Professional development for Waldorf teachers and homeschooling parents

This course offers you an invaluable opportunity to focus entirely on your upcoming seventh grade school year, in five full days brimming with discussions, presentations, practical activities, and the arts.

With the insights of anthroposophy, gleaned through a daily look at child development focusing specifically on your class’s age group, you will get to know the seventh grader as they explore new horizons both within and without. Under the guidance of three master teachers, you’ll discover ways to enliven your teaching and how to approach the blocks so that they may meet the seventh grader in a deep and meaningful way. There will be time and space to consider and hone your skills in such practical matters as main lesson books, block planning, projects and activities, and classroom management.

In addition to inspiration and guidance which will support your teaching throughout the year, you will gain many invaluable opportunities for building connections among a community of parallel colleagues from across the country, to carry with you into your teaching.

Your course will be chock-full of key seventh grade topics, including:

•        Teaching history, including the late Middle Ages, Age of Exploration, and the Renaissance

•        Teaching creative writing and history through biographies

•        Introducing and practicing algebra

•        Expanding into world geography

•        Seventh grade sciences, including chemistry, physics, and physiology

Handouts relevant to your week will be provided to you upon your arrival on campus. Grade-specific resource materials useful for your year, including poems, songs, stories, and main lesson book ideas, will be provided to you electronically.

NOTE: This course is taught with the expectation that you have a background in Waldorf Education.

Instructors

Elizabeth Hall (Lead) is currently the seventh grade class teacher at Green Meadow Waldorf School. This is the fourth class of middle schoolers Liz has led at Green Meadow since joining their faculty in 2006, including taking four eighth grade classes; she also serves on the school’s Collegium. A full-time class teacher since 1998, Liz has been involved with home schooling, tutoring, and working with children with special needs in Waldorf environments since 1992. Prior to joining Green Meadow, she was a class teacher and lower school chair at the Waldorf School of Baltimore. She also teaches humanities and science classes, and anthroposophical studies, in Sunbridge’s Waldorf Elementary and Early Childhood Teacher Education programs, respectively, and speaks at local and international conferences on Waldorf Education and child development. Liz holds a BA from Earlham College, where she double-majored in English and Spanish and minored in art history; an MA in education and a Waldorf certificate 1-8 from Antioch New England; and a certificate of curative education from Camphill Special Schools, Inc.

Gary Banks (Lead Support) currently teaches math and science at the Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor, where he is also the high school faculty chair. Gary is also a presenter in the Teaching Sensible Science course and has taught in a number of teacher training programs and foundation studies courses. From 1993-2001, he took a class from first to eighth grade at the Denver Waldorf School, then worked as a high school science teacher at High Mowing School and a class teacher at Pine Hill Waldorf School before moving to Michigan. Gary earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aerospace engineering and worked as a research engineer on the NASA Space Station project before entering teaching. He completed his MEd at Antioch New England Graduate School. Gary is passionate about science and has enjoyed developing the phenomenological approach to science in his courses for students and teachers; he is also an enthusiastic backpacker, gardener, singer, and musician.

Calisa Tucker (Lead Support) is currently on sabbatical from the Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor, where she most recently graduated her second eighth grade class and is spending this year mentoring teachers. Calisa has been a class teacher at her school since 2002. Her first class, which she taught from second through eighth grade, completed their eighth grade year in 2010. Prior to becoming a Waldorf teacher, Calisa worked on an Organizational Learning and Lean Manufacturing internal consulting team for Ford Motor Company. Lessons learned in the automotive industry inspired her to seek out an education that nurtured systems thinking, creativity, and a love of learning. In 1999, during her Montessori teacher training, Calisa rediscovered Waldorf Education. After completing her Montessori training, she completed her Waldorf teacher education at the Waldorf Institute of Southeast Michigan. Calisa also received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in industrial and operations engineering from the University of Michigan. She enjoys backpacking, traveling, and watching high school sporting competitions.

 

Your course also includes art with Steve Sagarin of Sunbridge Institute and Berkshire Waldorf High School and music with Jana Hawley of Sunbridge Institute and Green Meadow Waldorf School.

 

Students who took this course last year had this to say:

~ The quality of the course was very high. I found that the instructors were enlightening, open-minded, and excited about the subjects we discussed.
~ Collaborative meetings with colleagues, with seasoned, experienced teachers leading, was wonderful.
~ All three instructors did a fabulous job.
~ Liz is amazing. I learn just by being in the presence of who she is.
~ Gary is so resourceful and tremendously helpful, especially in the sciences and maths.
~ Calisa gave a tremendous perspective on the development of the middle schooler and brought enthusiasm and passion into her lesson. She is an amazing inspiration.
~ Very helpful overview of the year and modeling of good teaching.

 

Related Recommendations
If you have not had a formal Waldorf teacher education and want to learn more about the foundations and fundamentals of Waldorf Education, you may be interested in our introductory Waldorf Weekend. Should you wish to further expand your artistic experience, you may be interested in  Chalkboard Drawings for Class Teachers, our skills-based workshop. Both 2-day workshops begin the Friday evening immediately preceding your grades course and conclude Sunday afternoon.

 

Schedule
Sunday, June 30: Optional campus tour: 5:30-6pm; check-in registration: 6-7pm; orientation and your first class: 7-9pm
Monday, July 1-July 4: Classes begin each day between 8-8:30am and run through 5:30-6pm, with time for lunch and short mid-morning and mid-afternoon breaks.
Friday, July 5: Classes begin between 8-8:30am and end between 12-1pm, with a mid-morning break.

 

Fee
$860 includes all materials and non-refundable $75 registration fee

 

Three Discount Options (Choose One! Discounts may not be combined.) 

1. Friends and Family (Personal Discount):  Currently enrolled Sunbridge program students receive a 30% discount and Sunbridge program graduates receive a 15% discount off one or more registrations. Discount instructions will appear on your registration form after you answer questions about your Sunbridge background in the Participant Profile section. Accounts must be in good standing.

2. Take Two and Save (Personal Discount):  10% discounts on subsequent registrations (of equal or lesser value) will automatically appear on your registration form when selecting more than one title. (Exception: Waldorf Weekend, which offers an $85 discount when selected as a subsequent registration.)

3. Send More/Save More (School Discount):  Schools paying for five or more registrations will receive discounts in increasing amounts.
Make 5 registrations, receive 5% off the total cost
Make 6 registrations, receive 6% off the total cost
Make 7 registrations, receive 7% off the total cost
Make 8 registrations, receive 8% off the total cost
Make 9 registrations, receive 9% off the total cost
Make 10 or more registrations, receive 10% off the total cost
NOTE: When choosing this option, please be sure to check off “Invoice my School” on your registration form. To qualify for the Send More/Save More discount, registrations must be made by July 14.

 

 

Questions?
Please contact our summer office at [email protected] or 845-425-0055 x20

 

Sunbridge reserves the right to make faculty substitutions when necessary. See registration form for refund policy.