mw-claudiamann – Page 3

3-Hour Work Cycle? You’ve GOT to be kidding!

mw-claudiamann on May 16, 2022

“…when the cycle is completed…refreshed and satisfied, he experiences the higher social impulses…”

-Dr. Maria Montessori, The Advanced Montessori Method – I (1918/1991) pg. 76

Is the 3-hour work cycle challenging you or your students? From time management to task management, sorting out how to effectively get through the 3-hour work cycle can be a SUPER challenge! When I first started teaching, I couldn’t quite imagine orchestrating the work cycle so my students stayed on task, while I accomplished the lessons that would help all of us meet the goals I had for the students.

That italicized “I” is on purpose…my goals for them! I didn’t realize, when I was a new Montessori guide, that it was their goals for themselves that truly mattered. My work was to prepare the circumstances that would hold the students securely while they discovered what those goals really were.

Focus on Order

Order is the primary influence on student self-management of the 3-hour work cycle. Dr. Montessori’s discoveries about focus and psychic development are the keys to a work cycle that unlocks the child’s potential. It’s not difficult to create an environment that establishes this order. It takes awareness of the students, an intention to implement a routine, consistent observation to determine how the routines are working (or not), and a commitment to stay with it until the routines and culture of the classroom are established. One must exercise prudence and patience throughout the process. It won’t happen overnight and even once established, can slip unexpectedly into something chaotic for no “apparent” reason.

In chapter III of The Advanced Montessori Method- I, Dr. Montessori writes about her contribution to experimental science. It’s a lot to read and I know you’re busy…so here’s a suggestion to try:

Create an order to the daily schedule and watch how it works

Teach children how to start the day in quiet. My class had a choice of silent reading or sketching. “Teaching” meant to provide the materials (a choice book and a sketch book) and hold them accountable to the quiet by being quiet myself. I didn’t call to children who were talking, I quietly walked to them and gently touched them on the shoulder and put my finger to my lips indicating quiet. Try to remember that the social elementary child will not necessarily start their day this way naturally, so be patient as you stay firm. NOTE: On pages 75 to 85 Dr. Montessori writes about the activity cycle that takes place during the 3-hour work cycle for a variety of student personalities. EVERY one of them starts in quiet.
Create the next part of the day that works best for you or your students. Many teachers like to bring the class together for a short class meeting (15 minutes or less!) to review the upcoming events and expectations of the day. Teach the students how to lead this meeting using a consistent agenda that is easy to follow. You can have a part to play: “Teacher Time” can be an item on the agenda for you to make announcements, give a mini lesson, or share a technique for managing a current classroom concern. (You could also have Current Classroom Concern as an agenda item: a time when students can bring up something they need to discuss.)
Plan lesson times for minimal interruption to student work. I liked to get a lesson in right after a class meeting, so those students had a single lesson and then no further interruptions to their morning. I planned another lesson midway through the morning for those students who could manage their time well enough to get something done before and after, or I made the lesson for those students who had trouble returning to work after false fatigue. For those students, I would make sure the lesson was lively with a compelling follow-up opportunity that they would be dying to do. This helped them get into that second, deeper-focused work period. I’d plan a third lesson for the end of the morning so that students went to the midday routine after. Once the classroom was more “normalized” to the 3-hour work cycle and students could manage their time and tasks fairly well, I might add in an additional lesson or two, but that didn’t usually happen until later in the year…and some years, not at all!
Keep myself quiet in voice, conversation, movement, and activity throughout the morning. Be a “guide on the side”, available for student questions, needs, etc. Don’t plan too much to do so that you can be available to your students while you teach the “3 Before Me” guideline*.
End the morning at the same time and with the same routine every day. Teach the children where and how to put their work away for later, how to clear and clean tables, how to tidy shelves, how to clean up anything that is on the floor, and how to come to the circle when their responsibilities are complete. Spend a few minutes in the circle visually checking through the prepared environment to make sure the jobs are done. If they aren’t, make sure they are done before moving into the next part of the day…usually a lunch and recess routine.

Always take notes throughout the period of establishing these routines. Observation is the heart of our method! Give every new procedure some time to take root, then watch the impact before deciding something is or isn’t working or the students or yourself.

*3 Before Me: Ask Yourself (Can I answer this question or solve this on my own?), Ask a friend (Have you done this work? Can you help me figure it out?), Ask a person you don’t know…maybe someone older. (Have you done this work? Can you help me figure it out?) FYI: this one can be the hardest path to take, so giving students an opportunity to role play it in class meeting is a GREAT plan for support.

Next Week: Part 2 – Acquiring the Knowledge Desired and NEEDED

Trust the Children; Set Them Free

mw-claudiamann on May 10, 2022

“It is a psychic necessity that the child explores the environment; it satisfies his spirit.”

Maria Montessori, The 1946 London Lectures p. 134

When I faced a group of engaged Montessori students for the first time, I was flabbergasted! I’d never witnessed such enthusiasm, curiosity, and all-out abandon. They embraced the musical experience my quintet offered them with their entire being. Years later, I learned that it was likely the adult guides’ trust in the students that encouraged self-confidence and allowed the students to freely explore the concert environment we were providing.

The Power of Trust

Montessori teaches adults to trust the child; to trust in the student’s deep, natural, internal drive to explore, to learn and to master whatever their heart desires. She instructs us adults to inspire, to provide a stimulating environment, and to observe. We observe so we may know the students’ interests, what sparks their sense of wonder, and lights a fire in their soul.

Why then, do researchers and educators of different traditions, feel the need to compartmentalize literacy of all types into siloed lessons that force-feed, often at a firehose-fountain, information that fails to relate to ANYTHING that really matters to the student?

Put Yourself in a Child’s Place

When was the last time YOU tried to learn a skill that was totally unlike any skill you’d ever mastered? For adult learners, changing one’s mind about something may be the ultimate learning test. One must bring an attitude of openness, a true desire to unlearn current thoughts, beliefs, understanding or feelings, along with a willingness to face the emotions that come up as the learning unfolds.

“The absorption of the environment is an intellectual activity. It is a psychic necessity that the child explores the environment; it satisfies his spirit. After he has had the satisfaction of observing one.”

Maria Montessori, The 1946 London Lectures p. 134

Now imagine the experience for a child who says they want to learn to read. The teacher begins with lessons on phonics, a guide to reading a book, a nomenclature list of terms the student has never heard, and a litany of probing questions to see if the ideas are sinking in. YUCK!

Walking for Miles with a Child

What if, instead, you took a walk and talked with the students. You noticed the things that drew their attention and the level of interest they showed. What if you then brought a book to share. You talked about the pictures and how they related to the topic of interest. You talked about the vocabulary that applied to the subject and investigated the words themselves. You might look at the etymology or the spelling or both. You might play with the phonics to help the student
recognize patterns of letters. You could help the child write the words in the air, in a box of sand or on a piece of paper. You could pair them up with a friend to explore the book together, seeing what more they could learn from the story or about the people involved.

Most of the teachers I know would love to follow this way of guiding students. They want to see the spark in their students’ eyes and feel the fire in their bellies to grab hold of some intriguing corner of the universe. Let’s remember and practice what Dr. Montessori understood: that humans are learners by nature; it’s what we do. Then, in that remembering, we can provide the environment that truly trusts the child to be a homo sapien: the “wise man” they were destined to be.

Five Super-simple ways to embrace “Learning for Life”

mw-claudiamann on April 25, 2022

“He does not climb on chairs in order to sit on them, but just for the sake of climbing.”

Maria Montessori The 1946 London Lectures, p. 114

Meandering through a day-to-day existence of “to do lists” and “purpose-driven activity” how much time can we set aside for “doing” for the sake of “doing” or “being” for the sake of “being”?

The last few weeks have been filled with the usual busy-ness of things to accomplish, but I’ve made some changes that are healing my heart and allowing me to breathe a little easier. Being a teacher to my core, I want to share what I’ve been “learning” in hopes that there might be a little tidbit or two that would lift you up this spring.

1. Love Your Feral Feline

As funny as this may seem, I found LYFF as a solution to a big problem we have had this winter: mice and pack rats EVERYWHERE! They’ve been making a mess under our macadamia nut trees and getting to the nuts faster than I can, but when they started to find their way to our attic, I needed a solution. Voila! A couple of feral felines.

These rescued felines have brought more joy than I’d ever imagined. No, they will never be indoor or lap kitties, but they are still showing the love. Our Mr. Burrow, aptly named for his antics rearranging his temporary cage and hiding under the blankets with just a little peak out to make sure we were minding out own business, brought us a gift lizard within 24 hours of his freedom. Thank you, Mr. B! Nothing says I love you quite like this!

Kidding aside, the feral kitties are reminding me that they have their very own way of connecting to us. It’s not like a pet exactly, but they can show their love, too! They remind me that having specific expectations and desires (for our children, our students, our relationships) can keep us from receiving their “gifts freely given.”

2. Plant a tiny garden.

When a new visitor to our home remarked that I love plants, I was a little surprised. I’ve gotten so used to their being everywhere, I’d become desensitized to how they fill every room with life. Springtime, even in Southern California, is the time to get new plants going, so our curiosity about creating permaculture around our avocadoes has us both pulling on the garden gloves and opening up new spaces. With my new little garden space, I’ve gained daily “30-minutes-at-a-time” relief from hours at the computer, a few sore muscles that needed waking up, and the pleasure of new fruits, veggies, and flowers soon to arrive.

Every day is an opportunity to invest a few minutes toward the future. Just this morning, I placed 6 catnip plants into an area where I spied Mr. Burrow stalking the birds who were way too quick for him. I’m hoping these plants will spread like their mint counterparts and fill the space so he and Violet, our other super-shy feral feline, can roll themselves into herbal bliss.

3. Naptime for grown-ups…take a midday rest break.

When I was still spending my days at school, I learned to take a midday break by walking up and down the hill nearby, visiting the tiny park on the corner, or simply pausing to sit with the preschoolers at play.

Now that I’m “retired” and spending most of my hours at home behind a computer, I still remind myself (with a timer if needed) that taking breaks to step away from the thoughts, the screen, and the to-do-lists rejuvenates my brain and lightens my soul. Sometimes that little break can just be stepping outside the room or shifting to my knitting for a few minutes.

Dr. Montessori reminds us: “The child gives us a beautiful lesson – that in order to form and maintain our intelligence, we must use our hands.”[1] Spending time with handwork is much more than a physical break or channel change: it’s a change in our brain brought about by a very different kind of mental activity.

4. Learn something new…just for the sake of learning.

Connect with the experience of “new” learning! But don’t be surprised if learning something new turns out to be more of a challenge than a gift. When the pandemic caused so many of us to shift our lives around, what new learning did you face? Were you frustrated? Scared? Exhausted? Learning all the new things and making those adjustments were tough for many.

The upside, when we choose to put ourselves in the context our students face every day, is that we can gain insights to their experiences. A new perspective of how it feels to try and fail, or to persevere and eventually succeed can invigorate our belief in Learning for Life, the very motto of Montessori that lit an unexpected fire in me.

5. Do nothing…

Eckhardt Tolle reminds us that doing and thinking nothing can be as simple as asking ourselves if we have time to take one deep breath. We always do…and if we think we don’t, well, we definitely need to do some learning!

Doing nothing, stopping my thoughts, was much harder, but E.T. offered a great tip for this, too: Say to yourself, “I wonder what my next thought will be.” Try it! When you stay focused on wondering about what’s to come, you can really be free in the moment…a freedom that will rejuvenate you for your next joyful step into learning something new for your life!

[1] The 1946 London Lectures, pg. 153.

Are you “ensuring harmony” and creating “an ever-better world” in your Montessori life?

mw-claudiamann on April 19, 2022

“The purpose of life is to obey the hidden command
which ensures harmony among all and creates an ever better world.”

― Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind

“I’ve had enough!”

“I can’t take this anymore.”

“Something has got to change, or I’m outta here!”

Ever felt this way? Said those words? C’mon admit it! Haven’t we all…. at one time or another?

This spring, I’ve heard some variation of these sentiments from more than one or two of my friends or mentees. Some are on the receiving end of the words; others are feeling this way themselves. Me, too!

Each time a relationship challenge finds its way to my door, I try to listen between the words of the story. I do my best to practice deep listening.

What’s “deep listening”?

Is it different from regular listening? In my mind, “regular” listening is often not really listening at all. Many folks, when listening, are already thinking of what they want to say in response. They are feeling their own feelings without being aware of them; not realizing that they stopped moments or minutes before to begin forming the words that will come out as soon as there’s a pause. Once a reply is forthcoming, the words may carry advice, criticism, or commiseration…none of which really helps in moving toward resolution of the conflict.

Conflict.

That word may strike fear in your heart. How many of us identify as conflict avoiders, or as lacking in skills to participate in purposeful conflict resolution? This is likely why Dr. Montessori’s quote for this week strikes a chord in my heart… “the hidden command which ensures harmony among all.”

I grew up in a home that was often filled with a great deal of love, fun, and true enjoyment of life. But in my home, that feel-good feeling could turn on a dime. There were the long periods of silence in which I experienced walking on eggshells, uncertain of which parent to turn to or how to ask for peace. This “little-t-trauma” had a big impact on my desire for peace. My own hidden desire for harmony showed up in countless ways.

In high school, shalom was my favorite word and I proclaimed it everywhere…on my notebooks, my lunchboxes, in my saying hello and goodbye. I longed for peace in an almost desperate way.

In my young adult years, I suffered silently when hurt crept in, sometimes consciously in conflict with my desire for peace when I sought ways to retaliate; ways to make the other person feel my pain.

By the time I was in my 30’s and 40’s, I’d fully embraced a victim mentality. I hopped into the “Drama Triangle” faster than the bunny chewing happily outside my window leaps into hiding at the sound of my husband working in the garden.

A Problem or an Opportunity?

I believe with all my heart that opportunities to gain skill toward achieving harmony and peace began to surface when I embraced a practice in Montessori education. With that education came clarity around my own need for peace and harmony, and what it would take to encourage more of them in my life.

I’m not a quick study: I’ve been working on it for more than 40 years. I’m still working and learning. Deep pain can take a long to time rise to the surface. But with each passing conflict, each passing hurt, I become more gracious, less fearful of an honest conversation, more greatly attuned to my relationships, and more effective in supporting those around me in finding their own harmonious resolutions.

The quote for this week does not end with creating an “ever-better world.” As she so often does, Dr. Montessori continues with a task for us to embrace:

“We are not created only to enjoy the world,

we are created in order to evolve the cosmos.”

So take time to recognize your own “hidden command” for achieving peace in your world. I encourage you to find gratitude for the challenging opportunities you face. For in them lie the BIG WORK of being a human who is evolving the cosmos…helping it to grow more peace-filled with each brave, harmonious effort you make.

Teaching What Matters

mw-claudiamann on April 11, 2022

There is not just a need for happier schools, schools where the children are free to do as they like or schools where they use certain materials: education today needs reform. If education is to prepare man for the present, and the immediate future, he will need a new orientation towards the environment.

Maria Montessori, The 1946 London Lectures, p. 102

Did you ever hear the one about the little girl and the starfish? As the story goes, the beach was covered one day with what seemed to be millions of starfish. It appeared that they’d been washed up in a sudden wave, deposited and left with no means to get back to the deep water. One lone little girl was grabbing one starfish at a time and tossing it back to the sea…over and over as fast as she could. An adult walking by saw her efforts and asked her why she would pursue such futile work. She didn’t stop her “futile work” as she replied, “It matters to that one.”

Sometimes, when my days were spent in the classroom, I wondered if the things I chose to do were making any difference at all. Even though I could see that most of the time the students were happy and much of the time most of them were engaged in whatever they were working on, even when just learning how to be social, I ruminated for hours or weeks…maybe even years, about the meaning of the “learning tasks” I was offering my students. (SIDEBAR: If you happen to know me well enough, you’re probably laughing right now! This is SO me!) I suppose my wondering was more about what difference this Montessori education would make in the lives of these children…in their immediate futures.

A few years ago, I had become facebook friends with a former student. As a little boy, he’d been smiley but quiet, tending to sit in one, regular spot; often choosing to keep himself wrapped in his coat throughout the entire day. At least that was the picture I’d carried in my memory for nearly 30 years when we became friends again. Here he was, taking artful photographs of “suicidegirls.” I wasn’t surprised at the artistry, his parents were well-known, even nationally, for their art, but the subject matter just didn’t seem to fit. I reached out to him with a single question: “Did your Montessori education influence you and your life choices?” He responded within hours and not only said, “Yes!” but also agreed to talk with me about it. I learned he had graduated with a degree in graphic design just as the bottom fell out of the market, so he needed to put that passion on hold for a bit. He attributed his Montessori education with his “can do” attitude that allowed him to pursue his interests, no matter how far out. These days he’s switched coasts and traded his photography for a different type of model: the kind of replicas people build for fun and hobby. He’s still pursuing his passions, even into unlikely places.

Then, just a few months ago, I got a text from the parent of a couple of former students: “(My daughter) and I were just sitting here talking and she said how she misses the Big Bang lesson that you and Doug used to give. She gave me a whole recap of it, I thought you would like to hear that. Also, ….she wants to major in Chemistry with a geology focus. I would say you and Doug rubbed off on her!” We had to know more.

“I have always known that I would pursue a science degree, but it was not until junior year of high school, when I took a chemistry class, that I knew I would have to do something with chemistry. I love chemistry because it is the language of our universe. ….As for geology, I am an avid crystal and mineral collector and I attribute this to yours and Claudia’s fossil and mineral case in the Montessori school. I love collecting all types of minerals and crystals and learning about their chemical makeup. My personal favorite type of crystal to collect is quartz, specifically inclusion quartz. I love that because of the abundance of quartz, it often forms with other minerals or chemical impurities that change its appearance. I love to use chemistry to try to figure out the potential pressure, heat, or other conditions that would have to be present to allow for the formation of a certain stone.”

I remember this young girl’s passion for science, but if anyone had asked me, I’d have guessed she be headed to medical or veterinary school; her enthusiasm for the animal kingdom wasn’t even thwarted by gooey, smelly dissections. She cherished them!

Her jewelry creations with native minerals have crossed my social media platforms over the last few years, but I had no idea the extent of her passion. I’ll bet you can guess the line in her reply that grabbed hold of my heart: I love chemistry because it is the language of our universe. That she would be using chemistry to discover the origins of minerals makes me beam. I’ll have to let her know that her email inspired my new Rainbow Rocks materials…all quartz but one…and with a curriculum designed to give any youngster an opportunity to begin investigations and experiences that could lead to a life time love.

So while these have been trying times for teachers, I encourage you all to take heart…along with a few moments every day to remind yourself that even though you may not see it today, what you are doing matters to that one…and to that one, and that one, and all the little ones whose lives you touch.

Montessori Secondary: The Bridge to Triumphant (Young) Adults

mw-claudiamann on April 1, 2022

“An education capable of saving humanity is no small undertaking; it involves the spiritual development of man, the enhancement of his value as an individual, and the preparation of young people to understand the times in which they live.”

Dr. Maria Montessori | Education and Peace

Maria Montessori didn’t leave secondary guides a lot to go on. Limited to just three short essays included at the end of From Childhood to Adolescence, Dr. Montessori shared a vision of a school structure for children ages 12 to 18 that is vastly different from traditional programs, especially in the USA. She recommended a boarding school located in a remote area where students could interact with the natural world through farming, running a hostel, developing genuine entrepreneurial endeavors, and creating a museum of sorts to demonstrate their learning. It’s a tall order. But as she says, it is “no small undertaking.”

Of all the reasons I appreciate the Montessori method, it is the lofty goal of “saving humanity” that I revere most. I’ve witnessed countless examples of a child who has grown and flourished within the Montessori classroom at all the ages.

I’ve watched the 9-month-old infant carefully raise a tiny, tiny glass to their lips, skipping the bottle or sippy-cup steps considered a necessity for the weaning process of the past. Then, as soon as they can stand securely, they also learn to deposit their cup and dishes into the bin, clear the table and use a sponge to wipe their space clean.

Toddlers, walking independently now, learn to rely on their body’s messages to help them use the toilet successfully. They handle the “wet events” by going to the changing area, finding their bin, gathering clean clothes, changing out of the wet ones, and depositing them into a plastic bag to go home at the end of the day. Diapers, a hindrance to feeling their wet event, are absent from many authentic Montessori classrooms and homes as an aid to the learning that allows for independence of this critical “grown-up” skill.

With each passage to a new stage of development, children are given the opportunity to reach their full potential as the adult guides remove the hindrances to natural growth. Through curiosity and encouragement, with freedom to explore, experiment, and perfect the objects of their desires, their accomplishments lead to confidence and creativity. In the elementary class, guides use the Great Lessons to open the entire scope of the universe, inspiring students through story, but piquing their curiosity by sharing the interdependent worlds of all the traditional disciplines connected through the vision of Cosmic Education.

When the students arrive in the secondary class, a completely new world of possibilities lies before them. Here, their awkward entry into young adulthood with gangly bodies beginning to blossom into puberty is met with the work of real activity: farming when possible, but certainly gardening, small animal care, cooking, sewing, handwork of all types, auto mechanics, machinery repair, woodworking…anything goes as long as the student is drawn to it. The “work that never sleeps” is a business or farm that needs constant tending, developing a sense of accountability and responsibility for something other than themselves. They learn that the mathematics they learned in elementary can have real-world applications that must be used with care and accuracy. Yes, there are academic connections, but most often these connections relate to some aspect of their real-world work.

Guides for these young people know that the goal is valorization: finding one’s place in the world and knowing that you are making contributions that matter. Their increasing confidence is based on the competencies they’ve gained through years of carefully guided transformations. Through it all, they’ve gained knowledge of the changing world and learned they can manage their minds, their bodies, their emotions, and their hearts to make it a better place.

The saviors of humanity are alive and well and growing up in a Montessori program near you!

Finding One’s Voice…At Any Age!

mw-claudiamann on March 29, 2022

“We must give him the means and encourage him. ‘Courage, my dear, courage!”

Maria Montessori – The 1946 London Lectures

It was often a topic of conversation amongst my Montessori colleagues: at least part of the “means and encouragement” was to help the child find their voice. This included learning to speak in front of a group, learning to wait their turn when sharing in a circle, and learning how to express themselves when emotions ran high. I wish I had a nickel for every time I sat with two children who were working through a conflict or hurt feelings. Those hours were mostly well spent and taught me a lot about the value of communication.

My Own Lessons to Learn

Something that didn’t seem to transmit to my communication practice was how to manage my own need for courage in conflicts. For years, I slipped into feeling victimized in nearly any challenge. I made up stories about the intentions of the people whose words felt like accusations or brought up painful feelings. It took me a few years of effort to truly own my tendency to hop into the Victim – Blamer – Rescuer triangle…also known as the Karpman Drama Triangle.¹

This victim-y perspective was keeping me from finding my voice, except in those very close, most trusted relationships.

We must give him the means and encourage him. ‘Courage, my dear, courage! You are a new man that must adapt to this new world. Go on triumphantly. I am here to help you.’ This kind of encouragement is instinctive in those who love children.

Maria Montessori The 1946 London Lectures, p. 13

Trauma to the Rescue

Fortunately, I had a wonderfully wise physician who recognized the tip of my trauma iceberg. I’d been carrying around a fear related to the near-loss of my mother for more than 50 years. Every time I went in for some minor health concern, Dr. X patiently did all the tests. She’d reassure me that I was healthy, and reaffirmed that it was a good idea to follow up on my concerns. Then, one day, in addition to her usual encouragement, she suggested I might want to add trauma therapy to my self-care regimen.

Some 60 months later, I’m reaping the rewards of peeling off layers of hurt and replacing them with self-acceptance. I would never have guessed how that shift would result in the courage I’d find when I hopped into that drama triangle, still my personal path of least resistance. I’m experiencing a more stable state-of-mind, and loving the gift of peace that finding my voice and using it appropriately is bringing to how I handle the inevitable conflict and frustrations of normal life.

I coach a lot of teachers these days. They have faced an overwhelming sense of dis-ease among the members of their communities. No one has escaped the trauma of an interrupted life and that interruption has intensified behaviors and the emotional reactions to all sorts of situations.

With each shared concern, I find myself asking what is wanted: What outcome? What do you want others to know? What do you want to say? That’s when the fear shows up. The challenge to finding one’s voice is real. “I don’t think I can say that.” “I’m afraid of how they will react.” “They already seem so mean. I don’t know if I can take the chance.”

One of my friends, having just experienced the unburdening of having had her own courageous conversation, said it best. “It’s already bad. How much worse could it be?”

Indeed…and the possibility of the personal reward is totally worth it!

¹ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karpman_drama_triangle

The Help That’s Needed

mw-claudiamann on March 16, 2022

‘You are a new (hu)man that must adapt to this new world. Go on triumphantly. I am here to help you.’ ”

Maria Montessori – The 1946 London Lectures

This quote, a new one to me, landed so perfectly as a reflection of recent work I’m doing with a specialized Montessori program whose staff faces extraordinary challenges. I’ve not met a more dedicated, caring staff of both Montessorians and teachers trained in working with students experiencing a variety of disabilities.

We must give him the means and encourage him. ‘Courage, my dear, courage! You are a new man that must adapt to this new world. Go on triumphantly. I am here to help you.’ This kind of encouragement is instinctive in those who love children.

Maria Montessori – The 1946 London Lectures

Many of the children in this publicly funded charter school are both significantly and seriously impacted by physical and emotional limitations. It’s common for families to be separated by divorce, incarceration, or even death.

I’m sure that it will come as no surprise that behavior issues occupy a great deal of the teachers’ energy and time. Try as they might to avoid it, teachers and specialists sometimes, maybe even often, resort to practices that would not typically find their way into Montessori “best” practices. But, truthfully and in their defense, determining what would be a “best” practice in some of the difficult circumstances is elusive.

That’s why I often exercise a caveat when sharing my ideas or advice for handling a problem. Regardless of my well-intentioned desire to help, I’m not present in the classrooms day in and day out. I can’t know whether the help I believe I’d try would be well-received or would cause more problems. So, I share the thoughts underneath my choice of action and give the teacher some freedom to choose the action they feel comfortable taking. I offer encouragement to try my ideas, but I also exercise patience with decisions that might come from either knowledge or insecurities held by the guide.

I consider Dr. Montessori’s words about adapting to a new world. The world these children are facing is not only different by at least one if not two generations than my own, but my cultural background can only provide me with an awareness that I simply can’t know the stresses these students are trying to manage. I have a little experience with raising a child with a significant disability, but the systemic racism and difficult homelives so many of these children face is quite far from my life experiences. The best I can do is admit my bias, acknowledge my lack of personal experience, and practice good listening and thoughtful problem-investigation to help those on the front lines.

So, how do we decide which actions will help? It’s been my practice to give things a try using what I know about human development and tendencies. Recently, I suggested a conversation with a 9-year-old about trust. This could have easily backfired, but when I suggested the teacher show the student how their behaviors had caused the guide’s trust to fluctuate. I suggested the guide might even draw a picture illustrating when trust was high, when trust diminished, and when trust returned. The child appeared not only to understand, but also to care about it. The student asked for the opportunity to earn the teachers’ trust back. At the end of the morning, they asked if they’d been successful. They said they really wanted to be part of the class and would do their best to keep her trust.

For this child, who may not have a lot of trusting or trustworthy relationships in their life, this was a concept that seemed to appeal. In this case, the help that was needed by this child was the opportunity to feel triumphant through the courage to earn trust, an experience they hadn’t had…maybe ever.

It was well worth the reminder that the help may not come in the form of a Montessori lesson or a traditional approach to achieving concentration. This case of following the child meant offering help that might have been rejected.

The teacher got a great lesson, too. She exercised courage in offering a behavioral boundary that the student could control. And with this student, whose tendency is to tantrum, yell, and run away, that was a scary risk to take! But from the text I received at the end of her morning, I could tell she was beaming…not so much for herself, but for this student who will benefit greatly from learning to navigate the waters of trust and how they can be managed from both sides: the side seeking to establish trust and the one desiring to feel trust for others.

The Function of the Prepared Environment

mw-claudiamann on March 15, 2022

“…realizing the peculiarly absorbent nature of the child’s mind, she has prepared for him a special environment; and, then, placing the child within it, has given him the freedom to live in it, absorbing what he finds there.”

E. M. Standing, Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work (p.265).

In a week of school observations, over and over I was awestruck by what I saw. In class after class, the carefully prepared environment was working its usual magic. Children are engaged, most working independently, preparing for their day and their work in a familiar routine that guides their actions.

For those of you who know the Montessori classroom, these photos may bring a smile of recognition seeing children deep into their learning. But for those who may not, my comments will direct your attention to some key elements that may help as you prepare your own spaces.

These classrooms are in widely different school programs: small vs. large institutions; publicly vs. privately funded; one serving special needs children in a diverse inner city setting vs. two small, homogeneous rural communities where diversity is minimal; classes of all ages. Your eyes will see that in spite of these differences, the connection to purpose is present. The prepared environments are doing their jobs.

The order built into the primary classroom guides the actions of the students. In these classes, where the children absorb everything around them and assimilate those experiences into learning and understanding, the freedom to explore and follow their natural tendencies is the incentive that drives their play.

This primary classroom is waiting for students. As you look at the various classrooms, see if you can spot the materials that are consistent across them.

Even the classrooms to be used by the older 7th and 8th grade students have an organized structure and sense of order that directs the students as they enter the classroom in the morning.

Shelves contain task cards or activities that guide the play so that thinking is piqued and ideas are generated.
Students work at tables or on the floor. This gives them freedom of movement.

Teachers and students do large work together on the floor. This gives both students and teachers the chance to manage big work that takes up lots of space.

The primary or 3-6 classroom offers areas in which the focus is one of the following: math, language, sensorial, practical life, and culture.
Students work in pairs or just sit side-by-side while doing their work.

Teachers work alongside their students, while making note of actions around the room (or outside when the snow is flying!) Materials on the shelves are open and available, inviting the students to give them a try.

There are spaces in the room that say, “Come, relax and read a book here.”

This homeschool classroom has a lot of the characteristics of the school classroom, with lots of room to spread out and use the floor!

Even the older students have comfy spaces for reading. I missed the shot of the student who spent 5 minutes with the fish before he started his day.

Every one of these classrooms are spaces that draw the students into activity…activity that sparks the children’s imaginations in a way that educate. The method of education we call Montessori is based on this belief. It changes the relationship between adult and child, teacher and student. In this transformation of roles, the exciting and carefully prepared environment is the silent partner of the adult, whose role is to sow the seeds.

“The secret of good teaching is to regard the child’s intelligence as a fertile field in which seeds may be sown, to grow under the heat of flaming imagination. Our aim therefore is not merely to make the child understand, and still less to force him to memorize, but so to touch his imagination as to enthuse him to his inmost core.”

Maria Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential, p. 11

Help or Hindrance? Aid or Obstacle? — Which are you?

mw-claudiamann on March 14, 2022

It is necessary for the teacher to guide the child without letting him feel her presence too much
so that she may always be ready to supply the desired help,
but may never be the obstacle between the child and his experience.

Dr. Montessori’s Own Handbook, “Freedom” First Published: 1914

Maria Montessori faced obstacles…many of them. She was a female at a time when women had few rights and few opportunities. She was passionate about science at a time when the greatest career goal for a woman was that of teacher…and in her early years, she adamantly designed NOT to become that.

She fell in love with and became pregnant by a man whose conservative family values forbid him to marry her. At the height of a career that had made her famous by age 30, this monumental obstacle might have meant the last we’d hear of Maria Montessori.¹

But Maria made a different choice for herself. She chose to remove the obstacles.

Obstacles are Not Without Significance

The obstacle of an unwanted pregnancy was not the last she would face. In fact, it might seem that the series of obstacles she overcame throughout the remainder of her life might have led Maria to different conclusions about persistence, perseverance, and transformation. Her writings show us that she valued all of these, especially the required transformation for being a successful devotee of her method.

Montessori viewed obstacles as a natural part of living, common to us all, and significant for growth and achievement. For Dr. Montessori, the key to achieving one’s potential was experience. Her observations, deeply influenced by her own obstacle-laden experiences, had shown her that sensory experiences were the true foundation of learning, possessing the power to free the individual to achieve their potential. She held up Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan Macy as a stellar example of how sensory learning had unlocked Ms. Keller’s severe limitations and produced “a woman of exceptional culture and a writer.” ²

Which am I? Aid or Obstacle?

A recent social media debate got me thinking about obstacles. The discussion focused on the question of whether withholding recess as a “natural consequence” for lack of work during work periods was appropriate or successful. The debate ran the full gamut from absolutely never (“The children who struggle to work during work-time need recess more than anyone.”) to absolutely. (“This is the only meaningful tool [to the child] in the teachers toolbox.”)

I’m not here to open up the debate. It was clear that folx came to that discussion with their minds made up and were not generally about to change much one way or the other. But I wondered if considering the obstacles present in the situation might be the key to becoming aware of how we perceive our responsibility, and ourselves, as Montessori guides facing the obstacle of the child who doesn’t work or the child who doesn’t behave respectfully.

If our task is to remove the obstacles, wouldn’t this shift our thinking to focus on what those obstacles might be for the non-working child? Using our tools of observation, wouldn’t we spend our time watching and wondering about what experience might compel that child to become engaged? And then, wouldn’t we seek to discover how we could provide that deeply moving (sensory) experience without getting in the middle of it…without being “the obstacle between the child and his experience”?

When I think of the work-play/worktime-playtime relationships, I wonder about the sensory experience the non-working child is having during worktime. What experience might be hindering the child and keeping them from engaging in work? How does the threat of missing playtime influence that engagement or lack of it? How does missing playtime influence the student’s desire to work the next day? And how does the teacher’s decision to refuse playtime influence the child’s sensory experience of their life at school? Does it have the positive outcome desired by the guide? Or does it block the student from developing their own inner drive and self-discipline?

My early years in the Montessori classroom were guided by colleagues and mentors who set the rules and taught me the ways of the various schools in which I worked during those formative years. Sometimes guidelines like “if you play during worktime, you’ll have to work during playtime” were in place with the good intentions of helping children learn to focus and manage their time and their learning. Sometimes those guidelines worked. I suppose, in those times, the guideline was an aid to the discipline of focus and not an obstacle. Or was it an aid to fear of loss or an aid to awareness of another person’s power to dominate the outcome or an aid to acceptance of a social construct of working for reward?

In the early days, those questions didn’t cross my thoughts. In time, my teaching practice became more confident and my trust of the child to show me their need grew. I’m not sure I have yet achieved removing myself as the obstacle…how about you?

Author: mw-claudiamann