast Episode #9 Sep 26, 2016

Show notes

When I first started teaching I remember feeling overwhelmed by the idea of filling two hours with creative, inspiring and interesting content. I worried that I would present all of my material within a half hour and my students would be expectantly looking at me for more for the last hour and a half of main lesson.

These days my inclination is to go the other direction. I never have enough time to bring all of the content and experiences I want to share with my students.

Whichever side of the spectrum you tend to gravitate towards, the key is planning with purpose and consciousness. Make sure you are aware of the amount of time you are spending on each component of your lesson and be clear about the content you want to share during the time you have with your students.

The Waldorf main lesson typically is made of 4 components --

Each component could be an entire podcast of its own, which I hope to get to one day, but until then, you can read my blog post series on each component by following the links above.

How you order these parts is up to you, and that's what I go into in this episode. Take a listen for more information about the different scenarios.

Scenario #1

Warm-Up
Review
Bookwork
New Content

Scenario #2

Warm-Up
Review
New Content
Bookwork

Scenario #3

Warm-Up
New Content
Review
Bookwork

What structure to you prefer? Share in the comments below. Or join the Facebook group!

Meditation for the Waldorf Teacher, an interview with Natalie Norman | A Waldorf Journey Episode #8 Sep 11, 2016

Show notes

I'm so grateful to have this interview with Natalie Norman to share with you this week. Natalie is our school's fifth grade teacher and college chair and she has shared with me her very thoughtful and intentional meditative practice. I know that this is an area of our work that doesn't come easily to many Waldorf teachers, and Natalie gives some great suggestions for getting started and setting yourself up for a successful meditative practice.

Here are some of the resources that Natalie mentions in the course of our conversation.

An Interview with Janet Allison of Boys Alive! | A Waldorf Journey #7 Aug 28, 2016

Show notes

This week I had the good fortune to interview Janet Allison of Boys Alive! for the podcast.

Janet is a family coach and Waldorf mentor and evaluator. She is the author of Boys Alive! Bring Out Their Best and the host of BOY TALK a monthly podcast in which she interviews "parenting experts and expert parents" on a monthly theme.

For more information about Janet's work, check out her website or email her at janet@boysalive.com.

During the interview Janet mentioned a few resources that you parents and teachers might find useful.

The Boys Alive! private Facebook group is a fantastic resource for parents seeking support from a community of parents and teachers caring for boys together. The group is closed, so just request membership to become a part of the great things that are going on there.

Check out the Boys Alive! blog where you can find an extensive index of topics that parents and teachers of boys face.

During our conversation, Janet mentioned a series of posts she did about boys and gun play. You can find that series by following this link.

Resource Books

The Wonder of Boys by Michael Gurian

The Wonder of Girls by Michael Gurian

Heaven on Earth: A Handbook for Parents of Young Children by Sharifa Oppenheimer

Social Learning in the Waldorf Classroom | A Waldorf Journey #6 Aug 15, 2016

Show notes

I've just returned from a family vacation to the redwoods and I'm ready to jump in with both feet getting ready for school to start. There's a lot to do but it's coming together and I've got a plan. I'll share that with you today.

The Calendar

We've got three weeks before school starts and here's how I'm using them.

this week -- my last week of curriculum planning

week 1 -- Europe leading to colonization
week 2 -- the colonies
week 3 -- the revolution
week 4 -- the French Revolution

Things I'm thinking about:

Balancing Depth and Breadth

I like to teach history through biography and they are great for going deep with the content. To study someone's life and learn how that person's life influenced the world and formed the world you live in today is a really powerful thing, but it's easy to get stuck on one person's story and not cover the breadth of content that is needed.

My plan for this block is to tell one or two biographies in a given week and use the in-between days for covering the gaps and moving through the historical content. I also plan to use my students' reading to give them more in-depth views, as well.

Social Learning

I share some of my thoughts about social learning, why I'm not naturally drawn to it and why I'm trying to turn that around and give my students more experiences of social learning.

Shameless Self-Promotion

Here is the form to receive the main lesson book evaluation form (see blog at www.awaldorfjourney.com).

My Record-Keeping and Feedback Course has just gone live and I'm really excited to keep it affordable so more people can realize the value of giving feedback to parents and students. You'll get lots of pdf downloads and some audio recordings of my thoughts about how to give parents and students feedback throughout the grades.

Enrollment in my Curriculum Planning E-Course comes to a close at the end of the month. If you're feeling like you could use some guidance in planning your year, this course is for you. It lays out all of the things you need to think about in putting your year together and I think you'll find it really valuable. I'm also happy to include three mentoring hours. I'm determined that you'll get what you need out of this course, so don't hesitate to email me if you've got any questions -- meredith@awaldorfjourney.com

This week's Calendar of the Soul verse:

I feel strange power, bearing fruit

And gaining strength to give myself to me.

I sense the seed maturing

And expectation, light-filled, weaving

Within me on my selfhood's power.

How I Plan My Blocks | A Waldorf Journey #5 Aug 04, 2016

Show notes

How I Plan My Blocks | A Waldorf Journey Podcast, Episode #5

Thanks so much for listening. Please take a moment and head to iTunes and leave a star rating or review so other listeners can find the podcast.

At the beginning of this episode I talk about a recent interview that I heard with the founder of Patreon Jack Conte. I’m really inspired by the idea behind Patreon and I’d be so honored if you became a patron of A Waldorf Journey Podcast. You can do this by hitting this link.

Record-Keeping Post

I’m still thinking about record-keeping, which was the topic of the last podcast, and I wrote a blog post about putting together a record-keeping plan recently. In that post I included an email form and if you fill it out I will send you a sample of the Main Lesson Book Evaluation form that I used with my students in 5th grade. I think you’ll find the form really helpful. I’ve included the form in these shownotes, as well, so feel free to fill it out and I’ll get that sent off to you. (And if you’re already a subscriber of A Waldorf Journey, don’t worry, you won’t get duplicate content.)

Block Planning

In the rest of this episode I talk about the process I used to plan my Physics and Meteorology block. To make sure it’s helpful for more people, I keep it pretty general, not discussing specific content (well, not very much) but more about the process. Here are some links to things I talk about in the episode.

Dick Blick sketchbook.

A Little History of the World by EM Gombrich

Hydraulics and Aeromechanics: A Demonstration Manual for Use in the Waldorf School Eighth Grade Physics Main Lesson by Mikko Bojarsky

Golden Guide Weather by Paul E. Lehr

Eric Sloane Weather Book

Waldorf Curriculum Planning E-Course

Waldorf Education Reports, Feedback and Record-Keeping Jul 18, 2016

Show notes

I've just finished writing my reports and I've got lots of thoughts about how to streamline the report-writing process. But thinking about this has got me going to back to the reason why we write those reports in the first place. In this episode I go through my thoughts about the purpose of the Waldorf end-of-year report, whether you're at a school or in a homeschooling environment.