Jonathan Wolff joins the Voices in Montessori podcast, hosted by Tamara Sheesley Balis, to discuss creating effective teaching partnerships with your co-guide or classroom associate. Jonathan describes this relationship as a "delicate dance" that involves "choreographing a partnership built on trust and understanding, humility and honesty." Jonathan first defines what a well-functioning classroom team looks like. Jonathan then dives into how successful teams overcome common challenges to achieve harmony, cohesiveness, and sustained joy.

Jonathan describes specific strategies to build a successful teaching partnership. We all know it's important to clarify roles and responsibilities of each member of the team. But Jonathan encourages us to first get to know the "whole" teammate. (What brought you here? How do you best learn? What are signals that you are feeling stressed?) He advises engaging early and often in "alignment conversations" (for example, "What do we do when...?") to create consistency among the classroom team. Jonathan also explains how to employ the Montessori “Three Period Lesson” model to orient and educate team members. Jonathan shares these strategies - and so much more - in this inspiring episode of Voices in Montessori!

Pamela Shanks joins the Voices in Montessori podcast, hosted by Tamara Sheesley Balis, to share information about Cortical Visual Impairment, an underdiagnosed learning difference that affects as many as 1 in 30 children in mainstream classrooms. CVI is often ignored, missed, or misdiagnosed as low vision, behavior problems, or learning disorders. CVI is a neurological visual processing disorder.

While classroom guides are not diagnosticians, you don't need a diagnosis to begin implementing classroom interventions. In this episode, Pam shares just a few of the 47 strategies (offered in Chapter 5 alone!) that classroom teachers can use to support students with visual processing challenges. These include simple interventions, such as changing the color of the work rug, showing pictures differently during read aloud time, and pairing visual tasks with motor ones.

Pam's new book, The Montessori Approach to Classroom-Based Interventions: A Handbook for Educators, Administrators, Service Providers, and Families of Children Whose Development is Impacted by Delay or Disability, addresses a variety of learning differences and provides a multitude specific strategies to use in the classroom to support students.

Chip DeLorenzo joins the Voices in Montessori podcast, hosted by Tamara Sheesley Balis, to discuss the importance of holding regular class meetings as a tool to build students’ leadership skills. He advocates that class meetings are essential to developing a sense of community and belonging for the students in your classroom.

Chip describes the structure and processes involved in successful class meetings. He also shares how to teach the components of the class meetings in isolation at the beginning of each school year, so that the students have the skills to run them, and how to support students during meetings if needed (without taking over).

Through the class meeting process, children learn empathy and to see things from other people’s perspectives. They practice advocating for themselves and others, problem solving, collaborating with others, and making amends. Class meetings encompass Grace and Courtesy, SEL education, conflict resolution, and peace education all in one elegant bundle.

When we trust children to solve their own problems, students are invested in the solutions and help remind one another of the class’ shared agreements. This becomes shared leadership!

Catherine McTamaney joins the Voices in Montessori podcast, hosted by Tamara Sheesley Balis, to talk about how we commit to Montessori in an open-hearted, horizon-focused way, while caring for our spirits and caring for each other. What draws people to Montessori and why haven't we yet seen the New Society that she promised? How might Montessori practice (and Montessori practitioners) need to commit to a new model of radical love if we are to nurture the next generation? Join us for this inspiring and thought-provoking discussion.

Lydia Farmer and Kalai Ramanathan join the Voices in Montessori podcast, hosted by Tamara Sheesley Balis, to talk about preparing inclusive holiday celebrations in the classroom.

While some educators choose to avoid all holidays for fear of leaving anyone out, Lydia and Kalai feel that this misses a valuable opportunity to create a sense of belonging for the children. Instead, Lydia and Kalai celebrate a multitude of holidays and celebrations from around the world throughout the year. This allows every child to see themselves reflected in the classroom community and exposes the children to new perspectives. 

Lydia and Kalai talk about how they weave this exposure into the life of the classroom throughout the year. They describe their largest classroom celebration, a solstice celebration, which becomes a culmination of all of the Practical Life and Grace and Courtesy lessons the children have received and practiced.

Patricia Ludick joins the Voices in Montessori podcast, hosted by Tamara Sheesley Balis, to revisit Dr. Montessori's wisdom and insights regarding our work as practitioners who are serving Adolescents. Patrica reminds us that we must be constantly growing in our understanding of the mysterious third plane of human becoming. She considers what time and practice has taught us, as well as revisiting Dr. Montessori's vision statement in From Childhood to Adolescence.

Patricia touches on: Preparation for Adult Life, The Essence of a Working Community, The Big Picture of Program Design, The Important Role of the Adult, and then the importance of Grace and Courtesy as it evolves at the Third Plane.

She poses the questions, "What have we learned? What remains mystery? How do we move forward no matter where we are called to serve adolescents?"

Alexandra Sands joins the Voices in Montessori podcast, hosted by Tamara Sheesley Balis, to discuss cultivating concentration in young children. She begins with how we set the stage for children's concentration by carefully preparing the environment and with the way we bring new children into the classroom for the first time. She discusses ways we can use art, music, movement, and the outdoors to enhance students' concentration.

Alexandria explains how observation can be used to identify deep concentration (and what that actually looks like), as well as when a child is not concentrating. Then she guides us to look even more closely - what can we observe that sheds light on why the child is struggling to concentrate and how can we best support this child? Alexandra shares how to help our classroom assistants know when concentration is not happening, and when and how to intervene.

Michael Duffy joins the Voices in Montessori podcast, hosted by Tamara Sheesley Balis, to talk about Cosmic Education, the central element of Montessori Elementary education. He discusses the nature and purpose of Cosmic Education, as well as how it is implemented in the classroom. Michael implores Montessori teachers not get lost in the emphasis on math and language testing. He explains that as important as math and language are for Elementary students, they are just necessary tools for students to access the full scope of Cosmic Education. Join us for this fascinating discussion!

Dr. Joyce Pickering and Amy Cushner join the Voices in Montessori podcast, hosted by Tamara Sheesley Balis, to discuss the early signs of learning differences that Guides can be looking for during the Primary years. They use the acronym CLAPS for the main areas of development:

Coordination

Joyce and Amy describe typical development in each of these areas, and also signs of atypical development to watch for during the Primary years. They explain how the Montessori materials and lessons can be adapted to meet the needs of a wide variety of learners.

They warn that it is dangerous to take a "wait and see" approach to learning differences. Because while we are waiting, the child with learning differences is struggling and suffering. We are also losing valuable time in which to begin early intervention. So instead, Joyce and Amy advise Guides to start using adaptive strategies as soon as they identify a child at risk. If it ends up having been developmental, there is no harm done. But if it was a learning difference, you have already been supporting the student with strategies and skills they need to be successful.

Joyce and Amy share methods for recording these observations and adaptations, and how to discuss this information with parents. This episode is filled with information that all Montessorians should have - don't miss it!