SUPPORTING MONTESSORI STUDENTS, SCHOOLS, AND FAMILIES IN NORTH CAROLINA

Descriptions of Conference Presentations

Awakening Awe and Wonder: Cultivating a Growth Mindset in Montessori Staff

Weaving an exploration of evidenced-based conditions and strategies that affect character development into the warp of Montessori philosophy and weft of scientific pedagogy, this seminar offers school leaders the tools to create a school culture that cultivates flexibility and adaptability while celebrating and deepening a commitment to the essence of Montessori. 

School leaders cope with overwhelmed and burned out teachers, high staff turnover, parent and teacher concerns over learning loss or momentum, leading communities while in crisis mode. Promoting lifelong learning and building a collective consciousness may be more important than ever for our adult community to embrace and model. Responding to these current challenges, Montessori teacher educator Tammy Oesting, M.Ed., shares her research into the science of awe and wonder as a catalyst for lifelong learning and as a promoter of social cohesion. She reveals practical strategies that build resilience and adaptability through a growth mindset, sparked by awe-related events experienced in Montessori classrooms every day. 

Montessori Inclusion for Today’s Children

This 75 minute summit workshop for school leaders, and education directors, will guide your understanding of "today's" inclusion and how the Montessori system of education can be a model for successful inclusion. You will leave with an overview of the systems that contribute to success as well as strategies and tools for preparing your school community of teachers, support specialists, families and students working together to serve and support all students in inclusive classrooms and schools.

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Awakening Awe and Wonder: Expanding Montessori Practice

Join Montessori researcher, speaker, and teacher educator Tammy Oesting, M.Ed., in an inspirational and interactive keynote address that promises to awaken your awe and wonder. 

Connecting new ideas and each other, Tammy’s research divulges how awe is a universal force for transformation in learning and aligns with the essence of Montessori pedagogy. Our time together promises to cultivate your connectivity with others and to expand your practice whether you are in a classroom or lead a Montessori community. This presentation is designed to ignite your sense of awe and to cultivate this universal prosocial emotion in your practice. Tammy reveals her research into the science of awe and how it is an essential feature of a well-prepared educator while weaving her decades of awe-inspired adventures that illustrate how you too can cultivate a disposition towards awe and its companion emotion of wonder to expand your Montessori practices.  

The Pathway to a Peaceful Inclusive Classroom (All)

This workshop for Montessori lead & assistant teachers, and support specialists, will provide you with an understanding of the philosophy, framework, and practice of successful inclusion of all children in Montessori classrooms. You will leave with strategies and tools to begin serving and supporting the range of variability in learning & behavior in our Montessori classrooms.

Sewing, Weaving, & Knitting with Young Children (Tod/EC/LE)

This hands-on workshop will explore how to incorporate fiber art lessons in the primary classroom. Karen will discuss the basic sequence for sewing, weaving, and knitting projects. We will explore the value of these activities as they are truly "practical" to life! She will share the ways activities can be presented in the classroom and offer lots of tips along the way. There will be ample time to spend time with the activities and ask questions.

Expanding the Prepared Environment: Enhancing Adolescent Humanities Studies through Field Research (LE/UE/Secondary) 

Adolescent Guide Sally Meehan will share her program’s approach to enhancing and deepening Humanities studies through field research and travel. She will share examples of student work, and images from her school’s travels to Gettysburg, Antietam, Jamestown, Cherokee, and other locations.

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Developing Compassion for Families with ADHD Children (All)
How does gender affect the symptoms of ADHD?

Do children with ADHD confuse you as the classroom guide?

Are you frustrated with understanding ADHD and the subtypes?

Do you wonder, what does the brain of an ADHD child look like?

Are you wondering if the parents also have ADHD?

How do you manage the work expectations for children with ADHD?

Oh my goodness, could this ADHD child be gifted? Quite Possible!

Come to the workshop and construct your knowledge!

Observation & Communication are the Keys to Unlock Classroom Management Needs! (All)

Are your teachers all stressed out about a child and not sure where to go? How do you support your teachers with daily observing in their classrooms? How do you provide teacher education so that they can see what children need? What are the roles of support that can be created within your school to SLOW PROBLEMS? Why is it important to coach teachers on child development? Where are all these children with emotional regulation deficits coming from? If some of these questions resonate with you, join us for the conversation around Administration, Observation, Communication and Classroom Management problems and solutions. We will construct a system approach to unlocking classroom management problems. Discussion will revolve around your needs as Administrators and how creating systems for teachers will make your life easier. 

Having Fun with Phonetic Grammar: The Montessori Phonetic Grammar Curriculum for Beginning Readers (EC/LE)

Many beginning readers need lots of practice with controlled phonetic words (cvc), phrases, and sentences to get to the fluency that is required for easy reading and good comprehension. It is important to offer them repetition through variety. The Montessori Phonetic Grammar Curriculum, appropriate for EC and LE, is one way to get that variety and it's fun for them so they love doing the lessons.

For the teacher, the cost is minimal and the time to put it together is short. The handout you will take with you gives you every detail you need to put the lessons together in 4-5 hours.

Meeting the Needs of AIG Students Within a Montessori Classroom (LE/UE/Secondary)

As teachers, we have all come into contact with at least one gifted student in our careers. What we often don't realize is that we have more gifted students in our classroom than we can identify. In this presentation, we will investigate all the different types of gifted learners that we may see in our classroom and how they may interact within a Montessori prepared environment. We will then look at various ways to meet the needs of these different learners and how we can create their own unique prepared environment within the constructs of Montessori education.

Bridging the Gap: How to Build Montessori Parents as Partners (All)

Our school has a parent education component which has informed and engaged our parents as part of our team.  From room parents to parent-staff to school leadership (i.e., School Improvement Team and Parent Teacher Organization) we have built a focused and visionary team.  We also have been able to embrace the diversity of parent philosophies to "follow the household" and meet each family where they are as Montessorians.  Montessori-in-the-home and embracing/integration of philosophy falls along a spectrum for our community.  However, no matter where each family lands...Here We Grow.

Making TimeTangible: Beyond Calendars, Clocks and Sand Timers (EC/LE)

Our curriculum may include time-telling as a form of measurement, but are our students really grasping the sensorial concepts behind the tools being introduced? How can we help our young learners conceptualize and measure something they can’t hold in their hands? This workshop introduces three practical, sensorial strategies for introducing young children to time and for empowering children to track the passage of time on their own in meaningful ways. These tools offer a little something for children at all levels in an early childhood class and support future exploration of time as a mathematical concept as children get older.

Building Community and Supporting Children in Extraordinary Times (Tod/EC/Admin/Asst.)

This session will help you learn new strategies to implement practical strategies to build community within your learning community. We are living in extraordinary times and children are not immune to this stress, as adults are influenced by it as well. We will work through role plays and new approaches to build a strong connection that supports learning and builds trust at the school.

Coding, Computers, Technology…Oh My! (LE/UE/Secondary)

This session will help you define digital literacy and explain why it’s crucial to teach to children today. I will present hands-on activities and work that you can use in your classroom. We will discuss technology standards and how to include those skills into things you are already doing in your classroom! You will participate in some coding lessons and find ways to connect these skills to many other areas of the curriculum. Learn how technology can enhance what you're already teaching!

OT and Montessori: Kindred Spirits (All) [presented virtually]

Barbara will introduce the field of occupational therapy (OT) and outline the scope of OT practice. She describes the many commonalities between OT and Montessori philosophies and explains why OT should be an essential as part of your school team. OTs can provide individualized support for children with disabilities as well as making substantial contributions to teams supporting parents and teachers in Montessori environments. Barbara will also clarify some of the fundamental differences between OT and Montessori and explain the unique perspective that OT can bring to the work of supporting children with disabilities in Montessori classrooms and communities.