One of the main components of Montessori education is that students are also taught practical life skills. They have impressed me here by totally taking care of cleaning up after themselves and leaving their classrooms in great shape at the end of each day. Yesterday, these 8th graders had a cooking lesson and then were able to eat what they had made. On the menu were pastel de elote (corn cake) and sopes (a corn tortilla folded up on the edges and filled with beans, topped with cheese). It was all very good!

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I observed these students as having different levels of skills where cooking was involved yet they all worked together to complete a meal. It’s too bad that most of our schools have had to take Home Economics classes out of them. This is another activity that can be very valuable in developing teamwork and creating a more level playing field for our students as well as giving them skills for the future.

As I reflect I will think about how I can add similar activities into my teaching pedagogy. I always make the promise to my students that I will present them with material that will help them be more successful in their future lives and this could very well be another tool to add to their tool belts.

As I’m constantly reflecting while traveling, I need to acknowledge my school family who have been working their tails off to finish the best year yet at Springfield Middle School! Special thanks to Carla Stine-King who took the lead these past four weeks and not only survived but flourished; to Jamie Camp for taking over 7th hour and living to tell about it; to Angela Glubke for making sure all of my end of year awards were printed; to Andrea Justus and the Joshes for handling lunch duty; to Meri Shabani and Blake Nordman who are the rudders of our ship; and to my team, Barry, Morgan, Josh, Carla and Angela who kept our 7th graders learning and growing! Every single one of you has been so interested and supportive in this great adventure!

This staff is second to none! I appreciate all of you so much and look forward to another great year after you’ve all had some rest. See you soon! Blessings to all from Puerto Vallarta (where I’m still in school😉). ❤️❤️

On Monday and Tuesday, I observed how Montessori Puerto Vallarta provides information to parents about their child’s education. On these two days, the 4th, 5th and 6th grade class was divided into two parts. One group worked with their parents while the other group helped prepare the food for lunch. On the 2nd day, they flipped and did the opposite job. The students learned about all of the parts of the vegetables and then prepared a salad bar for everyone to eat.

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As parents were escorted into the classroom, they joined their child around the circle where meetings are had many times during the day. Welcomes were given as students demonstrated a correct handshake by going around the circle greeting each other and all of the parents. A fun movement activity was then done too.

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After the introductions, each parent(s) went with their child to a specific learning activity/location. The parent(s) fully participated in one of their child’s daily learning activity. Each student taught how the activity was to be completed and the parent(s) completed it with their child. The amazing thing with this is that EVERY student was represented by an adult from their family! Some students had one or both parents, grandparents or even an older sister but they all had someone come to work with them. This is wonderful practice, not only for the students, but for their parents as well. This gives the adults a real inside look into what their children are doing in school. It gives the students a chance to practice giving good detail to their parents about what they are learning. It is a WIN-WIN situation as far as I’m concerned!

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The last picture is the young man who I highlighted last week while he was putting his work together to present to his parents. They were both able to come and he did a fantastic job sharing his wealth of knowledge about Egypt with them. I’m sure they were proud (as I was!). I was very impressed by all of the students and so happy to see and meet their family members!

Wouldn’t this be a great idea for us to use to help our parents become comfortable with our schools? I believe that many of our parents don’t come to visit because they are used to only being called in when there’s trouble!

I don’t think that this is only something applicable to the lower grades but also useful at all levels. I won’t say it’s easy but most things that are worthwhile are not simple to do. The teacher of this class put in a lot of hard work to help her students be prepared to share part of their day with the adults in their lives. Guadelupe, the teacher, should be very pleased with the final outcome too!

Something for me to think about: How can I make what I do more of a partnership with the parents whose children I am with each and every day? Now that I’ve seen this is action, what am I going to do about using this knowledge to improve my own teaching? Each experience leaves me with new questions and a lot of thinking! Thanks, again, for joining this journey!

“Laughter is brightest in the place where food is.” (Irish Proverb)

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Since I wholeheartedly believe this to be true, I have enjoyed much laughter and good times around food the past few weeks. Words are not needed…enjoy what I’ve experienced by taste through your sight. I can tell you it was all even better than you can imagine!

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I didn’t eat all of the above personally but they were all brought to our table and enjoyed by us! If food is any measurement of hospitality then I’m receiving top-notch service!!!

On Wednesday, I was privileged to spend a couple of hours with the Primary Class. This class is made up of 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade students, 28 in all. A unique feature of this class is that there are two members who have special needs. The class is taught by one teacher, Lulu, and there is also an assistant teacher in the room to help.

Lulu had suggested that I come at the time that I did as she thought that I would enjoy the activity that she was doing with the students on this day. As students entered the room, they each picked up a clip board which had individualized work on it. This is where I saw evidence of differentiation. The 3rd grade student who was sitting near me was practicing cursive letters while some younger students were doing coloring/counting sheets. Every student had a place to sit and they came in, sat in their seat and quietly completed the work on their clip board.

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The school wide signal that all teachers use to get students attention is to say, “escuchan” (which means listen in English). When Lulu was ready to move on, she quietly, but firmly, uttered “escuchan!” She then gave directions and students returned their clip boards to a specific spot and moved into a circle as they had been asked to do.

This gives me pause because it is evident that when routines are built into a system, things happen in an efficient way. I’m sure that there is a lot of training that goes on at the start of each year but I can also see a big advantage of having multiple age levels together so that those with more experience are able to help the new students who are just entering the class.

Lulu was doing a multi-tiered activity around the story of Elmer by David McKee which tells about “Elmer the elephant is bright-colored patchwork all over. No wonder the other elephants laugh at him! If he were ordinary elephant color, the others might stop laughing. That would make Elmer feel better, wouldn’t it? David McKee’s comical fable about everyone’s favorite patchwork elephant teaches readers to be themselves and celebrates the power of laughter.”

Lulu scanned through the book, identifying animals that were part of the story and as she did this, she brought out a stuffed animal example for students to see. This resulted in many shrieks of laughter and giggles from the kids. Lulu was very engaging and kept the students’ focus on what she was saying through raising and lowering her voice and being excited about the story.

The next part is better illustrated through the video below. Students were divided into two groups and given a spot to hang on to a large piece of material. This is where teamwork came into play. Lulu gave directions about which way to move and, through use of a tambourine, how quickly to move.

The space that students were using was not very large so they really had to work together to complete each task. They also had so much fun doing it. You don’t have to understand Spanish to know that these students love what they’re doing while they are learning!

In the next video, Lulu brought the idea of the animals back out by assigning each student one of four animals: giraffe, hippopotamus, lion and frog. Students danced around the room with their material while Lulu played music. When she spoke the name of a specific animal, any student assigned that animal was to go under the materiel and be covered as quickly as possible. I laughed so hard watching them do this and they got better with each turn!

And then the (stuffed) animals came out to play!

Through all this time, about an hour, students remained engaged and fully participating in the activity. Lulu then had students sit back in the circle and she reviewed what animals would be in the book. It seemed at this point that each animal had been assigned a shape/position throughout the year because as she read about each animal, a student would come to the middle of the circle and strike a pose.

After the book had been read, students paired up and practiced their animal poses. They danced around with a partner to music and when the music stopped, they went to a card on the floor around the circle and copied the animal pose that was on that card.

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(At this point, I had to leave as I had scheduled a call with my students at Springfield Middle School.)

Lulu ended this learning activity/session by using students’ knowledge of the poses to do a Yoga session with the class. This is a great way to bring the whole group back together and get them focused on the next task.

I’m trying to write down all of the details of everything I’m learning as it’s just not possible to process it all right now while I’m in the middle of it. What amazed me the most is that one teacher handled a large group of students which included a couple with specials needs and she kept them all active and engaged the whole time! It was obvious that she is a Master Teacher and truly enjoys what she does as was evidenced in the fact that she was fully involved in the process, at one point rolling on the floor to demonstrate an animal pose.

Observing others can and is such a valuable experience because all of us have different strengths and it’s wonderful to be able to draw from each other. It doesn’t even matter if we speak the same language or not!

Thank you Lulu for allowing me to spend time in your room and learning so much from you!

For the first time ever, I went to school on Memorial Day! Esperanza is not the only educator in her family. Both her son, Francisco, and daughter, Sarhai, are high school teachers. I had the privilege of accompanying Sarhai to visit Fernandez De Lizardi (FDL) Secundaria school on Monday, May 27, 2019. The school is a private school with around 300 students in grades 7-12. Sarhai teaches the Juniors and Seniors as a Science teacher.

Our day started as we walked to catch the bus to school. We actually rode the bus with the students which is a common practice. There were two other teachers on the bus with us.

The day began with an all school gathering to present the flag and sing the national anthem. All students lined up and stood at attention while the flag was brought in and this concluded with the singing of the national anthem. This is done every Monday to start the week.

Sarhai does not have a dedicated classroom so must travel to various open classrooms to teach her classes. Last week, one of her senior classes had taken a field trip to a Tequila distillery to learn about the process of chemical changes. For class, they took a quiz to explain the process and what they learned. Sarhai believes in giving students real world, practical experiences to enhance their learning. We are definitely kindred spirits in this belief. Sarhai has only been teaching a couple of years and does not even have a degree in education yet she’s a natural. She’s a Biology major who is choosing to teach.

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The next class was Chemistry in a round classroom situated above the office. On this day, Junior students were taking a test about solutions. Once they had answered 5 questions, they turned the test in and Sarhai paired students up according to strengths. Those pairs then had to choose one of the solutions from the questions and prepare it, explaining the process on their test paper. I loved watching the practical application of learning that was occurring in this class. It was not silent! They were having conversations regarding the work and enjoying their learning.

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As students finished their work, they did not have to sit in the classroom and wait for others to complete their tasks. Students went out into a large courtyard area and could sit at picnic tables, chatting with friends, doing other work or getting a snack. This area also houses two small buildings where lunch and snacks may be purchased.

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After lunch, I was able to sit in on an 8th grade History class that is taught in English. The teacher, Edna, has been teaching at this school for 9 years. Her classroom is not very large and this hour consisted of 27 students (she only has 25 desks) who were all in attendance. It was crowded!

Edna’s instruction was very different from how the classes in my school are taught. All students are required to keep a notebook which they put all notes and homework into. I saw one student who had forgotten to take her notebook home to do the homework in, cutting apart the answers that she’d written on paper and gluing it into her notebook so that her work would be there. Edna had written 10 questions on the board and students spent the first 20 minutes of class copying those questions into their notebooks while she checked in the homework by calling students up to her desk to share their notebooks. When this process was completed, as a whole class, the questions were answered and students made sure that the correct answers were in their notes. (I tried to be an observer and would say that about 80% of the students actively participated in completing these tasks.)

Once the questions were answered, a video clip on World War 2 was shown. There were frequent stops made so that students could write down information that was being given. This was not a quiet class and, in fact, was quite loud at times. However, I could see that there was a process in place and most students were willing to follow that and do their job to learn.

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An interesting thing happened after lunch….all teachers were called to an urgent meeting. Students were left to hang out in the common area or go to classrooms. I was sitting in the room that Sarhai had used for her previous hour. A group of 7th grade students were coming in for their class and were quite shocked to see me sitting there. I had some good conversations with them and could see that 7th graders are pretty much the same no matter what country you are in.

The final two hours of the day were spent with a group of students who were taking the same Chemistry test as the morning group had taken. However, this class was much different. They were louder, more active and messier in making their solutions. I have also experienced this in my classes. My last group of the day is almost always loud but they are smart and great learners. That’s the case with this group according to Sarhai. They need to talk in order to process their learning and they do well on their exams.

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Reflections and learnings from my day: We all have different styles of teaching and learning. Sarhai and Edna were vastly different types of teachers but it seemed that their students responded positively to both of them. I think our students need to experience different teaching/learning styles from us. It helps the students become more well-rounded and adaptable learners. I was also able to see that many of the actions of our students are because of their age and development.

Last summer, I attended a professional development training and one question has really stuck with me, “Are they doing that because they’re being mean/naughty or because they’re 10(or any age)?” I’d say that many student actions come because of where they’re at developmentally and it’s important for educators to remember that!

This was a wonderful day of learning and I will continue to process all that I am seeing. Thanks to Sarhai Rivas for sharing her day with me!

No serious reflections for this post….just some pictures of yesterday’s adventures on a hike to Colomitos Beach.

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I’ve been pretty surprised at the very affordable prices, especially the food. If you look where I circled on the menu….my Shrimp Ceviche (oranges around plate) cost only 170 pesos which is less than $10 US. That is very typical. They also serve very generous portions so I took half of this home with me for later.

It was another wonderful day in paradise!

In many schools in my area of Michigan, we are experiencing a sub shortage. This isn’t really a surprise since we already are short teachers to fill all of the positions within our schools. There are many times that we have to work together to cover for each other when a sub isn’t available.

On Thursday, this week, I learned how classrooms are covered here. The lead teacher for the 4th, 5th and 6th grade class took four students to compete in a Math competition on Thursday morning, Esperanza and I covered her class. Esperanza’s assignments in the middle school were absorbed by her team of teachers so that we could do this.

Unlike when I’m gone from my class and need specific lesson plans left, there were not any plans left for us to follow. The students knew what they were supposed to be doing AND DID IT! Students have a specific sequence of tasks to complete each day and they have learned how to use their time to finish required work. Even when classroom work is completed, students will have homework to complete each night.

While we were monitoring this class while the teacher was gone, I was able to observe students working together through several activities. Here are a few!

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Two students were working together to solve a multiple digit multiplication problem. The various colored beads represented digits and were moved as they multiplied each section. It was amazing to see them figure out the correct answer to a problem that multiplied a three digit number by a six digit number.

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In this example, students used a model of geometric shapes/explanations to draw and explain their own work.

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This was probably the most fascinating project that I viewed on Thursday. This young man is very energetic and likes to move around. However, he was so involved and focused on what he was doing that we almost didn’t know that he was in the room. He was able to choose the topic of this project which he will be presenting to his parents at the end of the year. He chose to do a historical timeline of Egypt. The top, middle picture is a cloth that has a timeline embedded into it. Below that is a blank timeline with cards that the student placed himself. He then used his knowledge to build his own new timeline on paper. He drew very detailed pictures on his own timeline and was so proud to share it with me (last picture). I would say that he worked on this for about an hour and a half without anyone prompting or telling him what he should be doing. It was amazing to watch him and have him share his knowledge with me on a subject that I know very little about.

This was eye opening and gave me a glimpse of how I need to move my own students towards being more self sufficient. I say that I’m trying to do that but I don’t know if I’m really holding them accountable to what I’m asking of them. When I return to school, I will be working with the same group of students who I had last year. This will be an advantage for all of us so I hope that I can use some of the ideas I’ve been learning to implement in my classroom and push my students to become more self-sufficient as they will head to high school after they leave me next year. More thoughts to come later…

P.S. One of the 6th grade students who competed in the Math competition was the overall winner for Puerto Vallarta and will now move on to a state level competition. Big congratulations to Jayden!

Today I had the privilege of watching a very special ceremony done in the 4th, 5th and 6th grade classroom to celebrate a birthday. The video is attached below but I also wanted to describe what is happening and the meaning behind it.

First, all of the students are in a circle on the floor which is where they meet several times a day. In the middle of the circle is a small rug with the picture of a sun laid out. The birthday child is then called up and handed a small earth globe and she’s asked to make a circle around the sun to represent each year that she has lived on earth. (When I re-watched the video, I realized that they actually counted incorrectly! She’s 11!)

Next, the teacher puts some alcohol on a cotton ball and puts it in a small pan. She then lights this on fire while the students sing to the birthday child. The fire is representative of life. Students then sing a birthday song in Spanish, English and then another version from their culture.

Finally, the birthday child is cheered and encouraged. The best part was that she was then able to cut the cake she brought in to share with her classmates. (It was double chocolate and delicious!) This was a wonderful tradition to observe and experience!

My first full weekend in Puerto Vallarta was full of new and interesting adventures. Saturday morning started cloudy with some sprinkles but didn’t stay that way for long. We took a boat excursion to Las Animas beach for the day. The boat was filled with families, students and tourists who were all out to have a fun day. This was an all-inclusive day trip that provided breakfast, drinks and lunch on the island. There were extra adventures available such as snorkeling, parasailing and riding on the banana boat. The ride out to the island took a couple of hours and we were able to see the Puerto Vallarta coast as we traveled south. It was a great day!

Today was a cultural experience that I was privileged to participate in and it opened my eyes to how my other culture students might feel. Sunday afternoon, we went to the finals of beach soccer…yes, you heard the right!…beach soccer. The final game was the U.S. vs. Mexico. It was an interesting feeling, sitting in the middle of the Mexican fans as the only American that I could see. I love a good soccer match so I cheered for all of the fabulous plays but it also caused me to do some introspective thinking. This must be what some of my students feel like when our U.S. school culture collides with what they have been accustomed to in their home country. I’ll need to think on this some more but I certainly have a new appreciation for being the “different” one in a crowd that is comfortable in their culture.

The other aspect of the game that caused me to pause and reflect was that there was no charge to watch…it was FREE!! The cost of food and many activities, so far, have been quite minimal and has helped me to see how we put a price on everything in the U.S. Wouldn’t it be nice if communities could get together at events such as this soccer match and build rapport with each other through a common thread? Food for thought!