Tag Archives: connections

Connected Learning

26 Thursday Apr 2018

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“Self-education is the only kind of education there is.” – Mark Twain

Photo - Zoe - Big Numbers.JPGToday, as I was going through the process I use to recall the amount I spend on gas each time I visit the pump, I took a moment to consider why it just about always works.

I don’t set out to memorize the cost but rather to find a mathematical way to recall it later. For example, today I spent $31.26 on gas. I could try to memorize that amount, which would be relatively simple for a short while, but instead I considered this: “3-1=2; 3×2=6; I spent $31.26.” I only have to remember the 3 and the 1 to pull the number from my memory. If I recall it as 31 instead of two individual numbers, my chances of
recalling the full number later are reduced. Continue reading →

Oh, what fun!

22 Thursday Feb 2018

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Heather Siple-writing museum-013.JPGSchools are interesting places. When I was in school, students remained many steps removed from the adults in the community. A distance was set by the adults, and it was not crossed. Not so today. Research shows time and again that building relationships between teachers, families and students is the best way to support learning.

Last week, I spent time in a number of classrooms. I raced children on a typing app, seeing who was the fastest typist. Phew! It was so much fun! Then I had the chance to work individually with a student, administering an assessment and sharing reading. I joined a current events discussion, listening to students’ ideas about the happenings in our world. Later that same day, I was invited to participate in a hands-on “museum” of writing. Children used various communication tools to write: a typewriter, feather pen and ink, small letter tiles, clay and stamps. They experienced the communication of yesterday and loved the experience. All of this happened, and it wasn’t even lunch time!

At Wilmington Montessori School, relationships are at our foundation. No matter the age of the students, they are building connections with each other and the adults in our community on a daily basis. These relationships are the foundation of what motivates students to learn more, encourage others and wonder about possibilities. What connections have you built today?

Curiosity vs. Knowledge

18 Thursday May 2017

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curiosity killed the cat

We all know the saying: “Curiosity killed the cat.” This article sheds a different light on that age-old adage, highlighting the premise that curiosity might be a better attribute than knowledge. It is commonly stated that we are living in the information age. Information, also known as knowledge, is there for the taking. We can search on Google, ask Siri or look up something on Wikipedia, and we will get an answer within minutes if not seconds.

If we simply want an answer to a question, those tools will provide the answer and the quest is finished. However, if we want to make connections, think further or wonder “what if,” that is only the beginning. In other words, if we are curious, we need more than the initial response to our questions and our thoughts. We need to think. We need to connect ideas and ask more questions. We need to wonder, to dream and to be curious. Knowing the multiplication tables is an attainable goal and one that schools hold important for children in elementary school. Connecting that knowledge to wonder about why yet another ice cream shop is going out of business if so many of the people walking on the boardwalk on a hot summer’s day are eating ice cream requires curiosity. It’s not simply looking at what exists and looking for a simple answer. Curiosity is going beyond that thinking to consider the “why,” the “how” and the ways in which one can make a difference by connecting those ideas.

Schools need to continue to help students gain knowledge; it is necessary to maintain an educated populace. However, it is imperative that they also instill a culture of curiosity. Children who are encouraged to think harder, try various ideas and adapt the results using a variety of tools are building skills needed for their future. They need to be given the time to think freely, wonder and guide their learning. Curiosity may be a problem for cats – not so for students. Allow it to thrive.

The Key to Success

04 Thursday May 2017

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You’ve seen them and perhaps entered one; escape rooms are a current fad. They have popped up everywhere. I’ve had fun in two different rooms in two different states. In the first room, there were six of us, and we worked for the entire hour to locate and use the clues and find a hidden time machine. The clock ticked. We ran around the room, giving orders, taking orders, sitting down to think, wiping our foreheads in frustration. It was hard – a lot harder than we anticipated. We worked hard for the full 60 minutes… At 59:59, we unlocked yet another door and were sure we were there, on the verge of discovering the answer to the problem. When they opened the room, that idea was quickly shattered; we had only made it through about two thirds of the maze. Really? The second room was a similar experience. Six of us worked together to find a key needed to solve the mystery. The clock ticked, clues were provided and, again, time ran out. Continue reading →

The Genius of Montessori

28 Thursday Jul 2016

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Last weekend, as an evening of theater came to a close, an image proving the Pythagorean Theorem appeared. I was reminded immediately of the Montessori material used in upper elementary classrooms. Though this character in “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” was demonstrating his acute mathematical abilities, I again considered how much Dr. Montessori knew about how children learn. She developed a system to make concepts accessible to children and lay the foundation for the more complex mathematics they will encounter as they move on to middle and high school.

pythagoras-materialThese particular materials help children prove the Pythagorean Theorem, which states that given a right-angle triangle, the sum of the squares formed on the short legs equals the square formed on the hypotenuse.

Manipulating these materials demonstrates this and gives children visual and kinesthetic ways to see the theorem in action. They explore it much like we might explore a puzzle; they can see that the pieces “fit.” One side squared plus the other side squared equals the third side…the squares are right there; children can see them, count them and physically move them. They don’t need to be advanced mathematicians to do this work, nor do they need to be able to write the algebraic expression to prove it. Instead they have the opportunity to explore it, manipulate it and see for themselves how to make sense of this idea and store it away for future use. The wonder of Montessori!

Seeking Peace

21 Thursday Jul 2016

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“Establishing lasting peace is the work of education.” – Maria Montessori

Too many times over the past few weeks and months we awakened to hear of instability and injustice in our world. We are shaken to our very core with stories of violence from Orlando, Chicago, Dallas, Paris, Nice, Turkey, Baton Rouge and more. As adults, we try to make sense of these situations that make no sense to us at all; we yearn for peace and understanding. And we often ask how we can get there. What can we do?

This weekend, I had the pleasure of listening to Thich Nhat Hanh in this podcast. It is not a new episode, but one that seems particularly relevant. Thich Nhat Hanh is a Buddhist monk who works for peace throughout the world:

“Peace always begins with yourself as an individual, and as an individual you might help build a community of peace….And when the community of a few hundred people knows the practice of peace and brotherhood, and then you can become the refuge for many others who come to you and profit from the practice of peace and brotherhood. And they will join you, and the community gets larger all the time. And the practice of peace and brotherhood will be offered to many other people….”

Establishing peace is at the core of the Montessori philosophy. Cultural studies are central to each and every lesson in the Montessori curriculum. As we share stories of the universe, the coming of life and of humans to earth, and the development of language and mathematics, we are sharing the world with children. We are not only sharing the science and the history of how life began; we are also sharing our interconnectedness and recognizing what it is that binds us. We are establishing a community – a world community. For in a Montessori classroom, we quickly realize that we are more alike than different. We have the same fundamental human needs and depend on each other to survive and thrive.

As Thich Nhat Hahn states, “When you practice looking at people with the eyes of compassion, that kind of practice will become a good habit. And you are capable of looking at the people in such a way that you can see the suffering, the difficulties. And if you can see, then compassion will naturally flow from your heart.”

Teaching compassion and peace underlies all we do at Wilmington Montessori School.

“Heads Up!”

12 Thursday May 2016

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heads upLast week, our staff enjoyed a taco-fest on Cinco de Mayo. The WMS “cheerleaders” organized the meal, providing some of the fillings and asking the staff to contribute the fixings. In theory, no one knows who the cheerleaders are; we have our suspicions, but they work under a cloak of anonymity. Their sole purpose is to provide a few surprises of appreciation throughout the school year. In this case, you can’t imagine how much a taco lunch meant to the WMS staff.

One of the features of the lunch was a game of Heads Up. Many of us had never played the game before, but it was quickly downloaded onto a phone and every single person participated. It was several minutes of silliness. The purpose of this was not to play the game nor to eat the tacos, although those two things were certainly a benefit. The purpose was to interact and connect with each other as the people we are, not as our “roles” – teachers of young children or the person paying the bills or maintaining the facility – but who we are as individuals. It was a great deal of fun and I’m quite sure laughter was heard coming from the staff lounge as people walked down the hallway.

Just as children love to laugh, play and step outside of their daily routines, so do adults. Keeping that spirit alive is the role of the WMS cheerleaders. As they offer interludes of appreciation, we are all reminded that we are more than our jobs. We are people who have interests beyond what we do for a living. We long for connection just as our students do. Spending a short lunch break playing a silly game allowed us to connect and appreciate one another. It gave us the chance to refresh and return to our respective roles energized. Thanks to the our cheerleaders for helping us connect with one another and enjoy a delicious lunch.

What do you want to learn?

25 Thursday Feb 2016

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sewingfinal.JPGTake a moment to think about something in your life you really really wanted to learn. Now think about how you went about learning it. Who was involved? Who or what helped you? Who or what stood in your way? How did you overcome those obstacles? Why did you keep trying in the face of difficulties? Continue reading →

Are You a Math Person?

04 Thursday Feb 2016

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Reading this article reminded me once again of how we perceive math. How many times have you heard statements such as, “I’m not a math person…” or “I’m no good at math?” My guess is more often than you realize. For some reason, people feel it’s ok to not be a math person. As a friend once said, you never hear people say, “I’m not a reading person,” as an excuse not to learn how to read. Math is a part of our everyday lives, and it is puzzling as to why some of us perceive ourselves as unable to figure out that thing called math. Continue reading →

What is learning?

29 Thursday Oct 2015

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Great Lesson with Arts Integration
What do tai chi, an interpretive arts performance of the Big Bang, pumpkin picking, and a visit to the Permanent Mission of Cyprus to the United Nations have in common? On the surface nothing. In reality everything. Students at Wilmington Montessori School experienced all of these things in the past week. None of them are in the “official” school curriculum, yet each is vital to the education of the children at our school.

When Maria Montessori developed this method of educating children what she realized is that children learn by doing; the hands are the pathways to the brain. She also urged children to “go out” and explore their world; field trips are an essential component of a Montessori education. As children participate in these and so many more activities, they learn more about the world and how it works. They broaden their experiences and ask even more questions. Their curiosity and wonder are awakened; their love of learning continues to be sparked.

Education is not about a specific content or book or exercise. It is about questions, exploration and wonder. It is built each day through experiences in and outside of the classroom. It’s created from opportunities presented and shaped by the child and all who help to guide these experiences. And it never ends.