07
Oct
When I talk to experienced Montessorians about what is different in their post-COVID classrooms, one of the most common responses I hear is that children do not remember (or never experienced) how...
Community/Social Environment
06
Aug
Image by congerdesign from Pixabay
It never fails to surprise me when “Back to School” ads start running. Doesn’t it seem like they come earlier every year? This year, they prompted...
30
Apr
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Happy May Day - the first day of the craziest month of the school year! Did you know that May Day is the halfway point...
16
Sep
Last week, I sent messages to a number of experienced Montessorians across the country. I asked how their class was doing. The response was swift, definitive, and consistent: kids are struggling.
19
Aug
Welcome to the cusp of yet another new year! Some schools have already received children; others are in their final approach. We have planned and prepared our physical and logistical environments to...
23
Dec
My grandmother was a woman full of homespun wisdom. One of the things that she said when things didn’t go according to hopes or plans was, “You can get used to anything...
27
Oct
I have never run a marathon. In fact, those of you who know me personally are probably doubled over in laughter at the very idea. (You’re welcome for that image!) But even...
25
Sep
When did you first realize that the pandemic was going to change our day-to-day lives at a fundamental level? Believe it or not, here in the US, it has been about 6...
01
May
Have you heard the news? There sure is a lot of it these days!
I have come to the conclusion that whatever news you are looking for you can...
27
Mar
Life in recent weeks has been a bit like living in the middle of a suspense-thriller, hasn’t it? Protagonists are working tirelessly to unravel medical mysteries and to create structures to sustain...
21
Feb
Every Presidents’ Weekend, interns return to our training center
for assessments, instruction, and time to share discoveries with one another. It is a harbinger of spring, a little like the
swallows returning to Capistrano. ...
07
Feb
I was recently invited to write an article for the CGMS newsletter on bullying. Since this is an unfortunately common problem and a timely topic, I am republishing the article here...
10
Jan
I have been thinking a lot lately about hearing and being
heard.
Yesterday, while working at my kitchen table, I heard a dove. I couldn’t see it, but my...
20
Dec
It has been said that family is the people who, when we knock on the door, have to let us in. I like that - it reflects the unquestionable value of the...
13
Dec
This is the time of year when posts start popping up on
social media commiserating with teachers in the last days before winter break
pop up, proclaiming, “There’s no tired like teacher-before-winter-break tired,” or...
06
Dec
Anyone who has tried to create an “elevator speech” to explain Montessori education has experienced both the power and the challenge to our method: it is so multi-dimensional that it is impossible...
22
Nov
Years and years ago, a colleague returned from a Montessori conference with a list of the qualities that our interactions with one another can take on. It was expressed as a scale...
15
Nov
I love the Sunday funnies.
Give me the color comics and a perfectly made cappuccino and I am guaranteed
30 minutes of bliss - and some occasional pearls of wisdom. Two weeks ago, there...
08
Nov
Occasionally, I have an experience that is so profound that I feel I simply must share it. Sunday evening’s All Souls Procession in Tucson, Arizona was one of those occasions.
25
Oct
In broader educational circles, October is sometimes thought of as a time of the doldrums, when everything becomes a bit too routine. It is midway between the exciting start to the school year...
18
Oct
Have you ever had your feelings hurt? Of course, you have – it is part of life! Every time we put ourselves “out there” we risk having someone respond in an unexpected way. Sometimes, the...
11
Oct
Last week’s blog talked about creating opportunities in the classroom for good drama, lessening the need for bad drama; this week we begin a series of blogs addressing specific “bad drama” behaviors...
04
Oct
October! Already! By now we are seeing not only a change in the weather and in the flora and fauna, we are seeing a change in our classrooms; we are settling into a routine. Just...
27
Sep
In the past week or so, I was lucky enough to spend time with delightful teachers and administrators at Selkirk Montessori in Victoria, BC, Canada and at The Montessori Academy of Colorado...
13
Sep
Saturday, September 21, is International Day of Peace. As Montessorians, we strive for everyday to be a day of peace, but this day, set aside by the UN in 1981, gives us an opportunity...
06
Sep
Last Monday, we marked the date on the calendar that
once-upon-a-time marked the beginning of the school year in the US: Labor
Day. Of course, nowadays schools start
back up at various times from the...
30
Aug
This weekend marks the 149th anniversary of Maria Montessori’s birth – an occasion for which I am deeply grateful. Just think how our lives would be different if she had not been...
16
Aug
When reading the title of this week’s blog, did your brain automatically
reply “Who’s there”? If so, you have a tell. You work with elementary-age children, an age
that we might laughingly refer to...
09
Aug
As a child, I always looked forward to the beginning of the school
year. I think that is partially because
my mom put us (mostly) in charge of our own summers. We determined how...
10
May
Endings. And beginnings. They tug at my heartstrings and make me a bit
sentimental. Or maybe I am sentimental by nature - maybe endings just legitimize
those emotions. Either way, they trigger
feelings of gratitude...
03
May
Today’s blog is a continuation of last week’s topic of attending
mindfully to transitions that are about to happen for our children. Last week we looked at practices that
preserve normalization in our classrooms...
26
Apr
Have you noticed? Mere days from
now we will turn the calendar to May – the crazy month filled with culminating
projects, Mother’s Day gifts, final report cards, graduation preparations and
celebrations, and a score...
12
Apr
Last week, I hopped into my car to run an errand and tuned into the middle of a radio interview of a woman who works with adolescents; I was just in time...
29
Mar
Who is in your tribe?
Last week, I was with my tribe – 4,000 passionate Montessorians from around the globe, all focused on improving our individual and collective practices....
15
Mar
Maria Montessori often spoke in analogies. One of my favorites encourages teachers to view the child as a fertile field in which we sow and tend seeds of interest, waiting to see...
08
Mar
Today’s post continues the discussion started last week on unanticipated and often unrecognized side-effects of a season focused heavily on standardized testing and test prep. Last week addressed the impact to classroom...
16
Feb
Tomorrow I will be with a group of fellow travelers on the path towards self-actualization: our current elementary interns. If this weekend runs true to form, they will arrive exhausted, half-sick, filled...
08
Feb
It is that time again, when teachers are anticipating — with some combination of dread and amusement — one of the sweetest holidays of the year: Valentine’s Day. Personally, I love the idea of...
18
Jan
How was your week? Since today is Friday, if you are like most teachers, what you are feeling right now is relief that the weekend is here! But when you think about...
11
Jan
“You are not the boss of me!” I remember the first time I heard a feisty, bedazzled, pig-tailed, 4-year old say this to an older boy in her class. I was as...