On September 5, 1986, three things happened that changed my life: my daughter, Sharyn, began attending the Shining Mountain Waldorf School in Boulder, Colorado, one of the students of my first Waldorf class was born, and I began my journey to become a Waldorf teacher.
I majored in Social Studies Education and English at the University of Texas, Austin and received my B.A. in Waldorf Education from Rudolf Steiner College (RSC) in 1993. During my three years of training at RSC, I took Goethean Studies and received my Waldorf certification for both grades and high school (Humanities).
Upon my graduation from RSC, I found my Waldorf home in the foothills east of Sacramento at Cedar Springs Waldorf School (CSWS). During those early days, I worked with an amazingly gifted group of colleagues including Patti and Tim Connolly, Isabelle Tabacot, Ari Magruder-Cone, Lauren Hickman, and school founder, Nancy Poer. Together we created a faculty environment based on Anthroposophical study, sharing our work, respect for the gifts of each one, decision making using a consensus model, and a love and appreciation of the other. During this time, I was truly blessed by both my colleagues, the school community, and the students who graced my classroom.
Being a class teacher was certainly one of the richest experiences of my life. I learned so much from my students; they helped me grow and expand my horizons beyond anything I could have imagined. Even though I am still to this day introduced at weddings and baby showers as, “This is Mrs. Langley, my teacher.” I smile and say to myself, “No, you were mine.”
Besides taking my initial class 1st-8th grade and my second one 3rd -8th grade at CSWS, I have taught adult education courses at RSC, the Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training, The Center for Anthroposophy’s Renewal Conferences, Great Lakes Waldorf Institute, and the newly created, Sacramento Waldorf’s Art of Teaching summer courses. Some of these courses include The Foundation of Human Experience, classroom management, practicum preparation, parent work, Nine–Year–Change workshops, working with consensus as a spiritual deed, and numerous courses on the 1st- 8th grade curricula. Currently, my focus is helping teachers create an effective and creative early literacy curriculum.
During the past two decades, I have also supported the Waldorf movement through school leadership workshops, faculty mentoring and evaluation, and as a member of the Anthroposophical Society and the Pedagogical Section.
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