P.S. Montessori

Earthquake?

2011-08-23T23:01:00.002-04:00

DC had an earthquake today. It wasn't destructive or scary, but it was definitely an experience! I hope that anyone who was closer to the epicenter in VA is safe and unharmed.

I had sent my nappers off to the nap room and I had my five year olds in the room with me. I also had one 4 year old and his grandmother in my room. She was visiting briefly and going to take him to the nap room. I was kneeling on the floor, helping a few children set up Addition with the Golden Beads. I felt a rumble beneath me, but didn't think much of it. Our building is rather old, and I figured someone was moving furniture or doing construction nearby. Then I head some rumbling. I've lived on the East Coast my whole life, so an earthquake was the last idea in my head. There is a 5th grade class above mine, and I thought, jeez how many desks are they moving up there. Then, of course, the walls started to shake and I realized the whole building was shaking. It didn't last very long. Shake. Shake. Over. Nothing fell over (not even my beautiful, new pink tower- phew!) and all the children were safe. I looked over at my visiting grandmother and yelled, "What was that!" I couldn't remember any type of protocol for earthquakes, having never been in one before. I told all the children to get away from the shelves and get in the doorway. After a minute or so, my principal came on the speaker and informed us to have children get under their desks, adults get int he doorways. Oh yea, that's what you're supposed to do. Luckily, the one big shake was all we got, and the desk ducking was only precautionary. The children weren't scared. More so, they were confused and a little bit excited to have permission to wriggle under tables.

A few of my older children, who had actually been awake with me during the shake, wanted to know why the building shook. Did the whole earth shake? Why? Did the clouds cause it? Having finished my second summer of training, I actually remembered the lesson for this! Very quickly, and in a modified, easier to understand version, I drew a picture of the Earth and its layers. I have to admit that was sort of over their heads. I then took two pieces of paper and showed that sometime the plates of the Earth slide over or under each other. Occasionally, they touch each other and crack, causing an earthquake. I skipped over the details of plate tectonics and the different layers of basalt and granite. My five year olds were quite pleased with their explanation. When you start explaining something relatively complex, it's easy to forget that there is so much other prior knowledge needed in order to explain it. I definitely have a greater appreciation for all of the other lessons that go with this one.

Back to School!

2011-08-21T23:03:00.001-04:00

School starts tomorrow. Seriously, I don't know where the time went. My second summer of training ended on a Wednesday and I went in for teacher prep that Monday. and here we are with school starting tomorrow!

So, let's recap. The summer was a blur. I learned so much, so fast that I almost can't tell you what we covered. I'm assuming (hoping?) that next summer it will all come together.

What's coming up? Well, I have a very bottom heavy class this year. More than half of my class is 3 year olds. This will be an interesting year. Last time my class was this unbalanced, I felt like I was losing my mind. Here's to hoping it will be better with more experience on my part.

On a positive note, I got NEW, yes, new materials (not replacement pieces!) for a lot of things in my classroom.

A brand new, shiny, pink tower! Oh, isn't it so pretty? I'm just going to cry when it gets chipped. We are going to be doing a LOT of grace and courtesy on the handling of new materials. I think it looks particularly pretty on the green stool, which also got a fresh coat of paint.

The brown stair is new too. Ignore the red rods, they're old. My stair is now made if rectangular prisms instead of cylinders!

New geometry cabinet. Look, it had knobs! That means children will be able to open the drawers on their own! A side note: I also got fraction circles, which I never had before. I was on the verge of chucking my old geometry cabinet when I realized they were perfect holders for the fraction circles. Even though there are no knobs on the old drawers, it still works because I'm only using three of the drawers. Very handy if anyone is looking for fraction storage/shelf display.

A whole bead cabinet! You can see the remnants of my old hooks above the cabinet. We've only had the short chains since... Forever. Now, we have a whole bead cabinet. I'm just waiting for the long chains to arrive.

There are other new things that I got, but this is the last picture I'll post. Here is my new bell stand. Bells are old (I scrubbed and polished so hard, I hope they look like they might be new-ish and not 15+ years old!), but the actual stand is new. My old stand was a whale. It was twice as deep, which made it difficult for the children to play. Also, they loved to lean on all that extra space and it was getting quite bowed. I was just waiting for the unfortunate moment when it cracked. Luckily, we've avoided that!

Happy back to school for everyone who is starting!

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The End and The Beginning

2011-06-16T20:24:00.003-04:00

Well, school isn't technically over, but it is for me.

On Tuesday, we had our end of the year ceremony and cook out. I have to say, I think this was our best closing ceremony yet. We did a collection of poems and songs based on our theme, "Peace and Love." Each third year had a poem (or solo) to recite on their own or with a friend. At the end, the children sang "Love in Any Language" while I put a slide show on in the back. It may be the world's cheesiest song, but it was very cute.

Afterwords, I read a poem with a stanza about each third year student and gave them their gift. This year, I had a coupon for a printing service website (vistaprint, if anyone is interested) and so I made each child a little photobook with pictures from their first, second and third year. They came out very nicely, despite being a bit smaller than I had anticipated (I assumed the 4 x 6 book would have 4 x 6 pictures - but the whole book was 4 x 6). Nonetheless, it was a hit.

Our cook out was great too! I was so worried about not having enough food that I sent home a ton of reminders and we ended up having way more than we needed! The kids had a great time, and one parent even brought a mini sno-cone maker. She was a saint for manning it all afternoon!

Then, yesterday, summer training for Elementary started. My children are still in school until Monday with a sub. Talk about not having a break for me! We have jumped in head first once again. It's only the second day and I feel like I've been in training all summer. Oi.

So, one of the things my trainer mention before we got started was to remember why we are doing training. It's going to be a long, hard summer and we may want to remind ourselves of our positive mission to keep us going. Of course, I want Elementary for my school, and to expand public Montessori, particularly in the urban public education setting. I do feel very passionately about this.

Yet, I really have to say, that throughout this year I have been reflecting on my Primary class. I had a pretty good year this year. When I decided to do Elementary training, it wasn't because I wanted a break from Primary. I wanted it in the future and now seemed like a good time to do it (although now that I'm getting married and am actually planning on getting married next summer in between written and oral exams, now does NOT seem like the best time!). The more I think about it, the more I realize I love Primary. I'm going to finish this training, of course, but I'm beginning to think my heart is really in the Primary classroom. We'll see if this sentiment changes. Just thought I'd record my thoughts for now.

The Collective Exercises

2011-05-19T18:10:00.002-04:00

The Collective Exercises (aka: addition/subtraction etc. with the golden beads) can be the highlight of my day or the absolute bane of my existence. I find myself dreading the lesson or getting excited when a new group is ready. From my experience, it all depends on the children you pick for the lesson.

So far, I have given this lesson (addition) a few times over the course of the year. The first group that I gave it to early in the year to some of my third years. They just hadn't had time to fit it in during the second year. I chose another third year who had already had the lesson to be my helper. This very logical choice, which has worked wonderfully in the past, backfired on so many levels. The child was bored, rushed the other children and made the whole experience unpleasant for everyone (especially me). Not surprisingly, the other children didn't want to take out the material to repeat.

Time went on and I gave the lesson again to my last two third years who are simply working at their own (albeit snail-like) pace through the materials. By this time, most of the other third years knew how to do this work. Yet, after the initial presentation (which was me and just those two!) the other third years were just as terrible when working with the final two. It caused constant bickering. Ugh. I was about to throw all of my golden bead material out of the window.

Today, I had a group of second year students who were ready for the lesson. This time, the chemistry was right on. The three children I chose (two second years and one third year) are pretty quiet, and all three are girls. One of them -my shadow from last year- still refuses to speak but was literally squealing with delight as I gave her this lesson. This exact lesson, which had been the source of so much frustration and irritation to me, became a little squeal of glee for myself. How can you not be the happiest teacher around when a child is bursting out of their shell to do math?

Collective Exercises - choose your groups wisely and enjoy the ride :)

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Montessori

2011-05-10T16:58:00.001-04:00

Do you have one of these in your house or classroom?

Well, then you may just have some flower arranging vases waiting to be converted! I must attribute this notion to my Mom (happy belated mother's day, everyone!) who gave me the bright idea.

The one pictured above is a little bit large, but smaller ones are perfect. Use them to keep away funk in the classroom, then when they are done wash them out (thoroughly!) and -tada!- brand new vases.

This one is currently in my (house) bathroom. My rosebush is going crazy right now. Not bad, eh?

Secret Artist/Procrastinator

2011-05-09T16:31:00.000-04:00

From my feedback, it sounds like people read this blog for the same reason, I read other blogs: camaraderie. It just feels nice knowing there are others out there going through the same thing.

Without any big, philosophical ramblings (though I have some brewing), here are some of the things my classroom has been up to.

A month or so ago, I made a subconscious decision to do anything besides my lingering Elementary homework and timelines. Thus, I decided to create a set of decorative letter cards. I had seen a few cute ones on etsy, but none of them had cursive letters or were completely phonetic. So, why not hand-make a whole set? It was completely unnecessary, though I do think it brightens up the room a bit and has helped a few kids when they get stuck thing of a letter name/sound or the cursive/print version of a letter.

Isn't my elephant cute? The grapes... Well, not so much. One of the children also told me that h was "pimp hat". Guess, I should have left out the feather. Here are a few more.

The octopus was hard and he looks a little crazy. Nonetheless, I had a third year child tell me I was a "secret artist" because he didn't know I could draw. This is absolutely the best compliment I have ever received because, obviously, art is not something that comes naturally to me. It's rather cute that he felt I was hiding such "talent" from him.

Direction

2011-04-30T10:06:00.001-04:00

I haven't really felt like blogging lately.

At first, I felt a swing in the reflection of my classroom. This year has had it's challenges and struggles, but it feels like a cakewalk compared to last year. The entire last month of school last year, I thought I was losing my mind. I could barely make it through to the end of the year. This year, I happened to look at the school calendar yesterday and realized there is about 30 school days left. I didn't even realize school was so close to ending! What I'm rambling towards is that I feel a little bit more sure-footed about what I'm doing in the classroom. (just a little bit!) Somehow, This has made those shiny, happy moments I've had with the children seem so special that I've had the feeling I should just let it be, instead of sharing it. I don't know, it's a strange feeling and a strange way of thinking, but that's how my brain has been working lately.

Also, I've realized that I don't really need to post about the things on my shelf.1) If I have found something that works, I've probably already posted about it. 2) there are so many other great blogs out there with better ideas than me! 3) I like to keep the extensions minimal. Of course, if I make/find something awesome, I'm willing to share, but it's certainly not a focus for this blog.

That brings me to my question for you readers (if you're still out there). I still want to blog, but I think I need some direction and focus for this blog. It started out as a place to throw up my feelings/thoughts/elations/disappointments because my friends and family were sick of hearing me talk about the same thing. However, it's evolved. I still can't believe people actually read this. So, and I mean this in the nicest way possible, why do you read my blog? What do you want to read about?

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Mammal Talk

2011-02-23T16:21:00.003-05:00

I overheard a great conversation this afternoon with my third years.

While setting up the large number cards two boys were doing what I call "play arguing". They were arguing, but no one's feelings were actually being hurt. They were just going back and forth about nothing in particular. At some point, the conversation shifted to mammals.

R: Stop singing! You aren't a rock star. You're just a regular kid... and a mammal

J: Oh yea, I am a mammal! (giggles hysterically)

K: (Thinks over what he has heard and walks to me) If a person doesn't have any hair, are they still a mammal?

There are so many great things about this conversation. First, R has clearly gotten the point that humans are mammals. Every year, I have a few children who find it incredulous that we are actually animals. Usually, I'm able to win them over. R and J have accepted this fact and can giggle with it. Second, K is making the link between the classifications of vertebrates. He knows that mammals have hair (or fur). With the use of his imagination, he has thought of a person without hair (presumably someone bald) and wonders if the classification goes both ways. What a connection!

Newts!

2011-02-03T15:54:00.000-05:00

My big item from Donors Choose came today. Newts! I ordered two newts and an aquarium as a starter kit (among other things) to supplement our study of vertebrates. I have two slight problems: 1) it came with no food. Hopefully they will live until tomorrow and I will magically find a pet store with newt food tonight, 2) I didn't realize this came with newtS, as in plural. Meaning, one could be male and the other female... I just won't think about that for now. Shoot, maybe that's why they call it a "starter kit"- it's a start for a newt kingdom.

Well, if that's the case, we'll see something really amazing and everyone gets a present!

Isn't he (or she) cute? We're thinking about naming them Fig and Newton. Get it? Of course, I thought of that cheesiness. If you have any other ideas, let me know! The official class vote takes place tomorrow.

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This Is a Warm Place

2011-01-27T11:58:00.005-05:00

It's a snow day here in DC, and I've decided to (attempt to) be productive and start some of my readings and research for my upcoming theory paper on the Four Planes of Education. As I was reading, this quote about the first plane caught my particular attention

"In this environment the child who during this phrase is so fragile, becomes gentle and attractive. Surrounded as he is by beauty and tranquility, he feels a sense of being protected; for all danger is far from him. He develops kindliness, a sensitive appreciation of tranquility and peace and love for his fellow-creatures and - one might say - for the whole universe, that he wants to give others the peace and security that he feels. He will, if he has religious experience, pray that others may have the peace and protection that he enjoys." (From AMI Communications, 1969)

What a lovely description of a normalized child! Though, what struck me most was the idea that the child feels safe and protected and wants to pass on this feeling to others. This is particularly pertinent to my classroom. Many of the children in my class come from "unstable homes." (I HATE that phrase and I'm sorry for using it. Unfortunately, it encapsulates the point I'm trying to make) I'd venture to say that there are many times when they don't feel safe. Or, they have developed such a thick skin that there are situations where they definitely should feel unsafe, but no longer are. Many of my little ones have extremely strong survival skills. I probably wouldn't last a day in their mini shoes.

Having said this, it's always been a priority for me to make my classroom warm, welcoming and inviting. I've struggled in the past with whether or not I was truly doing this. I've also wondered whether or not it was making a bit of difference either.

I'm beginning to see, though, this year that some children may see our classroom as a haven. I only have little bit of proof, but I'm going to hope that it is an indication that our classroom community is headed in the right direction. I have a little boy who can get quite angry sometimes. He's been kicked out of other environments. He's even had his spats with me. However, his actions have subsided greatly over the past few months. Coinciding with his calming down, he has started randomly coming up to me and hugging me at various points in the day. He doesn't say anything. Just gives a hug and walks away.

I'm hoping that this a little thank you from a child who feels happy, safe and warm.

Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like

2011-01-11T18:16:00.000-05:00

OK, so it looks more like a demented horse rather than a dragon. Who cares? We had some messy fun.

Also, after reading Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like by Jay Williams, we know that a dragon can look like anything - even a fat, little man.

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Ode to the Stamp Game

2011-01-07T18:39:00.003-05:00

The stamp game is a manipulative tool that can be used to solve addition, subtraction, multiplication and division problems. It is a bridge that leads the child from concrete to abstract. It never fails to delight me (or impress outsiders) when my Primary children work with the Stamp Game. Best of all, it is so versatile and covers so many topics of math. It can be used in so many ways. Furthermore, it can help to explain the WHY of math.

For most of us (myself included), Math has been taught from the "how" perspective rather than the "why" perspective. In other words, most of us were taught HOW to get the answer. The question of WHY we follow the algorithm has often been overlooked. From a personal perspective, I can remember hating Geometry because I couldn't understand how to solve proofs. It took understanding the rules of geometry and applying critical thinking. I just wanted a formula to follow to get the answer. On the flip side, my first (and probably only) A in math came from Calculus where I could get away with memorizing HOW to do problems. However, in no way could I tell you WHY I was following those formulas. I was doing math with blinders on.

In an increasingly test-driven world, the math with blinders phenomenon appears to be getting worse. As a child gets older (middle and high school) there isn't enough time to find the holes of misunderstanding and fill them in. Whether teachers want to or not, they are sometimes forced to show children the HOW just to get through the material.

And so I bring you an example where the stamp game has helped to fill many sinking holes for a particular student. For the past month (meaning - a few weeks before break and this week), I have been tutoring a third grade student who has had no Montessori background. She is bright and wants to learn, but clearly has some holes in her math foundation. When doing dynamic addition or subtraction with 4 digit numbers, she has no idea when or why to carry/borrow. She was just crossing anything out and putting another number beside it.

I brought out the stamp game and first reviewed the categories. I then showed her dynamic addition and subtraction. It has been amazing. Over a couple of weeks, she has improved her skills greatly. We still have a LOT of work to do. However, I think that the algorithm she has been following (incorrectly) is starting to make sense and she is able to do it more accurately.

Simply put, I love the Stamp Game.

Papier Mâché Project

2011-01-06T15:40:00.001-05:00

The Chinese New Year is coming. (February 3rd) Can you guess what we are making?

A Chinese Dragon head for our parade! I've never done this before, so it's all a new adventure. I mixed 2 parts flour and 3 parts water for the glue. It seems to be working, although the true verdict will be revealed tomorrow.

Raj also designed the rest of our costume. (I'm not sure why the sky is green...) According to him, we are going to need 4 body pieces and a tail. We'll see how this ends up. More pictures to come!

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Following the Child into the Cretaceous Period and/or the Second Plane

2011-01-05T20:09:00.006-05:00

I have a very interesting child in my classroom. We'll call him Raj. Raj is my oldest third year student. I'm pretty sure that many other teachers would classify him as ADD or ADHD. Raj has trouble sitting still. He certainly can't stop talking. He often finds himself pushing, shoving or wrestling with other children and he has no idea how his physical actions got so out of hand. He is also incredibly bright, creative and quick. He memorizes facts easily and while it's hard for him to sit through a book or story, he can't get enough information about things that interest him. For the most part, getting him to do work is like pulling teeth. He constantly turns materials into "army men" or "transformers". He will do this with anything - knobbed cylinders, binomial cube - anything with small pieces. His greatest focus come from drawing - which he would do for 8 hours if we had enough paper. Needless to say, I'm constantly searching for a hook to get him to do something cerebral.

As a Montessori teacher, I am trained to be aware of those moments that show an interest for him and maximize them to their fullest. Even though Raj can drive me crazy, I love working with him because I know how capable he is. When he pulls it out of himself, it's always impressive.

When we returned from winter break, Raj was talking my ear off about Dinosaur Dan. I had to look it up, but apparently this is a show on Nick Jr. I asked him if he wanted to work with our classroom Dinosaur Cards. (Note: I don't always put out Dinosaur cards because I think it can be difficult for children to understand the idea of extinction, let alone the millions of years. However, I keep them in my closet because every once in a while I have a child who is obsessed with Dinosaurs and, of course, for moments like this.) My Dinosaur Cards (technically Prehistoric Animals) are from Montessori for Everyone and can be found here.

Raj went nuts for them. He took them out repeatedly and I told him stories about some of the dinosaurs. (Yes, I had to do some extra research) He loved that the Camptosaurus had no front teeth, only side teeth to chew grass and vegetables. He thought the Hadrosaurus, which has a duck-billed face was hilarious. And, of course, T-Rex is his favorite.

After two days of discussions with loads of great questions from him ("But how does the T-Rex protect himself with those little arms? I mean, the Ankylosaurus has spikes and a ball on his tail!") and three period lessons, I saw the passion starting to wane. That's always the challenge with Raj, everything is fleeting for him. At one point, I found him setting up the cards and pretending to engage the dinosaurs in "fights". I was somewhat exasperated and disappointed, so I said to him: "That's not what those cards are for. Besides, that's not even plausible because not all of those dinosaurs lived at the same time."

Like a horse turning its ear to focus on a noise, his eyes peaked up. "What do you mean?" A giant siren and lightbulb went off in my head and I told him he'd find out tomorrow.

I went home and set to work on a mini dino timeline. Raj is nearly 6 and his interest was peaking. This was going to be perfect timing. I figured why not try a little of my Elementary training out. Here is what I made.

I divided the paper into three sections: Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. I also put a picture of what the world looked like during these periods. (This is because I want to later point out where the bones were found and he can see that some of the continents were once connected.) I placed the prehistoric animals on the timeline based on when they lived. I only added one dinosaur that was not in the Montessori For Everyone set. I added the Plateosaurus to the Triassic period. I thought it was important to note that dinosaurs began to emerge then (as well as mammals), but their reign came later.

Here is a close up of the Cretaceous period. Also, I want to note that I didn't have any color ink, so I photocopied my cards at school and colored them in with colored pencils at home. The cards from M for E are a bit more vibrant.

When I opened the timeline, Raj immediately noticed the Plateosaurus and pointed out that it was not in our set. I then told him a story about the emergence and extinction of the dinosaurs. Raj requested to get the set of cards and match them to timeline. He practically ran to get the cards. After he matched them up, I suggested that he make his own timeline. I taped some paper together and told him to use colored pencils. He was set with this work for over an hour. He decided to place the paper over the timeline to trace the outline of the dinos and then used the cards as a reference to add in any details he had missed.

This is Raj's timeline:

And a close up of the Cretaceous:

I'm hoping that he will put the names of the dinosaurs and time periods on there tomorrow. Nonetheless, I was so happy that my time line hook worked for Raj. His work is great and impressive! Furthermore, it shows to me, once again, how Montessori can be a positive solution or outlet for children who seem to be "antsy", "hyper" or "over-active". For the record, Raj was none of those things while he was busy working on his time line. I just had to find his hook.

Unheard Voices

2010-12-24T12:41:00.004-05:00

In a hectic airport between transferring flights, I was walking with two bags, a cold and a sore knee. Opposite from me, a little boy was walking with his parents. He was holding each of their hands and occasionally skipping as everyone around him hurried by. As I passed him and his parents, I overheard:

"But, the biggest continent is yellow!"

I stopped in my tracks. A Montessori child! His parents looked down at him, absolutely confused and asked him what he was talking about. I smiled. I knew what he was talking about. He was referring to Asia.

This little gem of a moment made my day. It also reminded me that children are often brushed off or disregarded. It's easy for us adults to get flustered or caught up in our busy lives and send children away. Roald Dahl understood this perfectly. Even though children don't always say profound things (but often times they do!), they need to be heard. It's an affirmation that not only builds confidence, but allows children to be part of our community. So, on this Christmas Eve (if anyone out there is reading), I urge you to slow your holiday hectic-ness and listen to those little ones. You never know what gem you might find.

Imagination

2010-12-16T12:28:00.001-05:00

This was too funny.

J: Ms. Montessori, is that soda? (pointing to my diet coke can)
Me: Yes.
J: Oh, I thought maybe it was beer...Christmas beer. Cuz there's snowflakes on it.
Me: No, it's definitely soda.

I love the use of imagination! Maybe if I use mine a TON, I could turn my diet coke into a delicious Christmas Beer. After 3:30, of course. That would be nice on this snowy day in DC.

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Holiday Fun

2010-12-13T16:10:00.001-05:00

I know I've been a terrible blogger. Here are some fun pictures (read: lazy post) to let you know we're still plugging along.

"Welcome to our room!" says the snowman. Poor snowman had his nose ripped off three days into his job. Hooray for glue.

There were some quarrels about who got to "light" the menorah each day. Of course, two of our candles have fallen off and floated under some shelf. I'm sure they will be discovered eventually! I really need to re-make this with velcro. Laminate is fabulous, except for the fact that it repels tape.

Homemade stockings for each child and their gift from me. An ornament (or just fun hanging letter!) with their first initial. How cute does this look? The letters are from Pottery Barn. Since my Mom works there part-time, she hooked us up at a discount :)

Our door wreath is currently being decorated by hanging hearts painted by the children. They are actually photo ornaments (from Jo-Ann) but I ran out of time to do pictures. Also, the space is really small! You'd have to have an eensy picture to fit in there. Instead, we are putting little notes that say "To", "From" and "I love you!".

Trimming the Tree work is on the shelf once again. You can read more about it here.

Finally, some hope. I hope everyone is having a happy, fun, safe, and peaceful December. I also hope my children aren't off the hook when they return in January :)

Four more days until Winter Break!

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Good to Be Back

2010-11-20T10:02:00.003-05:00

I've been away for a while, huh? Well let's see, I did my second observation and I've been back for a week. Let's fill in the gaps.

First, the substitute that had my class (obviously not Montessori trained) was less than a good fit. Despite the fact that I gave specific instructions to NOT give lessons with the materials, this sub felt differently. My assistant told me that at one point she took the spindles boxes and brown stairs and was trying to give a child a lesson with it. WHAT? What on earth could you conjure up to do with brown stair and the spindle boxes together? Also, the children were off the wall for their substitute/s (their were a couple) and broke a lot of materials.

Needless to say, my room was a complete disaster when I came back. Pieces of materials missing or broken, things in the wrong place. I was pretty disgruntled Monday morning. I decided to have a serious conversation with the children about respecting other adults and their environment. It was an interesting moment. They were excited to see me, but as we sat down I let them know that we needed to have a serious conversation. Surprisingly, they got really quiet and serious themselves. I spoke to them very calmly and quietly about some of the things I had found broken in the classroom and some of the things that were told to me. They listened earnestly.

As we began class, there was a feeling of calm and maybe even relief. Certainly, I was relieved that the children were not going nuts and carrying on their habits from the previous week. Perhaps the children were relieved that I was back too. And then I looked around the room at my little hooligans and had to smile. Despite their poor behavior (and proof that we are not exactly normalized) I still love them. I was just happy to be back.

Out of Synch

2010-10-26T16:32:00.003-04:00

This week is not going so well. I was out last week to do my first observation for Elementary training. During the entire observation, I couldn't stop thinking about my own classroom. What are they doing? Did they get my class a substitute? Are we going to slide backwards?

The answer to that last question seems to be yes. Yesterday was kind of chaotic. I felt like I only got a few lessons in and I felt distracted. It just seemed... out of synch. Then today was plain awful. Let's see, where to start?

The whole school changed the breakfast routine, which, in turn changed our morning routine, which had been running pretty smoothly. That was problem numero uno. My assistant was out which made me do my running around like a chicken routine. Numero dos. It actually wasn't so bad, until they sent another person to my room to help me. Yes, you read that correctly. Usually, the school doesn't send substitutes for assistants. This year, they are trying to change that. It's a really good idea. However, it doesn't help much when the person comes in at 10:30. (My assistant was returning at 12:00) and they don't really listen to you. Then when you do ask them to do something, they get an attitude with you. I actually think this extra person may have made things worse. The children were most definitely feeding off of my negative energy. And they were being, well, kind of nuts.

So, in general, I'm feeling pretty crappy. I think that the children's behavior is a product of many different things: 1) change of routine, 2) lack of help and 3) still working on normalization. However, it feels like defeat because we had been doing so well before. The children weren't spiraling out of control before I left. This feels like my fault. Before I left, it seemed like we were on the right track. Now, it seems like we've taken 10 steps backwards.

Ugh. This is so frustrating, I'd usually tell myself that I'll have a better day tomorrow, but that happens to be Picture Day. Everyone knows that picture day is always a crying, snotty, screaming debacle. Double uggggh.

Slo-Mo

2010-10-20T19:42:00.001-04:00

About a year ago (or maybe it was more), I was a faithful bikram yogi. I went 4-5 times per week, sweated my brains out and felt fabulous and calm. Unfortunately, life got busy and my knee got injured and I've been out of the heat for over a year. Until now, that is. I started this week, and I am sore!

I decided to start this week because my schedule is about to go in overdrive. I'm currently doing my first Elementary observation, which will be followed by a paper and a very short school week of 3.5 days. Did I mention that i have to stay late those days for parent teacher conferences? Then Halloween. All teachers know that the period once Halloween hits, it's just a scrambling tumble down hill until the new year. Aaah! Take a breath, here we go...The next week: a field trip, three days and off to observation #2. Followed by paper, less than two weeks and Thanksgiving. Two weeks in December and we're at the holiday. Where did all my time go? My head is spinning just thinking about it.

So, I need my peace and calm time at yoga to slow myself down and focus on present moments. Breathe.

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Big News

2010-10-12T20:50:00.003-04:00

I've been thinking about this little Montessori-blog community out here in the blog-o-sphere and how I sometimes feel like I really know my fellow bloggers, even though I've never met you. We're all growing as teachers (or, for some of you, parents who are also teachers with double duty!) and life continues to roll on outside of the classroom as well.

So, as I was updating my facebook an other techie networks, I realized that I should update my invisible (hopefully not imaginary!) blogger friends on my big news. I'm engaged! I won't bore you with any wedding planning details (I'm really not looking forward to it, actually!) but just though I'd share.

This morning, I let the children share what they did over the long weekend. At the end, I gave them my big news. I told them that I was given a ring, which means that I will be getting married. To which one of my five year old boys replied, in true boy fashion, "Oh man! That's nasty!" I was laughing for about five minutes to myself. I let him know that it's customary to say "Congratulations!" After that, my chorus of children was chirping, "congratulations!" It was very cute. Gotta love 'em!

Quiet the Riot

2010-10-07T18:22:00.004-04:00

I realized something this week. We'll get to what it is in a moment.

With the cool weather finally settling in, we've had to get our jackets to go outside. The other day, the children had a special subject class (sometimes these interrupt our 3 hour work period) and then went straight to lunch in the cafeteria. Generally, we go straight from the cafeteria to the playground because they are near each other. Our classroom is basically as far away from both as you can get. Very convenient. While I was setting up lunch, I realized that we would have to go back to the classroom to get our coats after lunch.

In the past years, this walk back from lunch to the classroom (please envision three hallways and two sets of stairs. it's looong.) has been nothing short of a riot. The riots pretty much only happened when I would walk the children. When my assistant would walk them in the hall, they were less tempted to go nuts. I think they are sometimes intimidated by her loud voice. But for me? Oh, it was on. Apparently, I posted about it once before.

So, I lined up the children and headed off to the classroom. I was fully prepared to be hot, sweaty and embarrassed (I generally feel judged-though no one may be judging me- for having a loud noisy line going past other classrooms) by the time we got to my classroom. We started off pretty loud in the first hallway. I counted backwards from 5 (my cue to start getting quiet) and surprisingly by the time I got to 1, almost everyone was standing in the right place being relatively quiet. Of course, I had that one three year old that needed (in my opinion, not his) to hold my hand.

Then came the first flight of stairs, I was sure that someone would push someone else and the riot would start in the stairwell, particularly when it curves and I can only see half of the line. Nope. We made it up with little fanfare.

I opened the door for the second hallway. This one passes the main office. I held my breath. Please, oh please, we are doing so well, let's just get down this hallway with some semblance of organization. Two by two they walked. There was a little chatter, but we weren't overly loud. No one ran out of line or tried to jump the line or started yelling for no good reason.

The second flight of steps and last hallway were a breeze. NO RIOT!!

At first I thought, that they children had decided to listen to me. I started to think about why this might be and what I had done to finally convince them I really meant it when I said "no running." And then it hit me. Maybe, just maybe, we are taking a baby step towards normalization. Perhaps the children (certainly the older ones) know what they are supposed to do and simply want to do it because it is within them. After all, my class is exactly balanced this year (meaning an equal number of first, second and third year students - this has never happened to me before!) and my third years are taking on their roles as leaders pretty well. Upon further reflection, I started thinking about our recent work periods. They have been pretty steady. We're not normalized yet, but we're a lot further along than last year!

I often wonder if the process of normalization (of an entire classroom) begins with the third year students. Or, rather, is strengthened by third year students. Without that base of role models, it's difficult to have a steady work period. And it's that work that builds normalization. Just a thought.

What Children Need

2010-09-30T20:35:00.003-04:00

"Children need love, especially when they do not deserve it." - Harold Hulbert

This was the quote on MariaMontessori.com's facebook page today. I don't know who Harold Hulbert is, but this quote captured a lot of my feelings for today.

Today, circle time was a big ol' hot mess. Literally, it was hot (and rainy outside - the worst combination) and I was getting all sweaty. By the fifth time Red* continued distracting others and talking while I did, I was pretty frustrated. I ordered him to a table where he wouldn't be able to touch or talk to others. I had given him fair warning, but my final request was out of frustration and clearly he felt it.

"NO! I'm going to call my mommy! I'm going to call my Mommy AND the police on you!"

Standing there, sweating, practically arguing with a 4 year old, I realized how ridiculous I was being and that we were clearly heading down the wrong road.

I sat down, and changed my tone. In a soft voice and with smile on my face, I offered Red a way out of his downward spiral.

"Red, let me level with you. I'm getting a little bit frustrated with you. I asked you a few times to stop, but you didn't. It's not fair to your friends to distract them. It also hurts my feelings when I ask you to stop doing something and you continue to do it. So, do you think it would be possible for you to move away from some of the children that are very tempting to talk to? There's a good spot over there. I had asked you to take a seat at table so that you could still see everything we are doing, but wouldn't be tempted to break the rules. How does that sound? Can you move yourself?"

Much to my surprise, he said "Yes. I can move. And I'm sorry." Then he gave me a hug and moved to a less populated corner of the rug.

What can I say? He needed that love right when he didn't deserve it.

Newest Addition

2010-09-28T22:18:00.001-04:00

My assistant got this Betta fish for free. His new home is our classroom! He is our first classroom pet. Meet Trinko. The children named it. In retrospect, I think the child who nominated this name was trying to say "twinkle". Nonetheless, I heard Trinko and everyone voted for it anyway. Ha!

I hope Trinko lives longer than the goldfish I bought last year that never made it into the classroom...

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Apples All Over the Place

2010-09-26T14:15:00.004-04:00

Every year, we do a study on apples (and pumpkins, but we're not there yet!) and every year I try to do something a little different. It seems that everyone is on the apple wagon, right now! Over at My Montessori Journey, I saw this idea for creating the life cycle of the apple. It's similar to something I did a few years back, but better! I used to have little cut outs of the life cycle, which could be pasted onto a tree - it was cute, but a pain in the neck to set up.

In addition to our studies, we also decided to do a tasting. I bought two apples each of six kinds of apples. I cut one of the apples with an apple slicer and then cut the slice into three parts. The second apple, I kept whole and did not cut apart. As we tasted each apple, we also observed the whole apple. We talked about color, shape, taste and which was our favorite. I had a small chart that I was writing on until during our taste test. The uncut apples I later put on the shelf for apple cutting.

In the afternoon, I had the third year students help me recreate the chart on a large poster sheet so that we could display it in the hallway. Some of my third years can sound out the words and write letters with ease. (My children always choose to write in print) others are still learning. For those whose frustration level would be high, I allowed them to write over my letters, which is something I don't usually do. You can tell that the bottom row was done by my youngest third year student who is still developing hand control!

We also created a graph depicting which apple was our favorite. This year, I used cut-out apples to represent the bars on the graph. This was great! The children were able to grasp the idea of representation much more easily. In retrospect, I suppose the symbols should have been people (or smiley faces) because the number represents the amount of PEOPLE who liked the apple best. However, the children made the leap easily, and it sure looks great!

Visitors and Screaming Children

2010-09-24T16:40:00.004-04:00

I'm having an issue with my afternoon children and their interactions with visitors. I'm defining visitors as parents (picking up children early), other teachers or any other adult. In the afternoon, I have 8 children that stay up. I've noticed that whenever an adult comes into the room (yes, I wish there were less interruptions), the children take this as an opportunity to go nuts.

I've given several grace and courtesy lessons as well as reminders about what to do when an adult enters the room. If a visitor sits in the visitor's chair, one person may greet the visitor. Otherwise, the children are to continue doing their work.

And, here is the problem. If an adult comes in the room, he or she generally want to talk to me. Or, sometimes, if it is a parent picking up a child, I want to give them a note or remind them of something. Today, the children had just finished cleaning up the room and were waiting for their daily chapter (we are reading Fantastic Mr. Fox this year) when a parent arrived a bit early. I don't often see this parent, so I wanted to seize the opportunity to speak to her. After about five minutes, three of my girls (who are generally very responsible) were running in and out of the bathroom, screaming. Yes, SCREAMING, like they were on the playground. I had to excuse myself from speaking with the adult and get them settled down. It was... well, it was embarrassing.

So, what do I do? More grace and courtesy? I'm not sure how much more we could do. I also realize that part of the problem is that the parents (or other adults) are, in fact, interrupting the children and taking me away from them. (In this particular case, the children also had nothing to do, which compounded the problem) Part of me wants to make an effort to have no parents enter the room until official pick up time. This would be nearly impossible, and probably negatively affect the rapport that I have built with parents. I'm just starting to feel like parents are willing to come to me, instead of me hunting them down.

Any suggestions?

Hangin' in the Caf

2010-09-23T19:28:00.004-04:00

I've been playing around with some posts. Sorry if you saw some that are now missing. I'm still working out some kinks.

In the past four years, school lunch has gone from revolting to relatively appealing. I'm extremely happy about the progress that is being made to offer all kids a good, decent (and hopefully healthy) meal.

School lunch used to come in these pre-packaged, microwavable squares. The fruit that accompanied them was packaged in a sealed cup and it was nothing but sugar. From the outside, you couldn't tell whether the fruit cup was actually fruit or jello. As for the actual food/meats? Also, completely undecipherable. It was also a big disgusting mess, because the kids had to break the seal (on things like "soup" or meat with some form of liquid inside) with a spork. Oh yea, we only get sporks in our utensil package. I beg of you to envision three year olds stabbing at the plastic seal with a completely dull spork until the liquid shoots out and spills everywhere. Yea, it was not pretty. To see what the lunches used to look like, you can check out this blog. A very brave teacher in Chicago decides to eat school lunches for a year. We had the same provider (and therefore the same foods on the very same days) a few years back.

Then, our school became a "fresh foods" school. This meant that someone was going to reinstall (gasp!) cooking equipment in our cafeteria! As this process went on, the lunches were, um, a little fresher. They no longer came in microwavable packages. However, the food appeared to be quite similar from before, but placed in serving containers. I found its freshness a little suspect. Still better than the microwavable squares, though.

This year, the variety and quality of food is way up. I have seen identifiable pieces of meat that I would actually consider eating. There is rice with actual vegetables in it. I don't go in the back of the cafeteria, but I think that things are actually being cooked. If not, the provider is doing a darn good job of making it look and smell good. The salads actually have real cucumbers or tomatoes in them (instead of those sad freeze dried carrots). I have yet to see chocolate or strawberry milk (which I'm not entirely against, but probably unnecessary). No fruit cups or jello. Real, cut fruit. Things are definitely looking up.

Speaking of fruit, our school is also enrolled in the fruits and vegetable program (it may have some other name, but you get the gist). Starting today, all the children in my school get a mid-day snack of a fresh fruit or vegetable. It won't be every day, but it's a great addition. I'm excited to take my fresh fruit and put it out at our snack table. So far this year, I've asked parents to donate bananas, celery and apples. With this addition, we will seriously improve the healthiness of our snack as well.

I'm totally psyched.

Now, if I could just get the children in my class to stop bringing in junk (read: chips, cookies, lunchables, huggies) to add to their lunches...

Smell-o-vision

2010-09-16T17:45:00.002-04:00

When I first started working in a public school (as opposed to private), I thought the school smelled strange. It was a mix of wax and cafeteria food. Apparently, this smell is somewhat universal across public schools. When the bf first to help me out school, he exclaimed how much he loved that weird smell because it reminded him of his own Elementary school. It's funny how certain smells instantly take us places. My strange smell is the first light of a cigarette. Reminds me of my Dad. Always will. Once the cigarette is lot, I can't wait for the person to put it out, but the first burning smell...sublime memory.

Anyway, I was walking towards the cafeteria today when I smelled lunch (which, by the way, has drastically improved in four years. A post for another day...)and that waxy hallway smell and I actually smiled. That weird smell made me happy! It reminded me that, despite all the craziness, I associate my school with positive memories. Dare I say it, I actually enjoy school! Sometimes, I forget that fact. It's good to recognize it when I see (or smell) it.

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Songs in a Box

2010-09-05T13:34:00.004-04:00

This is a brief intermission from reminiscing so I can work on a project with the help of some readers.

Last year, I created a song binder for my children to take out and sing during class time. I had to remove it from the shelf. It got a little out of hand. It turned into, "let's take this out and roll around on the floor and pretend we are singing." I think I will put it out again this year with some modifications. Certainly, the presentation will be different. I also think the binder itself was too big and clunky.

I even noticed that when I used the binder as a music book to play the guitar, it was completely in my way. Over the summer, I saw a very cute box with songs and finger plays organized by month on etsy. (No longer there, or I can't find it). I also saw My Montessori Journey do something similar with cards on a ring. Brilliant! This is a much easier way for me to keep track of my songs (I will make something similar but different for my children in the future). I didn't buy this lovely package because I have a large enough song/poem repertoire and I felt like I could make it myself. However, I want your help!

I'm going to organize my songs by month (or possibly season, haven't decided yet), and also possibly by continent. I'll have to have a catch-all category too for songs that are every day songs. At the beginning of each month, I'm going to post the songs/poems that are in my box for the month. I'd like any reader out there to add to the collection in the comments. At the end of the year, I'll be happy (if I remember) to post all of the songs/poems in an organized manner. If possible, I'll try to give the notes to the songs. I am not the best at reading music, but I'm getting better. I can also give the notes to some songs in do-re-me format (I think this is called solfa? Musicians, am I right?) which correspond nicely to the bells.

So, here's August/September so far...

The Name Song
Anna, Anna, Anna, Anna
Anna, Anna All day long
Anna, Anna, Anna, Anna
How do you like my Anna song?
(Repeat with a different name. Have each child stand up as their name is sung)

Getting to Know You
Getting to know you, getting to know all about you
Getting to like you, getting to hope you like me
Putting it my way, but nicely
You are precisely
My cup of tea

Getting to know you, getting to feel free and easy
When I am with you, getting to know what to say
Haven't you noticed
Suddenly, I'm bright and breezy
Because of all the beautiful and new
Things I'm learning about you
Day by day.

(I like to shake the hands of the children as we sing, like they do in the movie)

Septemeber by John Updike
The breezes taste
of apple peel
The air is full
of smells to feel-
Ripe fruit, old footballs
Burning brush
New books, erasers,
chalk and such.
The bee, his hive,
Well-honeyed hum,
And mother cuts
Chrysanthemums.
Like plates washed clean
with suds, the days
Are polished with
a morning haze.

When I think of more, I'll add to the list...

Five and Still Alive

2010-09-04T12:45:00.003-04:00

I just changed the "title" under my blog to read that I'm a fifth year teacher. I've been teaching for five years. Wow. I know that's not a lot compared to others, but it's kind of a milestone for me. It's also made me think back over each of my years teaching. Each year has its individual vibe, yet each has its own distinct memories too. Also, each year seems to build upon the last in the "well-that-didn't-work" kind of way. Always learning. Always tweaking. So, I thought I'd dedicate this post (and perhaps a few more) to looking back and seeing how an experience has changed the way that I do some of the things in my classroom.

My first year of teaching, I taught at a small private school (the other four years have been in public school). It was a cute, little, private school, and I do mean little. It had one toddler, primary class, one lower elementary and one upper elementary. It was about 50 kids total. It was also a moderately priced Montessori school, so the mix of children was really interesting. It was very diverse and the parents had sought out Montessori and were willing to save and put their money towards it.

I should also mention that in my first year of teaching, I really had no idea what I was doing. I knew my pedagogy, and I knew my presentations like the back of my hand. However, when it came to the practical, little stuff, I was clueless. That's the kind of thing you just have to learn by doing. And so I did, with the help of some little friends.

The first thing that I had to alter in that first year classroom were my art shelves. If you've been reading, you know that art is not my forte. I should have known it was going to be a weakness. I set up my art shelves to have unlimited paper for drawing. I had a stack and whenever it ran out, I'd refill it from my closet. Following my training, I was ready to let a child work for as long as he chose. The problem arose with a little boy that we'll call Geoff.

Geoff was a gregarious, interesting little boy with some obsessive tendencies (probably not enough to get worried about, but enough to be intriguing). He loved Thomas the Train and Sponge Bob. He loved them so much they sort of seemed to be a part of his soul. It came out in his drawings. At first, he would draw trains. Train after train. They were very good too - he was quite adept at his hand. He would use the entire page and back of the sheet. I watched, and thought, surely, he won't spend three hours drawing trains. But, he did. Well, he won't do it two days in a row, right? He did. At this rate, I realized we were never going to have enough paper. I started cutting the paper in half. Something about the size of the paper (it was now more square than rectangular) turned the pictures into Sponge Bob. Over and over again. I started to become concerned. One day the paper ran out and Geoff asked for more. I lied (gasp!) I told him that we didn't have any more paper but there would be some tomorrow. I remember feeling guilty and wondering if I was ruining something important that was going on inside of him. And yet, should a child draw 20 sponge bobs in a row? He simply turned around and got out some different work. It was a miracle. After that, I put out ten sheets of paper. When it ran out, it ran out for the day. Geoff was never upset, he still drew his detailed pictures, and he started learning some other things too.

Then there was Isaac (name changed) and the crayons. If you could hear me say this out loud, you'd hear that I'm saying it with dread. This was a constant battle. Isaac is one of the most impulsive children that I've ever taught. I'll never forget when he ripped up a paper that his best friend was working on. She had been working for so long on that paper (whatever it was) and she started crying when he ripped it up. The look on Isaac's face was of complete surprise and sadness. He simply didn't understand. It turned out that later that year, he was diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder. It made his behavior much more understandable.

Anyway, I had put out a set of out 10 crayons on a tray for the children to use when drawing. Every time Isaac took out the crayons he would turn the tray over and dump them on the floor while walking. It seemed to be on purpose. He would also break the crayons (Side Note: I hate broken crayons. I have no idea why. Maybe I have some weird issue. Anyway, I've learned to live with it.) so small that they were almost unusable. It drove me nuts. He would also dump the stamp game almost every time that he took it out. We spent a lot of time cleaning up that year... Later, his OT came by the school and I talked to her about the crayons and stamp game. She said 10 was too many for him. WAY too many. It got me thinking. 10 is kind hard to carry on a tray anyway. They end up all over the table too. Let's go down to three and the children can come back and switch for three more from the shelves. This is what we do with colored pencils for the metal insets, why not the crayons? It was the simplest solution that made a HUGE difference for Isaac and the other children. There was no cure for the stamp game (which is quite a sensory intake when you stare at all of those little, colorful pieces), but I often had a buddy carry the box for him to a table.

It's important to remember that when we change something for one child, it doesn't always have to change for the next child or remain for the next year. Every set of children is unique and different. However, it is these little alterations that help us build our "best practices" (a word that my current school, and probably all of DCPS loves to use) in Montessori. It helps us understand children and see their needs more clearly. And that's what is important to take away.

Big Work

2010-08-27T22:00:00.001-04:00

As part of my summer elementary training, we discussed the psychological characteristics of the second plane child. One if these is the desire to do "great work." A child of this age is drawn to doing work that is big, long and extensive.

I think this characteristic sometimes pokes its head out in Primary too. Only, the primary child doesn't quite have the stamina or know-how to carry out such great work. I know that whenever I present Addition with the Golden Beads, someone always wants to have the number 9,999. This always turns to madness when all three want to add 9,999 (technically multiplication, but we can't spoil that for them!). This usually ends with the golden bead material being ALL OVER the place. At least, that's been my experience.

Today, I was reminded of this pull to greatness with one of my third years. I had recently shown him the Addition Snake Game. This is the "snake" he decided to build. (It's sideways)

Did he successfully complete counting and verifying? No way. Not even close. But, you can't blame him for the enthusiasm and effort!

While I find things like this amusing, I am also realizing how important these attempts are for the child. It's a way to learn about limits without the crush of defeat. He tried it. It didn't work. So what? It was really fun making and trying it. What a wonderful way to approach learning- with fun and without fear.

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The Girl Who Doesn't Talk

2010-08-25T19:11:00.002-04:00

I've been very proud of my children for these past few days. Everyone has come back to school ready to work! In addition, I'm always so impressed by the evolution of children throughout the first plane. I still stare in awe when one of my third year students does something and I can still think back to the days of him or her being a wee little one who worked on spooning with their tongue out.

Today, however, I was most struck by one of my second year students. We'll call her Abby. Last year Abby refused to talk to anyone. She also wouldn't eat or go to the bathroom. For the first month, I attempted to giver her lessons. I felt sure that I would find something that would pique her interest and bring her out of her shell. Every time I gave a lesson, she simply sat in front of the material and refused to touch it. When I would walk away and work with another child, she would stealthily put everything back on the shelf. exactly. where. it. belonged. Thus, I realized she was a watcher. She followed me and watched lessons the entire year. As the year progressed, she started eating little bits of her lunch. Though, not enough to warrant using the bathroom.

On the first day back this year, I firmly (but nicely!) told her that she really needed to do work this year. Abby gave me the blank stare. OK, let' s be more specific. "Abby take out the pink tower." I had seen her help children put away this material countless times and I knew she would be able to complete it successfully. She walked over to the rug, built the pink tower and tugged on my shorts. (She still isn't talking to anyone, but I know it's coming!) I acknowledged that she had completed it and asked if she wanted to work with it some more. She shook her head, so I told her to take out something else.

And away she went. Pink tower. Brown Stair. Puzzles. Color Box 2. I had never given her a lesson on any of these but she had been watching like a hawk. Finally, she tugged on my shorts and pointed to silver polishing. I sat down and showed her the first successful lesson in over a year. She watched with intense silence as I slowly polished and buffed a silver cup. As we took our dirty cloths to the hamper, I could practically feel the joy oozing out of her. Dare I say, she almost broke a smile. She was practically skipping to and from her table. Abby has arrived.

Just as the morning was ending, she tugged on me again and pointed at the number rods. Because I had never shown her the red rods and I wasn't sure if she'd be able to arrange them properly, I asked her to take out the red rods. She diligently put all of the rods on the rug, mixed them up and pushed them together. She was close! I suggested that she arrange them from longest to shortest. The blank stare returned. From behind me, one of my thirds years popped up. "I'll show her!" The third year showed her and then mixed up the rods. "OK, now you do it." Abby saw that we were all watching her and refused to touch them. So, I walked away and ignored her. Literally, one minute later, I felt another tug. She had composed the red rods in record time! I even slyly looked at my third year to ask if she had helped. "No, she did it all by herself!"

Looks like I'm giving Abby a lesson on the number rods tomorrow.

Fabulous First Day

2010-08-23T21:03:00.002-04:00

Today was the first day back to school with the little ones! We actually had quite a fabulous day. I always love the first day back. Our school phases in the first year children after the first week of school and we do it one at a time. So, for a whole week, I get my returning students with which to review rules and procedures. I like to take this time to pep them up for being the responsible "big kids" of the classroom. There are LOTS of grace and courtesy lessons. I know every school has there own beginning of school procedures. I'd be curious to hear from others about their ideas.

I do have a quick story that I'll share before I zone out for the rest of the night. My third year student from last year (now a first grader!) who spent the last two months of school behaving quite badly, needed some hugs this morning. Despite showing every sign that he was ready to get the heck out of my room, when it came to going to a new room and a new teacher after three years, he was a bit apprehensive. I saw him in the morning and he looked upset, but I figured I'd talk to him at the end of the day. 20 minutes later, another teacher brought him to my room and asked for help since he was screaming and crying. We had a chat about starting new adventures and I reminded him that some of his buddies were going to be in his new classroom. It took some prodding, but he finally decided to go to his new class. Poor little guy. After all that misbehaving in my class, he still knew where he felt comfortable. I guess some kids have a strange way of showing their love. I'm glad he finally settled in to his new class.

I think we're headed for a good year.

Back to Back

2010-08-16T20:34:00.002-04:00

Well, training "ended" (for the summer...) on Thursday. I reported back to school today for prep week. My head is still spinning. My lists of things to do are getting out of control. If I have to sit through one more meeting while my mental lists go haywire and I try to re-lay out my room in my head, I'm going to explode! Or fall asleep. My body is confused.

You know what else? After being at a training center, my materials/tables/shelves looks SO dumpy. I realize that I can't buy all new stuff, but I really need to shape some of this stuff up. I've been displeased with it before, but now it's crossed into unacceptable. Anyone know of an inexpensive, but good quality recommendation for new touch boards and touch tablets? I've been meaning to make these for two years and I still haven't done it. It's never going to get done.

I did get some new things for my classroom that are looking quite lovely. I'll take some photos and give credit as I set them up. That is, if I ever get there.

This is looking like a Red Bull kind of week. Teachers, welcome back.

Great Work

2010-08-02T19:08:00.005-04:00

Greetings from Elementary land. I am, in fact, alive. I'm just very, very busy. I had wanted to post about training and delve into theory topics, etc. but I'll just be honest, that is straight up not going to happen. Elementary training is no joke. This is some work!

We are just plowing through theory and presentations. I'm assuming that this frenetic pace is due to the format of this particular program. Since we only have a certain amount of time per summer to fit it in, there are no time for breaks. Sometimes I think longingly of my academic-year Primary training and how we would eat snacks and chat during breaks. Now, we just type. type. TYPE.

I've also realized that the best way to do this is to just put my head down and do the work. If I stop and start thinking about the sheer volume of knowledge I'm supposed to have at the forefront of my brain in order to teach elementary (like, say, the history of MANKIND. and the world. and the universe...) and how I'm actually going to do it (there are how many presentations?) it can feel very overwhelming. Last weekend, in an attempt to spruce up my deficient history knowledge, I watched two hours of the history channel about the Space Race. Did you know that the company who was contracted to make the first spacesuit was playtex? Yes, the same people who make bras. They were selected because of their use of rubber and flexible materials. Who knew.

As you can see, it's easy to get offtrack. So, I just buckle down, do the work and assume that all the theory and practice will fall into place eventually. I know it will. For now, I'm keeping my nose to the grindstone.

Already?

2010-07-19T21:10:00.002-04:00

I have an "album" (mini) due tomorrow. After the first day. What? I guess we're jumping in with two feet!

Actually, I already did it. Not so bad. Interesting too. I wanted to talk about a quote that was mentioned today. However, now that I've written pages, showered and am on the couch, I've lost some motivation. Maybe tomorrow...

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Goin' Back

2010-07-18T18:00:00.001-04:00

School starts tomorrow. School for me, that is. I start my Elementary training bright and early in the morning. Hopefully, I'll have lots to write about and time to discuss it all! If I'm absent, you know what I'm doing.

I have a strange sort of feeling about this. I feel like I know what I'm getting into, but I'm unprepared for the longevity of it all. Since it's going to take 3 summers, it doesn't feel real that it's starting now.

Before my Primary training, I pre-ordered all of my books and started reading ahead. (Nerd alert.) Of course, Montessori's books are a bit dense to get through without the training, but nonetheless, it was EXCITING to be started something new. Since this is an extension of what i already do, the butterfly-in-the-stomach excitement isn't really there. I'm interested, for sure, just not jittery. I know this is going to be a looong journey. Im at the bottom of the mountain. I suppose the real excitement will come closer to the end (top?) when it all pulls together.

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Little Finds

2010-07-12T08:54:00.002-04:00

The other day, I hopped up to Baltimore to look for furniture at a second hand shop/warehouse. As usual, I got completely overwhelmed and didn't buy anything. I keep watching HGTV, but I still have no idea how to "decorate." Anyway, about half way through the warehouse, I started noticing that the little cups/pitchers/bowls on top of the furniture was for sale too. Much of it was discounted! Suddenly, my brain switched off from house mode to classroom mode. It's so easy for me to spot things I would use in my classroom even if I don't have a specific purpose in mind for them. I wish I could do the same when trying to beautify my home!

I ended up buying a very small pitcher that I may use as a flower vase for flower arranging (We broke so many this year!) and a pretty, small painted bowl that I may use to hold cotton balls or other items.

After the warehouse excursion, the BF went to visit an old friend and I had him drop me off at the American Visionary Arts Museum (AVAM). I'm not sure if I've talked about this museum before, but it's one of my favorites! As a spoiled DC-er, who frequents the FREE Smithsonian museums often, I have a hard time wanting to pay admission for museums. The AVAM is $15 (I think), but well worth it. Unfortunately, this time around I didn't really have enough time to see the exhibits. I figured that rather than rush myself through the museum (which I HATE), I would just peruse their equally fun gift shop.

Well, peruse I did not. With my brain still in classroom mode, I somehow found lots of strange little things that would just fit in my classroom.

First up, they sell tiny little plastic toys/trinkets. Many of the featured art uses unconventional materials, like these. I immediately thought, sound games!

Here we have Popsicle, Hot Dog, Bottle (or Coke), Dice, Dancer (or Ballerina- this is actually a cupcake topper, isn't it funny?), Compass, Motorcycle, Turtle, Candy, and Hamburger. Yes, these are plastic-y and kind of junky and could be far more aesthetically pleasing. However, with the amount of sound objects that accidentally find their way into children's pockets, I'm ok with padding my collection. The Popsicle (or ice cream bar) is actually an eraser. How long do you think that will last ? :)

For some reason, they were also selling Demi-tasse spoons. Believe it or not, I have been looking for these! In my four years of teaching, I have never set up Tasting. Shame. I know, I'm terrible. I just didn't have the liquids readily available, nor the spoons or cups. Now, I'm running out of excuses!

I like that they are mismatched. They hail from Australia, New Zealand, Uraguay and unknown. Of course, the minute I got home, I realized I need 8, not four to do the matching. Oops. I'll have to find some more.

In the book area, I came across these very reasonably priced Chinese flash cards for children.

What a fun addition to our room for when we study Asia!

Last, I came across these funky little boxes from China in the sale section.

The little men on the side remind me of the ones that are usually seen on pin cushions. As you can see, I bought 11. Wanna guess why?

Memory Game of Numbers! My current version consists of little Chinese pouches in a tin. Inside the pouch are, of course, the numbers. Unfortunately, the pouches have become worn out. They're missing their clasps and starting to fray. The tin has also become dented and difficult to open. Usually, the children struggle to open the box and when they do, the pouches go flying. Then the numbers fall out of the pouches that are broken. It can be a big ol' mess. It drives me nuts.

Now, we have new holders for the numbers! But what will we put them in?

Perhaps this similarly-themed, recycled bag? I haven't decided yet. The bag is small, but a little bit big for this use. I think it's cute, so I may just use it for me!

Well, that was the result of my small excursion. I had no idea I was going to go on a classroom shopping spree, but it turned out to be very productive. You never know where you are going to find little treasures.

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Is Montessori for Every Child?

2010-07-08T10:23:00.008-04:00

My trainer always preached that Montessori is for every child. In other words, that any child can benefit from Montessori education. This question can bring much discussion, or even a heated debate among Montessorians. Over the years, my answer has changed a bit. It hasn't vacillated form one side to the other, but rather has become layered with experience and caveats.

As a fresh newbie, entering my first year as a guide, I simply agreed with my trainer. My answer did not have much depth, though. I trusted my trainer and assumed that experience would provide similar evidence. Four years later, I've moved away from such assured-ness. I've seen moments of awe-inspiring transformation in my classroom. However, I've also been witness to such aggressive and destructive behavior, that I had to stop and wonder how such anger could be inside a young child. I have to wonder about the balance of a classroom. When does diffusing aggressiveness begin to take a toll on the harmony and normalization of the classroom?

My most recent opinion to the matter stems from some other advice that my trainer had given us as a class. In addressing children with special needs (in this case, children who would fall under the Special Education umbrella) , she suggested that we have some years of experience under our belts, and a stable classroom in order to provide what is needed. This way, the teacher can maintain the normalization of the classroom, while providing any extra supports that may be necessary. In the same vein, a few years ago, I was privileged to hear a woman speak who had been trained by Maria Montessori. (I can't remember her name, but she was a wonderful elderly woman!) In her classroom, she created "families" (groups of 3-4 children) for children with special needs. In this way, the children were creating a cohesive community by using each other in addition to the teacher.

I am beginning to feel that children who are not documented under the Special Education umbrella, but who display extreme behaviors need this type of support as well. If this type of support or stable classroom is not yet available, that child with extreme behavior may not fully benefit from the Montessori classroom.

Allow me to divulge with examples from my classroom. My classroom is not normalized. We have moments of it, and I have a few children who emerge confident, assured, calm, kind and joyous. However, as a whole class, we are just not there yet. I teach in an imperfect setting (interruptions, lack of supports, etc). Combine this with the fact that many of the children in my class come to school with heavy emotional weight or aggression and you have a pretty tumultuous classroom. This doesn't make my classroom "bad", but it does make it a challenging work in progress.

This year, I had two children with extreme behaviors that endangered other children in the classroom. Spitting, hitting, kicking were the tip of the iceberg. Both of these children have bit to the point of bruising. Both scratched me (and children) so vigorously that blood was drawn. I still have one mark on my arm from months ago. I think it is going to scar. One repeatedly spit in the faces of others. Both had a tendency to overturn classroom furniture and one would throw materials at others in a rage. I was particularly shocked to see one pick up the ceramic hand washing bowl and smash it on the ground. I think you get the idea, these behaviors are EXTREME.

I worked with these children and their families throughout the year (one for two years) without much progress. Any calm I might see would then be followed with quite the storm. By the end of the year, I had other children imitating these negative behaviors simply to get my attention. At this point, I realized that the balance had been completely tipped.

Is Montessori right for these children? Perhaps. I think yes, BUT in a stable, more normalized classroom. I do not have enough stability to both diffuse blow ups and protect classroom peace. I would have loved to have created "families" for support, but did not have enough children capable of such a responsibility. Despite being practically abused by some of their actions, I feel like I let these children down. It feels like its my fault that I couldn't give these children what they needed. I suppose, in some ways, it is. I wonder if a change in environment would truly help these children, rather than hurt them.

So, what do you think? Is Montessori for every child? Does your school have a dismissal policy? How do you maintain the balance of your classroom with children that require a bit more?

Limbo

2010-07-07T22:52:00.003-04:00

It's been two weeks since school ended, and I've been taking some much needed time to rest my brain. That means lollygagging around, reading books, trapsing to the museums, watching movies, going through my ridiculous to-do list of things that I put off through the year (eye check up, window measurements, wading through ikea...) and pretty much doing anything unrelated to school.

I have, of course, been reading blogs, though. I just can't seem to get away.

In just over a week, I will be starting my Elementary training. I'm looking forward to and dreading it at the same time. I really like going to the pool at 2pm (especially since we are in a ridiculous heat wave right now) or laying around with a good book. Of course, I also really want to get into all those mysterious Elementary materials. I've been told that once you start your Elementary training, you never see Primary the same.

I guess I'm just in limbo, right now.

Garden

2010-06-17T18:16:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since I posted any pics of our school garden. I have to admit, it's looking really good! A little crazy, but good!

Here, we have some new additions: a spider web frame (from Montessori Services) and a "chalkboard." Our art teacher pitched in and had the children paint part of the wall with chalkboard paint. That's the black box in the background. Next year, the children will be able to use sidewalk (er, wall) chalk on it. Cross your fingers for no graffiti over the summer.

Down the middle of the garden...

To the left...

And to the right...

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Tie-Dye!

2010-06-15T19:51:00.002-04:00

For our closing ceremonies, all of the children will wear a handmade tie-dyed t-shirt. Most teachers who hold promotional exercises ask their children to dress up. Not me!

Our ceremony is very simple. This year, we will perform a collection of songs and poems. This is super easy since we are doing songs that we already know. This is followed by a "celebration of third year students." I have made it a tradition to frame three pictures of a student (one from each year) and give it as a gift at the closing ceremonies. I usually say a few words and stories about each child as well.

After that, it's party time! I ask the parents to donate dishes/food and a portable grill for a cook out.

Thus, I want the children to wear play clothes. I've never done tie-dying in my class before, but it was very easy and fun. Here's what I did.

I set up a table (inside the classroom) where each child could come up to "twist and tie" their shirt. (You can ask parents to donate shirts. I bought them on my own, because I didn't want anyone to be left out. Also, we need extra t shirts in our classroom anyway). This took a little over one three hour period for 24 children. Wrapping the rubber bands around the shirt was challenging for most children, and they needed assistance. I had a few girls that were quite adept at this, probably from putting rubber bands in their own hair. It was a nice finger/wrist exercise for the little ones.

Once all of the shirts had been tied up, (and the nappers were snug in their cots) I filled a bucket with Rit dye (yellow, in this case) and hot water. I wore gloves and let the afternoon children push and stir the shirts with a long stick. Do this OUTSIDE :) Once the shirts looked saturated enough, I removed them from the bucket (thus the gloves) and put in a new batch of shirts.

Then we let them dry. For a long time. A really long time. If you get tempted to throw them in the dryer, like I did, remember that they will probably shrink. Oops. Good thing the shirts were kind of big to begin with.

Once dry, take the rubber bands off. Ooooh! Aaaaah! Very exciting to see the accidental patterns. Don't forget to iron the wrinkles out! Here's a third year with our iron.

There are many ways to do tie-dye with varying degrees of complexity and color. This was a perfect introduction to tie-dye and it couldn't have been simpler.

Now, all we have to do is wear them and enjoy the party!

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Spiders are Not...

2010-06-14T20:20:00.004-04:00

One of my favorite things to witness in the development in a child is a sense of humor. This usually happens around 5 or 6. For the most part, Primary children do not get jokes. They find things funny, of course. An actual joke, however, is generally beyond their comprehension. Believe it or not, jokes are rather complex. It takes understanding something that is real and understanding something that is silly (or whatever is "funny") and putting the two together. It takes time to get there.

For the past week or so, I've had a group of second and third graders helping in the afternoon class. At the very end of the day, I usually read a story to the class as they wait to be picked up or go to aftercare. Since I have my older helpers, I've been letting them read.

Today, one helper picked up "Spiders are Not Insects" to read to the children. Now, my children have heard/read this book and we've had many discussions about the difference between insects and arachnids. I'd say they are pretty well-versed in the differences between the two, particularly the third years. The reader held up the book and said the title aloud: "Spiders are Not Insects". Another helper interjected "Oh, man! I thought you were going to say 'Spiders are Not Human'!"

Much to my surprise, one of my third years started cracking up. "A spider with two legs!" he shouted. Then, he began pretending he was a spider. He got a joke! This was even more surprising, considering how popular Spider Man is in my classroom. One might think that a spider with two legs is an easy leap for the imagination. Not this guy! He was laughing hysterically for several minutes. He was laughing so hard that I actually started laughing, both because his laughter was hilarious and the idea that spiders (real spiders, and not spider men) could walk upright is a pretty funny idea.

I'd say this particular third year student has hit the second plane with a bang.

Prom Night

2010-06-10T16:25:00.002-04:00

Last year we had a wedding, this year a prom!

For a fundraiser, the children (ok, parents) sell candy and gather donations. The top sellers (boy and girl) are crowned Montessori King and Queen. The runners up are announced as the prom court. We started this last year and the parents LOVE it.

The prom was absolutely adorable. My assistant, who has taken this fundraising program under her wing, finagled a DJ, food, photographer and decorations!

The cake:

Children's Table:

Backdrop for professional photos!! (Hilarious!)

The best part was that the kids got really decked out! A lot of them brought their brother/sister/cousin as a "date" and came in coordinating outfits. Some even had corsages!

This type of event has the potential to serve only the needs and wants of adults. Fortunately, it had a great balance and everyone involved had a fabulous time.

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Updating

2010-06-06T21:34:00.002-04:00

Sorry for being MIA. I've been so busy, I have no idea where the week went. And yet, at the same time, I'm so ready for school to be over that it seems to be going so slowly. Just part of the end of year blues.

International Day was blur. It was so busy that yours truly forgot to take ANY pictures. You'll just have to imagine how great it was. To be honest, it was both great and overwhelming at the same time. Some parts were a bit unorganized and it some of it was a bit too much for the littlest ones to handle. There were some meltdowns. If it happens again next year, I want to jump on the committee and straighten a few things out.

Moving forward...

With two and a half weeks left, I am scurrying around like a nut, trying to get things in order for the summer, keep my sanity and also keep the kids in check. Really, they are going a bit bonkers. I think we all need a break. Does anyone else feel burnt out at the very end of the year?

I have a whole bunch of things to write about, but I need to find my mind and motivation first. Hopefully, I'll be back on level ground soon. See you then!

Lamingtons

2010-05-27T16:07:00.003-04:00

Thanks to a suggestion from a reader, we have made Lamingtons as our Australian treat. You can find the real (read: actual cooking) recipe here. Due to constraints on time and cooking equipment, I have created a simpler version. Aussies, I hope you approve!

What You'll Need:

Sponge Cake (I used Angel Food Cake)
Shredded Coconut (preferably dessicated and unsweetened. I had to use sweetened)
Chocolate Syrup
Toothpicks
1 Knife
2 Bowls
3 Trays

What to Do:
1. Cut the cake into cubes and place a toothpick into the cube. I recommend that an adult do this as the cake is quite crumbly. Place the cubes on a tray.
2. In a bowl, pour chocolate syrup.
3. In another bowl, place the shredded coconut.
4. Place a tray or paper towels under the two bowls to catch any drippy-ness.
5. Dip the cube into the chocolate while holding it by the toothpick. Try to fill the chocolate bowl up relatively high. It works best if you can plunge the cake in, so the edges have chocolate (as opposed to just the bottom)
6. Transfer the chocolate cube into the coconut and roll it around.
7. Let it sit overnight.
8. Enjoy!

Notes:
- The recipe suggests dripping the chocolate over the cubes. This probably would have worked a lot better, but it would also have been a bit messier.
- As a result, our Lammingtons aren't the prettiest thing in the world, but they taste alright!
- Making your own chocolate sauce would definitely taste better- the syrup is very sweet. Not necessarily a bad thing, but something to consider.
- This was so easy!!! I called up two children at a time while everyone else was working. Everyone got a turn to do a couple and eat one. We were finished in about 1.5 hrs. Clean up was to put away materials and wipe the tables.

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Didgeridoo!

2010-05-26T17:07:00.002-04:00

In continuing our study of Australia, and in preparation of International Day (on Friday!), the Montessori classes have made didgeridoos. Not only is didgeridoo an extremely fun word to say, it was relatively easy to make and play.

I found the instructions for making the didg here. I was hesitant to do it because I didn't think it would work. Basically, you take a piece of PVC piping (about 3.5 - 4 ft long and 1.25 in diameter) sand the edges and decorate. Could that really be it?

When I found myself in Home Depot last weekend for other reasons, I figured why not try it out. 1 pipe was 10 ft and only $3. I cut the pipe in thirds so that each class would have one. At $1/didgeridoo, it's pretty economical! All you have to do is make a "loose motor boat noise" with your mouth pressed up against the tube. It really works!

Introduction to the Didgeridoo
In order to understand what in the world a didgeridoo is, I introduced the children to the Aborigines of Australia. This was pretty brief. I had some pictures in our Geography Folders, which helped us along. Since we have already talked about Native Tribes of North America, this idea wasn't foreign to them.

Then I showed pictures of the didgeridoo and people playing it. I wanted them to see how long it was and how they were decorated. I really wanted a good book to accompany my pictures, but I haven't come across any. Does anyone have any recommendations for good children's books on Aborigines/Aboriginal Art/Didgeridoos? Comment! We also listened to didgeridoo music. I used songs by Dreamtime that I found on iTunes. There's lots of free clips out there too, but most of them are blocked on my school computer. So, if your banned from sites like me, or if you really like the didgeridoo, Dreamtime is pretty good.

Lastly, (and this I only did with the afternoon children who decorated the didg) I showed pictures of Aboriginal art. We looked at and discussed "dot art" and "x-ray art" There were a few attempts to make "dot art" on the didgeridoo, but our paintbrushes were too fat. Live and learn. Next time, I'll have finer paintbrushes for more detail.

Painting/Decorating the Didgeridoo
If you decide to use PVC piping (you can also use wrapping paper tubes), you need to use acrylic paint. I only had three colors, thus the monotony of our didg decorating. I also split the didge into sections and let each child fill in a space. Another teacher painted the whole tube herself and then had each child draw something (an animal/design) on the tube. I have to admit, hers looks a bit better. The third teacher let her class decide how they wanted to decorate, and they opted to use dot stickers. Anything goes!

Playing!
Now, none of us are experts, but all of us (adults and children) have been having a good time practicing. I showed the children how to blow your lips without putting the didgeridoo up to their mouth first. For those who had difficulty, I reminded them that it's like "pretending to be a horse" or "making a raspberry". This helped tremendously. Most of the children were able to do it after a few tries. There were a lot of giggles too, because sometimes our didgeridoo "sounds like someone passed gas!!!" This is true. You are now warned. Our didgeridoo noises sometimes sound more like those soccer horns than the real thing. More practice!

Miscellaneous Notes
-There is an option to make a mouthpiece out of beeswax. I didn't have any beeswax, so we just skipped that part. It still works, but it does leave a little ring imprint around the mouth.
-Also, make sure you have plenty of baby wipes around, the inside gets pretty spit-filled. I wipe off the mouth area after each child plays.

More pics of our Australia display soon to come!

Big Day

2010-05-20T16:52:00.002-04:00

A lot happened today, and nearly all of it good! I love the bursty feeling of a nice day.

As I was shaking hands with my children, the principal buzzed my room.

"Ms. Montessori, you have a visitor coming down to your room."

I had scheduled a parent observation for later in the morning and assumed the parent was early. Nope! It was my Master Educator (ME) for my unannounced observation. At least my mind was already prepared for being observed. Very fortuitous. She was so early, though! The children were still hanging up coats and getting settled. I made circle time super quick so we could get into our work cycle for her to see. I think it went OK... No one did anything crazy. Although, a leg did fall off a table. I was kind of glad that happened. Maybe she can tell downtown that we need some new tables!

After that, or actually overlapping with that observation were my new parents coming to observe. I almost wish the ME had stayed longer, because the work cycle really picked up and was really nice for the parents. It's all about the waves of activity, we were cresting at that point.

We finished out our morning and the sun decided to come out after days of gray clouds and rain. I just couldn't resist going out in the garden with the afternoon children. Much to my pleasant surprise, a volunteer group had weeded all of our flower beds over the weekend. I was ecstatic!!

The children and I spent the afternoon pulling weeds outside of the beds (we have a strange weed/bermuda grass issue), looking for living creatures and tasting honeysuckles. It was just plain ol' fun. Although, I did have to get very stern when someone tried to climb the fence and throw a rock. Other than that, all smiles!

Best of all, Kurtis* was on the hunt for living creatures. After yesterday's snail discovery, he was determined to find something.

"A Cricket!!!!"

I walked over to find that he actually had a baby Praying Mantis! Another first for me! I've seen adult praying mantises (they really creep me out, actually), but never this miniature rendition.

It's truly amazing what little eyes can spot. Even more amazing what you'll find if you create the habitat.

I showed the children how to let the insect crawl on your hand and how to pass it to each other. I am so impressed by the way they calmy, quietly and kindly they handled their new friend. As three year olds, they would have screamed and smashed it.

It was a big day. For everyone.

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Snail!

2010-05-19T13:19:00.002-04:00

Look what little eyes found today!

Can you believe that this is the first snail I've ever seen in real life?

Holler.

2010-05-18T16:12:00.002-04:00

The past few days have been so frustrating that it seems like I can't bear it anymore. I just want the year to end. And then, after I breathe deeply in my supply closet for a moment or two, I get my second wind and remember...

"But [that] bold declaration nonetheless crystallizes why I - and I think most teachers- chose our vocation in the first place, and, more importantly, why we keep on keeping on. At the core of our work is the belief, despite the distressing signs around us, that the world is indeed changeable; that it can be transformed into a better, more just, more peaceful place; and that the kids who show up in our classrooms each day not only deserve such a world, but can be instrumental in helping to bring it about. Their voices are abiding reminders that there is something to hope for in spite of the hopelessness that seems to be closing in around us - something tangible, something real, something in the here and now."

- Gregory Michie, Holler If You Hear Me

Waltzing Matilda

2010-05-13T19:52:00.002-04:00

We started learning Waltzing Matilda this week. It's been a while since I last sang this song and I had to look up the lyrics. What fun Australian slang words I had forgotten about!

In order to understand the story, I decided to do a brief group lesson on the unfamiliar words. I wrote each word on a sentence strip and drew a picture clue. As I sang each verse, I held up the word as it came along. Slowly, we deciphered the story of the song. Jumbuck and tuckerbag are definitely their new favorite words right mow.

Since we have learned all of the unfamiliar words, I have put them on the hallway wall for our performance. I'm hoping to assign parts and act out the song as well. We'll have to teach the other classes about our new lingo!

The lyrics to Waltzing Matilda can be found here along with the slang definitions.

Australian Animal Cards

2010-05-11T17:48:00.003-04:00

I have a treasure chest in my closet at school. The teacher before me was clearly a collector of things. In my possession, I have a box completely full of pages taken out of magazines, folders of masters and incomplete 3 part cards. Bit by bit, I have been going through the box (yes, for 3 years) and organizing the pictures into folders - continents, animal classification, etc.

I happened to remember coming across a master copy of Australian animals in 3 part cards somewhere in the box and I was able to unearth it. The cards below were a print-out from a now defunct website. I love them and they were free! It appears that somewhere in the box are animals to other continents as well. Apologies for the glare, but I took the pictures post lamination. Here we have; Kangaroo, Echidna, Dingo, Numbat, Koala, Emu and the Continent Australia.

I would love to add Animals of the Continents cards to my geography shelf next year. I'm sure I could piece it together from the treasure chest. I know, however, that no projects will be getting done this summer with my training starting. I really want these, from Montessori Services, but they will have to "become available" and I will have to win the lottery first.

Looks like I'm going treasure chest diving...

A lil' help...

2010-05-06T16:30:00.003-04:00

I need some help for a few end of the year projects that I have going on. Please leave a comment or feel free to email me with any ideas! I'll be sure to give you credit when I post about them.

1) New Parent Orientation
We pretty much have our new parent orientation down pat. However, we usually show a video from AMI that explains a little bit about Montessori. The tape (yes, VHS) has gone missing. It was on its last legs anyway. We could order a new video, but they are expensive and would take too long to arrive. Does anyone have any recommendations/links for online videos that would give a brief, pedagogically solid, easy to understood introduction to Montessori? There are so many videos out there that I really don't have time to sift through all of them. I'm sure there is a parent out there who has a clip that really "sold" them on Montessori. Please share!

2) International Day
This year, my school is hosting an International Day. Each class (or grade level) has picked a country and will be decorating the halls/performing/informing about their country. The idea is that each class has a time to walk around the school and "visit" each country. If it is not your time to visit, you are waiting for guests so that you may inform them.

The Montessori classrooms have decided to do Australia. So, far, we are planning to:
a) Sing Waltzing Matilda and Kookaburra (accompanied by the guitar)
b) Serve Vegemite (on crackers? bread? I'm not a vegemite fan. What is something small, and not expensive that we could serve it on?)
c) Have displays of the maps and animals of Australia.

Does anyone have any other ideas?

Mother's Day Craft

2010-05-05T08:54:00.002-04:00

Each year, the children make a special craft to take home to their mommies for mother's day. I try to make sure the craft doesn't repeat each year, so Mom gets a different gift every year.

My favorite craft is to make handprints with a poem written underneath. In my childhood home, my mom had one of these hanging for each child. I used to love comparing my hand to my brothers' and sister's.

Since I did that craft two years ago (last year we grew paper-cup flowers), I had to think of something new. I'll be honest. This mother's day crept up on me. All of a sudden, I had one week left and no supplies! So, I went with something simple.

I cut two pieces of cardstock into 5.5" x 7.5" rectangles. I cut out a middle rectangle, and voilà: world's easiest picture frame. We are currently decorating our frames with craypas.

I'm surprised by how great they look!

This one was created by a third year student. Doesn't it make your heart melt? I also love that he put Christmas trees on it. Hey, why not?

Watering Plants

2010-05-03T20:44:00.002-04:00

Recently, our (seriously adorable) watering can broke. It was a sad day. I'm not even sure how it happened. However, this misfortune allowed me to revisit the work.

I went to the store where I had bought the old watering can, but they only had these plastic, modern ones. I was dissapointed, but decided to buy it anyway since my plants were on the verge of dying.

As I gathered new matching materials from my closet, it all started to come together.

On the left is a folded red apron, and the big swoopy watering can is the new one. Inbetween is a miniature brass watering can (usually used for brass polishing- I actually forgot that I had it in my closet) with two red Popsicle sticks in them.

On the Popsicle stick, I wrote the word "stop". We've been having problems with our plants being over-watered...to the point of classroom flooding. So, the idea is that after watering a plant, the stick goes in the soil. If a child wants to water the plants (perhaps later in the day), but see the STOP stick, s/he knows not to water that plant.

I think I read about this idea on the Moveable Alphabet. If I am giving credit to the wrong blog, I apologize (and let me know the correct one). The great thing about revisiting work is that you can make it more interesting, personalized and improved.

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Smile for Me

2010-05-01T13:33:00.004-04:00

The very last child to enroll in my class (well, let's just say she was squeezed in at the last moment to help the enrollment numbers for our school) was Kiki*. I knew from the start that she would be an interesting and possibly difficult child with which to work. Because of her late enrollment, the parent-teacher-child conference that usually takes place before school was passed over and she simply started at the end of September.

Kiki appeared to be a quiet and affectionate little girl the first few weeks of school. She loved giving and receiving hugs. One day, an incident occurred that raised a red flag for me. Kiki was crying uncontrollably towards the end of the day. Something had happened, but I hadn't seen what set her off. The crying was so loud, it was verging on a tantrum and the other children were holding their ears. I scooped her up, placed her on my lap and gave her a small hug in an attempt to quiet her down. Most children, particularly those who are affectionate, will loosen up in this situation. They may hug back or simply get comfortable and quiet. Kiki, however, silenced her crying immediately, threw her arms around my neck and held onto me for dear life. It was a very strange reaction and it made me nervous for her.

A month or two into school, Kiki started having hygiene issues. Her clothes were dirty, and often times she smelled unsanitary. It was hard to let her hug me everyday as the smell of her clothes was very pungent. One day, I asked Kiki if she wanted to change her clothes. She told me, "Yes, they're stinky." I almost cried. When I gave her clean clothes to change into, she practically glowed with excitement and, of course, gave me a hug. I showed Kiki how to wash her clothes in the cloth washing basins, which she loved. I notified personnel at the school and spoke with her mother directly about Kiki's cleanliness. It turned out that she had to share a bed with her sister who has some bed-wetting issues. It took some time, but I was more than relieved when cleanliness was no longer an issue for Kiki.

When we returned from the holiday break in January, Kiki's demeanor began to change. She became defiant. If I asked her to do something directly, even in the kindest of tones, she would scream "No!". She began pinching, scratching and biting other children. Soon, she was no longer screaming her defiance, she was throwing chairs and pushing over tables. When this behavior began, I tried my hardest to remain calm and remove her from the situation to calm down. As I would try to walk her out of the room, she began scratching and biting me. I began to dread seeing her walk down the hallway because I knew that it was only a matter of time before the bomb went off. I had meetings with all kinds of people (including her family, of course) about her behavior. Sometimes, she had to be suspended. No matter what I tried, her behavior seemed to get worse and worse. The calmer I was, the quicker she flew into a rage. By the time spring break rolled around, I was ready to kick her out of my classroom completely. I was frustrated, and despite my efforts to hide it, it was showing.

When we came back from spring break, I evaluated what was setting her off into these rages. It seemed that the trigger was ME and asking her to do something that she didn't want to do (like put her work away or stop hitting other children). How did we get so off track? Where was the girl who trusted me enough to ask for clean clothes?

The first day back from break, I smiled at Kiki endlessly. I smiled if I caught her eye while she was working. I smiled when I asked her to put something away. I smiled at her while she ate snack. She started smiling back. When I gave her lessons, I smiled at her like she was the best ice cream sundae I had ever eaten and sometimes, I did something playful just to make her giggle. She started asking for hugs again. Just the other day, Kiki was running around the room chasing another child. I asked her to stop. Previously, this request would have started a fit. She looked up at me and said "OK, Ms. Montessori" and walked back to her work.

I am floored by the power of a smile. Montessori always said that the directress must evaluate herself and be spiritually ready for the classroom. While Kiki's behavior change was brought about by changes at home (that I won't get into), it was my demeanor that escalated the situation. Even though I was trying not to show my frustrations, Kiki could tell what I was thinking. It wasn't until I forced myself to overly change my attitude toward her that she reciprocated. Kiki still has off days, and isn't a completely transformed child. However, we've gotten back to the place where she trusts and believes in me enough to listen to my words. All because I started smiling at her.

*Name changed

Sunshine Friday

2010-04-30T08:50:00.001-04:00

Don't flowers just make your whole day brighter? Thank you, children.

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It's Elementary

2010-04-27T19:46:00.003-04:00

A while back, I mentioned that I was looking into becoming Elementary trained. It was a decision with which I struggled and my indecisiveness caught me off guard. Today, my decision somehow become real: I've been accepted into the AMI Summer Elementary program!

Since the close of my Primary training, I've wanted to become trained in all three Montessori levels. My Primary training was completely eye opening to the world of human development, let alone the realm of education. I loved every second of it and wanted more.

My hesitation in applying for the Elementary training came in its format. The only financially feasible option for me to complete the training would be to do so through a multi-summer format. AMI offers this option at particular training centers every so often. Herein lies the problem. If I want to become Elementary trained, I have to do it now. By the time the next offering rolls around (it's not every 3 years), I might not be able to do it. It's now or never.

The training is rather intense and includes weeks throughout the year and observation/practice teaching. Some of those weeks land on my spring break. The idea of losing my summers AND spring breaks for three years makes me want to cry. I realize that many teachers do All-Year Montessori (which I am in favor of, by the way... a post for another day) and find their work refreshing. I, however, struggle with some of the behaviors of the children in my class. My class is challenging and, well, tiring. I need well deserved breaks every now and then for my mental stability.

So, while I should be happy about my acceptance. I still feel... apprehensive? I'm lacking the exact word, but I have a little knot in my stomach that comes and goes. Any words of advice?

Testing Mania

2010-04-25T15:49:00.004-04:00

It's that time of year again. All of the students (in testing grades) in DC are in the middle of taking the DC-CAS, the test mandated by No Child Left Behind.

This year, they have not pulled my assistant (hooray!) and I am pretty much able to go on about my Montessori business without much interruption. Well, that was until, I was given two tests to give my Kindergarten age students. Argh.

Throughout the year, children of testing grades take a series of practice tests that are supposed to indicate how the children will do on the final test. So, I've been given an end of the year practice reading and math test for my Kindergarten children.

Anyone who has read this blog knows that I am not in favor of testing, and certainly not for children of such a young age. At the same time, I've worked in public education long enough to realize that these tests are not going anywhere. If anything, I have a feeling that these tests are going to increase in frequency and start at younger and younger ages.

(I'll warn you that the rest of this post is a rambling of my thoughts as I try to figure out my point of view and place in the world of testing mania. I apologize now for the meandering of my thoughts. Should you still be interested, read on.)

Before I became a Montessori teacher, I worked for an Educational Services company (read: Test Preparation). So, I know a thing or two about standardized tests. I've always viewed the SAT/ACT as a necessary evil. It certainly doesn't give an accurate portrayal of the knowledge of a student, but colleges want some sort of litmus test to be able to compare students. Because I worked for a test prep company, I know that the results of this test are very malleable with tutoring. This fact alone widens the scoring gap along poverty lines. There are myriad other flaws with these standardized tests that I won't even get into. The only advantage with using a test like the SAT is that colleges weigh it among other factors for admission: grades, extra-curricular activities, volunteer work, internships, portfolios, etc. In fact, most colleges are seriously considering these other factors as the number of applicants continue to rise each year. While the SAT isn't perfect, at least it can be somewhat balanced to show a clearer picture of an applicant.

In regards to its flaws, the DC-CAS is similar to the SAT. A passing score on this test doesn't necessarily mean that the child is well-educated, curious, independent, an analytical thinker or a problem solver. It simply means that they were able to answer a series of questions correctly. On the other hand, perhaps children should be able to answer those questions. Unlike college admission and the SAT, these scores are the sole source of determining whether a child is "on grade level" or not. I completely understand that the government wants children to BE on grade level. Far too many children in the US are waaaay behind. DC is obviously included in these statistics. I even understand that the government (or corporations or even some parents) would want some sort of indicator of WHO is doing WELL. What I don't understand is how anyone could think that ONE test would be able to accurately reflect a child's understanding of information.

To complicate matters further, the NCLB test provokes two more major problems. The first is that there is a huge push for test scores to be tied to teacher accountability. Florida has even passed legislation to have test scores tied to teacher's pay. By placing more importance on these tests than before, we are led to problem #2.

In order to obtain these scores, the classroom begins to change. Alfie Kohn says it best here:

You deprive kids of recess, eliminate music and the arts, cut back the class meetings and discussions of current events, offer less time to read books for pleasure, squeeze out the field trips and interdisciplinary projects and high-quality electives, spend enough time teaching test-taking tricks, and, you bet, it’s possible to raise the scores. But that result is meaningless at best.

Click here to read the whole article.

I wonder if it would ever be possible, or even considered possible, to decrease the weight of the standardized test and combine it with a portfolio (or something else?) to determine whether a student is on grade level. How this would happen, I have no idea. When we boil all of these problems down, we are left with one great "problem": teaching and knowledge are subjective. There is no good way to measure either.

To be quite honest, the best feedback I've ever received as to whether my children understood their lesson is through observation of their work with Montessori materials. No tests. No writing prompts. Sometimes, no tangible evidence of work having been completed. Just children working, and my observing.

Maybe the answer to the most complicated problem is the one that is the simplest.

Finally

2010-04-19T17:31:00.004-04:00

Finally, I can walk normally with just a slight limp...

Finally, I had an interruption-free morning...

Finally, I was able to take a breath and observe my classroom...

And it was pretty darn good. It's been a while since I've had the opportunity to stop and really take a look around the classroom. The past few months have been so jagged, interrupted and chaotic, I've felt like a giant pendulum swinging around my classroom. While today was no where near perfect, I saw some really tiny things that show some huge progress for some pretty small people.

One of my second years has completely mastered the teen beads and boards because of his work and observation of others. I caught another first year watching some second years doing Addition with the Golden Beads and mouthing as the other child was counting "one ten, two tens, three tens..." Curiously, one of my third years who has lovely handwriting has fallen in love with the moveable alphabet all over again. I think he is testing out his phonograms. Today he wrote lists of what other children were working on. (peec tawer, beran sterz...) Even a child with whom I have great concern about her memory was diligently tracing and stating aloud the only sandpaper numbers that she knows. Zero, One, Two. Zero, One Two.

These are every day things that happen every day in classrooms. However, I just had to pause and remember my proud swell I had on a day where things didn't go completely wrong. Finally, we had a pretty good day.

Crazy with a Capital C

2010-04-14T12:32:00.002-04:00

Today was crazy. I woke up to find my knee totally swollen and stiff. Awesome. I called in to let my principal know I would be late. I knew my assistant would be out, so i had to go in or there would be no one to hold my class. (For those of you not familiar with DCPS, generally, if a class cant be covered, the children are split up and sent to other rooms... no matter what grade) I figured if I iced my knee and pumped myself full of advil, I'd at least be able to hobble enough to manage through the day. I figured right.

I got to school around 9:45 and I could literally HEAR my class from down the hall. I walk in to find an assistant from another class in my room with my children + children from another room. Oh, and two men are looking around my room, pointing at the walls.

"What is going on?" I managed to say in my calmest voice.

It turns out the two men are planning to paint my room in a few weeks. Seriously? Granted, my room is REALLY yellow, but I've grown to like it. More importantly, do you really think they can paint my room on a Saturday and I will be able to get it back together by Monday? I made a mini-fuss, so hopefully, they'll paint it over the summer.

On to the next issue. Why are there 6 extra children in my room? Another Montessori teacher is out, so they've split up her room. I now I have 29 children under the age of 5 in my room. With no assistant. Special is cancelled. And, remember, I'm hobbling.

Thankfully, a classroom grandparent came over to help out, and the extra 6 did get to go to special, which at least gave us some space for an hour. Phew.

During the mayhem (and yes, it was mayhem), there was, at least, some comedy.

My oldest third year is second planing on me. He is very bright and capable of doing advanced work, but all he wants to do is fidget and talk. This happens with at least one child every year. If I could, I'd send him straight to Elementary to put him at the bottom of the social pole and to be fascinated by others working with advanced materials. Sigh. One day.

Back to my second planer. After I talked to him multiple times about leaving other people's work alone (he can be quite smug about his intelligence), I gave him a blank piece of paper and asked him to make me a list of his favorite foods. You would have thought I asked him to jump into a bog of crocodiles by the reaction I got. I urged him just to "try", hoping it might spark something for him.

He actually did sit down and write something unassisted. He came up to me and announced in a very matter-of-fact tone:

"This says crap"

Indeed, the first word says "crap". I suppose he though I would be upset and would tell him to put the work away. (I told you this buggar is smart!) Instead, I returned his tone.

"Yes. It does. What else do you like to eat?"

Without flinching, he returned to his seat and promptly wrote: pancakes, sandwich, pizza and juice, which you can see in the picture.

This morning was not so much fun, but that was hilarious.

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The Verdict

2010-04-12T17:43:00.003-04:00

Well, the official verdict from the doctor is in...

I have a partially torn ACL. :(

First, the doctor told me I had a partial sprain and I was really excited. It turns out that a sprain and a tear are the same thing in doctor-speak. The good news is that I might not need surgery. The bad news is that I might need surgery. My orders are to bike on it for a week (to build up some muscle and get the joint moving) and then revisit the doctor.

Still crossing my fingers...

How I spend my lunch break

2010-04-08T12:14:00.002-04:00

As I sip on my Diet Coke with my knee up, I'm pasting knobs into my maps. The only problem is that the new Nienhuis knobs (that's right people, we got our first replacement order in three years!!!) don't fit in the old maps. So now I'm undergoing the tedious task of figuring out which knob will fit in which piece. Oh, and I have a baggie of old knobs that I've found throughout the past few months. You know, just to make it more interesting...

I could have also titled this post: "Damn you, Nienhuis!"

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Sympathy Calm

2010-04-06T16:31:00.004-04:00

Last night, I didn't sleep well. I was really stressing about my knee and working with the children. Could I injure it more? What if one of the children accidentally presses on it? How in the world am I going to get up and down the stairs? Holy cow, the stairs from the playground to the back of my classroom are at least 4 flights. And the stressing went on and on.

When I got to school, I slowly got my classroom ready. Fortunately, I had cleaned up pretty well before I had left. As I heard the children coming down the hallway, I hobbled anxiously to the door. For some reason, when I see all of my children after breaks, I am always surprised by how little they are, but somehow at the same time by how much they're growing. Even after all that stressing (and after their crazy behavior from before the break), they just made me smile.

Of course, they all wanted to know what happened to my leg. (I was wearing my very uncomfortable brace) So, I told them an oral story. I have to admit, I'm getting much better at these. I told them about flying to Wyoming and some of the animals that I saw on the drive to the mountain (elk and buffalo). I described how big and beautiful the mountains were and how it snows at the top, but not always at the bottom. With just enough drama, I told how I fell and hurt my knee. On top of that, we had a brief discussion of "what's inside your knee", where we learned about ligaments. While I was at the clinic at Jackson Hole, I was given x-rays of my knee, which I'd love to show them, but I can't for the life of me find the CD. Perhaps when I fully unpack...

Children are usually quick to show their sympathy, and I was a bit surprised to see how intently they were listening to my story. I gave them a few rules about how to walk around my leg and that we would have to be careful with our hands to make sure that they don't actually touch the brace.

"Can't we touch it softly?"One asked.
"No, not even softly."
"Okay, Miss Montessori." Her hands went back into her lap as her eyes examined the brace intently.

A few moments later, a child scooted their bottom next to my feet.
"You can't sit there right now." explained the child with busy hands who usually yells MOVE!!! every chance he gets. "Miss Montessori needs more space for her leg. Can you move back?"

When lunch rolled around, I sat in a chair by their table in the lunch room. I usually don't sit during lunch because a) their aren't many extra chairs and b) I have a few students that continually get up/spill something/need something opened. As a side note: this is not ideal at all. Lunch in a Montessori classroom (or any classroom, really) should be a beautiful, peaceful time. This year, we have to eat in the cafeteria, so our lunches are more along the lines of: noisy, rushed and chaotic. Today, however, I was sitting down as the children came to sit. ALL of my rambunctious boys raced to sit nearby me, which was surprising and yet not surprising at the same time. I assigned one helper to open milks for the younger children who still haven't mastered that skill. Nobody got up for the entire lunch period. I only had one child purposely spill, nay, pour milk under the table (ooooh that gets on my nerves, let me tell you) so he had to eat by himself for a bit in order to get himself back in order. It was probably the most orderly lunch we've had in a looong time.

"Don't worry, Miss Montessori" one of my rambuncious boys told me, "I'm a take care of you."
"Thank you, R. I appreciate it." I answered with a smile.

And I do appreciate all of their sweet gestures. Maybe I should be hurt more often?

Been a while

2010-04-03T12:33:00.002-04:00

Where have I been?

Well, the week leading up to spring break, I was feeling tired, sick and extremely burnt out. There are some moments where I feel like some of the children in my class need more than I can possibly give. It's a disheartening feeling and simply put, wears you down. I was most definitely in need of spring break.

For spring break, I went to Jackson Hole for some snowboarding. The BF and I don't travel much, so this was our big trip of the year. Is there a better way to relax than snowboard, après ski, hot tub, repeat? I think not.

All was well, until my general stroke of terrible luck kicked in. Last April, I had to get stitches. This year? Well, on the last hundred yards of the last run on my LAST day, I jammed my knee. Not good. Now I have to follow up with an orthopaedist/get an MRI to see what's going on there. I keep telling myself that it's a sprain and that nothing is torn, but I'm not entirely convinced. I'll keep my fingers crossed until the official doctor's appointment.

School resumes on Tuesday, and I have no idea how I'm going to give lessons, move around the classroom or, heaven help me, walk the children UP stairs.

Wish me luck.

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Happy St. Patty's Day

2010-03-17T16:44:00.002-04:00

On a moveable alphabet, I saw this today:

Lepecon (leprechaun)
Renbow (rainbow)
God (gold)

And my personal favorite, because you can tell this child is working heavily with phonograms, and has nothing to do with his previous list...

Macuronee end cheez (macaroni and cheese)

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Venting my Brains Out

2010-03-12T17:26:00.004-05:00

This past week has been pretty terrible.

I got into a fender bender on Monday. This was completely NOT my fault, and yet when I filed an insurance claim (two doors need to be replaced) on the othe driver's insurance, he thought it would be appropriate to call and yell at me. Hello? It was YOUR fault.

On Wednesday, my student teacher was observed. Did I even mention I had my student teacher for the past two weeks? She's been awesome and I don't want her to go. While this observation was for her, I felt really stressed about it. Of course I want my trainers to feel that I'm doing a good job. As with any time someone observes in my room, I got really hot and sweaty and felt like everything was falling apart. Sigh.

Yesterday and today, the children in my class were simply off the hook. I'd like to say its spring fever, but in reality many of the children in my class (and entire school) simply haven't developed self-discipline.

And here lies the problem that I feel like I am constantly facing. I aim for a positive, no rewards/no punishment community in my classroom. However, every other waking moment of these children's lives is spent in the world of rewards and punishments. It strongly exists in the rest of the school, and in within the cultures at home. I have heard this, verbatim, more than once: "If you do good at school, I have candy waiting for you at home. Otherwise you'll get a spanking." The positive nature that I try to bring to my classroom is being crushed by the forces from the outside. For the children in my class who have support at home, I can see the growth of their concentration and discipline. For the children who struggle in their home lives? We're still at square one. And it's these children that cause the classroom to come crashing down.

So, what's the solution? Do I dismiss these children from the program? Do I talk to the parents yet again (that is, if I can get a working number for them)? How many times (per week? per day?) do I remove these children from the classroom when they act out in such a way that it threatens not only the harmony of the classroom, but the safety of other children? And where do I even put them, since young children are often perceived to be "too young" to be a real problem?

On teeth...

2010-02-23T22:55:00.003-05:00

Morning conversation with a 5 year old.

Me: Good Morning, D.

D: Ms. Montessori, look, I lost a tooth!

Me: Your first tooth! Did your Mom ask you to put it under your pillow?

D: No? I lost it at school.

Me: When? Yesterday in after-care?

D: No. This morning, during breakfast (at school), while I was eating my muffin.

Me: What did you do with it?

D: Oh, I threw it out.

I always find it funny when children aren't aware of the things that adults find very, but sometimes unnecessarily, important. For the record, my assistant went back with him to the (fortunately) empty trashcan and helped him find it. He could have cared less, but I'm pretty sure his mother will be happy he brought it home. I still remember when I was in high school and my Mom showed me a little box with my baby teeth in it. I was kind of freaked out. Out of curiosity (since I have no children of my own), do most parents keep their children's teeth? It seems like the kind of thing I'd feel guilty throwing away.

"I didn't know I could do this!"

2010-02-18T22:36:00.003-05:00

One of my third years has been struggling with phonetic reading. He can sound out words, but sometimes mixes up letter sounds. When he correctly sounds out a word, he often doesn't "hear" the word that he is reading. In other words, he will be saying "c-a-t" over and over again, not realizing that he is saying "cat."

His buddies are fluently reading and he has been feeling left out lately. Today, I suggested that we work on phonetic reading cards and I got major negative feedback. Crossed arms. Puckered lips. Whining. The trifecta.

So, I did something very un-Montessori. I showed his his recent DIBELS scores.

There was one area where his score was low. I'm not the biggest fan of DIBELS, and I certainly don't like the idea of a child determining his self worth through a test which does not accurately measure his intelligence. However, I also understand that this is a test that the children MUST take. Is it fair for me keep him in the dark, particularly if he is going to face this test throughout the rest of elementary school? I really wasn't sure, but I decided to go out on a limb with my fingers crossed. (Side Note: I'd really love to hear from others how you deal with mandatory testing and Montessori. Leave a comment!)

I didn't tell him his score was "low", but I showed that it wasn't as high as the other areas. I managed to give him a small pep talk, without comparing his scores to others' or asserting pressure. I simply said, "If you'd like to get more right (in this area) next time, we need to do some practice. My suggestion would be to work with the phonetic cards. What do you think we could do?" Much to my surprise - I was very worried that he would feel pressured or upset- he got really excited. "Yea, we could try those again."

I have been observing him with the phonetic cards for quite some time. This child likes to join his friends when they work on the cards, because he has greater success. On his own, he tends to get flustered and put the work away. We worked slowly together. When he mixed up a letter, I hopped in to help. If he forgot a sound, or started at the wrong end, I gave a soft reminder. After a short stack of words, it just CLICKED. It was his moment.

He went through card after card, sounding it out and then reading it to me.

"l-0-t. lot?" he questioned.

"That's correct!"

The stack of cards that he had read grew larger and larger. After we got through almost all of the three letter he words, he decided to count the cards he had done.

"41 cards! Ms. Montessori, I didn't know I could do this!"

"I did. And now you do too."

Perspectives on Art

2010-02-16T19:39:00.009-05:00

I was one of those children that did not enjoy art class. It was always a place of inadequacy and frustration for me. I could never make my drawings/paintings etc. look like something "real". In my younger years (Primary), I was satisfied to be an abstract artist. "Oh, you made a design!" people would say. I played in colors and shapes. As I grew older (1st - 5th grade), I wanted to make realistic drawings. One of my friends, as well as my older brother, could (to me) draw fantastically real pictures. There were many crumpled papers and tears.

My brother, who is quite a bit older than me, tried to appease my frustration. He had double closet doors in those days, and one day decided to make a gallery for the two of us. His side would be realistic depictions, I was to be in charge of more abstract qualities. This slowed the frustration, until a third grade art contest defeated me.

In this competition, the art teacher selected a certain number of pictures for the contest. We were to take our original drawing and recreate it on a larger sheet. I assume, in retrospect, that this was a lesson on reproduction and enlargement. However, at the time, I didn't care anything about that. I was just excited that my picture (of a giant castle) was actually selected for the art show and competition. Obviously, my works were generally not selected. I worked meticulously on this picture and enlisted the help of only my trusted friends to help me paint it and add glitter. When it was finished, I thought it was serious masterpiece. I could not have been prouder or happier.

The following week, the pictures were hung and ribbons were given. I ran to my picture, assuming that I had won something. Nada. Not even a runner up ribbon. I curled the picture up, haphazardly and went home very, very sour. My brother was the only one able to weasel out of me what was wrong. He demanded to see the picture, which was getting pretty crumpled by this point. In all sincerity (because it's the worst to be patronized, especially as a child), he told me why and how much he loved the picture. A framed poster hung on his wall, which he immediately replaced with my picture. I was even prouder at that moment than when I had completed the picture. It hung there for years.

Needless to say, I wasn't a big fan of art class after that.

It wasn't until my Montessori training that I saw what art could be for children. Though, having said that, I'll admit that I still have a weakness in "teaching" art. My art shelf always has opened ended materials, along with the occasional (usually seasonal) craft-type project. Some teachers are extremely talented in guiding children through the techniques of art while still leaving it open ended. If you haven't checked out The Moveable Alphabet, you must read her art posts. I'm always in awe.

Despite my recognized weaknesses, I witnessed something today that truly made me smile. While helping a child with the moveable alphabet, I couldn't help overhearing my third years debating about giraffes across the room. The conversation was getting quite loud, so I headed in their direction, only to find that the three boys were doing spontaneous still life drawings of a wooden giraffe and debating perspectives.

"A giraffe doesn't have five legs!"
"I know, that's a tail. I also think the legs are hairy. See?"

"The giraffe has FOUR legs and then a back. Look, it has big ears too!"

"Yes, but it has spots too. It has spots on the neck. The neck has too be thick enough to have spots."
While some direct instruction could have been beneficial (and I may try to follow up on this), this occurred spontaneously, as a direct result of the environment. When I saw this transpiring, I was internally thanking my lucky stars that I have a (well) prepared environment. With three years of open ended art, my third years felt comfortable enough to try something new, work together and discuss as they experimented. This is exactly how a child should experience art.

"The work of education is divided between the teacher and the environment." - Maria Montessori, Discovery of the Child

Individual Reading and Singing

2010-02-13T12:10:00.003-05:00

**UPDATE: Song Booklet in My Box**

My language workshop reminded me about offering language (books and songs) on an individual level.

I can count about a million and a half times that I have been reading a story to the whole class and been frustrated by the handful of children who are rolling around, not paying attention. At the Primary level, it is really best to read books to an individual or a small group. I've been told this countless times, but I always seem to forget about its importance. We want to read to small groups because the book should be chosen for a specific child or group of children based on interest.

To help facilitate this, I have altered my library a bit. I used to have at least 15 books on the shelf at a time. I also used to let the children take books to any table to read. Recently, I've seen an increase in book damage and "group" reading (aka: putting a book on the table so I can chat with my friend). Now, I'm limiting the number of books on the shelf. I've also spruced up the library table and made this the only place to read.

I'm also making a concerted effort to read at an individual level. In the (near) future, I would like to replace that chair with something more comfy. I would like to make a special rug just for these presentations to enhance the experience. I'll keep you posted.

Now, onto singing... I've had issues with singing in my classroom for quite some time. We sing all the time, don't get me wrong. We sing as a whole group (much more satisfying for ALL than reading as a large group) and occasionally, I bust out my guitar to accompany our singing. The problem lies in the fact that my children hear many other, inappropriate songs too. On more than one occasion, I've had to stop the entire class from singing radio (and sometimes classroom) songs.

So, why not make singing a "work"? In a binder, I placed all of our most popular (class) songs with some visual cues as to what song it might be for the non-readers.

Now, the children (limit 2 or 3) can place the binder on the rug, find a song and sing it. There are now paramaters for where, what, who and how to sing at leisure. Of course, we'll keep singing at circle time, too.

Im traveling at the moment, but when I return, I'll put our songbook in My Box.

Winter Olympics

2010-02-12T09:27:00.003-05:00

When I ran into my brother's Montessori teacher from days past, she promised to send me a package of materials she had made on the winter olympics. It's taken me some snow days, but I've created my own book for the children.

The package contained colored and blank masters of the Olympic mascots (with info), a map of Canada, flag of Canada, Olympic flag and more. I used the colored masters to create the book. (I try not to use master sheets for the children... A topic for another day)

When I asked the children about Olympic winter sports, all they could come up with was football and basketball. Of course, neither of these are winter Olympic sports, so I added pictures of Olympic sports as well.

I can't upload the package materials (no scanner), but hopefully, I can add the winter Olympic pictures to MyBox. Check back later! I'll also be posting about my library shelf and music book. Lots to catch up on!

UPDATE: Winter Olympic pictures have been added to My Box!

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I'm still here

2010-02-09T19:22:00.001-05:00

In case you're wondering where I've been...

I'm buried under snow! DC has already gotten over 2 feet and we're getting hit with another possible foot tonight. I'm on my third snow day in a row, which is very rare for DCPS. See you when some of this melts!

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Additions

2010-02-01T19:45:00.002-05:00

Here are some of my seasonal items for this month. This is kind of a mish mosh post.

All of the paper lanterns we made last month are hanging across the room, just waiting to be used for our Chinese new year parade.

Valentine's card making. Similar to what I put out last year, but this year I am putting it on the shelf instead of a stationary table. In the basket are stamps and a stamp pad, one crayon and a few stickers. I found the cute heart placemat at Jo-Ann. I actually have two more placemats for the snack table as well.

Because we are focusing on Africa, I have some wooden, African masks hanging around the room. I am hoping to use these for an oral story or two.

Oral stories should be given to one child at a rug. An object is not necessary, but can be helpful. For an interested child who has had experience with appropriate materials (in this case- map if Africa, Africa continent folders, books of Africa, or an interest in wood or masks), I would invite the child to a rug and bring a mask. I then tell a story about the object. I might say where it came from (Kenya), what it is made out of, etc. Then it goes back on the wall. This is a way of enriching the child's spoken language and vocabulary through a meaningful exchange.

I also have a presidents day table, but for some reason the picture didn't come out. It's very similar to the one from last year. I have two folders- one of pictures of President Obama and the other of "famous presidents" (Washington, Lincoln, etc). I also have a pin with all the presidents on it. I LOVE this pin. The children spend a long time looking at it. They also enjoy finding Washington, Lincoln and others on the pin.

Just to end on a positive a note, the above picture is my constant reminder that I have hanging in my room. "It doesn't take long for amazing things to happen." It's most definitely true!

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More on more

2010-01-29T19:30:00.002-05:00

As if JN hasn't confused me enough, she threw another loop into my understanding of her today.

A group of children, including JN were holding hands and making a circle. One of the kids, pointed out that they were making a circle. JN stepped in closer and brought the child next to her in, while the rest of the kids stayed in place. "Now, we're making an oval."

What? The past million times I've asked her shape names, she's stared at me blankly. Apparently, she's learned at least that one and abstracted it. What else do you know that you aren't telling me, JN?

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"More..."

2010-01-28T17:03:00.004-05:00

It is important to remember that three period lessons should be given to children during or after great sensorial work. This reminder from the workshop has been ringing in my ears this week.

Remember JN, from last year? Her challenges from last year have completely vanished, but new concerns (for me) have arisen. Her speech is improving, but she is still very difficult to understand. I also find myself wondering if her hearing is yet up to par because of this. Most second year students explode into "names". After working with all kinds of sensorial impressions in their first year, the second years want to know the names of things. Not, JN. JN knows about 3 sandpaper letters and maybe 2 numbers. While that still can make me a bit wary, I know that these things sometimes take time. See here. However, in conjunction with this, she does not know the names of many shapes, botany leafs, language cards, or continents. I find myself giving her three period lessons ALL the time, because she appears to know very little. Worst of all, after giving these three period lessons she almost NEVER gets any of the information "right". It feels like torture giving the lessons. I'm sure she feels tortured receiving them.

So, I had a moment alone with JN today due to unusual circumstances. I began to suggest that we work on letters, when the look on her face stopped me.

"How about the maps?" I said.

I generally have a rule about maps that you shouldn't take out a continent map unless you know the name of the continent. This rule originated so that after being presented with the map of the world, a young child wouldn't immediately take out Africa (or Asia) and all of its pieces in a moment of exuberance. Somehow this rule has morphed into unjust law that I simply don't like. JN knows only one continent by name: Asia. She isn't learning the other names of the continents, most likely, because she isn't interested. I gave a three period lesson on the continents once again, with no positive result.

So, I let her take out the map of Asia. Why not celelbrate the one continent she does know?! I showed her to take only 3 pieces out at a time. She worked silently and independently, taking many pieces out. To my surprise, she worked quickly and logically. After a while, she looked at me and said: "More"

"You can take more pieces out at a time, if you'd like."

"No. More maps."

What the heck, I thought. "Get North America." I showed her which map it was. Again, she removed the pieces three at a time and continued to work in silence. This map was much easier for her.

"More."

"The next map is South America. You can get it from the shelf."

After working through this map, I suggested that she take all of the pieces out. She was able to put it all back together, much to her surprise. Eventually, she worked through all of the maps (with the exception of the United States, because I felt that she really should have a concept of continents vs. countries before taking on that one) through the afternoon. It was a little over an hour of solid, silent work, with the occasional chirping of "more."

This observation changed some of my concern for JN. She is quite logical, patient and intelligent. Perhaps she doesn't know the language that accompanies much of our classroom, because it doesn't have enough meaning to her yet. Perhaps, she needs more experience to make that connection. I hope that she continues to take out these maps on her own. I'll be on the lookout for that perfect moment to insert language . That should save some torture for both of us.

Spoken Language

2010-01-25T17:28:00.003-05:00

Some notes on Spoken Language from my Workshop.

As adults, it is important for us to ask the question, "Am I speaking TO the child or WITH the child?" Speaking TO children is offering necessary information or directions. For example, "Get your coat." Speaking WITH children means that we are going to offer something worthwhile, and listen in return. While there are times that we need to speak to children, when engaging in conversation and enriching the child's spoken language, we should be speaking with the child.

Spoken language is the ability to transmit thought. In the process of speaking with children, we must be sure to offer authentic language experiences that are connected to meaning. We offer the child insight and vocabulary to that which she is interested and familiar. Spoken language exercises should be chosen and delivered as any other lesson in the classroom. It should be personalized, customized and for an individual or small group of children.

Because spoken language is invisible, the materials which correlate to it are not often seen on the shelf. The greatest material of spoken language in the classroom is the adult. I am one to admit that I have spent hours making language cards, but have hardy taken the time to prepare myself as a material of spoken language. The directress offers language through: Orientation of the Environment, Scientific Language, Social Language (grace and courtesy), Oral Stories, Reading Books, Reading Poetry and Singing Songs.

In particular, I have realized that I have not been preparing Oral Stories, Reading Books (or Poems) or even Singing Songs on a personalized level. I admit that I read stories to the entire class, despite the fact that I know many of the children are uninterested. Singing songs is a much better substitute for Primary children. I tested this today. Boy, was circle time a heck of a lot easier. How did I forget this?

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to make some changes in my classroom (and preparations) to make sure that oral stories, reading and singing can be a bit more personalized in my classroom. As I make the changes, I will document and keep posting!

Montessori PD: Success!

2010-01-23T16:27:00.004-05:00

I just came back from attending a workshop at Washington Montessori Institute (WMI) on spoken language. It was wonderful!! This is the first (and, hopefully, not last) Montessori professional development that my school has paid for me. It was extremely insightful and I already know of three things that I want to tweak in my classroom when I return on Monday. Once all of this information marinates in my brain, I will post about it. If the changes I make in my classroom are positive, you'll hear about those as well. I got about 500 times more out of this one workshop than any of the required, yet completely irrelevant, professional development I have to attend through my school.

Best of all, my assistant came for the assistant's workshop as well. We drove together to the workshop, and on the way back, she told me about everything she had learned. (Primary Teacher and Assistant workshops were separate.) We brainstormed together about changing some of the routines in our classroom that weren't working. She really enjoyed the workshop and seemed excited to implement some of the things she had learned as well. This is exactly what I needed. I feel excited and equipped to make positive changes in my classroom, and I have someone who is on board with me. Let's go!

For the cherry on top...
My brother and I went to the same Montessori school outside of Philadelphia. His former Montessori teacher was at the workshop! I went up to introduce myself to her, assuming that she did not know me, and before I could finish, she said, "Of course I know who you are!" We exchanged information and will hopefully keep in touch. My former teacher is still at the school as well. I would absolutely love to visit and observe in my old classroom from ages ago!

Love Note

2010-01-21T13:21:00.002-05:00

A former Montessori child of mine (current 1st grader) slipped me this note during lunch today :)

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Keeping the Faith

2010-01-20T19:14:00.005-05:00

During my training, the words "trust" and "faith" came up a lot. As Montessorians, we put our faith in the child. We know that given the prepared environment and meaningful work, she will reveal her true self. While not every classroom is normalized (mine certainly has a ways to go) and not every child reaches the level of normalization, we often see dramatic changes that keep us believing. We also trust that the materials (which can seems so foreign at first) will ingrain both the direct and indirect purpose of the lesson.

My first few years of teaching were a test of faith. Am I doing this right? Is this working? Where are all those magical children I kept hearing about in my training?

This is the first time I have completed a three year cycle, and I am just starting to see that the trust does, in fact, pay off. Yet, I'm not so experienced that I don't still worry about certain children. When it comes to worry, I'll be specific. I have consistently faced some children who are adamantly against the sandpaper letters. I have found, thus far, that eventually, the children come around. It reminds me of some wonderful advice I received from a seasoned Montessori teacher, "When the child wants to learn the sandpaper letters, it only takes a couple weeks."

Take, as a case example, one of my third year students. We'll call him Bay. Bay looooved sensorial items in his first year. He was best friends with the pink tower. In his second year, he became a burgeoning artist. He drew and painted and did metal insets (yes, I know this isn't art, but it's hard to tell that to a child!) until his heart was content. At least once per week, I showed Bay the sandpaper letters. Every time I asked him the sound of a letter, he would shrug his shoulders as if he'd never seen it before in his life. I usually kept one of those same letters in the group, but branched out to others just to see if there I could spark some interest. (Has anyone noticed that some children become inspired by cursive f? I think it's because of the size.) By the end of his second year, he knew about 5 letters off and on. Sometimes he'd magically forget or remember. When his third year (this year) rolled around, I kept my faith in the materials, but was getting seriously concerned. In August, he knew NO letters. Apparently, the summer had erased any of his memories - temporarily. I took a deep breath and dove into the letters with him. I made a quick speech about the importance of the letters and, to my surprise, he agreed. In two weeks, he moved to the Moveable Alphabet. He is currently reading fairly fluently and has a decent grasp on most phonograms as well. In fact, he is doing so well that I almost forgot how concerned I once was.

It all goes to show, we just gotta keep the faith.

Dot did What?

2010-01-17T14:02:00.003-05:00

Two of my third years are devouring phonetic readers. I'm still researching and working through which readers are best for practice, but this year I'm starting with Bob Books and then moving on to Miss Rhonda's Readers.

Last week, my two third years made the same (albeit funny) mistake while reading a Bob book. I've been giggling about it this past week and have been meaning to share it. The page said, "Dot did nap." and there was a picture of a girl (Dot) laying down. I should also mention that most of the children in my class have a bit of a southern twang in their speech.

Child reading: "Dot diiid" child pauses and looks at the picture "Oh shoot, she's dead." Did and dead are audibly nearly identical in their speech.

I reminded both of them to keep reading, and they corrected themselves. However, I thought it was funny that both children were very willing to accept that plot twist in the story.

Dot dead. The end.

Fighting

2010-01-14T18:09:00.004-05:00

Today was supposed to be a good day. I requested to leave at noon, so that I could attend an information session about becoming AMI Elementary trained through a summer(s) program. I was super excited to visit my Primary stomping grounds and get fully inspired about Elementary.

Instead, I ended up leaving feeling deflated.

I've never quite been able to describe how I feel about teaching Montessori in a very...challenging... setting. The best way to describe my struggle is to say that I constantly feel like I'm running up the down escalator. Every day I go to school armed with my Montessori mind, and most days I leave feeling like I let myself (and children) down. It feels like I'm fighting with everyone ("deviated" children, parents, administration, even the culture of the school/neighborhood) to carry out Montessori. It isn't just that my materials are shabby or missing pieces or that my three hour work periods are interrupted or even that I don't receive a lot of the supports found in other schools or programs. It's all of that plus the general culture of the neighborhood and school runs almost contrary to the approach of Montessori. When I speak to parents about spanking children less, the response that I get "OK, I'll pinch him instead." I try again and again. Running up those stairs that just keep coming and pushing me down.

What does this have to do with my visit to the training center? Well, when you look at a perfect training center, it tends to point out all of the flaws in your school. On top of that, I would have to petition to get any form of tuition reimbursement if I decide to do the program. It's yet another fight with which I'd have to put up. The program would also eliminate all summers and spring breaks for the next three years. I might lose all of the little bits of sanity that I have left.

I have to be honest. Some days, I'm just so damn sick of fighting. I can only run up that escalator so long before I wear out. I realize that I've chosen a difficult path. I also realize that I complain about it a lot. (Sorry) Yet, when friends and family ask if I'm going to quit or go back to private school, I staunchly say "No!", as if they had asked me some off-the-wall question. I fight. I hate it I complain. But, I refuse to quit. It's the glimmers I spoke about a few posts ago that keep me going. That and the fact that I really believe Montessori education can change (urban) education.

I just need a little support.

Rotating Vocabulary Cards

2010-01-12T19:58:00.002-05:00

I'm organizing my vocabulary cards in a slightly different way this year. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, each month we have a "focus". Yet, at the same time, I want to make sure that items are available at all times for children, particularly children who have worked with particular items before.

So, all of my social vocabulary cards are out from the beginning of the year. These are: transportation, things on the street, buildings, classroom environment, tools, instruments and probably something else that I've forgotten. I also keep fruits and vegetables here for a reason that will make sense in a moment. All of these social cards stay on my language shelves as in the picture below.

The scientific cards, or more specifically, animal classification cards, are housed on the science shelf, not too far away. The animal classification that is being "featured", as I like to call it, stay on the top shelf. This is Types of Fish and Parts of the Fish (both from Montessori for Everyone).

Once the cards are no longer being featured, they move a shelf down to a bin with the other classifications that have previously been featured. See below.

I decided to do this, rather than put them all out at once because it was waaay to many cards. Also, I had a problem with the way children handled cards last year, so I wanted to limit the amount. I've let the older children know that other types of animals are in the closet if they really in need. This has turned out to be a great way to organize for both me and the children.

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Some January Items

2010-01-10T15:17:00.002-05:00

Each month, our program selects a continent, animal classification, holiday and seasonal item on which to focus. This isnt necessary for Montessori, but it allows us to satisfy a requirement for submission of monthly objectives. It also is an easy way to plan and organize seasonal extensions.

This month we are focusing on Asia which will lead up to our celebration of the Chinese New Year in February. This year, we are hoping to have an Asian Food Festival as well. We are also focusing on fish, winter sports (for the upcoming Olympics), Martin Lurher King, Jr. and snowflakes.

This year, I've decided to put out an interest table for Asia.

On the wall: paper lantern, panda picture, map of Asia (I cut up a poster. I'm hoping to back them all on the proper colors of cardstock) and a mini kimono.

On the table: a panda cube puzzle, which is very challenging! A little panda, and a fan. I actually moved the chopsticks to practical life so children could try it out. If they get good enough, I'll let them try to eat with chopsticks at the food festival.

For small, delicate objects, such as these, I introduce each item during circle time and demonstrate how to handle the item.

I also have paper lanterns and number character work on the art shelves. I posted about these last year and you can read about them here.

I'll post about the other items in another post.

Affirmation

2010-01-04T19:32:00.003-05:00

After a whole two weeks off, I begrudgingly awoke this morning and trotted off to school. I have to admit, I was completely dreading it. I don't usually feel this way, so I was kind of freaking out last night (particularly when I kept tossing and turning late into the night) that I had made some sort of mistake that needed to be remedied.

Part of this anxiety is probably due to the fact that I had too much fun for too long over break. This was really the first break (and I'm including summers) where I haven't thought one iota about my classroom. It was absolutely liberating. On top of that, I inadvertently played like a child over break too. I got snowed in (2 feet!): trudged through snow to the National Mall, made snow angels, and made yummy hot chocolate. I played Super Mario Wii until my thumbs were numb. I visited my nieces and nephews and DIDN'T monitor their hilarious shenanigans. I started to learn how to play the Banjo (Christmas gift), watched tons of movies and read 3 completely non-Montessori, only-for-pleasure books. The entire break was fabulous and I felt like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.

When reality struck this morning, I did what I would do any other other Monday morning, I simply sucked it up and went to school. My room was completely unprepared for January. I still had my December calendar up (and every other December related activity) and I rushed out into winter vacation so quickly that I hadn't even brought my planner with me. Red Bull in hand, I managed to slowly switch out some December items and prepare for the day. The progress was slow. Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.

Then the children came in.

And.

I couldn't believe how much I had missed them without knowing! Just seeing them made me smile all over. Everyone sat down without much fuss for Morning Circle and then we jumped right into our work without any interruptions. It was a splendid, beautiful morning. I couldn't have asked for better.

Montessori always suggested that the work of the Directress should be "refreshing" because of the mystery and enigma of children and their unfolding of true selves. I have to admit that many (OK, most) days, I am the exact opposite of refreshed by the time I leave school. However, the fact that those little glimmers of beautiful moments still mean so much to me is a deep relief, a wash of energy and the source of a thousand smiles.

The Perception of the Teacher

2009-12-24T10:33:00.005-05:00

For the past few days, I've been buried under snow, traveling and making sure my brain is truly on vacation. Thus, my lack of posts. However, at this very moment, I find myself in a rare quiet moment in a guest-less house on Christmas Eve with a topic on my mind.

Last night, as I was taking my fill of chocolate chip cookies, a family friend was telling me about her promotion at work. She was truly excited, and I felt excited for her as she described her new position and how hard she had worked to get it. I was about to make a joke about how I was just waiting for my promotion, when I realized that it wasn't very funny.

Obviously, teachers don't receive promotions. Sure, one could become principal or some other administrative personnel. As a Montessori teacher, I could become a Trainer of Trainers (I've always thought that term was really funny), a consultant, or even start my own school. However, these aren't promotions. These are positions that run parallel to or splay off of teaching. I should also add that there isn't anything wrong with these positions either. While I don't desire any of those positions currently, there is always a chance that my life could lead to them one day. The future is vast, wide and always uncertain. The point, however, is that in any other occupation, standing still is seen in a negative light. You've had the same position for 8 years? What are you doing wrong?

Despite the fact that teaching is a profession that parallels no other, it isn't seen this way by others. I've been asked on more than one occasion (and certainly this happens more around the holidays than any other time): "So, do you think you'll stay a teacher?" At first, this seemed like a logical question. Many people try teaching and find that it doesn't suit them. However, now that I've been teaching for four years, the question still comes up. And, because grandmothers are allowed to be pushy, I've even been told "But, you can't only want to be a teacher!"

The role of the teacher as seen by outsiders is a hot button topic for me. Why can't it be enough to be a teacher? Furthermore, why is teaching children (especially teaching young children) so much less valued than teaching adolescents or adults? I could go on in a tirade defending my position, but that's not really the issue. My point - I do have one - is that I'm very satisfied being a teacher, but not satisfied with the common perception of the teacher.

I tend to over-think when given the chance. Am I blowing things out of proportion in my mind?

Verdict

2009-12-15T16:48:00.005-05:00

Well, the ME observation scores are in. Not too bad! I would have liked a higher score, but I can deal with what I received. It was pretty similar to my principal's observation scores and remarks. I got marked down in areas of the rubric that simply don't fit with Montessori. While I still find that frustrating, there isn't much I can do about it at the moment. If the rubric remains unchanged, I feel as though I would be at an unfair advantage because I would never be able to attain highest marks in some areas. At this point, I have voiced my concerns and it is out of my hands. Hopefully, someone higher up will make the right decision down the road.

Now, I just have to hope that things aren't off the wall for the unannounced observations that remain...

Phew!

2009-12-14T18:58:00.003-05:00

I made it through my Master Educator observation. If you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about, I posted a little bit about our new evaluation system here. That should fill you in. I felt that the observation actually went very well. Judgement day is tomorrow, when I get my scores back. I won't go into too much detail about the observation, but I'll say this. I made a game-time decision that I would just do good ol', FANTASTIC Montessori and not alter things for the rubric. We were having a great morning, and I just thought this person should see what I really do - not some watered down version. The moment I made this decision - Poof!- No nerves. I could have cared less that anyone was in there. I knew exactly what I was doing and was completely confident in my Montessori abilities.

Now, whether my scores reflect this sentiment remains to be seen. I hope that this doesn't come back to bite me in the butt. At least I know that I had a fantastic morning of teaching.

Happy Hanukkah!

2009-12-11T18:23:00.002-05:00

I don't personally celebrate Hanukkah, but for those who do, Happy Hanukkah!

Our latkes and apple sauce were a HIT! I really jammed the apples with cinnamon before and during cooking this time and the children were asking for seconds and thirds. The latkes were well received as well, which surprised me. Every year, I get a couple kids who hate them. Maybe we were better chefs this year.

On a completely different note, I'm being observed by a Master Educator on Monday. I'm beyond nervous. Keep your fingers crossed for me, please!
Until then, I'm off to enjoy the weekend.

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Winter Bulletin Board

2009-12-09T18:54:00.002-05:00

Here's how my winter board is turning out. The snowflakes and collages are from the art area and the lovely tree was made by the children in their art special.

Sadly, I spent forever working on those letters. I knew the white would just blend in with the snowflakes, so I outlined them in light blue and tried to make it look like icicles were dripping in them. It looks more like blue Halloween blood. Oh well, from far away it looks OK.

It really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

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Holiday Food Preparation

2009-12-08T21:36:00.004-05:00

I'm not much of a cook, but I'm a huge fan of food preparation in Practical Life. Part of this is an attempt to over compensate for my lack of skills, and the other is because I know that so many of my children are over-exposed to pre-packaged, junk or fast food.

Recently, I told a 4 year old to stop bringing candy to class in the morning. (She was coming into the classroom while eating it. If it were simply in her pocket or bookbag, I'd have no issue with it.) I explained to her that candy was not "breakfast food" or even "lunch food" and that if she wanted to bring something extra to eat with lunch, it would have to be healthier. The next day she waltzed in and announced excitedly, "I brought chips and a soda!" Not exactly what I had in mind.

Anyway, holidays are certainly a time for gathering with friends and family around food. What an opportunity for practical life skills, measuring and embracing cultural traditions.

Hanukkah
On Friday, the afternoon children from all of the Montessori classes will be making Latkes and Apple Sauce. If you are interested in the Latkes recipe, I posted about it last year and you can find it here. There are a number of ways to make Crock Pot Apple Sauce, but here's my recipe:

Fuji or Gala Apples (I've read that these work best for Apple Sauce, but I have to tell you, I can never remember what kind of apples I get! )
Water
Cinnamon
Brown Sugar

Allow the children to cut the apples. Place apples into the crockpot and fill with water so that the apples are just covered. Add a bit of brown sugar. Sorry about being imprecise, but I never measure). Turn on high and enjoy the smell! Add cinnamon before serving.

Holiday Beverage
I was brainstorming today about what to do for our Holiday Party. For the last two years, I've had a Holiday Feast - similar to our Thanksgiving Feast. I'm not sure if I'm feeling time differently this year, but it seems like we JUST had our Thanksgiving Feast. I'm not sure if I'm ready to host abother feast or if parents are ready to cook again! I started searching for more easy Crock Pot recipes to get inspired, and I came across a recipe for peppermint hot chocolate.

TADA!

We will be having a Hot Chocolate Party where will be enjoying homemade peppermint cocoa, decorating a gingerbread house (graciously donated by a parent) and enjoying some holiday tunes. This could be the best and easiest Holiday Party ever! I've already bought cocoa making supplies, including marshmallows and candy canes. On top of that, I'm scouring the dollar store tomorrow in search of small mugs. Now, I've solved my dillema of what to give the children this year! It's all coming together :) I do realize that I'm being slightly hypocritical, since hot chocolate isn't exactly healthy. However, I've gotten so excited about this idea, there is no going back.

This is the recipe I'm going to be using. This is the first time I've come across this blog: A Year of Slow Cooking, though I admit, I don't read any cooking blogs, so this shouldn't be a surprise. Needless to say, this is quite a fun blog with a TON (365 in fact) of crock pot recipes, which I'm sure will spice up my Practical Life shelves for the rest of the year.

I'll post about how everything turns out. Time to get hungry (and thirsty) for the holidays!

Parent Teacher Conferences

2009-12-07T16:30:00.002-05:00

My first PTC of the year was almost a debacle. First, I meant to send home notes last week informing the parents that today was PTC day. Well, I was sick on Thursday and then completely forgot the notes on Friday.

The time of the conferences was up in the air because we were also supposed to have professional development today, but it ended up being postponed to another day. At least that wasn't my fault.

So, I was pretty curious how many parents would show up considering my and the school's mix up. 10! It doesnt sound like a lot, but comparitively, not bad at all.

I ended up with a lot of time in the morning due to the cancelled PD. In that time, I made this.

A new pouch for the Addition Strip Board! I previously had a paper folder that was yellow ( wrong color) and this is much prettier. I also think the pattern is "math-like", don't you?

The actual conferences went well too. Every conference I try to do something a little different to keep it interesting. This time, I prepared a double sided sheet (which I will put in MyBox soon) that listed four areas of development: social, emotional, spiritual and intellectual as well as a brief explanation of the "areas" of the classroom: practical life, sensorial, language, math (I threw in Geography too).

In each developmental section, I explained the child's growth, successes and areas in need of practice. The classroom side, I explained WHAT the child was doing in class. The most frequently asked question from my parents is, "well, what does s/he DO?" I explained how the child uses certain materials and why they are important for the development of the WHOLE child.

I really liked using this sheet because it kept me on track and visually organized. I also like having something that the parent can take home as well.

Any other suggestions for PTCs? I'm always curious to hear what others do. This is an ever evolving process for me!

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On the Shelf

2009-12-03T15:06:00.002-05:00

I'm not feeling so well today, so while I muster up some energy from the couch, I'll share some if the holiday work I've put on the shelf.

Practical Life- Christmas Tree Decorating

I saw this on a lot of blogs last year and decided to try it out myself. I placed it in practical life because it is a cultural activity.

In the snowflake box are a string of decorative balls (AKA a cut mardi gras necklace), and tiny ornaments (target dollar bins!). The ornaments didn't come with hooks, so I took paper clips and turned them into an "s" and placed them into a box. Not exactly perfect, but it works. It also present an extra threading step, which is good for some of my first years.

Art: Snowflakes

I put this out every year. I've been experimenting with the size of the paper and I think this year I have a winner.

Take one square of 3.5" paper. Fold into a triangle twice. (just like the folding cloths!) Use the scissors to snip away bits and voilà, snowflakes. I usually hang these on the windows or the bulletin board outside the classroom.

Art: Holiday Collages

A variation on pasting. I cut out holiday "images" and place them in the pasting basket. I try to stay away from Santa and stick to trees, snowflakes, stars, etc.

Art: Holiday Sculptures

Invite the child to create shapes with pipe cleaners. Im also experimenting with this art activity. I start by showing how to create a flat, two dimensional shape, like a heart. Then, I show how to twist two pipe cleaners together to make a more three dimensional shape. The problem I've seen, which is apparent in the picture, is that I have placed waaay to many pipe cleaners. They should also be shorter.

I'll sign off with some of our classroom decorations. I love that so many children have walked into the classroom, seen the lights and asked excitedly, "Is it Christmas?"

"Soon," I promise them. "Soon."

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Phonemic Awareness

2009-11-30T19:20:00.003-05:00

Before the Thanksgiving Break, I attended a DCPS workshop on Phonemic Awareness. It was actually a pretty good workshop that I found useful and wanted to share.

--Now, before I get into the strategies and tools that were given, I have to slightly digress on a related topic. I signed up for this workshop because I knew that I needed some re-certification hours. To cut a long story short, I had all kinds of issues with obtaining my certification; I had re-cert hours but they ended up not counting, so I accidentally wasted a year getting no hours. I figured it wasn't a big deal. How many hours could I possibly need for re-certification? 30? 60? NO. 90 HOURS in 5 years! I almost fell to the floor. Without taking a graduate class (and spending moo-lah), that's nearly impossible for me to do, especially since I only have 4 years, and the DCPS professional development workshops are only 2-3 hours. Yeesh. I'm going to be spending a lot of afternoons in workshops.--

OK, back to the topic at hand. This workshop was really interesting, because a lot of the teachers that were attending taught higher level elementary, middle or high school. Most of these teachers were a bit in the dark about how to teach reading, since most of that happens in the younger years. Unfortunately, a lot of older children really need help with the basics even as they get older. I was sooo pleased to see that the Montessori curriculum follows exactly what all of the current research is recommending. Maria was just so ahead of her time!

So, for those who are Montessorians, phonemic awareness is basically the idea that words are made up of sounds. Generally, we teach this through sound games. This workshop gave me some ideas of sound game extensions. So, here are my recommendations and steps for phonemic awareness with some new suggestions all in the Montessori realm.

Sound Games
Sound games can start on the first day of school for a 2 or 3 year old! Start by taking sound game objects and emphasize the first sound. "This is an apple. Let's listen to the first sound that you hear when I say the word, apple. Aaaaaple. Aaaaple. A- A- A Apple. Aaaah is the first sound that I hear when I say apple."

Once the child has mastery of the first sound, move on to the last sound.

Finally, work on the middle sound.

*I had a conversation with My Boys Teacher about the sequencing of sound games and sandpaper letters that I think would be helpful here. Once the child has mastered the first sound, sound games and sandpaper letters can overlap. At least, that is what I tend to do. If anyone has any other suggestions feel free to put it in the comments*

I SPY
During circle time, I like to do a lot of "I Spy" and I always recommend it for parents to play at home because it's SO easy and can be done anywhere! "I spy with my little eye, something that begins with the sound..."

New Suggestions/Extensions
"Finger Spelling"
This technique could be used after the child is familiar with all of the sounds. I find that some children have difficulty hearing all of the sounds in a word, particularly if it is a long word. Sometimes I will see this difficulty rise when the child is working with the moveable alphabet. In this case, I tend to go back to my sound objects. This exercise could easily be worked with sound objects.

With your non-dominant hand, raise a finger as you sound out each sound of a word. For example, Ladder. L (from left to right, raise one finger) A (next finger) D (next finger) R (next finger). Invite the child to sound out an object. (For a challenge, try to to pick one with more than three sounds!) I practiced this today with some of my five year olds who are having difficulty blending four letter words in reading. It was neat to see the connections that they made as they distinguished between words that had three sounds and four sounds.

"Which Objects Which Sounds"
OK, I'll be honest, this is something that I do on occasion, and I totally just made that name up. I use this children who are having difficulty "hearing" words when they begin reading. In other words, for the child who says "c-a-t" over and over again, without hearing CAT.

Take three sound objects. "I'm going to sound out one of these objects. Which one is it? fff-oh--ks." Repeat with many objects. I also invite the child to sound out objects so I can guess. I've had success with this game in the past, but it really isn't necessary for every child.

"Addition/Deletion Games"
Again, this is a fun game for second or third year students. This tends to be the age where children can find some humor in what they are learning. I tried this with my third years today, and once they got it, they thought it was fun. This is something that I might add into a circle-time game for older children.

In this game, take a sound away from a word to create or new one, or add a sound to create a new one. For example, "What do you get if you put a "s" in front of the word "mile"?" Watch tiny faces mouth out s-mile, smmmile, SMILE! Another example, "What do you get if you take away "f" from "feast". Pause. Pause. EAST!

Well, I hope that these suggestions give you some new ideas for freshening up your sound games. Phonemic awareness (ie- sound games) is an incredibly important component of reading. Even more important is that each child learns and grows differently. I think it's great to have an arsenal of strategies that can be used individually as needed. I don't think that it's necessary to play every sound game ever created, but it sure helps to have an idea when you need it!

Don't Start

2009-11-30T08:37:00.001-05:00

Dear Mice,

Please don't start messing with me. I can see you're getting braver in my classroom. Don't think I didn't notice that you went digging in my plants.

Or that you chewed a whole straight through my folder of Native American pictures. Apparently, you don't like laminate. I'll keep that in mind.

Let's remember that this is MY classroom. Not yours. Don't mess.

Thank you,

Miss Montessori

Cards and Counters

2009-11-24T22:41:00.005-05:00

In the same week, I read this post from The Moveable Alphabet and found that quite a few of my numbers in cards and counters were cracked or snapped. I have a child who has decided to "test the durability" of many of my (expensive!) Nienhuis materials this year. I'm not 100% sure who the culprit is, but I have a pretty good idea. Why is that boys are always the ones who like to "test" things. Once I received a large, plastic comb in my Christmas stocking that had the word "unbreakable" printed on it. My brother immediately grabbed it out of my hands and started bending it in half, trying to break it. Alas, I digress.

Back to the topic at hand. I decided to re-make my numbers. I got some numbers/letters stickers from JoAnn and stuck them to some red papers. I chose these colors because it matches so well with the rest of my set. I was lucky enough to inherit the best bowl/tray combo for Cards and Counters. I don't know if this was once a set sold somewhere, but I love it! The aforementioned post really reminded me that the little touches we add to our materials add to the beauty of the classroom and attractiveness of the materials. It's so easy to forget!
It's tough to tell in this picture, but the tray is gold (in color, not material - obviously) with birds on it. The bowl for the number is a wooden black and red bird - with gold imbellishment! Very interesting to look at it. The bowl is also black and red and holds my counters, which are small bells. I can't tell you how well these little bells work for this. In my previous classroom, I had the Nienhuis red circular counters. These were constantly getting lost (or put in pockets), were slippery to pick up and were even thrown across the room like frisbees a few times. The bells are interesting, small enough to fit in the hand of a child (all 10) and still make it easy to see the pattern of odd/even. Best of all, they don't really jingle because little (and big) fingers mute the sound. They are a great substitute for the traditional counters while being a bit more interesting!

Vegetable Soup!

2009-11-23T15:51:00.002-05:00

If you guessed good ol' fashioned vegetable soup, you're right!

On Wednesday, we will have our annual Thanksgiving Feast. Parents have been asked to bring in ready-to-serve items, and the children's contribution is this vegetable soup.

It couldn't be easier to make.

Ingredients:
Carrots
Celery
Corn
Potatos
(Or any vegetable you want!)
2 boxes of vegetable stock

Let the children cut up the vegetables. Carrots and celery are the easiest to put into practical life. We didn't have the luxury of using real corn, so we just added from a can. I usually save the the potatos to be cut by the afternoon children, because those are the hardest to cut.

Throw everything in a crockpot and voilà! Tomorrow we will enjoy the smells of our soup as it cooks all day long. Yummy.

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Mmmmm

2009-11-23T08:17:00.002-05:00

Can you guess what we're making?

A little celery...

Some carrots...

You'll have to wait and see!

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The IMPACT of Evaluations

2009-11-21T19:03:00.004-05:00

A little while ago, I was observed by my principal under the new IMPACT evaluation system. For those who are not in the DCPS system, let me catch you up. Our evaluation system has been completely overhauled this year. Our administrator will observe the classroom three times, and a Master Educator will observe twice. These observations are guided by a rubric, which will produce a score (out of 4 - 4 being the highest). At the end of the year, the scores are averaged with a couple of other factors and you have your final score.

I'm not entirely opposed to the idea of this evaluation system. A rubric provides a very clear picture of what is expected from the teacher. If the administrator is accurate, their scores should also reflect what they see. I don't even think the rubric is all that horrible for traditional teachers.

Here's the problem: the rubric is for TRADITIONAL classrooms. There is no exception for Montessori, or any other specialized program for that matter. I had to explain or justify a lot of what I do in the classroom to make it fit into the rubric for my administrator. However, there are two areas of the rubric for which I received a low score and I think its total crap.

"Teach 1" requires teachers to state the objective, refer back to the objective at key points in the lesson, and refer to prior knowledge. (There are probably a couple of other things under there, but I don't have the booklet in front of me) Now, any Montessori teacher worth her salt knows that MANY of the lessons in primary are supposed to be SILENT. Furthermore, if you are giving a lesson that is the first among a series, there really is no prior knowledge. In my observation, I gave a lesson on the Pink Tower. This is the first lesson within sensorial that would introduce the visual discretion of dimension. Because I didn't say something like "can you think of things that are different sizes" (which doesn't even make sense for this lesson), I received a low score. I don't even blame the administration, because, in all honesty,they are just as bound to this rubric for their jobs as I am to mine.

Overall, I'm OK with the score that I got. However, this really brings to light larger issues. First, this evaluation system is supposed to guide teachers toward excellence. Well, if the rubric has nothing to do with how I'm trained, it does me NO good. All I've learned from this rubric is that I need to put on a show when someone comes in to observe me. It certainly doesn't make me a better Montessori teacher. Second, if specialized programs are put into a public school system, authenticity ought to be of utmost importance. If I were to truly follow everything on that rubric, I wouldn't be doing Montessori according to my training.

There is a silver lining, though. I've voiced my concerns to my administrator as well as to the higher-ups. A recent meeting was held with Master Educators and teachers of specialized programs to address these concerns. Apparently, this rubric is under revision (as a whole) and there may even be modifications, for specific programs such as Montessori. The fact that this is even being considered makes me incredibly happy. I just hope that these revision will actually be made, and that, for the time being, specialized programs really are reviewed with open minds.

Phonogram Alphabets

2009-11-20T08:44:00.002-05:00

Quick post before the children come down the hall... Any suggestions on where I can get a good, but cheap, set of phonogram alphabets? For those who are wondering, these are two sets of print alphabets in two different colors. In other words, one set is all blue (no color change for vowels) and the other set is all red (or whatever color). Ooh, here they come. Gotta go!

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