Meet Amanda
I’m Amanda Sinnott, M.Ed., an educator and executive functioning coach with over a decade of experience working with students and families.
I believe students are capable of more than a grade or a report card can show. My work is about understanding how a student learns, where they get stuck and what support can help them move forward.
I earned my B.A. in Communication before going on to earn my M.Ed. in Educational Administration.
Since 2012, I’ve worked with students in different educational settings and supported families navigating different approaches to learning.
Those experiences have shaped the way I work today. I believe support should be practical. Students need strategies they can actually use in their everyday lives.
Why Executive Functioning?
I was diagnosed with ADHD later in life, and getting that diagnosis helped me understand so much about myself. There were things I had struggled with for years that I couldn’t quite explain. I knew I was capable, but I didn’t always understand why certain things felt so much harder than they seemed like they should.
Learning about ADHD and executive functioning gave me a different way to look at those struggles. It helped me understand that knowing how to do something and being able to manage the steps needed to actually do it are not always the same thing.
I can recognize that a student may understand the material and still have a hard time getting started. They may care about their grades and still lose track of assignments. They may know exactly what they should be doing and still not know how to get themselves there.
Because I’ve had to figure out some of these things for myself, I bring a very different level of understanding to this work. I don’t want students to feel like they’re lazy, careless or simply “not trying hard enough.”
I want to help them understand what is actually getting in the way and find strategies that make things more manageable.
I get to know the student and look at what is actually happening. From there, we can identify the skills that need support and figure out strategies that make sense for them.
I want students to feel comfortable being honest about what is difficult. I also want them to understand that struggling with a skill doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of learning it.
My approach