LB Browning

LB Browning brings a thoughtful, child-centered, and deeply relational approach to her role as a Kindergarten teacher at Virginia Chance School.

 

LB holds a Master of Arts in Education and a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies with an emphasis in Education. She has also completed Compassionate Schools Project social-emotional learning training and received the Baird Teaching Excellence Award. Over the past nine years, LB has worked with children in a variety of educational settings, including seven years in the public school system. Her experience includes after-school tutoring and summer educational programming for Kindergarten through 2nd grade, as well as teaching 5th grade, 3rd grade, and Compassionate Schools. Across her work, she has taught every subject, with a recent focus on social-emotional learning, child development, communication strategies, and child advocacy.

 

LB’s path to teaching began early. As a child, she was naturally curious, loved to explore, and remembers the joy of discovering something new. Her own elementary school experience nurtured that curiosity and helped her develop a lifelong love of learning. She still remembers sitting at her first-grade desk and thinking that one day she wanted to become a teacher and help children experience that same excitement, confidence, and pride in their own growth.

 

Those early memories continue to shape the way LB teaches. She remembers the teachers who encouraged her, challenged her, and helped her understand that perseverance leads to growth. She also remembers what it felt like to be misunderstood by adults, and that perspective keeps her committed to seeing each child as a unique and complex individual. One of her greatest joys as a teacher is getting to know each student, meeting them where they are, and designing meaningful experiences that help them grow and thrive.

 

In the classroom, LB works to create a learning environment built on trust, safety, structure, and care. She believes learning requires courage, especially when children are trying something new or working through a challenge. By helping students understand that mistakes are a natural and important part of learning, LB supports children in developing resilience, confidence, and a willingness to keep trying. She fosters this environment through clear routines, high expectations, empathy, encouragement, and authentic connection.

 

LB’s teaching philosophy aligns closely with Chance’s progressive, whole-child approach. She believes children learn best when they are active participants in meaningful work- asking questions, exploring ideas, collaborating with others, and connecting learning to their own experiences. For LB, progressive education supports deep understanding because it gives children purpose, context, and ownership in their learning.

 

Inquiry-based learning is especially meaningful to LB because it taps into children’s natural curiosity and motivation. When students investigate, question, problem-solve, and make connections, they build academic knowledge while also developing creativity, leadership, communication, collaboration, and higher-order thinking skills. LB believes these transferable skills help children retain what they learn more deeply and grow into confident, lifelong learners.

 

Outdoor learning is an exciting part of the Chance experience for LB. She sees the outdoors as a natural extension of the classroom- a place where curiosity, exploration, movement, and inquiry happen authentically. Outdoor learning gives children opportunities to observe closely, ask questions, solve problems, take appropriate risks, collaborate with others, and connect learning to the real world. LB values the way nature encourages wonder, creativity, movement, and discovery in ways that are difficult to replicate indoors.

 

LB was drawn to Virginia Chance School because its philosophy reflects what she has always hoped education could be. Chance’s emphasis on curiosity, inquiry, meaningful relationships, and educating the whole child deeply resonates with the kind of teacher she strives to be. She is especially grateful to be part of a school community where educators and families work together as partners in supporting each child’s academic, social, and emotional growth.

 

Outside of teaching, LB enjoys creating art, reading, yoga and movement, and getting lost in a great TV series or movie. She loves sharing meaningful experiences with her wife and friends and enjoys making memories through travel and new experiences. Whether she is exploring a new place or creating something with her hands, LB values opportunities to learn, be creative, and find joy in discovery — the same spirit she hopes to share with her students each day.