Giving Up Control in the Classroom with Andrea Mango

How can teachers empower children to be more creative and engaged in class, even when they don’t want to? In this Fueling Creativity in Education podcast episode, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood welcome Andrea Mango, an elementary STEAM teacher based in Williamsville, New York. This episode focuses on bridging the gap between theories and studies of creativity and the practical implications for them in an elementary classroom.

Please tune in to learn how Andrea inspires creativity in her STEAM classroom, how she has overcome barriers to bringing choice for students into the classroom, and how STEAM classrooms differ from regular classrooms. She offers insight into how to build a safe, trusting environment for creativity to thrive in your classroom and how to engage students that don’t like the topic or project or are having a bad day and don’t want to be engaged.

Mrs. Andrea Mango has taught for the past 18 years, first as a kindergarten through 2nd-grade educator and now as a STEAM educator for K-4 at Dodge Elementary in Williamsville, New York. Before teaching, Andrea worked at Erie One BOCES’ Positive Youth Development Center, where she trained teachers on empowering students in the classroom and prepared middle and high school students to become positive leaders among their peers. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre and a master’s degree in Elementary Education-Birth-6th.