Lately I have become extremely interested in the early childhood model of Montessori school. I never really had much experience with the model when I was younger and know few people who have. However, after taking a curriculums and models class this semester, I learned a lot about it and have developed a great taste for it.
Play is a child’s work. This is the essence of the Montessori model of early childhood education. Started in Italy by Maria Montessori, this model has grown in popularity over the past few decades. It is based on the universal stages of child development, and the fact that children have highly “absorbent” minds. There are great benefits in placing a child in a Montessori classroom, especially if they are the type of child who would take to such an environment.
First of all, the role of the child intersects with the role of the teacher in that children are their own teachers. As they enter the classroom and begin to interact with the Montessori-specific toys and manipulatives, children are expected to master the movement of their own body as they choose, explore and discover. Interference from adults, whether it is a teacher or an adult, is kept at a minimum. Finally, the parent is seen as a huge part of learning and is known to be a second teacher in the home.
The basic environment of a Montessori classroom is somewhat different from other classrooms. Firstly, the classrooms are mixed in age, from three to five. This allows each teacher to have the same students for three years. The benefit of this practice, which I greatly support, is that the teachers get to know and understand their students very well. The environment is also child-sized to maximize potential for learning and exploring. And, all learning is done in connection to real life and to other skills learned, never in isolation. I have learned in many of my other classes the importance of teaching students new skills in a context that allows them to relate to it and make it their own – this early childhood model builds on this idea as their students learn.
Some of the areas you may see in such a classroom are a practical life area, which includes cutting, mixing, trimming and stirring, an integrated art and music area, an outdoor work area and math tools that move the child from concrete concepts to abstract ideas. All of the areas and resources within the classroom are based on a child’s inner motivation and the teacher’s observation of the child’s needs and wants.
I have interacted with many children and after learning about this model wish that I could direct some of them into this model. Although there are surely benefits to any child that would be placed in a Montessori classroom, I definitely feel that there are certain types of curious, independent and partially introverted students who would benefit the most.
If any of you experienced a Montessori education I would love to hear about it! Comment!
Montessori News
Give Thanks?
This Thanksgiving I went home to Buffalo to spend time with family and friends. Over the five days I was there, I was brought up to date on many of the goings on at my former high school and the schools my brothers attend. I was shocked to find out that there had been a recent scandal at one of the local all-girls high schools involving a student-teacher affair. Just in time for the holidays, you know?
I was also astonished to hear that my brother's all-boys high school had pledged upwards of fourteen million dollars for a new wing in the school, which already resembles a castle.
Based on these findings, I was dismayed. Here I am, a proud woman and proud of my own all-girls high school as well as the others in my town, but all we hear about is a scandal involving sex. Meanwhile, the all-boys high schools are receiving multi-million dollar donations to improve their already top-notch facilities. I was unimpressed and severely bitter.
It seems that no matter what an all-girls high school does, they will only be remembered for the one sex scandal that occurred.
I thought back to my graduating class and all our accomplishments, including coming together to fundraise the money to build a sister school in Afghanistan. We accomplished community service projects at home and abroad, led and participated in retreats, accepted many honors, had a 100% graduation rate and went on to attend top schools across the country. However, when it came down to graduation, we were presented more as "ladies" than as accomplished and worthy academics.
I guess I'm not shocked, just upset and disappointed. We have a lot to give, girls, so despite the uphill battle, we need to show it.
P.S. I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was wonderful!
Thanksgiving
I hope this finds everyone preparing for a fun day tomorrow with family, friends, or whoever and whatever makes your version of a holiday celebration.
So the subject of this post isn't on thanksgiving per say, but what the holiday has brought to my mind this year.
I've been thinking about the focus of formal education on subjects that are considered strictly academic. But the things learned in a classroom have almost no bearing on things like holidays. It sounds simple, expected really, the separation of the realm of the classroom from home. But what are we being educated for if not to live? Surely not simply to "work".
This is where holidays come in. I watched the movie Superbad with the roommates. In one scene the students attend home economics class. I realized that I, and many of my friends, never took such a class. I didn't have shop either. So what would Thanksgiving be without someone knowing how to cook? Do schools or professional mentors have an obligation to teach such skills or is it solely their responsibility to teach students "how to learn" and then they are equipped to learn anything on their own time?
As usual, I don't pretend to have an answer for everyone, there is only my vision of the ideal situation which won't apply to a real person. So my ideal? Probably a light focus, but not total abandonment of practical skills in class with young people learning a great deal of daily life skills at home. I'm sure this happens a decent amount anyway, and I wonder about the true value of life skills that I value (say cooking and use of basic tools) vs what other people have focused on (say music, dance, knitting, automobile maintenance, whatever). It really goes back to the human quest to be a complete person but still be focused enough to have some specialty to excel at.
So to everyone, give thanks not only for the harvest but for the skills you have and those of your loved ones. To educators, remember that we teach more than facts and even more than points of view. I always thought that the teacher as a role model was a question of morality and/or ethics. That's part of it, but there's the other side where we indicate to students what is important outside of the classroom as well, even if we don't intend to.
new evolution
This first semester has proven difficult in unimaginable ways. I once read an article discussing the utility of video gaming to maintain brain function throughout life, and possibly develop it in early life (although I would argue that an adventurous young life in general develops brain function regardless of video games but perhaps some areas are more conducive to this than others). This article was published back when whatever that puzzle game had come out. I have no idea what it was, something for gameboy involving memory tasks. One person commented that he had not had to learn new skill sets with the same intensity since grad school. That later in life, professionals know their fields and do less and less innovating. I scoffed at that a bit thinking, what will I really learn in grad school. I expected greater technical training and diversification to become a reasonable public speaker, instructor, and slight programmer / web developer / statistician.
My phenotypic plasticity class has turned that idea on its head. My idea of evolution is completely changed. It's perhaps the biggest wake up call that I've ever had (maybe pretty girls telling me I'm an asshole and meaning it has come close). But I am a biologist with a sub-par understanding of evolution... Evolution is...everything, the grand central theory of biology without which nothing makes sense.
Without going into needless detail, genetic evolution is driven by selection but environmental and genetic impacts on development are responsible for form (or phenotype). The key idea being that mutation is not required for the generation of a novel form which is heritable and thus selectable. In this way, environmental factors can lead the way with selection for fitness and mutational generation of more fit combinations coming after the new phenotype is already expressed. The concepts are expressed best in West-Eberhard's book Developmental Plasticity and Evolution.
So as a biologist rethinking the mechanisms of evolution, my advice to those educating and being educated alike is to remain open to divergent surprising ideas. This is not a new statement, but this is perhaps the first time I can say it with humility and not as a way of saying...listen to MY ideas which may be different from yours.
A bit of inspiration
I feel like I have been somewhat dry and factual as of late, so here is a little something to inspire you and make you feel proud. I won't clutter it with my thoughts, just enjoy it...
"What Teachers make..."
The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life.
One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"
He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers: "Those who can, do...those who can't, teach."
To stress his point he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?"
Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make? (She paused for a second, then began. "Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.
I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor winner.
I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.
You want to know what I make?" (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table.) I make kids wonder. I make them question. I make them apologize and mean it. I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.
I teach them to write and then I make them write. Keyboarding isn't everything.
I make them read, read, read.
I make them show all their work in math. They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator.
I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know about English while preserving their unique cultural identity.
I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.
I make my students stand, placing their hand over their heart to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, One Nation Under God, because we live in the United States of America.
Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.
Bonnie paused one last time and then continued. "Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant....
You want to know what I make? I MAKE A DIFFERENCE! What do you make Mr. CEO?"
His jaw dropped, he went silent.
Improvement
As my final semester at Ualbany rushed to close, a favorite professor told me something that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. I expressed dismay that I could already feel her lessons slipping from my mind, the particular facts blurred into one another. Her response was to say, she doesn't recall anything that those she admired taught her. She remembers their approach to problem solving. She didn't say that this is what I should try to remember about her but the implication was clear.
This echoes the idea of teaching a man to fish rather than giving a gift of food. Teachers always talk vaguely, or specifically, about teaching students how to learn rather than providing a list of facts. I've been wondering how to be a better educator myself. But the people who influenced me the most, it was the strength of their personality and distinctive style that I remember rather than any visible effort they put forth. (Of course polished lectures only seem effortless). I was mainly discouraged by my relative lack of knowledge compared with professors who have been in the field for 20, 30, 40 years so my first impulse was to study more, memorize my own list of facts. But recalling the aforementioned professor has changed my mind. Increased knowledge is part of it but that will come almost by default. So my attempt at education should not focus on memorizing lists of facts myself but refining my style as a scientist and lecturer.
Even this focus might be in error. I realize that it is tailored to the motivated interested student likely above the level of undergraduate. For bored undergraduates or high school students taking a required (but not necessarily desired) course, the task becomes one of presenting information that is relevant to more than academic life. At a time when standardized testing is becoming more and more important, raising the spectre of the standardized student, I encourage any and all educators to attempt what integration of "daily life" they can.
In the same vein as Caroline's post, I will discuss digital literacy. Because I don't use it, I am still confused by the generation terminology. Generation X, Y, millenium babies, Ok I know what the last one is.
I'm told that my generation (and likely yours if you are reading this) grew up with the digital age and the generation currently in elementary school is growing up benefiting from and better utilizing the structure in place. However, because many of my instructors were (and in some cases continue to be) relatively technology illiterate, many classroom experiences did not go beyond basic word processing. I am sandwhiched between older generations that expect my expertise due to, rather than in spite of my youth, and a younger generation more in love with information technology than I ever was or am.
A former roommate spoke of a new divide occurring. In the 90's, the technology literacy divide was based upon who could send email or program a television remote. That divide still exists, but a further division has cropped up. This separates those who can simply send email and chat online from those who can create and edit webpages, alter photos, do file transfers, and perhaps play advanced games. (I will not consider advanced programming a further divide because I see it squarely within the professional realm).
This roommate observed that, like so many other things, the second divide was one of cash flow. Students attending better funded schools, and who went home to more elaborate computers learned what I will call the advanced basic skills while those in poorly funded areas rarely learned more than the shape of a keyboard.
This is perhaps a bit harsh, and I do not disagree with Caroline that anything beyond the basics is unnecessary. But I do point out that in many cases, those bound for college and beyond are often expected to know more about computer use, the internet in particular, than their instructors. I wonder how this will change over the coming decades as today's information literate learners take up faculty positions.
Digital Literacy In Today's Classrooms
Teaching language in today’s time has evolved and changed from the way it used to be. These days, teachers of elementary school students need to be aware of both the technology and the popular culture that their students are exposed to. Both of these mediums can be used within the classroom to teach common concepts, enhance writing practices and build a bridge from teacher to student and from home to school. I think the greatest change in the modern teaching of language is the new genres associated with language, including digital literacy. However, I see these changes as positive and exciting, and something that teachers should take advantage of.
I think it is important to introduce students at an early age to technology in the form of the Internet with its fun games and interactive, child-friendly websites, as well as the options of word processing and writing emails. I agree that emails offer students a new context in which to write to a real, socially-interactive audience, and I can see the benefits of this. However, I do not think that students as young as six years old need their own email address, which I have seen in many classrooms. (Some of these kids spent up to an hour each day checking their account!) Instead I would suggest that perhaps elementary school teachers, even with students as young as kindergarten, create a class email account as a way of modeling writing emails and other associated skills. Parents and other teachers could email the account in order to familiarize students with appropriate email-related skills. This activity may also prevent students from writing in such the common informal and decontextualized ways of most emails, when they get their own email account one day.
With respect to digital literacy, I think the essential knowledge needed today is how to compose and respond to an email, how to word process, how to use common programs such as Microsoft Excel, etc. and how to surf the Internet, whether it is for work or pleasure. Anything beyond these skills I think is non-essential. Moreover, it goes without saying that as one spends more time using digital mediums, such as the Internet or a computer program, one gains more literacy with them. Therefore, I can say that after one masters the above-mentioned essential skills, they will build more skills upon them. But, with regards to elementary-aged students, I think the most important skills to know are the mechanics of using a computer, such as how to manipulate the mouse and what the symbols on the keyboard mean. Beyond these physical skills, I think using the Internet to view teacher-monitored, developmentally-appropriate websites is the most important of skills.
Finally, I believe that at no time should teachers stop teaching their students the mechanics and practices associated with writing by means of a paper and pencil. This is not some antiquated practice; it is still highly important. If students do not first learn how to write in formal, elaborated and explicit language, before learning the abbreviated manner of digital or email writing, they will lack this skill forever. I do not want to live in a society that is so computerized and digitally-focused that common writing practices are forgotten.
