Christina holds a BS in nursing from UVM and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Marlboro College. She earned her Early Childhood Education and K-3 teaching credentials through the Upper Valley Educators Institute and the Vermont Higher Ed Collaborative.
She is particularly interested in the area of Reflective Practice because it is a versatile yet subtle tool that puts professional development under her own control every day.
Christina says, “At a pivotal point in my career, I was lucky enough to train with the renowned pediatrician, Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, and his impressive team at the Touchpoints Center in Boston. This work grounded me solidly in child development and ways of effectively supporting families with young children, particularly when going through ‘touchpoints’, those disorganized periods before reaching a developmental milestone. I learned to practice the art and science of listening closely and respectfully, open-ended questioning, reflecting alone and within supervision, and acting as a guide on the side. It has served me well professionally (and personally) ever since. Currently, I am a public pre-kindergarten teacher working in Central Vermont, practicing and reflecting upon how young children flourish.
I strive to be an effective facilitator-of-learning versus a lecturer or trainer. I think a lot about how I can help others find their own ideas and voice around the professional topic we are exploring. How can I design a workshop to allow as much interaction and experience with the ideas as possible? How is this topic meaningful to the work we will be doing with children and families tomorrow? We are a group of experts in a room–how can I best help us to make the most of the opportunity to learn from each other and the field of knowledge about the content? I love that challenge!”
Christina leads Reflective Practice trainings for Northern Lights at CCV in Montpelier and Morrisville. To sign up for one of Christina’s trainings, visit the Northern Lights training calendar at: https://northernlightsccv.org/training/training-calendar/