Sunday, March 15, 2009
Parkinsons and Montessori
Here is another great article about one of the founders of Google. The more success these guys have, the more the Montessori story gets told.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Over 100 Years
I had the honor of being a part of an Indiana Montessori Teacher's Conference today. I participated in several sessions, and helped facilitate a couple.
I found myself in the middle of a great conversation that went along with a thread that is being woven on this blog.
Maria Montessori, the founder of the philosophy was a scientist. The philosophy is based on years of observation research. The data has already been gathered. It is continually gathered every time each one of us as Montessori teachers makes an observation and differentiates instruction. Montessori is not a fad, or a new way of trying to band aid a problem. It is a century old philosphy and methodology of education.
The genius of the Montessori Philosophy isn't the math and language standards that are measured on standardized testing. (Although we can show the students being successful by those standards.) The genius is the standards that students measure up to that are not measured by the department of education: Standards of humanity and development as people, as thinkers, as self motivated, creative, teamworkers, as caring peacemakers. While the department of education may not see these as important, leaders in many other fields do.
I found myself in the middle of a great conversation that went along with a thread that is being woven on this blog.
Maria Montessori, the founder of the philosophy was a scientist. The philosophy is based on years of observation research. The data has already been gathered. It is continually gathered every time each one of us as Montessori teachers makes an observation and differentiates instruction. Montessori is not a fad, or a new way of trying to band aid a problem. It is a century old philosphy and methodology of education.
The genius of the Montessori Philosophy isn't the math and language standards that are measured on standardized testing. (Although we can show the students being successful by those standards.) The genius is the standards that students measure up to that are not measured by the department of education: Standards of humanity and development as people, as thinkers, as self motivated, creative, teamworkers, as caring peacemakers. While the department of education may not see these as important, leaders in many other fields do.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Tell the stories!
In response to my last post, regarding beating the legislators at their own game, and in light of the recent conversations with my peers regarding data, statistics, ISTEP scores, AYP, blah, blah, blah...
'Art addresses us in the fullness of our being....There are some truths about life that can be expressed only as stories or songs or images. Art awakens, enlarges, refines, and restores our humanity.'
-Dana Gioia
Tell the stories. The numbers only tell one fraction of a much greater story. We must tell the Montessori story. We must tell the stories of our students. We must put ourselves in a place where we are daily awed by what is happening in our midst and find ways to creatively communicate those occurences.
'Art addresses us in the fullness of our being....There are some truths about life that can be expressed only as stories or songs or images. Art awakens, enlarges, refines, and restores our humanity.'
-Dana Gioia
Tell the stories. The numbers only tell one fraction of a much greater story. We must tell the Montessori story. We must tell the stories of our students. We must put ourselves in a place where we are daily awed by what is happening in our midst and find ways to creatively communicate those occurences.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The ISTEP Coup
ISTEP is Indiana's version of yearly high stakes standardized testing. Last week the students finished their first of two weeks of testing they will endure this spring. Schools around the state, urban, suburban, and rural, were in an uproar regarding the difficulty of the new test. Higher order thinking skills are being tested in a way they have not been previously, and many students were not prepared to deal with this, which leads me to the point of this post.
As a Montessorian, and someone who generally operates by common sense, I am passionately opposed to standardized testing and all the baggage that comes with them. My preferred course of action would be to fight for the elimination of them. Yet, this seems like an unbelievably steep uphill battle.
A ray of sunshine perhaps? The new move toward testing higher order thinking skills in theory, should favor Montessori schools, as that is what we see being fostered in our students as we follow the Montessori philosophy. If this leads to Montessori students scoring noticably higher, especially in urban areas, could it then lead to getting the attention of legislators and decision makers? Is the way to seeing more schools adopt the Montessori philosophy, to beat legislators at their own game?
The coup has begun.
As a Montessorian, and someone who generally operates by common sense, I am passionately opposed to standardized testing and all the baggage that comes with them. My preferred course of action would be to fight for the elimination of them. Yet, this seems like an unbelievably steep uphill battle.
A ray of sunshine perhaps? The new move toward testing higher order thinking skills in theory, should favor Montessori schools, as that is what we see being fostered in our students as we follow the Montessori philosophy. If this leads to Montessori students scoring noticably higher, especially in urban areas, could it then lead to getting the attention of legislators and decision makers? Is the way to seeing more schools adopt the Montessori philosophy, to beat legislators at their own game?
The coup has begun.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Three Cups of Tea
The first cup of tea, you are a stranger.
The second cup of tea, you are a friend.
The third cup of tea, you are family.
Greg Mortensen was today's speaker, the final speaker of the conference. I recently finished Mortensen's book, Three Cups of Tea, and was so interested in hearing him speak, that I missed my flight home. Fortunately, I was able to catch another flight on standby. In January, Mortensen was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. I don't know when I'll have another chance to personally meet and listen to a Nobel Peace Prize winner, so carpe diem.
Similar to Spike Lee, Mortensen isn't a public speaker. But he does have such an amazing story to tell. What started as a failed attempt to climb the second highest peak in the world, became a promise to build a school for the Pakistan village that nursed him back to health, and is now an organization that has built 78 schools throughout rural Pakistan. The Central Asia Institute now helps to educate thousands of children, giving them a future that was never an option for them before.
I won't attempt to re-tell his story here because that would diminish it's beauty. It is a story that greatly moved me. Mortensen didn't start with a goal to build 78 schools in rural Pakistan. He saw a need, one school in one village, and he was moved to meet it. Greatness is simple. Maybe that is why it is so hard for people to obtain.
Mortensen's work has drawn the attention of the Pentagon, as he is considered an expert in an area of the world that our government is generally pretty ignorant about. The schools he builds are also seen as an alternative to the extremist jihad schools that poor Pakistani children would potentially attend. Mortensen as acutally been referred to as a fighter of terrorism. He likes to think of himself as a promoter of peace. In an address of Pentagon officials, he noted that the striker missiles used to bomb Afghanistan cost $800,000 a piece. These missiles may or may not strike their target. At their most "effective" they destroy alqaeda strongholds. At their worst, the kill innocent women and children, or maybe make a new hole in the side of a mountain. $800,000 could build 30 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, educating thousands of children and keeping them from attending the extremist jihad schools. Which one is the most effective "fighter" of terrorism?
"Fighting terrorism" Mortensen says, "is based on fear. Fear is perpetuated by ignorance, which is the real enemy. Promoting peace is based in hope."
The second cup of tea, you are a friend.
The third cup of tea, you are family.
Greg Mortensen was today's speaker, the final speaker of the conference. I recently finished Mortensen's book, Three Cups of Tea, and was so interested in hearing him speak, that I missed my flight home. Fortunately, I was able to catch another flight on standby. In January, Mortensen was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. I don't know when I'll have another chance to personally meet and listen to a Nobel Peace Prize winner, so carpe diem.
Similar to Spike Lee, Mortensen isn't a public speaker. But he does have such an amazing story to tell. What started as a failed attempt to climb the second highest peak in the world, became a promise to build a school for the Pakistan village that nursed him back to health, and is now an organization that has built 78 schools throughout rural Pakistan. The Central Asia Institute now helps to educate thousands of children, giving them a future that was never an option for them before.
I won't attempt to re-tell his story here because that would diminish it's beauty. It is a story that greatly moved me. Mortensen didn't start with a goal to build 78 schools in rural Pakistan. He saw a need, one school in one village, and he was moved to meet it. Greatness is simple. Maybe that is why it is so hard for people to obtain.
Mortensen's work has drawn the attention of the Pentagon, as he is considered an expert in an area of the world that our government is generally pretty ignorant about. The schools he builds are also seen as an alternative to the extremist jihad schools that poor Pakistani children would potentially attend. Mortensen as acutally been referred to as a fighter of terrorism. He likes to think of himself as a promoter of peace. In an address of Pentagon officials, he noted that the striker missiles used to bomb Afghanistan cost $800,000 a piece. These missiles may or may not strike their target. At their most "effective" they destroy alqaeda strongholds. At their worst, the kill innocent women and children, or maybe make a new hole in the side of a mountain. $800,000 could build 30 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, educating thousands of children and keeping them from attending the extremist jihad schools. Which one is the most effective "fighter" of terrorism?
"Fighting terrorism" Mortensen says, "is based on fear. Fear is perpetuated by ignorance, which is the real enemy. Promoting peace is based in hope."
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