What Works Best?

I have known a few friends that attended Montessori schools as children, but not until recently did I realize what it focused on. The more I learn about it, the more it intrigues me. I have always believes that playing off a childs interests are the best way for them to learn. What I like the most about the schools are that they use all five sensed that we have. I think this aspect makes for a well rounded education -- just like a liberal arts college would for students our age. I also like that the school focuses on practical skills, like buttoning clothes or tying shoes. These types of things are surpasssed in other schools. They shouldn't be. These are everyday things that children should be taught and should learn. Not only should they learn these simple tasks, but these become the basis for other things that the students will learn as they grow older. A lot of this has to do with social developlment as well. Since the schools contain children of mixed ages there is a lot of opportunity for the children to interact with each other and learn from each other. I feel as though social development should always be more empahasized than it is, and a Montessori school gives students this opportunity.

Journal Response and My First Lesson

After reading about Bereiter and Engelmann's views of education and the application of the Distar method, I thought about Journal 5.4. If I were a child in David's class, I think I would want more. Although it is a method for teaching, all the activities that the three groups of children were working on seemed rather boring. I will always support the idea of having students work together in groups, but these students werent really working together. One group was wearing headphones, the others were writing in their workbooks. Those were working with David were simply making a sound when prompted. I think there are many more engaging and interesting ways to teach young children. If I were George I would feel bored, and if I were Melaney I would feel hopeless. I understand the idea, but the Distar method is not one I would use.

On a second note, I taught my first lesson today in the classroom. It didn't quite go like it went in my dreams! I think the main issue was the kids being a little rowdy because they have someone new teaching them. They enjoyed pointing things out whenever I did them a little differently than Ms. Johnson. My lesson was on rhymes and their assessment was to complete the poem "Roses are red, Violets are blue". They came up with "Green is goo, and so are you". Oops...I was hoping it would be something a little more related to V-day. But all in all they got the point and were able to make Valentine's that they could bring home. It was a great learning experience and I can't wait for the next one.