Today was my first day officially intervening in the classroom, and having lunch with my assigned family.
I woke up having a lot on my mind. I was very excited, but there is always a lot to think about when you start something new...Were the kids going to like me? Would I be too loud? will I intervene too much (since Montessori encourages little intervention)? Would the families like me? Will I say something wrong? What if I don' t like the food that the family worked so hard to prepare for me?
Now reflecting upon my day, I can now say that some to most of the nervous thoughts I had were true.
As starting everything new, there are little bumps in the road in the beginning. Before today, I was very unfamiliar to Montessori, and still a concept that is very new to me. I have never been in a Montessori classroom. Not only that, I have never been to a setting where Spanish is the primary language. When I was in grade school, I took eight years of Spanish. We spoke a lot in the classroom, but it is completely different when Spanish is one of the only ways to communicate with someone. Especially to children who know little to no English.
I was very eager as to what I would come across being active in the classroom. I started off reading several books to a young girl named Lara outside. We read stories with lots of pictures to point out objects, and repeat them in English. I then proceeded to move to the classroom, where I did several activities with many different students. I was very impressed with not only how much knowledge they had, but how independent they were on doing activities by themselves.
Montessori Education is not like your "normal classroom". It is mainly focused on independence, an eager to learn, and curiosity for the world around them. For the most part, students learn to correct themselves with very little help from the teacher.
I have been a swim coach/teacher for nearly 6 years of my life. I only encourage my students when they try something new, or did their best. I also have 2 younger brothers who are athletic. I was taught the "You did the best you could, great job".
Its very difficult to break the "good job" cycle. Other bump.
I caught myself every so often saying "Nice work" or "Awesome dude". It was more of a challenge in the beginning. After I got the hang of being in the classroom, it was a lot easier.
The best way I can describe the classroom experience is much like being in a new car. You know the gist's, and you certainly know how to drive the car and get you to point A and B. Its the other things that are confusing. Looking for the air conditioning and heat, the GPS, the wipers, the radio buttons...
You get the gist.
I can't wait until the little bumps in the road won't be bumps. They'll just be my process of getting to where I need to be as a teacher. As Phil Collins once said, " In learning, you will teach. In teaching, you will learn".
Overall, I really enjoyed my first Montessori classroom experience. I was so impressed with how independent the children were. Not only with their classroom work, but especially during snack time. How they waited to eat until everyone was at the table, poured drinks on their own, got themselves more to eat, and even do some of the choirs as well such as dishes and wiping the table down.
I wish I was that patient and coordinated when I ate.
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Our next part of our day was going to the families house for lunch in La Cienega. In the previous post, if you don't remember what that means, or the homes in which we have our meals in, its The Swampland of the city . On usual days, we would walk. Today, mother nature was not in favor of us. Instead, we got a taxi to take us to the homes.
The family's home is a little ways from the school. It is behind a couple of houses from the main street. Because of the rain, it took us a little more time to get us to our spot.
Boy, the family is generous.
The mother's name is Dulce (which means Sweet in english. Coincidental, right?). She saw from the distance how muddy our feet where. She scattered in her home, and got a giant bucket of water to wash our feet in. She also brought out soap, and water for our hand.
The family was sitting around the TV watching Barbie, so of course it was an immediate bond. Hello childhood. At first, it was difficult for the fact that the family spoke only Spanish. Our Spanish is, well, Poco.
The food was ready as soon as we got there. We sat at the table, and the family sat on the couches and chairs in their living room. They knew we are not very fluent in English, and were nothing but kind souls to us. With the little room they had in their home, and the little Spanish we knew, they made us very comfortable. We laughed, we chatted, talked a lot about movies (they LOVE Harry Potter), and really enjoyed ourselves.
I had so much fun bonding with a family. Learning a language is so much fun. Especially with a family so kind to us.
I cannot wait to go back there again tomorrow, and learn more about the family. :)