Observation #1

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For the purpose of my first observation I chose to observe a Montessori classroom where I work in Longmont. The children are in a multi age environment at all times, ranging in age from two to six years old. Almost all the children regularly attend five days a week, with ten to fifteen children everyday. I work as a teachers assistant, since I am not yet qualified to be a Montessori directress. To protect the identity of the children and teachers I will be using the first initial of their name, but their age and behaviors will be factual.
I start my observation at around 8am, for today’s purpose of observation I am not working as teacher’s assistant so that I can focus on watching and recording. At my school we have a three hour uninterrupted work time where children can freely choose a work that they have had a lesson on, this time is from 8am-11am. I observe a boy named A. go over to a station and choose a work, A. is four years old. He chooses a cutting activity for valentines day. The work involves cutting a heart out of paper (fold the paper, then follow the pre-drawn dotted lines to cut the heart shape), the children in this class are familiar with cutting works as there are always about three available. It is important to note, that the children were asked to cut out their hearts and put them in a plastic ziploc bag when they were finished with them, the ziploc is a new thing for all the kids. I watch as A. cuts the heart out of the paper. He starts to look around the classroom for about five minutes, A. is sitting alone at a table. Then, A. takes some colored pencils and starts to poke holes through his bag, which contain other hearts he has made the previous days. At first A. just poked one hole, he continued to look arou...

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...ess structure during meal and outside time, I’m not saying let the kids go crazy, but the teachers seem to like it quite quiet during meal times, and I think this makes the kids feel cooped up. Regardless of my opinion towards the Montessori method, I believe that this behavior is a good example of a level two behavior from both G. and S.
Overall, I am really grateful where I work because the children are very well behaved. I am still learning a lot about Maria Montessori’s methods and how to apply them in the classroom, I can see so far that some kids seem to really benefit from this style. I enjoy the way that the children are encouraged and taught to do a lot of self-resolution (the peace rose, peace artifact) amongst themselves. I do have some reservations regarding the structure, but I am learning how to adapt to a different style while teaching in this school.

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