Thursday, January 25, 2024

Educator Spotlight: Miranda Norlin


Miranda is the summer camp director for The Learning Community School and an instructor with Muddy Sneakers and she recently completed her NC Environmental Education Certification. In her personal time, she enjoys gardening and milling wood on the sawmill that she and her wife recently purchased. Miranda grew up exploring the creeks, woodlands and fields of Western North Carolina and enjoys sharing the outdoors with other people. “I love exploring the outdoors with people of all ages to build curiosity and connection to the outdoors.”
Her favorite part of the certification program was the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in Environmental Education training she took through Environmental Educators of NC (EENC) and applying what she learned to her teaching practice. Miranda says the UDL course she took as part of the certification program changed her approach to teaching. “The UDL course shifted how I plan and structure my day and teaching. As part of it I developed my "planner banner" which is a visual organizer tool to allow students to see the plan for the day and share their priorities and interests while still allowing for flexibility on the part of the educator.” For her community partnership project, Miranda worked with Shining Rock Classical Academy to plan a nature trail on their campus. She used a survey and conversations with teachers to address their goals and concerns. She scouted out possible trail routes and recommended key species that could be identified by the students. She also provided recommendations for how the teachers can use the trail to teach their students. Miranda is grateful to be part of the wonderful community of environmental educators in North Carolina and looks forward to continuing to work with and learn from them through NCEE and EENC offerings.

The North Carolina Environmental Education Certification Program is administered by the N.C. Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs in partnership with organizations and agencies across North Carolina. https://www.eenorthcarolina.org/certification

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