I love to be reading something by a student that makes the corners of my mouth turn up in shear delight. So much pleasure that I have to share it. The evidence of a mental connection that makes so much more sense than the RIGHT answer.

The question is: What is a female lion? The RIGHT answer is lioness.

The better answer given by a student: a feline.

On a standardized test this would be worth nothing. But look! On several levels it makes perfect sense. It gets at the heart of the idea. It shows thought and a level of understanding and connection that transcends being “right.” This is what I love.

There is a huge difference between memorizing facts and acquiring knowledge. A simple conversation from today is a good illustration.

Each week we highlight the music of one composer during our silent reading time. This week it is Mozart. A first grade student was having trouble reading the name of the composer written in cursive. Britton shared the cover of the CD and she immediately recognized Mozart. “I know him,” she said and asked if he were a Baroque composer. Britton asked when the Baroque period was ad she replied that it was from about 1600 to 1760. On examining the biographical information on Mozart they discovered that he was born in 1756. So Britton asked if Mozart was a Baroque composer. “Of course not. He would be too young!”

As I look around the classroom today I can see many examples of learning rather than memorizing. We major in learning. Of course there is some memorizing that is important for facility in math, but even that is handled in a way that lacks the drudgery commonly associated with it.

Earlier this week I asked a student if she would like to find out how fast she could do all the addition problems. She was delighted to discover that she could get 100 facts finished in 9:17 minutes. What delight and confidence. Next time she tries I’m sure she will be even faster. Without competition. Without grades.

“I need an assessment.” “I’m going to need THREE boxes to finish this.” “Can I teach box three to…?” “I got this one wrong. I’m going to try it again.” “Let’s work on the imaginary island together.” “Do we have time to do the time line of life?” “Can I have a conference with you?” “What is the shortest distance between the river and the plateau?” “I’m going to need a dictionary for that word.”

As I move around the classroom these are conversations that I hear. Memorization? No. Thinking. Learning. Applying information.

One of the aspects of Montessori that really sets it apart is the sense of community that we strive to instill. We want the children to be truly respectful of one another. This doesn’t happen because we say, “The rule is to be respectful.”

We have to create a climate where the children are able to absorb the reality of how mutual respect feels in action. It is hard, sometimes to know how effective we are at this, but today there was a shining example.

We have a child enrolled who has some physical issues that impact his strength. On the playground there are old tires that the children move around to build into all sorts of things. Sometimes this turns into pirating tires from the structures of others. Our little fellow had three tires in his stash, but two were stolen away. He was just about to get one to drag back when another boy caught hold of the same tire. This other boy looked at the tire and looked at his classmate and said, “Did you want this one?’ and let him take it.

Our fellow could not find another small tire that he could lift so he attempted to drag a bigger tire. He ended up sitting on his behind when the tire wouldn’t budge despite his attempts. A girl observed his need and asked if he wanted her to carry the tire for him. She did and helped him get it situated just right then went back to her own play.

Neither of these children was aware of being observed. They were not after any kind of recognition except for the inner satisfaction of being caring and cooperative.

In the elementary class it is essential that the students have regular class meetings. During these meetings they carry out the business of organizing the classroom and solving problems of the day-to-day operations.

We have our regular class meetings on Friday afternoons. After lunch the children assemble their portfolios and read until every one is finished. Then we have our meeting. Each week there is a different chairperson and secretary. After the class meeting there is usually some spare time, so the children play chess.

One would think that the lure of chess would cause the children to cut short their class meetings. The importance of the meeting is clear to the children, though. On Friday they spent nearly an hour sorting through various concerns they had perceived. I am more than impressed that those young people could attend for such a long time.

They had important business and they conducted it in a business like manner. These are the leaders of tomorrow. They are the leaders of the classroom today.

When the doors opened at 6:30 last night I was not surprised at the first student who arrived. He is often at school very early, not because of need, but because of desire. And so our evening work cycle began.

Time lines, pin maps, spur gears, Roman arch, imaginary island, multiplication, bead chains, land form commands, state facts.

Whenever I peeked into the early childhood class I saw an equal amount of “busy”ness. It was delightful to see the shining self-confidence on the faces of the children.

At the end of our short hour and a half work cycle we had to run children off. They wanted to continue working! But we teachers had been on our feet since early in the morning. I can almost imagine that if we had just left the doors unlocked we could go back this morning and find children working away.

It reminds me of the story of the first school in Rome. Some visitors came one day when the school was closed. A student playing nearby asked what they wanted and on hearing that they were disappointed at not being able to see the children working in the classroom, this young child went around the neighborhood, gathering up students, climbed through a window that was not locked and the children conducted a class with no teachers.

For the most part we teachers merely guide the children. And then we observe.

I love to hear from students who attended school here in the past. Last night I received an e-mail from one of my very earliest students. What a treat. She “found” me when looking on the Web for local schools. Imagine!

This is what she said:

You may or may not believe this, but my Montessori experiences are never far from my mind. I have brought up various aspects of the Montessori method many times at the faculty lunch table. It’s funny, because in some ways I feel like a traitor, having decided to teach in a traditional high school. I have justified it in a sense by knowing that my Montessori background does affect how I interact with my students, how I teach, and ultimately my philosophy about education in general.

I am so glad that she is able to incorporate Montessori into her teaching philosophy. How lucky her students are.

A conversation over multiples of numbers:

Student: Look I did the other side.
Aleta: I see a pattern with your numbers.
Student: Sweet. Is there a pattern on the other side? Yeah, like this.
Aleta: Be careful. Your line can only go through numbers with circles. See if you can find it.
Student: Sweet. There IS a pattern. (By looking on the diagonal)
Aleta: You will find many patterns in math. Good mathematicians are always looking for patterns so they can find short cuts.
Student: Well, I AM a mathematician (skipping away).

This year’s Great Brain presentations have begun. I love this time of year. The students make their presentations to all their classmates with such verve and confidence.

I hear back from students about how easy they find it to do public speaking when they are older. I think this early practice makes a big difference. Plus, they are sharing information about things that they really know about because of all the research they have done.

Every year is different. This year, with our high number of first year students and students who have transferred in, we actually have a majority of students who have never before given a great brain presentation. I look forward to seeing how they rise to the occasion. Yes, the next couple of weeks will be very interesting.

I always tell my students that good mathematicians are always looking for shortcuts. I was extremely pleased to see that a first grade student had developed his own shortcut for doing multiples of numbers. It was a very clever way of counting two sets of pegs at the same time! Good for him. A mathematician in the making.

While we had the kindergarten and elementary children on the playground Tuesday I enjoyed watching the various games that the children had constructed. In addition to some general soccer practice, some students were tossing a ball among themselves, others were using the large tires as “horses” and some were building towers with the tires. On another part of the playground there were children swinging and climbing.

I was especially interested in the tire play. I noticed one girl climb up on a stack of three tires and then jump off with wild abandon. This went on several times before she moved to one of the tires being used for a horse and balanced on it with her boot-clad feet sticking out as though she were on a bronco.

What struck me was the change in this student. It seemed like only yesterday that she was so timid that she would only jump off one step if holding the hand of a teacher. To balance atop a large tire would have been too frightening to contemplate. When did she blossom so? The change had taken place right before my eyes and I had not seen it. I do love to see how they grow!

Last night I was interviewed about Montessori Blogs. I found it interesting to answer questions about why I think it is important to blog because it made me take a mental step back to think about the process. The obvious reason for me is to give parents a window into the classroom. One of the things I said in the interview that it is sad to lose a Montessori child/family because the parents have no idea about the wonderful things their children are doing. We all know that children answer the age old question, “What did you do in school today?” with the standard “Nothing!” We teachers know that isn’t true, but it is hard for parents to grasp all the excitement of the classroom when children are taciturn about their experiences.

Another reason I find it important to blog is because I find it improves my observation of the classroom. It is easy for teachers to get so involved with giving lessons and forget that the most important task for us is observation! Keeping in mind that I will want to write about the activities happening in the classroom helps me observe more frequently. It makes me a better teacher.

I had an insight during the interview, though. I realized that I do much of my own processing by writing. So, when I reflect on what I’m writing I often have flashes of understanding about what is happening in the classroom. This reflection is one of the reasons that we want children to reflect on their work. Writing the blog actually brings the classroom into better focus for me.

I had not thought deeply about this question before last night. I’m glad I got that call. Now I really understand why it is important for me to blog.

On Thursdays I have student conferences during the mornings. Yesterday at one point I looked around the classroom from my conference “station” and took note of what was happening. Here is that snapshot:

In the art area one student is working on cross-stitch while another is doing some Chinese painting. A student is creating a card to send to a friend and another is using a set of rubber stamps to create a pattern. A first grade child makes a comment that he is going to work on pin maps and do the very hardest one. (Note: He spent the entire morning systematically working through all the pin maps until he got to the Cabinet of the World Parts.) Another first grade student is working on expanded notation through the thousands. A fourth grade student is doing Australia from the Cabinet of World parts, placing the marker pins from memory. Another is working on North America. Still another fourth grade student is building land and water forms with the trays. This is technically a lesson for younger students, but this child did not have the advantage of attending Montessori when younger. This student is interested in doing the imaginary island lesson and is testing his knowledge of the land and water forms as preparation.
I can see a first grade student working on a blue reading box. Another is doing some fetching work with golden beads. One of the older students is working through some punctuation work. There are two students asking each other science questions, two doing the Quiz Me Presidents lesson and two having snack together.

I want to comment on that student who did pin maps and the Cabinet of the World Parts all morning. I cannot imagine very many learning environments where that kind of focus and application would be not only allowed, but encouraged. That is one of the beauties of the Montessori classroom.

Today another student spent the entire morning working on a K’nex lesson. First he put together all the pieces necessary for doing a new building project (on spur gears). Then with a feeling of ownership, he wanted to build the project. This process carried over into the period of silent reading when the children typically read (or get the classroom ready for lunch).

Imagine what would happen in a time-fractured classroom. At the end of a class period, no matter how focused the students are, it is time to put away that work and get something else out. Instead, in Montessori, students have the freedom to dig deep into their work. One more reason that the Montessori approach is better for students.

Just now as I look around the elementary class I see many “m” lessons happening. Two boys are practicing making change with the money store lesson. A girl and boy are practicing multiplication flash cards and two girls are doing multiples with the pegboard.

I want to expand on these last two. They are close enough for me to hear the conversation. As I passed them they admitted that they were having trouble choosing a number to do. The 2nd grade girl had already written 8 on her paper. I said to them that 8 looked like a good number. The other girl working on this lesson is in first grade.

This lesson is done by counting out colored pegs in two different colors and “counting” up to the change of color to determine the multiples. Before they even started counting out the pegs, the 2nd grade girl was saying to herself: 8, 16, 24, 32, 40…

Perfect! And that is the point of doing the Montessori materials. The children absorb the information effortlessly through repeated work with many different related lessons.

Besides those lessons I can see two girls working on reading comprehension, a boy practicing his cursive, another studying the political divisions of South America, and there are several children in the multipurpose room working on art, music or science. One child is preparing snack for the rest of the school. What a busy start to the day.

Guest Blog by Meagan Ledendecker

Recently I was asked to write an article about how my experience as a Montessori student has shaped me as an adult. Last night I finally sat down and wrote the article for Montessori Leadership Online. It was a revealing process.

So much of my initiative and drive can be attributed to my experience in Montessori, especially during my elementary years. The formative years in early childhood are extremely important, but then all that foundational work really pays-off as children get older.

I would not be who I am today had I not been able to attend Montessori until 7th grade. My biggest regret is that there was no middle school option available to me. I transitioned into middle school and excelled in the traditional system. But I greatly missed learning for the joy of it. The emphasis on grades usurped the delight I had previously experienced when tackling new challenges, delving into new discoveries, and collaborating on complicated projects.

Today I watched some four- and five-year-old students immerse themselves in their work. Two children collaborated to build phrases using noun, verb, and adjective cards. They also demonstrated their phrases using objects (e.g. the duck in the pond swims), then recorded their phrases on special writing paper. One boy spent all morning working on an advanced Mortensen math book. Another child concentrated on phonetic sounds and moved from the sandpaper letters to matching letters with objects with the appropriate beginning sounds. One girl focused on reading nouns and adjectives, then finding ways that they could match (e.g. hot dog, red hat, etc.). She was particularly delighted to then write down how she paired the nouns and adjectives. Later a boy worked on solidifying his use of the bead bars, which provide the basis for future work in addition, multiplication, and substraction. Another child looked at a book of famous artwork and tried to re-create a Degas painting. Two other children used the timeline of human development to observe how humans have changed over time.

As I watched, I found myself feeling two different emotions. On the one hand I felt elated for these children. They are on the brink of such exciting intellectual, emotional, and social developments. Those children who stay with us for kindergarten and through elementary will have the opportunity to spend all morning immersing themselves in things they love, like the boy who happily devoted his day to the Mortensen math. They will have the opportunity to collaborate so that social development isn’t divorced from intellectual development (which is especially vital in the elementary years as children yearn to understand themselves socially). They will have the time and space to listen to the beat of their own drummer, without feeling the pressure to catch up to or wait for the rest of the class. They will be able to explore connections between disciplines, rather than switching to a new subject every 45 minutes. They will be able find joy in the process of learning, rather than being bombarded with the pressure of grades and testing.

But while feeling elated, I also felt a deep sadness. There will be a few children whose parents chose to end their Montessori experience prematurely. Although I recognize that families have various factors to consider, I also know deeply, and personally, how powerful a fully developed Montessori education can be.