The Montessori Message

The Montessori Message

Tag Archives: technology

Making Connections

11 Thursday Jul 2019

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Parenting

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digital citizenship, Jordan Shapiro, online safety, Parenting, teachers, technology

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If you’ve ever gone to a conference on anything, you know it can be hit or miss. The speakers you think will really motivate and interest you can be duds, or you can come across one you had little interest in that sparks your imagination and offers pearls of wisdom. At the National Small Schools Conference, that was the case for me.

Jordan Shapiro, author of The New Childhood: Raising Kids to Thrive in a Connected World and professor at Temple University, spoke about a new way to view screen time. As he waxed on about his interest in ancient philosophers, it became quickly apparent that I would have to dig deep to connect to his message. And then there it was. He was speaking in a way that helped me understand how we teach kids the expectations around behavior – from learning to playing. His analogy was that he has to help his kids learn to cross the street. He wouldn’t trust them to do that alone until he did it with them hundreds of times and was certain they would remember to look both ways and could cross without getting hurt. Continue reading →

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?  

Keep Learning

25 Thursday May 2017

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Learning, Wilmington Montessori School

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education, google docs, learning, lifelong learning, technology, Wilmington Montessori, Wilmington Montessori School

Screen Shot 2017-05-25 at 10.54.26 AMAt Wilmington Montessori School, we have moved slowly but surely from mostly using Microsoft Word documents and Excel spreadsheets to using Google Docs and Sheets. Some embraced the move and did it quickly and rather painlessly. Others, not so much. Recently, I was asked how I learned to use Google Docs. My response was a simple one: “I made myself do it.” You see, if I were given a wishy-washy mandate to change from a familiar and comfortable and manageable system (for me) to one that I found time-consuming to work on and didn’t look the same or respond in the same way, I wouldn’t have done it. I would have elected to stay with the familiar. I knew the change was coming and made myself take the extra time to work in one system while not completely trusting it and also saving things in the one I knew. I doubled up for safety! But I did it.  

Making changes such as these is not easy. There will be questions, unfamiliar interfaces, mistakes and frustration. Help will be needed. It’s there for the asking. As we learn new things, whether by choice or mandate, others are there to help us along the way. There will always be new things to learn and others to guide us and answer seemingly simple questions. Take the leap. Embrace change. Keep learning. You’ll be ready for what happens next.

How will you grow?

23 Thursday Feb 2017

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Learning, Teachers, Wilmington Montessori School

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community of learning, conference, learning, PETE&C, pete2017, professional development, teachers, technology

how will you grow.pngThis time of year brings with it a lot of professional development opportunities for educators. Last week, several teachers were able to attend a conference on technology integration. It is a conference held each year to share ideas and experiences with technology in the classroom. This conference is what all professional development should be…inspiring.

Taking the time out of one’s schedule to learn new things and to be inspired by the work of others is one of the things that energizes us each to enthusiastically work to do the best we can to support children’s growth. Each person has varying needs to improve his or her practice. Each year presents different challenges. Just when you think you have it all figured out things shift and new skills and knowledge are required.

Working in a school reminds us that we are all learners. We have things to learn from each other no matter how young or old. As another year’s opportunities for learning take place, where will you focus? What tools will you add to your already overfilled toolbox? It is in yearning for more and refining our practice that we continue to contribute to the lives of the children in our care.

Seymour Papert

11 Thursday Aug 2016

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Learning, Montessori Education

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21st-century skills, learning, lifelong learning, maker space, maker studio, makerspace, MIT, montessori, Montessori education, Scratch, Seymour Papert, STEAM, technology

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Seymour Papert, a co-founder of the MIT Media Lab passed away last week. His life was spent thinking about learning and how to make it accessible to everyone. Many of his contributions focused on the integration of technology and learning; he was a trailblazer. If you’ve not heard of him, please learn more. His work informs much of what we deem to be leading edge in our schools today: makerspaces, technology integration, teaching Scratch programming and more. He has left us with many writings and a great deal of inspiration. Montessori education focuses on helping children learn how to learn; learning is not stagnant. It is an ever-present goal for all of us. Thank you, Seymour Papert, for your inspiration and innovation.

“So the model that says learn while you’re at school, while you’re young, the skills that you will apply during your lifetime is no longer tenable. The skills that you can learn when you’re at school will not be applicable. They will be obsolete by the time you get into the workplace and need them, except for one skill. The one really competitive skill is the skill of being able to learn. It is the skill of being able not to give the right answer to questions about what you were taught in school, but to what you were taught in school. We need to produce people who know how to act when they’re faced with situations for which they were not specifically prepared.”
– Seymour Papert

Teaching 2.0

10 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Learning, Teachers, Wilmington Montessori School

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fractions, graphing, hands-on learning, iPad, montessori, skittles, teaching, technology, upper elementary, Wilmington Montessori, Wilmington Montessori School

skittlesI have had the great pleasure of working with a small group of students during the past few weeks. Our focus is on math, specifically fractions. I haven’t been in the classroom full time for a few years and, although I knew that children pretty much remain the same, I wondered how I would adjust to the “new ways of doing business.” I found some constants and some things that made my “work” a bit simpler.

As we gathered for a lesson using Skittles candies, the reception was much as it has been throughout time – utter joy. Children love candy, and nothing is better than participating in a lesson where one gets to eat one’s work product! Skittles were sorted by color and fractions were determined and a graph was created that displayed the data. Next was the part children dislike the most…having an assignment. They were given the work to complete and told the expectations that would need to be met to successfully submit the assignment. This is where things shifted. Continue reading →

The Evolution of Technology

03 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Wilmington Montessori School

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education, innovation, PETE&C, Pete2016, technology, Wilmington Montessori, Wilmington Montessori School

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Do you remember when computers took up entire rooms? When information was input using punch cards? Computers were initially developed for industrial and governmental needs and have evolved to be used by everyone for varying purposes. Where would you be without your device(s)? Technology, however, began tens of thousands of years ago with the earliest humans on the planet. People used it to move rocks and build wonders like the Great Pyramids and the Coliseum. They developed technology in order to meet their needs and improve their lives. Continue reading →

“Making”

22 Thursday Oct 2015

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Wilmington Montessori School

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arts, code, engineering, hands-on learning, kindergarten, maker movement, maker space, maker studio, makerspace, mathematics, montessori, Montessori education, preschool, primary, science, STEAM, STEAM studio, stem, teachers as guides, technology, toddler, Wilmington Montessori, Wilmington Montessori School

3-6 Maker Faires17What does it mean to “make” something? The maker movement encourages us to invent, design and tinker with things. At Wilmington Montessori School, our Maker (STEAM) Studios are hubs of activity. Children are learning about their brains and how they work. Toddlers are working with new tools, learning to operate locks and lights, and creating ramps and tunnels for balls to move through. Primary students are creating music using a banana and electrodes. Others are writing code and giving directions to a robot, watching it move haltingly across the floor. They are hubs of activity. Ideas are being explored, mistakes are made, experiments occur (intentionally and not), and learning is happening.

As children participate in their learning, there must be time to think and follow their own ideas. They are encouraged to try new things or do familiar things in different ways. They are privy to others’ ideas, asking questions to build on their own. Our Maker Studios are extensions of our classrooms. The same Montessori principles that apply to the classroom apply here. Children are given the opportunity to design and create their own learning, guided by an adult who observes and offers just what is needed at the right time.  

An Australian Rainforest Biome… with QR codes!

02 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Montessori Education, Research, Wilmington Montessori School

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arts integration, Australia, biome, Daintree, iPad, lower elementary, QR code, rainforest, research, technology

Room 17 Biome - Flying SquirrelA few short years ago most of us were not privy to QR codes and their door-opening possibilities. They were certainly on items we purchased and slowly crept onto the books and videos (yes, videos…remember them?) that we checked out to enjoy in our homes. However, they weren’t used by individuals and seemed like “computer speak” that we could not be a part of. That was a few years ago. Now they are everywhere and anyone with a smart phone or tablet is able to easily “read” them.

In the lobby of WMS there is a wonderful replication of a rainforest biome created by the students in Room 17. It is a beautiful display of the creatures, plants and habitats in the Daintree Rainforest in Australia. This year you will notice that there are QR codes at several points as you venture through this rainforest. Please take a moment to listen to the children tell you about their animals and what they have learned through this project. It is delightful to hear about their work in their voices. You don’t have to sign up for a tour as you can go on a self-guided tour with the students there sharing their knowledge. If the iPad is being charged, download a QR reader on your phone, scan and listen. Interactive learning is at your fingertips.

Enjoy the tour!

Room 17 Biome 2015

More photos are available on our Facebook page.

Creating Lifelong Learners

30 Thursday Oct 2014

Posted by Lisa Lalama in Learning, Montessori Education, STEM, Wilmington Montessori School

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lifelong learning, Maria Montessori, montessori, Montessori education, museum of obsolete, pedagogy, technology, Wilmington Montessori

pedagogy-first-technology-second

Click the image above to view full-size graphic.

Technology changes constantly. As you read this blog entry, new things are being created, connections are being made, and once commonly used apps or hardware are becoming obsolete.

At WMS, we have made a commitment to integrate technology as part of our 2014-16 Strategic Plan and are well on our way. However, our primary commitment continues to be to learning. As we work with children each day, our goal remains the same: creating lifelong learners.

When Montessori education began, Maria Montessori could not have imagined the tools available to us today. However, she created tools that continue to guide, support and ignite passion for learning.

Whether children and teachers are using a pink tower, language materials, the checkerboard, an iPad or laptop, learning is the goal. Connecting ideas, collaborating with others, getting feedback that encourages further questioning and learning are the foundations of a robust learning environment and continue to be the foundations of learning at WMS.​

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