OTA Sessions

A little over three years ago, at an exhibition of sorts, we had the great opportunity of meeting Hugh Weber. Hugh is one of those larger than life type characters. Before you meet him, you seem to know everything about him and you're just trying to evaluate if what you heard is true.

Well, "it's all true", as one of our mutual heroes, Orson Welles, used to say. Most of it, anyways. Wink. Wink. Hugh Weber is known for many things. Perhaps, most importantly, he runs the OTA Sessions. However, we urge you to inquire about his other accolates. Oh the wonderful stories!

Here's a little bit more about OTA: "OTA serves as a creative collaborative offering extraordinary experiences and engagements that educate, empower, and serve as catalysts for community-builders and change agents to improve the lives of all people living in South DakOTA, North DakOTA, and MinnesOTA." Yep, that's where the OTA comes from.

Baan Dek couldn't be more pleased to announce that we've sponsored the OTA Sessions for the third year in a row. Have you seen this years line-up? It might be the single greatest list of speakers to visit the region on the same day. We're very proud to call this region our home. And, we're very proud to sponsor Hugh Weber's vision for what OTA is, and what it is becoming.

You should follow OTA on Twitter: @otasessions.

Meet Jenna Thielen

We couldn't be more pleased to announce that Jenna Thielen will be joining Baan Dek in the Fall of 2013. A native of Sioux Falls, Jenna completed her AMI Elementary Training from the Montessori Institute of Milwaukee.

She has been working in Milwaukee as a public Montessori Elementary teacher for the past year and will be joining us, to start, as a Toddler assistant. She'll also be around to answer any questions about the Elementary program, which she will pioneer in the Fall of 2014, depending on interest.

Needless to say, we are so excited! Jenna holds a BA and an MA from the University of South Dakota. She also holds an AMI Advanced Diploma from the Montessori Institute of Milwaukee. Her hobbies include, film, cooking, music and...awesome hats! Those are our words, not hers.

Toddler at Baan Dek

We have some very special and exciting news to share with you. We're going to open a Toddler program in the Fall of 2013. It'll be the first of its kind in the state of South Dakota. If you would like to reserve a spot in the Toddler program, which will accommodate students between 18-36 months, please send us a note.

Mrs. Bauer will be the lead teacher in the Toddler classroom, and she will be joined by Jenna Thielen. Mrs. Bauer will embark upon her Association Montessori International Toddler training in Denver, Colorado this Summer and we couldn't be more excited! Jenna Thielen, a certified Montessori elementary teacher, with experience as a Toddler assistant, will work with Jamie for one year, before pioneering the Elementary program in the Fall of 2014.

Spotlight Dane Peters

We have a very special Spotlight to share with you. Meet Dane Peters, of the Brooklyn Heights Montessori school. It was such a pleasure to discover his background, hear his advice, and learn what might be in store for the future of education. We hope you enjoy!

Q: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Your background, your interests, your dreams? 

A: Born and raised in a strong family and in traditional public schools through undergraduate work, I have always enjoyed listening and talking to people. Be they friends, children, colleagues, or students, I now know why I stand at the front door of my School over the past 20 years greeting students, teachers and parents. Teaching—no, learning—is the battery that keeps me going, and people are where my power supply gets charged. My life-long learning has manifested itself in many ways; to name a few: learning to fly, teaching, sky diving, being an officer in the Marine Corps, serving as a husband and parent for 40years, writing, blogging, discovering Montessori, serving others, and now grand parenting. 

Q: Now that the hardest question is out of the way: What's your favorite color? 

A: I believe if you view “Crayola Doesn’t Make a Color for Your Eyes” you will see my favorite color. And do treat yourself by viewing this beautiful video.

Q: Do you have a favorite book? How about a film?

A: I love reading. I am never without one or two books in process. I do tend to lean towards non-fiction but read the likes of Ken Follett, John Steinbeck, and John Irving, and I admit that I do have a passion for middle reader books, especially Newbery Medal winners. If you haven’t read Wonder by R. J. Palacio you must. 

There is one book that keeps rising to the top: Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. Actually, the best way to answer this question is to click over to my blog where I love to talk about the books I read.

I do enjoy watching movies. I often reflect on Pat Conroy’s “The Great Santini” starring Robert Duvall and “Pay it Forward,” starring Haley Joel Osment and Kevin Spacey. Both have so many good family lessons.

Q: When you close your eyes late at night, and imagine waking up and starting a new adventure: what is that adventure?

A: Writing a book. That way I can pass on my experiences and life-long lessons learned to others so they might have an easier time in life.

Q: Can you tell us about your hobbies? 

A: Writing, writing, writing, and working with my hands. I love to do home repair activities. Give me a broken faucet, misaligned molding, or a room in need of a painting, and I will enter into what Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls “flow.”

Q: Switching to Montessori, what advice do you have for new Montessori schools? 

• Make sure everyone—owner or Board, head or principal, teachers, staff, parents and surrounding community—understands the school’s mission and Montessori philosophy. 
• Define the roles and responsibilities of each constituency within the school community, i.e. head/principal leads the operation of the school, Board governs, teachers teach and care for children, parents parent.
• Have plenty of resources—particularly Montessori resources—available for children, and teachers, and maintain a prepared environment.

Q: With that in mind, we suppose the same question can be applied to established Montessori schools. 

• Make sure everyone—owner or Board, head or principal, teachers, staff, parents and surrounding community—understands the school’s mission and Montessori philosophy. 
• Define the roles and responsibilities of each constituency within the school community, i.e. head/principal leads the operation of the school, Board governs, teachers teach and care for children, parents parent.
• Have plenty of resources—particularly Montessori resources—available for children, and teachers, and maintain a prepared environment.

Q: Can you share with us your experience on the AMS board?

A: Having served on 10 different non-profit boards over the past 20 years, three as Board Chair, I have come to appreciate the beauty of boards that run smoothly and follow best practices; as an aside, Dr. Richard Chait’s Governance As Leadership is the bible of good governance. This is where I feel the AMS Board is presently. With a wonderful Executive Director and 18 committed Directors who are dedicated to Montessori education, I enjoy being with these leaders whether we are on the West Coast, or Florida, or New York City, where the headquarters are located. Often when I consult with schools or give a presentation on governance, I share my experiences with this Board and my own School Board as models. 

One of the highlights of this year’s Board work was when the Board met with André Roberfroid, President of AMI, and Virginia McHugh Goodwin, Executive Director of AMI USA. There was no question among those present that it is important for both AMI and AMS to unite behind our Montessori missions and help others understand the benefits of a Montessori education.

Q: Did you have a "Montessori Moment?"

A: Ever since I began my Montessori training, the day I began heading Brooklyn Heights Montessori School, I have accepted — no relished — my Montessori journey. The day I began observing my grand daughter’s absorbent mind through a Montessori lens, was a special Montessori moment.

Q: What's your favorite Montessori quote?

A: The quote I use over and over again with parents, colleagues, and adult learners is “I know the children are learning when they don’t know that I am in the room.”

Q: What do you think is the best introduction to Montessori?

A: Observing a classroom in action. It is truly magical. My first experience with Montessori education was when I observed a classroom and subsequently sat on the Board of The Cobb School Montessori. Thank you, Mary Lou Cobb.

And, if you cannot get into a classroom, then read Montessori Today by Paula Polk Lillard, or Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow, or Jane Healy’s Your Child’s Growing Mind, or Mind in the Making by Ellen Galinsky, or Drive by Dan Pink. Whether it is a book specifically about Montessori or a book that is inspired by her work, you cannot help but be touched by how her work has endured over the past 100 years, particularly the principles that are forever applicable to today’s child. This is all beautifully illustrated in M. Shannon Helfrich’s book Montessori Learning in the 21 Century.

Q: What continues to inspire you about Montessori?

A: Whenever I peek into a classroom at my school and see toddlers or 3- to 6-year olds or middle schoolers engaged in work, I inevitably stare in amazement. This past summer I read Rita Kramer’s biography of Dr. Montessori. I couldn’t put the book down. Amazed by Montessori’s determination and insight into the child, I wrote for Montessori Life “The Child Whisperer.” I believe that it is a perfect characterization of who she was as a human being, educator, and expert in child development. 

Q: How do you feel Brooklyn Heights Montessori has impacted your community?

A: It has become the option of choice for those families who are looking for an education that is not a standardized test factory with a cookie cutter curriculum. And, once you walk through the doors you immediately see and feel a caring staff that appreciate children and guide them using grace and courtesy. A school that respects the child, something we sometimes take for granted in our Montessori communities is a breath of fresh air for many of our families.

Q: What kind of legacy would you hope you and Brooklyn Heights Montessori School will impart to students?

A: A legacy of confidence, a strong sense of self, and the ability to embrace failure as a tool to success. I like to think that Sir Ken Robinson’s TED Talk “Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity” is an excellent vision of how Montessori schools work. Having heard him at both a National Association of Independent Schools Conference and an American Montessori Society Conference, I know what inspires educators; he understands child development and what motivates children and adults. His book The Element stands out as an important book for me.

Q: In what ways do you envision the future of education? 

A: Well, we will all come to embrace creative thinking, choice, exploration, empathy, thoughtfulness, and learn to not get hung up on standardized testing. My short piece “930” explains this further.

Technology is going to have an increasingly larger role in education. I have experienced the evolution of listening to music from a 45rpm record to a vinyl album, to an 8-track tape, to a cassette tape, to a CD to an mp3, to now cloud-based listening, e.g. Pandora and Spotify. I love the evolution of books and newspapers. Begrudgingly, I now accept the ease with which I can read an e-book using highlighting, bookmarking, note taking, see a definition or follow a source all with the touch of a finger.

Classroom learning that was once called online learning has evolved into blended learning, that is some classroom learning blended with online learning, e.g. Massive Open Online Learning (MOOC), will soon be all virtual one day. Although I like to think that the younger ages will always have teachers nearby. When imagining the future of education, I often reflect on Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, and M. T. Anderson’s young adult book Feed and ask about the latter, “Will it get to that?” I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Finally, I do believe that Dr. Montessori’s genius will always be with us, because in the end, it IS about respecting the child.

"These are our future leaders".

We thought we'd put together a few of the notes from our latest parent education workshop on "The Importance of the Kindergarten Year". This was, perhaps, the most powerful and engaging workshop that we've ever hosted, with so many wonderful testimonials and questions.

Mrs. Will jumpstarted and framed the conversation with some terrific observations and comments on why the Montessori approach to education is so successful, as it concentrates on the "individual needs of the students", as opposed to the "needs of the group". She went on to explain how kindergarten was "originally started to prepare workers for factories". When you think about this model, it almost makes perfect sense.

For instance, in traditional education, and Mrs. Will was very careful not to devalue the role that this style of learning can play for families, children are taught the exact same thing at the exact same time. You only need to close your eyes and envision a massive warehouse at the start of the industrial revolution to grasp the extreme example of this imagery.

In traditional education, and despite their interests, students are required to follow along with the chosen subject. "Between ten and eleven today we'll work with our letters," explains the teacher. "Then, at eleven, we'll switch things up and start in on our numbers." Everyone, regardless of their abilities, is expected to engage with the work. Not only is it presumed that everyone can understand the material at the same rate, they're also evaluated with tests or quizes to judge the work.

In Montessori, of course, we believe that everyone learns differently and at their own pace, and that, as educators, we are here to accommodate the wealth of interests on an individual, personalized basis. "Yesterday," explained Mrs. Will, "we had a student who worked on an activity all day. She did it, not for me, but for herself." Can you imagine that happening in a traditional setting? No. It's just not set up that way, which isn't necessarily a criticism, so much as an observation.

At Baan Dek, we truly believe that all we can do is explain the different systems, and leave it up to families to decide what is best for them.

As Mrs. Will wrapped up her presentation, Ms. Wood joined in with a few comments of her own. She started off by saying, "We're just a series of preferences." Which is to say, everyone has their own interests and proclivities. She went on to articulate why the Kindergarten year is so important, as it's the completion of a cycle. "There are certain things that happen in Kindergarten that simply require age and physical maturity to achieve," describes Ms. Wood.

Ms. Wood then goes on to provide a few recent, concrete examples from the classroom. "My Kindergartners are all really excited about having beautiful handwriting. They have all wanted to be able to write since they could compose words with the Moveable Alphabet, but it was only when their hand was large enough and they had the amount of manual dexterity to be able to write with grace. This is not merely a matter of how much time theyʼve spent in the classroom, since many who came to us when they were 2 will leave when theyʼve spend 4 years in the primary class; it is a function of being old enough to notice, having the desire to improve this skill, and having the hand control to make it happen."

But, it is often asked, "Won't the children have exhausted the materials in the classroom by the Kindergarten year?" Ms. Wood elucidates: "No matter how far along a child is in math or in language, the materials are never exhausted. Even for a child who is incredibly gifted in math and loves doing it, the four year olds brain is still very much geared toward the sensorial and practical life materials, and they still need and want to spend lots of time in these areas. It is natural for a childʼs development to dictate them spending much more time in the academic areas of the classroom when they are kindergarten age. It is not uncommon for one of my kindergartners to spend the entire day on one work. They work they do, the work they are now ready for is “Big Work,” and they have the focus and determination to see it through. Theyʼve been building these skills since day one, and Kindergarten is when it all pays off."

With all of this discussion about academics, we must also remember that we truly believe that social success leads to academic success, and that, as Ms. Wood concludes, "One of the most important aspects of Montessori is not academic. These are our future leaders."

If you have any questions, or would like to share any thoughts on the "Importance of the Kindergarten Year", please don't hesitate to get in touch, or leave a comment below.