Montessori on My Mind

Before I jump into the glories of my day of professional leave, I want to be sure to add the journal questions that accompany the rubric in yesterday's post. When the students write in their literature response journals, they answer a question from me, as well as choosing a question from the list below.

Journal questions

So my day began in earnest when, for perhaps the 8th time since moving to DC, I could not figure out how to get on the GW Parkway. Fortunately, after crossing the same bridge multiple times, I emerged unscathed in McLean, VA, home of the Montessori School of McLean. I was greeted by two charming children upon entering the building, following my journey through what looks to be some major school renovations. The school was conducting an open house, and in the classrooms, various pairs of children were set up to demonstrate lessons in math, science and reading.

Most of the lessons that I saw were math-related, except for one science experiment that involved microwaving bars of soap to demonstrate Charles' Law. Messy, but very fun. The greatest thing about Montessori education, from what I have seen so far, is that through the use of various manipulatives, the children are able to teach themselves. I saw students multiplying on an abacus, adding and subtracting fractions, and dividing using a cleverly devised bead board. My only concern was that some of the students made computational errors without noticing, but I'll chalk that up to the excitement of the open house and the lack of teacher facilitation. The key for the teacher, I am sure, is to be available to spot such errors.

The funny thing about the students there was their overall demeanor. They were all clearly capable and very eloquent, and I was impressed by their interaction with adults. However, one boy, when performing an addition problem using tiles, spilled an extra tile out of the box and mistakenly added it into the problem. When I pointed this out, he looked at me with something akin to contempt, that I should be so bold as to correct him. I suppose that the far side of capability is overconfidence, but if that is one small byproduct of such marvelous self-directed learning, so be it.

I then watched a video which was designed to encourage parents of preschool Montessori parents to enroll their children in the elementary level. The Montessori method uses multi-age classrooms, typically divided, I believe, into 3-6-year-olds, 7-9 year olds and 10-12 year olds. The video gave some interesting insights into the Montessori program, and I suppose, with the $12,000 yearly price tag, parents do need some convincing.

Overall, I was impressed with the school, and I plan on going back over my spring break to observe a regular school day. One comment from a Montessori teacher that I found particularly interesting was that when she worked at a regular school, she felt like a martyr to the cause of education, but working in a Montessori school, she finds as much enjoyment and growth for herself as the students do. I will keep that in mind, particularly if teaching starts to wear me down. The only problem I see is that the high price of tuition certainly limits the access of students from low-income families, the students that I most enjoy serving. My hope is that my increasing the amount of hands-on and self-directed learning in my current classroom, I can bring a little taste of the Montessori philosophy to children who perhaps most need the best education possible.

February Draws to a Close

My spiritual director said never to make any major life decisions in February, but I don't think starting a blog counts. Considering my life in the past few months, this is hardly a major decision at all. Just in case someone besides my mom does read this, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lisa Kallenbach, but the name that I am called most often (200 times a day at last count) is Miss K. As in, "Miss K, can I go to the bathroom?" or "Miss K, he won't stop bothering me" or, my favorite, "Miss K, tell her to stop looking at me." I teach fifth grade at St. Francis de Sales Catholic School in Washington, DC, fondly known to its staff and students as SFDS, soon to be known as Center City Public Charter Schools - Brentwood Campus.

I have always been skeptical of this whole blog business, especially after one of my friends told me that she once asked her roommate how she was doing, and the roommate replied, "Check my blog." Believe me, that will never, ever be my response to such a question. So, why start a blog if not to provide an up-to-the-minute description of my emotional state? Well, aside from a solo mission to the arctic, nothing is quite so lonely as the Sunday night of a first year teacher, so perhaps someone will stumble upon this when they are feeling particularly down, and find something to at least make them feel less alone. Plus, I've put so much time and energy into my job/vocation as a fifth grade teacher already, maybe someone can use one of my ideas and make things a little easier for herself. (By the way, before you call me biased toward female teachers, keep reading. I promise not to show preference to any gender of teacher out there. The only bias I claim is a preference for grammatical correctness.)

Now that I've explained who I am, at least minimally, I'll end with a story for today. I shot myself in the foot once again this morning, as I do about 3 times each week. Two of my students, David and Diamond (names changed) were happily working out the mysteries of rounding with our ever-patient high school tutor while the rest of the class was at library. I looked up from my work and espied the biggest, weirdest looking bug I have seen since my return from South America. This is where the poor decision-making came in. I should have simply kept the presence of the bug to myself, but, in a momentary lapse of sanity, I pointed the bug out to Diamond and David. It is safe to say that no more rounding got done after that. However, perhaps it was evidence that our prayers don't go unanswered, because the kids have been asking for a class pet since before Christmas.

In this blog I plan to include lesson plans, rubric, worksheets, etc. that I have created for my class in case other teachers wish to use it. All I ask is that it not be reprinted commercially without permission. One big part of my reading program, that I took from a teacher at Sacred Heart and made my own, is the literature response journal. The students turn in their journals each week on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, and I score the entries based on a rubric that I created. You can download the rubric by clicking on the link below.

Journal rubric

Then, I reply to the students' entries, pass the journal back with the rubric stapled to the entry, and the cycle continues. This activity meets Indiana Learning Standard for 5.5.2, writing literature responses. I will try to put up some sample student work for this activity as well.

Peace to all.