Middle and High School … from a Montessori Point of View
Jenny Anderson has an interesting article on a New York school that changed from the typical 45 minute class periods to longer 130 minute “blocks” (thanks to Kara D. for pointing this one out). The whole idea of set class periods is one I’m having to get used to again as I move out of … Continue reading “Block Schedules”
With students working on different things at the same time, sometimes collaborating, sometimes working individually, a fluidly function Montessori classroom is somewhat akin to a complex but well-oiled machine: there are lots of individually moving parts that sometimes interact and sometimes not, in an ever-changing configuration. As a result, the job of the middle school … Continue reading “Building the Machine: The Role of the Teacher in a Montessori Middle School”
The BBC has a fascinating article on the Finnish educational system; specifically, why it consistently ranks among the best in the world despite the lack of standardized testing. A couple things stand out to me as a Montessori educator. The first is the use of peer-teaching. There’s a broad mix of abilities in each class, … Continue reading “Finnish Schools and Montessori Education”
The central proposition in our argument is that incompetent individuals lack the metacognitive skills that enable them to tell how poorly they are performing, and as a result, they come to hold inflated views of their performance and ability…. the way to make incompetent individuals realize their own incompetence is to make them competent. – … Continue reading “The scientific explanation of why adolescents know everything!”
Maria Montessori developed her method teaching through careful observation of children and how they learn, which is why her method had held up so well over time and aligns so well with modern pedagogy (see Lillard, 2005). Montessori’s worked early childhood through elementary kids, and while she did some serious thinking and writing about secondary … Continue reading “Montessori Middle School Training/Research Projects”
One of the most significant developments of the information revolution has been the creation of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia and the software that makes it possible. Wikipedia has democratized the creation and sharing of information. Anyone can edit the encyclopedia, and anyone can access and adapt the information by observing simple and free license. And … Continue reading “The Wiki”
“Treat a person as he is, and he will remain as he is. Treat him as he could be, and he will become what he should be.” –Jimmy Johnson As much as I want to offer my students near-autonomy for at least a small part of the day, I am finding it necessary to reinforce … Continue reading “Leadership and competitive games”
One interesting metaphor for teacher-student interactions is that of cats and dogs. Cats tend to want things like acknowledgment and praise on their own terms. They can be quite the challenge to interact with and it is often difficult to get them to show interest in anything. One thing that’s worked for me is to … Continue reading “Cat traps”