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SIMS

| Montessori Teacher Training in Phoenix, AZ

Montessori Perspective

Featuring our Graduates – Lauren Franchek – 3-6 Class of 2011-2012

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Featuring Lauren Franchek

3-6 Class of 2011-2012

Where are you now?

Creo Montessori – A Montessori Community

What position do you currently hold?

Assistant Head of School

What did you enjoy most about training? 

Training at SIMS was the ultimate gift. I embarked on a transformational Montessori journey, and it gave me a deep introspective outlook on all aspects of life in general. SIMS made me a better educator and a better human. 

After completing my AMI Primary training ten years ago, I have been fortunate to have completed the Elementary Orientation and the A to I Orientation trainings at SIMS as well as a potpourri of continued education courses. Having completed AMI trainings at other U.S. training centers as well, I can attest that SIMS is unlike any other training center. The benevolent yet prolific training team at SIMS creates space for safety and belonging; students become their best selves for the children they serve. 

How has SIMS benefited you in the last 10 years?

Beyond receiving a top-notch AMI training that propelled me into a fulfilling career as a teacher and administration, I found community at SIMS. My training buddies have become lifelines throughout my teaching career and administrative career. I feel that I have an entire community of diverse yet kindred spirited professionals in my corner. 

After completing my initial training at SIMS, I spent seven rewarding years as a Primary Guide and helped to pioneer Creo School. As the years seemingly flew by, I found myself on the precipice of infusing Montessori theory and practice into adult development and dove into the world of leadership. I never expected to find a career in a community imbued with such passion and embrace of Dr. Montessori’s message: “We can only better humanity through the child.” I attribute my success to the strong foundation I constructed at SIMS. 

AMI Message of Solidarity

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There is a roar right now, a rage against injustice. How could there not be?

The recent murder in the United States of George Floyd, has served as a clarion call to unite us. AMI stands with its partners both in the US and around the world in denouncing discrimination, exclusion and all of the social inequalities that deprive adults and children of their rights to a fulfilling life.

Right now, the world is experiencing extreme forms of exclusion, inequity and discrimination. The pandemic, in rich and poor countries alike, has revealed the suffering of the most marginalised: the millions who have neither the resources nor the standing in society to protect them in this time of crisis.

How should we, as Montessorians act during this time? What should we say? What should we do to express our solidarity?

We must stand shoulder to shoulder with the discriminated and the excluded. Martin Luther King reminded us that “all life is interrelated…whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” His words encapsulate our belief as Montessorians. Respect for all humanity is integral to our philosophy. It is the wellspring of our values.

Education is the pathway to a better world; education that includes global citizenship, love and appreciation of others and of our planet. It is a fundamental human right and we must continue to work to make it available to all. In doing so, we must learn to become aware of bias, injustice and systemic discrimination and ensure that there is no unconscious bias, no inadvertent discrimination in the work that we do, with whomever we work. Bias, discrimination and exclusion have no place in Montessori’s philosophy, and nor, therefore, do they in ours.

Children are not born prejudiced, racist or phobic. They are taught to be so. Prejudice is born of the environment and it is an environment which we can all influence profoundly. Maria Montessori worked all her life to bring about a radical change in the way we view human relations. She believed that we must strive “to awaken in humankind’s spirit a sense of gratitude towards others.”

In that spirit of gratitude and love let us act together. Let us aspire to become better partners and stronger allies. Let us seek, identify and transform the hidden prejudices and implicit biases that we carry. Let us listen more, learn from those fighting the hardest battles and work together for real change.

 

Lynne Lawrence                                                                  Philip O’Brien
AMI Executive Director                                                    AMI President

                                          

Workshop – Food as an Educational Tool

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February 8, 2020, 9 am – 11:30 am

Cost – $30

Food as an Educational Tool

Food and food preparation provide valuable opportunities for educating children. Food is not just for survival and satisfying our physical needs, food is also part of our social life. Food is an educational tool that helps children to adapt to their family, culture, and community by offering sensorial experiences, enriching language, refining movements, encouraging independence, and, most importantly, feeling part of their community. Join us for a workshop where together we will explore different tools to help children to have a better approach to food.

RSVP Today – Space is limited!


About our Presenter: Gabriela’s Montessori journey began as a child. Her mother was a Montessori teacher, so she grew up attending Montessori schools in Mexico. It was only natural that upon reaching adulthood that she also decided to pursue a career in Montessori education. After completing her degree in Early Childhood Education, she earned the AMI Assistance to Infancy diploma. She would go on to work for more than 20 years in Montessori schools in Mexico and the United States.

Gabriela completed the demanding AMI Training of Trainers program to be named an AMI Trainer at the level of 0-3 Assistants to infancy. She began her first full 0-3 training in August with SIMS! She has also worked on 0-3 teacher-training courses in Denver and Taiwan. She serves as a lecturer, consultant and national examiner for AMI.

 

Workshop – What Parents and Educators Need to Know about Digital Technologies and Development

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January 25, 2020, 9 am – 2pm

Cost – $50 includes choice of boxed lunch

What Parents and Educators Need to Know about Digital Technologies and Development

Digital technologies have changed our lives. Our response to these changes is similar to every other generation that has experienced major technological innovation: moral panic. We’re panicked that digital devices are wiring our children’s brains for inattention; that violent video games will create a violent society; and that smartphones are making our adolescents depressed and suicidal. While to a certain extent this panic is understandable, we have to stop and ask ourselves: Does moral panic help us prepare our children for the digital age? Or does it nudge us toward binary no-screen-versus-screen choices, influencing us to perceive our children as blank slates rather than complex people with innate tendencies and their own agency? And are the concerns that fuel our moral panic even true? These are questions every parent and educator should ask themselves. These are questions that will be addressed in this literature-based workshop.

RSVP Today – Space is limited!


Laura Flores Shaw, a Visiting Assistant Professor in the School of Education, is extensively trained in family systems therapy and educational neuroscience. She also has direct experience as Head of School within an AMI based Montessori school framework. She instructs in the Mind, Brain, and Teaching Certificate and the Doctor of Education online programs. Dr. Shaw’s work has focused on translating research from multiple areas of neuroscience, educational psychology, sustainability education, and family systems research into school design and classroom practice. She has particular interest and expertise in translating current applied and computational neuroscience research—especially approaches featuring a sensorimotor and ethologically oriented perspective— and applying large-scale dynamical systems frameworks to sociocultural contexts. Recontextualizing common terms such as “executive function” and “attention” are areas of particular interest, especially in relation to issues of race, class, neurodiversity and behavior, including traditionally disadvantaged students living in poverty.

The Journey from Montessori Child to Montessori Teacher

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My first experience with Montessori was not as an educator. Rather, it was as a child that I first tasted the freedom that Montessori brings to one’s education.

I was approximately three or four years old when I went to my first Montessori school in Phoenix, Arizona. I remember only snapshots, light bulb memories, sense-infused but fleeting. I remember smelling old spice bottles that retained the scents of cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, and oregano, but I don’t remember what I did with them. I remember a triangular box filled with a variety of colorful triangles each with a solid black line along one edge, but I don’t remember why I was playing with them. I remember drinking orange juice that I juiced myself, I remember jars of paste, I remember tracing shapes, and I remember sneaking around the classroom with a friend just to see what I could get away with unnoticed. I remember so many things and yet for most of my life I would say I remembered very little from my early education. I couldn’t remember actually “learning” anything. I don’t remember learning to read or write. I don’t remember learning to add or subtract. Yet, somehow, I learned these things. It’s almost as if the process of learning was so effortless, that the process was simply left from my memory entirely and in its place was the desired result: an education.

As I grew up, I inevitably absolutely fell in love with school.  As an adult, I made the choice many lovers of school do: I chose to become a teacher. I actually resisted it for many years, as I loved so many things that I wanted to be everything. I wanted to be, in turns, a primatologist, an Egyptologist, a meteorologist, a film maker, a poet or a playwright, the person who picks the music for TV shows, a rare books librarian, and a oceanographer, to name of few. However, something kept drawing me back to education. Something had been ingrained in my being from the very beginning: a deep sense of love for learning.

At the time, becoming a Montessori teacher was not readily available to me, but it stayed in the back of my mind as I studied for my Masters in Elementary Education. It stayed in the back of my mind as I planned my student-centered lessons as a traditional Elementary and Middle School English teacher. It stayed in the back of my mind for years. When I say it stayed in the back of my mind, I mean I talked about it endlessly. Everyone who knew me, knew my love for Montessori and my desire to emulate a “Montessori teacher” even when I had no idea what a Montessori teacher actually did. Much of the time, I was not a very good “Montessori teacher,” as I began to slip into the more teacher-centered mindsets of an educator in a traditional public school. But still, Montessori stayed in the back of my mind.

After several years, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to completely flip my life upside down. I jumped. I began my studies with the Southwest Institute of Montessori Studies in the fall of 2017. I quickly realized two contrasting facts: 1) I learned so very much as a Montessori child, and 2) I learned very little about Montessori as a Montessori child. Over the course of the year of my studies with SIMS, I learned about Maria Montessori’s philosophies and scientific studies of child development. I was absolutely enamored with the science behind how children learn…how I learned. I also learned about the hundreds of lessons a Montessori guide gives in the three years she works with a child and the purposes for each lesson preparing the child in never-ending ways for future learning. I now know what I did with the smelling jars, box of triangles, orange juice, tracing shapes, and so much more. I now know what these things were teaching me. The Smelling Bottles were helping to develop my olfactory sense and bring order and awareness to the scents of the world. The box of triangles were helping prepare me for geometry by bringing awareness to the parts of a triangle and plane figures that can be constructed from triangles. The tracing shapes (known as Metal Insets) were preparing my hand and wrist for controlling a writing instrument as well as developing my own artistic and geometric sense. The process of juicing an orange was aiding my growing independence, motor coordination, and sequencing skills.

I knew none of this as a Montessori child. As a Montessori child, I simply learned. As a Montessori guide, I see the intricate, delicate, and yet effortless process of how I learned. Now, I have the precious opportunity to provide the same experience to future generations.

About the Author:

Lauren Williams was previously a public middle school teacher for five years, but she always dreamed of teaching Montessori. In 2017, she finally had the chance to earn her AMI certification through the Southwest Institute of Montessori Studies. Lauren was mostly Montessori educated as a child from preschool through 6th grade (save only 1st and 2nd grade). She holds a BA in English from Northern Arizona University, as well as a Masters in Elementary Education from Arizona State University. In 2018, Lauren moved to North Carolina from her hometown of Phoenix, Arizona to be a founding member of a brand new public charter school, Moore Montessori Community School. She currently lives in Aberdeen, NC with her three cats and millions of pine trees.

Landing Your Next Montessori Job

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This is the season that schools begin to plan for staffing for the upcoming school year.  This article features tips to enhancing your professional skills so you are ready to apply and interview for that job you want.

First off, let’s discuss your level of professionalism.  Do you identify with this picture?

 

If so, you are probably not what employers are looking for.  Your work with children in a Montessori setting will require you to wear many hats, and tackle a wide variety of challenges from one day to the next.  We all need to willingly embrace many tasks that might not fall under the traditional job description of Montessori guide.

 

Let’s talk about your resume

Think about updating your resume, especially if you have been at your current job for longer than a year, you are fresh out of Montessori Teacher Training, or you have not had a job in over a year.  You can search the web for tips on how to build your resume by typing in a search engine “resume builder”.  Those free sites can help with general formatting and headings.  Here are a few things to include related to the content:

  • Professional philosophy-in your cover letter, try to let your personality shine through while you discuss your philosophy on education and Montessori and the spirit of the child.  Include a few personal interests.  I think it’s important to highlight aspects important to being a teacher such as flexibility, following the child, and maintaining professional boundaries.
  • Try to keep things concise and direct, but with a warm voice in your writing.  Many employers do not want to read a lengthy bio about your life, so your philosophy should be limited in personal information, but enough to express how it lead you to Montessori.
  • Have a professional email!! Emails such as hotpinklady@…..com or bikerchick2019@….com If you only have your email account you set up as a teenager, look into updating.  Let this be the time to start your professional career with a fresh new email that can be used for professional communications.
  • Enhance your resume by listing qualities or responsibilities. Job roles and responsibilities can look very different from one school to the next. For example, rather than just stating “assistant teacher” as your position, add to that.  What types of responsibilities did you have? What aspects of the environment did you prepare or maintain? What classroom management did you exhibit? What type of collaboration did you have with the lead teacher or other staff? What activities did you help coordinate?
  • Make sure to include any Montessori training you have received under the education heading of your resume. List the name of the training center where you studied, the level for which you earned the diploma or certificate, and the year that you completed the training.
  • Make it clear that you are willing (or not) to relocate.  If you’re applying for a job where you do not currently reside, ask or offer the option to conduct interviews via phone or virtual meetings such as Skype or Zoom.
  • Finally, keep in mind that not all schools publicize openings they will have for teaching positions. We encourage you to send your resume and letter of interest to any school that you are interested in, even if you don’t see an official job listing.

 

Preparing for an interview

Once you have “wowed” the employer with your impressive resume and have been contacted to schedule an interview, here are a few things to think about when preparing and engaging in your interview:

  • Do some research about the school. What do you know about it already? What else can you find out about it?
  • Prepare a list of questions related to things such as, but not limited to, salary ranges, opportunities for growth, on-going professional development, support in the classroom, number of children in the classroom and their ages, yearly budgets for replenishing supplies in the classroom, expectations regarding material making, who the classroom assistant will be, hourly expectations outside of the school day.

 

At the Interview

Now is your time to shine.  You may look good on paper, but remember you have to show you can back that up with your knowledge and professionalism.

  • Grace and Courtesy: Whether it be when interacting with children or your future employer, always maintain a positive attitude, warmth, and approachability.
  • While years of experience are certainly preferred by many school directors, do not let this discourage you if you are fresh out of teacher-training. Begin that interview with an eagerness to learn and excitement for the work.
  • If you are going to throw out Montessori “buzz words” be sure you know what they mean or have practical examples that support your knowledge.
  • Ask to observe the classroom or an environment at the school. This will help you get an understanding of the culture of the school and determine if this is a good fit for you.

 

Professional Dress

Just a note about professional dress and presence at the interview and in your ongoing work in the classroom.  Professional dress is relative to the field, culture of the organization, and demographics of the families or individuals you work with.  These standards apply to the classroom as well as during your first contact or interview with the school. In a school setting working with young children, remember that their heads only reach about the height of your hip.  Consider your attire, knowing that you will be bending down, sitting on the floor, and engaging in many movement activities.  Here’s a list to begin with:

  • Avoid short skirts or low-cut tops. Consider these little humans and their eye levels.
  • Refrain from wearing bulky or noisy jewelry that will be a distraction to the children.
  • Be comfortable, but not sloppy-We are encouraging children to practice good grooming habits. Adults need to model this.  Mario Montessori stated, “Teachers must actively strive to establish a positive relationship so that children will approach them with confidence and accept their authority as a matter of course.  In order to do this, they should make themselves as attractive as they can, not only in appearance, but as a source of new, happy experiences.” (Mario Montessori, Education for the Human Development: Understanding Montessori, p. 25).

To start your search of Montessori job positions currently available, visit our  SIMS jobs board.

To post a Montessori job at your school, click here:  Post it on SIMS Jobs Board.

Your next job, or next Montessori employee, could be just one click away!

*Disclaimer: The tips provided in this post do not guarantee employment.

 

About the author:

Tiffany Liddell is currently an AMI Primary Trainer residing in Mesa, Arizona.  She completed her AMI Primary Training in 2006 and has since been a lead Montessori Primary guide in a charter school and her own private preschool.  She has been an active member of the Phoenix area Early Childhood community by facilitating professional development workshops and developing curriculum for a local community college.  Tiffany also supports the Southwest Institute of Montessori Studies (SIMS) Primary training courses as a course assistant and works with AMI on specialized projects.  Tiffany has been married to her husband for 13 years and has four children who all attended (of which two still attend) Montessori school and, in her spare time, enjoys cycling in the Arizona desert.

 

 

 

 

Reflection of My First Year in the Classroom

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My name is Alyssa Zander, and it is a pleasure to share with you all my personal experience and growth that took place during my first year in the classroom. I graduated from SIMS in June 2017 and finished my Master’s through Loyola the following month. After completing my training, I moved back to Bend, Oregon, my hometown, where I inherited the Primary classroom in which I was once an assistant.

Coming away from the training I felt a tremendous amount of transformation; meaning I underwent a process of relearning what it means to interact, support, and love the child in an unconditionally profound way. In the core of my Being I knew that this work is a privilege and meant that I would continuously be working on myself to preserve and protect positive lasting relationships with the children and families that I would be serving. To prepare before the school year I re-read some of the pedagogy, sifted through my albums, spent time in our soon to be classroom, and made materials.  I lived and breathed the work. Even still, nothing could have prepared me for the moments when children walked through that door.

 

There is something that happened in those first few weeks. It was a lesson I had to be taught over and over again throughout the year. The only thing that changed is that I started to move through my personal lessons with more grace. If you can take away one little nugget from my story it is that the children will teach you. The children will teach you where you are lacking, where you can improve, where growth is possible and necessary for you. When a child isn’t listening, I began to ask myself, “Am I listening to him?” When a child is struggling with empathy I ask myself “Am I showing him empathy?” This takes true effort in back seating your ego and becoming present in the now with the children.

I spent the year experiencing highs and lows, all of them rewarding in their own respects. In the beginning it was easy to be hard on myself. I questioned my adequacy, and felt like I was completely failing a time or two or three. It took reaching out to my fellow cohort (my tribe!) and brainstorming with other Montessorians, who are my rock. I had to remember that I am not alone in all of this. Once I began to reconnect and tell my stories I was able to receive other perspectives, ideas, and see much more opportunity in the “lows”.

So, here are some things I learned quickly:

  • Do not skip the Grace and Courtesy’s! They are essential, and the children will thrive when they know the intricacies of their interactions. It will take more than one lesson, you’ll be doing them well into the year; and one day you’ll look around the classroom and sigh a beautiful breath and see the gift of it all.
  • The primary goal should be the development of concentration, independence, and self-formation.
  • Collaboration with parents is key in supporting each child. Being able to freely and openly come together with parents has been such a profound experience. Supporting parents and having the parents support has helped nurture and create really amazing relationships.
  • When the class is awry, which it likely will be from time to time in the beginning, look toward myself. What am I doing, or not doing?
  • Be gentle with myself. I will not get things right every time, but if I am willing to look back and acknowledge that there is a better way and actively work towards being better, then I am doing my best. And that is enough.

Ultimately, remembering that the spirit of the child is the world’s greatest gift. We have been given the most precious opportunity to guide children in their discovery of self. This gift should not be taken lightly, and it is my responsibility to extend unconditional love, and conscious support. This is the work of the adult. Maria Montessori knew that there is a spiritual journey that the guide must take in this work. She realized the vast greatness that the children provide to the adult, in which we must extend the same opportunities to the children. We come into union, connected oneness, we learn from one another as we walk and respect each other’s personal journey.

About the Author:

Alyssa Zander is currently a Primary Montessori Guide living in Bend, Oregon. She began her Montessori journey in a Primary classroom as an assistant in 2014. In 2016, Alyssa moved to Phoenix, AZ to attend the Southwest Institute of Montessori Studies and obtained her certificate and Master’s through Loyola University in 2017. After finishing her studies she moved back to Bend, Oregon where she inherited the classroom she was once an assistant in. Alyssa just completed her first year teaching and enjoys living in Central Oregon, the “adults” playground, with her boyfriend in the busyness of the city. She loves hiking, paddle boarding, and reading along the river.

Big Work in the Elementary Classroom: Creating a Culture of Beautiful Work

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Don’t we all want a dynamic classroom environment in which there is a great variety of work going on?  Where the children are creating, researching, building, collaborating, thinking, learning, questioning, imagining, and following their passions?  Yes!  That IS what we want, an environment where our students are excited to learn and grow.

In a new environment, it takes time to build up to this kind of ideal, but it is definitely possible.  As guides, we have to create a culture of work in our environments.  In my environment, the students refer to it as “a beautiful work classroom”.  Beautiful work does not mean work that meets some artistic standard, rather it is big work decided upon by the student and pursued with thought, care, deliberation, and an investment of time.

How can we, as the guides, make this happen?  This is where the artistry of teaching in the Montessori Method comes in!

  1. Give the lessons. Give the lessons, give the lessons, give the lessons!  Without the beautiful lessons, there will be no beautiful work.  The psychological characteristics of the second plane child include “Imagination”.  Use this and give the lessons, tell the exciting stories, spark the interest, ask the thoughtful questions, and then sit back and let it happen.
  2. Set an expectation for work. Freedom in the classroom environment means freedom to WORK.  Not working should not be an option.  How they work, where they work, with whom they work, and what they work on are the freedoms we offer.  In a very young classroom, we may have to give examples of what follow up work to a lesson could be, but should be careful to not impose our ideas upon a child.  We all know their ideas are far superior to anything we could come up with.  After a lesson (on Types of Lines, for example), one could say, “I wonder how you could practice this lesson?  Perhaps you could make a book? A scroll?  A Poster? You could sew the lines and make a pillow!  How about using toothpicks? Q-tips? Yarn? Popsicle sticks? Or, you could bake pretzels and position them as lines!!”  Yes, I have had students bake pretzels and make lines & angles.  In fact, food & cooking are great motivators for big work.  We have had giant cookies for Parts of a Circle, layered cakes for Layers of the Earth, and even Pizza to practice fractions.

(Formation of the Universe Cookie, Four-Corners Cake, The work of Water Canyons)

  1. Provide the materials for big work. If we want big work going on in the classroom, we have to provide the materials for the children to work.  Large rolls of plain paper, huge pieces of graph paper, colored paper, colored pencils, gel pens, markers, paint, cardboard, glue, sequins, yarn, tape, book binding materials, popsicle sticks, canvases, glitter, “special” and beautiful paper…all these must be available to the students at all times (not just for art lessons) so they can think, create, and work  outside the “pencil-paper” box.

 

  1. Provide uninterrupted time for big work. If we have given the lessons, set expectations for work, and provided the materials, the students will be working!  It is at that time that we need to step back, let them work, and protect that work time.  If they are engaged in constructive and productive work, let them do it, no matter how long it takes.  The uninterrupted work cycle is specifically for this, to let the students do their work without interference.  The things they learn from working on their own are invaluable and cannot be taught:  independence, responsibility, collaboration, compromise, precision, revision, perseverance, dedication, and satisfaction of work done independently.  The beautiful work that come from this time is a bonus!

(Types of lines sewn on fabric, Sentence Analysis Folow Up)

Easy, right?  We can all have environments in which work like this is going on if we avoid the “Big Work Obstacles”.

 

  1. Big Work is messy! Creative, inventive, collaborative work is messy.  Let them do it.  It is not unusual to look up and see a disaster!  Have faith that the lessons we have given on how to clean up a work space will jump into action once the work is done.  If they don’t, give those lessons again!
  2. Big Work is expensive! All those materials required for their work can be expensive.  Hopefully we all have healthy classroom budgets and can make those materials a priority, just as we do the Montessori Materials.  If not, students can always bring things from home for their projects.  They can also hit the recycling bin as many treasures can be found there.
  3. Big Work takes time! As guides, we want to make sure that we give all the lessons we need to and sometimes it makes us uncomfortable to go too long without giving a child a particular lesson.  Have faith that their work is just as important as the lesson on “Adding Fractions with Unlike Denominators” is!

(Ireland Research Follow up, Tissue paper River, Paper-mache Grand Canyon)

Nothing brings me greater joy than those moments when I have no one to give a lesson to!  You know those times when you look around the classroom and you see that amazing hum of working students?  Where groups of children are working together on creative and inventive projects that display their understanding of concepts learned in a way that writing them down with paper and pencil never could.  That is what I strive for…an environment that is the opposite of a “paper & pencil” classroom.

Shahnaz Currim is an Upper Elementary Guide at Keystone Montessori School in Ahwatukee, Arizona.  Holding AMI Primary & Elementary Diplomas, she has been teaching in the Valley of the Sun for 26 years.  An avid hiker and nature lover, Shahnaz also loves to read, garden, travel, and spend time with her adorable Boxer pups.