I entered the Xavier University Montessori Lab School (XUMLS) eager to make connections with students and help them grow. I sat with a crying child, helped a struggling student with their work, and loved on students with differing abilities. I was immediately interested in helping the other students love learning as much as I did. All this and more occurred on my first day as a preschool student.
I attended XUMLS’ 3-6 and 6-9, and Mercy Montessori’s 9-12 and Jr. High classrooms. My exuberance and high energy was celebrated, my ADHD and anxiety accommodated without ostracization. My directors fostered an unmatched passion and craving for knowledge. Even now, when asked my favorite college course, I gleefully respond, “It depends on which one I’m sitting in at the time!” Xavier University Montessori Institute’s Montessori Teacher Education Program was the only college program I applied to, and with a 32 on my ACT, I could have had a full-ride many places. Despite critique from family and friends, I knew if I had accepted them, it wouldn’t be authentic; it wouldn’t be my calling. I had to make a decision: attend a local community college or chase my dreams. I took four jobs, made financial cuts, and ran in the direction of my passions, trusting that God would provide the pathway to which he had called me. I want to promote love and curiosity and peace. I believe that Montessori education is the only lasting way to ensure these ideals. Mainstream education often trades an intrinsic desire to obtain knowledge for a reward. Without an internal locus of control, entering the classroom becomes less about curiosity and more about a fear of punishment. Children learn what their world is in the home and in the school. Both must cohesively promote higher stages of moral development for a child’s optimal success. In a Montessori school and home, my students will learn to be curious. The nurturing of curiosity is produced most effectively in a Montessori setting where the absorbent mind can flourish. By removing the quantification of intelligence at large, creative solutions have room to grow. The modern world no longer necessitates factory bred children infinitely capable of sitting still and memorizing equations. While there is room for the neuro-typical mind in a Montessori environment, there is also room for the movers and shakers, the problem solvers, the ‘Picassos’ and the ‘Einsteins.’ In a Montessori environment, the ingenuity derived from classroom diversity is celebrated and promoted; children learn to love. Furthermore, a child who experiences the joy of learning and growth in an environment where it is safe to fail and ask questions is more likely to remain in a state of life-long learning and love. With this idea of the absorbent mind comes the opportunity to discuss conflict resolution with our young global citizens. Peace, however, is not the same as passivity. In a world often thought to be too harsh for little ears, let it be the teachers who fearlessly explore the realities of racism, the truth about sexism, and who present an example of what it means to take ownership of your own bias. The seeds of lasting peace can only be found in the classroom because it is there that our youth can learn that it is safe to question their own truth. In a Montessori classroom, my children will learn to be peace builders and agents of change. Loving, curious, and peaceful children are ultimately resilient children. Life is difficult, and looks different for every person, but regardless of where life takes our students, the successful ones are the resilient ones. As a teacher, I see myself helping to build my students’ resilience through inspiring rather than controlling, facilitating rather than restricting, aiding in growth rather than criticizing. I am interested in exciting my students and helping them arrive at their full socio-cognitive potential. As a Montessori educator, I will have the opportunity to bolster my students’ resilience through love, curiosity, and peace for life-long success. My Montessori journey began in 2001 when a gracious principal opened up an extra slot in her pre-school program after seeing I had assembled a binomial cube at age 2. My curiosity has thrived under Dr. Montessori’s guiding principles ever since. I eagerly anticipate the day I am equipped to bless other children with the gifts I received.
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This is a flipped lesson on rabbits for Kindergarteners based upon Ohio Learning Standards (2015). Subject: Science Grade: Kindergarten Theme: OBSERVATIONS OF THE ENVIRONMENT: This theme focuses on helping students develop the skills for systematic discovery to understand the science of Ohio Learning the physical world around them in greater depth by using scientific inquiry. Standards Strand: LIFE SCIENCE (LS) Topic: Physical and Behavioral Traits of Living Things: This topic focuses on observing, exploring, describing and comparing living things in Ohio. Content/Standard Statement: Living things have physical traits and behaviors, which influence their survival.
Flipped Lesson Plan Script
Hi class! Today we are going to be learning about rabbits! Rabbits can be domesticated and kept as pets, or found in the wild. In the wild, bunnies are prey animals, which means they are eaten by larger animals. This is why you will only find grey or brown rabbits in the wild, because they use their fur as camouflage. White rabbits are albino, a genetic disorder where the rabbit has no pigment, or melanin, in its body. Today we will be making a white bunny cake to learn about the parts of a rabbit. Bunnies have soft fur to keep them warm. Some humans choose to use rabbits for their fur and make clothes out of it, but there are other options that don’t hurt rabbits. Rabbits have eyes on the sides of their face because they are prey animals! Eyes on the side, time to hide! Bunnies have long floppy ears to hear and scrunchy noses to smell. They also have strong legs and feet that help them jump! Jackrabbits can hop as fast as 45 miles an hour! Wow! Rabbit habitats include meadows, woods, forests, grasslands, deserts and wetlands. The European rabbit lives in a rabbit hole. Our rabbit is sitting in green grass! Bunnies have fluffy tails that bounce when they run! A rabbits teeth never stop growing! Rabbits are herbivores, which means they only eat plants. Most rabbits prefer grass, but many domesticated rabbits love the carrots their owners buy for them. Work Cited Elora, Grace. Bunnies. Gareth Stevens Pub., 2011.
Lesson Plan![]()
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AuthorHi! My name is Brittany Wells, and I am a Montessori 6-9 major. I was born and raised in Cincinnati and attended Xavier University Montessori Lab School, Mercy Montessori, McAuley High School, and now Xavier University! Archives
May 2020
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