by Amanda | Sep 7, 2025 | ADHD, Back to School, Management, Neurodiversity, New Style Blog Post, New Style Podcast, Student Motivation
Share Tweet Pin It In this episode of the Empower Students Now podcast, Amanda addresses a common issue faced by teachers: students who are disengaged. Drawing from personal experiences as a teacher and a parent of a neurodivergent child, the Amanda...
by Amanda | Aug 24, 2025 | Meditation, Mindfulness, New Style Blog Post, New Style Podcast
Share Tweet Pin It In the final episode of this eight-part mindfulness and meditation series, Amanda Werner brings it all together—sharing how to weave mindfulness, self-compassion, and simple rituals into your daily life. From experimenting with small,...
by Amanda | Jul 27, 2025 | Meditation, Mindfulness, New Style Blog Post, New Style Podcast
Share Tweet Pin It In this episode of the Empower Students Now Podcast, your host, Amanda Werner, delves into the practice of Metta or Loving Kindness Meditation. As part of an eight-part series on meditation and mindfulness for teachers and students,...
by Amanda | Jul 20, 2025 | Meditation, Mindfulness, New Style Blog Post, New Style Podcast
Share Tweet Pin It In this episode of the Empower Students Now podcast, Amanda shares a deeply emotional talk on the importance of compassion, particularly self-compassion, for educators. Through a recounting of her own personal journey and learnings...
by Amanda | Jul 20, 2025 | Meditation, Mindfulness, New Style Blog Post, New Style Podcast
Share Tweet Pin It In this fourth episode of an eight-part series on meditation and mindfulness, the discussion focuses on being mindful of thoughts. Amanda recently received her certification to teach meditation. She explains how thoughts are mental...
by Amanda | May 10, 2025 | Meditation, Mindfulness, New Style Blog Post, New Style Podcast, Social Justice
Share Tweet Pin It In this episode, part two of an eight-part series, Amanda discusses her journey through the Mindfulness and Meditation Teacher Certification Program (MMTCP) and the profound lessons she learned. She emphasizes the importance of...
by Amanda | Apr 26, 2025 | Meditation, Mindfulness, New Style Blog Post, New Style Podcast, Podcast
Share Tweet Pin It In this episode, Amanda welcomes Jen Chieco, a former teacher who transitioned into becoming a life coach who specializes in empowering teens. They discuss Jen’s teaching background, her reasons for leaving public education, and...
by Amanda | Apr 20, 2025 | ADHD, Meditation, Mindfulness, New Style Podcast, Secondary Teachers, Teacher Shortage Crisis
Share Tweet Pin It Amanda returns after a long hiatus, excited to start a new season focused on mindfulness, neurodiversity, equity, and student engagement. In this special episode, Amanda shares a recording of her first mindfulness class from her...
by Amanda | May 19, 2024 | Meditation, Mindfulness, New Style Blog Post, New Style Podcast
Share Tweet Pin It Close your eyes, dear mother, and allow the world to soften around you. Breathe in deeply, inviting calm into your space, and exhale slowly, releasing the weight of your many roles. With each breath, feel lighter, as if a gentle...
by Amanda | Mar 29, 2024 | ADHD, New Style Blog Post, New Style Podcast, Professional Development Books, Secondary Teachers
Share Tweet Pin It Show Notes In this episode of “Empower Students Now,” host Amanda interviews Vanessa Jones, an English teacher, writer, and voice actor who has recently authored a guidebook on adult ADHD. Vanessa discusses her personal...
by Amanda | Mar 10, 2024 | Equity, Neurodiversity, New Style Blog Post, New Style Podcast, Reading, Reading Workshop, Secondary Teachers, Social Justice, Student Motivation, Support for Struggling Readers
Share Tweet Pin It In this episode of Empower Students Now, host Amanda interviews her sister Shelly Gonsalves, who opens up about her lifelong struggle with reading and learning difficulties. Shelly recounts her early educational challenges, the lack...
by Amanda | Jul 7, 2023 | ADHD, Neurodiversity, New Style Blog Post, New Style Podcast
Share Tweet Pin It In this episode of the Empower Students Now podcast, host Amanda Werner shares her personal journey of discovering that she has ADHD and the importance of teachers understanding this condition. Amanda explains that many students in...
by Amanda | Jun 30, 2023 | Equity, New Style Blog Post, New Style Podcast, Reading, Reading Units, Reading Workshop, Secondary Teachers, Social Justice
Share Tweet Pin It Do you want to teach your students how to read more effectively and prepare them for college and life? In this podcast episode, Amanda discusses the book “Reading Reconsidered” by Doug Lemov, which provides a wealth of...
by Amanda | Jun 23, 2023 | Equity, New Style Blog Post, New Style Podcast, Reading Workshop, Social Justice, Writing Workshop
Are you an English teacher looking to create an anti-racist writing workshop that prioritizes student voices and celebrates diversity? Look no further than “The Antiracist Writing Workshop” by Felicia Rose Chavez. In this episode, Amanda provides a...
by Amanda | Jun 17, 2023 | Equity, New Style Blog Post, New Style Podcast, Race, Social Justice
In this episode of the Empower Students Now podcast, host Amanda shares her summer plans and introduces a series of episodes where she provides overviews of eight books on educational equity and social justice that she read in 2021. She also offers a toolkit for...