Embrace the Process
“I really need to work on not always racing ahead. I want to focus on embracing the process of becoming a teacher. I want to learn how to embrace the process of lesson planning and the evolution of lessons and units and how they are fluid. I feel like this will be something that I’m going to be something that I’m going to be focusing and working on my entire career. I just need to keep in mind that it’s not always the result– it is the process.”
Where I was coming from
This inquiry of attempting to map the Montessori Great Stories with the new BC curriculum initially began as a group project that seeked to create a document that could hopefully be used as new teachers in the Montessori public school system. My initial questions for this project were, “What are the key concepts and pedagogical approaches to the Montessori Great Stories of ‘The Story of Life’ and ‘The Story of Humans’? What is best practice for integrating the new BC curriculum with the relevant Montessori curriculum? How would a teacher implement these two Montessori Great Stories in a Montessori classroom?”. This inquiry was intended to create a document that would be useful and current to both the Montessori curriculum as well as the new BC draft curriculum so that I would be able to use pieces of it during my practicum. This inquiry process has been far more challenging than I anticipated. Storytelling does not come naturally to me, and in choosing this project I am attempting to challenge myself by implementing it in my teaching. I do believe that there is much to be said for using storytelling to propel students into study with curiosity and wonder.
Where I am now
In reading “Children of the Universe: Cosmic Education in Montessori Elementary Classroom” by Michael and D’Neil Duffy I learned much about Cosmic education and top-down pedagogy. This book outlined the Great Stories and illustrated the curriculum areas that each story touches on. This book emphasizes the power of storytelling and its ability to capture the imagination of students in order to propel them into their own inquiry and study.
I have mapped the two great stories in question with the new BC draft curriculum from grades 1-6 in both Science and Social Studies. In doing this, I became more familiar with the areas that both curriculum address. From there, I began unit planning and lesson planning for my long practicum. Using both the Montessori Great stories and the new BC draft curriculum I have created units that incorporate stories. The Montessori Great stories frame most of my units and lessons; however through this process I have found other stories that I will use to capture interest and attention at the beginning of units. I believe that this is in true Montessori philosophy as it will draw the students in and allow for reflection and thought about their own place in the world.
Where I am going
During my practicum I will be presenting the students with as many “story, then study” lessons as I can. To cover science in my grade 4/5/6 Montessori classroom, I will be teaching microbiology, cells and microscopes, marine animals and environmental adaptations and plants. For each of these units, the first lesson or first few lessons will be framed by a story. Through this top-down framework, using read-alouds, drama, sequencing and independant stories, I hope to “hook” the students into further study.
To further my research and inquiry, I will be reflecting on this method of teaching. As storytelling does not come naturally for me, this is challenging and requires much effort. I will be monitoring and observing the students’ responses to the use of the Great Stories as well as other relevant stories and their willingness to listen and participate. I do believe that the Montessori Great Stories and stories in general are a valuable way to frame science and biological studies. This is a great opportunity for me as a beginning teacher to learn and attempt to integrate stories and study.