The Montessori Message

The Montessori Message

Tag Archives: mindset

Learn, Unlearn, Relearn

22 Thursday Mar 2018

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Learning, Mindset

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illiterate, learning, literacy, mindset, relearning, retirement, technology, unlearning

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Illiteracy used to mean not being able to read and write. No longer. As Alvin Toffler says above, it means much more. Its definition has broadened while also becoming much less specific.

Over 30 years ago, my father-in-law decided to retire. He had worked for more than 30 years as a draftsman and loved his work. He enjoyed the precision and creativity that his job allowed. Throughout his time as a draftsman, he moved from pencil and paper to learning to do his drawings using a computer program. As T-squares, pencils and papers were moved further and further away from his work life, his desire to retire became stronger and stronger. He finally made the decision to retire and never looked back. When asked how he knew it was time to retire, he said quite clearly, “I didn’t want to learn another way to do my job. I loved my work, but I didn’t want to learn anything new.” In other words, he didn’t want to unlearn and relearn. For him the timing lined up. He was old enough to retire and had a good life ahead of him with lots to look forward to. For others, things don’t line up quite as nicely.

In education – as in most other fields – learning, unlearning and relearning are constant states of being. Many times the barrier is one of mindset rather than difficulty with the skill or concept. It’s one thing to decide at retirement age that you’ve learned enough and it’s time to move on; that’s not so easy for most of your work and school life. How literate are you? What have you unlearned and learning recently?  

Intelligence & Adaptation

03 Thursday Nov 2016

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Mindset

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adaptation, change, intelligence, listening, mindset, stephen hawking

Screen Shot 2016-11-02 at 8.41.53 PM.pngEveryone I know considers him or herself to be an intelligent person. We all like to think we know things and are able to carry on a dialogue that is informative and demonstrates our abilities. On the other hand, many people I know are quite uncomfortable with change. When the unexpected occurs or things do not go as planned, it can be challenging to adapt to the new circumstances.

What we know is that the very universe in which we live is adaptive to changing circumstances. Our world today is quite different from the world that existed at the beginning of time. It has shifted, changed and responded to its environment – literally and figuratively. We need to do the same. As Stephen Hawking suggests, to demonstrate intelligence we must be able to adapt to changing circumstances. We would no more stay seated in a burning building than we should stand by our strongly held ideas in the presence of new evidence. Listening to others – hearing their views and their approach to a given situation – helps us build our intellect. It makes us think.

The next time you find yourself dismissing a new idea, ask if you are adapting or staying the course. Which is the better course of action?

Graduation

11 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Wilmington Montessori School

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alumni, class of 2015, graduation, graduation speaker, growth mind, mcarthur grant, mindset, summer, Wilmington Montessori, Wilmington Montessori School

WMS class of 2015The dust has settled; the children have finished another school year; the sixth-graders have graduated and are moving on to middle school. As we performed all of the tasks necessary to make graduation day and the last day of school meaningful celebrations that everyone will remember with fondness, we also are thinking of next year and all that it promises.

This year I had the pleasure of attending a few graduation ceremonies at WMS and other local schools. I’ve noticed a common thread among most of these speeches. It doesn’t matter if we are sending off sixth-graders, which is the case at WMS, high school or college seniors, graduate students or anyone else completing their education at some level, the messages are similar. Go forth, do your best, have some fun while you’re at it and be confident that you can accomplish that next hurdle, no matter what it is.

As I sat through a particularly engaging high school graduation I was interested in the speaker, a McArthur Grant recipient. Her message to the graduating seniors was one of encouraging passion, hard work and embracing the joy that comes from following one’s dreams. As she is a recent grant recipient, she also identified with the students before her, saying that she is at a new crossroads and she is uncertain about what is next and where it will lead. She wasn’t even sure as to how she received this honor. After all, she was simply doing what she loves and finds so interesting.

We are all in a state of graduating for we are not certain of what lies ahead. New experiences present themselves and we need to embrace them. It is that mindset that will lead us forward and allow us to grow. Though summer is a time of rest it is also a time to pursue those things that matter the most. For it is in the space between the work we do each day that creativity is born. May your summer be filled with time to relax, explore and wonder.

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