Our Guest: Biff Maier
Show Notes
There is a mental health crisis facing our young people. William (“Biff”) Maier joins us to talk about the importance of creating mentally healthy classrooms. You may be wondering, “Why is mental health the work of schools instead of mental health professionals?” Biff proposes that teachers ARE mental health professionals – and the classroom is a therapeutic environment.
Biff calls Montessori environments “living laboratories” for learning executive functions, linguistic and cultural fluency, social fluency, and emotional flexibility. He gives practical strategies and suggestions for how to support students in building these essential skills.
About our Guest
Biff Maier
Co-Director of the Montessori Elementary Teacher Training Collaborative (METTC) & Director of Academic and Alumni Projects at Lexington Montessori School
William (Biff) Maier is an administrator at Lexington Montessori School in Massachusetts. He co-directs the Montessori Elementary Teacher Training Collaborative (METTC), also in Lexington. Involved with Montessori since 1974, Biff is a seminar and workshop presenter, a school consultant, a coordinator for the AMS Instructor Academy for teacher trainers, and a mentor for AMS’ Emerging Leaders Program. In 2021 he received the AMS Living Legacy Award. As former Chair of the AMS Teachers’ Section, he served on the AMS National Board of Directors.
Biff is married to a psychiatrist who practices privately in Arlington, Massachusetts, and they have two adult children who are Montessori graduates. Ida is a linguist and novelist living in Paris. Ted is a second-year law student in Boston.
Montessori Elementary Mentor
Biff Maier is also serving as one of our Elementary Mentors for the 2023-24 school year. Learn more below and find out if our Elementary Mentoring Community is the right fit for you.
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