1+941-729-9565 / 1+800-655-5843 [email protected]

 

 

 

 Schedule

Welcome to the second day of our conference.

conference conversation 2 reduced

Saturday, November 6, 2021

All times are given in Eastern Standard Time (USA)

7:30 am – 8:00 am

Back to Center 

Join us for 30 minutes of mind-quieting, energy-boosting activities  and exercises. Share your favorite mind-body practices: creative movement, songs, affirmations, poems, breath work, visualizations – any activity that brings you peace and positivity.

8:00 am – 8:50 am

Breakfast

9:00 am – 9:45 am

Community Reflection 

*Live Streamed*

9:45 AM – 10:15 AM

Break

Network & Visit Exhibitors

10:15 am – 11:45 am

Jana Morgan Herman 

 

(For EC)

3A | Montessori’s Outdoor Classroom

*In-person onsite & live-streamed*

Many schools advertise “all-day Montessori” when describing the activities that happen inside the classroom during school hours. Interestingly, Montessori’s school day was only inside for part of the day. For much of the day, the outdoors played a significant role in the Scientific Pedagogy practices as Applied to Child Education in ‘The Children’s Houses.’ From the day’s description in the first Casa to her description of the school day in her little school in India, children spent a great deal of time outdoors. 

Read more ...

What did outdoor spaces look like? What did they do during those afternoons? Learn more about Montessori’s vision for outdoor education as a natural part of the school day and how your school can add these experiences no matter if you are located in a strip mall or on a large property.

10:15 am – 11:45 am

Michael Dorer

 

(For All)

3B | Storytelling and Executive Functioning

*In-person onsite & live-streamed*

What is executive functioning and why is it important? What is meant by working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibition control? Do they matter? Join Michael to answer these questions and then see how storytelling enhances and develops executive functioning, aiming at all three of these abilities. Plan to share your own storytelling experiences.

10:15 am – 11:45 am

Christine Lowry

 

(For All/SPED)

3C | Session 1 of 3, Challenging Behaviors: Reframing Our Approach.

All

*In-person onsite & live-streamed*

Even before the pandemic, we struggled to understand and work with students whose behaviors challenged us. In this time of “collective trauma,” the increase in anxiety, depression, dysregulation, learning difficulties, and aggression has made that need to understand what to do greater than ever before. This 3 session, day long workshop, will give you the opportunity to gain knowledge, as well as practical strategies and tools as we learn the importance and the “how” of “guiding” positive behavior and learning rather than just “managing” our students. For Montessori school leaders and educators, from toddlers through adolescence, join us in this participatory learning experience that will reframe your thinking and your approach to supporting all students in the Montessori way.

10:15 am – 11:45 am

Tim Seldin

Kathy Leitch

(For Leadership)

3D | Session 1 of 3, Leadership the Montessori Way Session Part 1: The courage, strategy, and vision to lead & guide a Montessori School 

*In-person onsite & live-streamed*

As an educational approach, Montessori is based on philosophical principles and conscious systems of organizing our learning communities. At the core, Montessori is a set of systems that allow us to create and sustain our highly effective partnership model. Leading a Montessori school essentially is based on a similar approach: The Montessori Way.

We teach that schools consist of nine major interrelated areas of program and operation. In this first session, Tim Seldin and Kathy Leitch will lead us through the basic principles of the Montessori Way of School Leadership. We will focus on the importance of institutional clarity, consistency, identity, and memory.

10:15 am – 11:45 am

Mercedes Castle 

 

(For Toddler)

3E | Matchmaker, Matchmaker: Connecting Toddlers to Meaningful Work

*Live Streamed*

Let’s take a look at how to turn classroom observations into sparking a developmental match between the young child and the materials. We’ll examine how to develop sequences of work for the Montessori toddler classroom that meets the needs of all learners, and discuss methods for presentations that align with our Montessori values. We’ll take a deep dive into Practical Life and Language materials, their development, when to present and how to engage even the busiest of young learners.

10:15 am – 11:45 am

Mary Ellen Maunz

(For All)

3F | Living Montessori – Re-Engaging In Your Own Spiritual Development

*Live Streamed*

Montessori believed that the spiritual preparation of the adult was a key aspect of teacher education. It is also a key aspect of professional development. Join me for a deep dive into how we can live Montessori through focus on our own ongoing internal development. We will also investigate various means of the practices of spiritual preparation.

Noon – 12:45 pm

Lunch

12:45 pm -1:45 pm

Andrew Kutt

Keynote: FINDING YOUR VOICE . . . SPEAKING YOUR TRUTH Turning purpose into passion 

*In-person onsite & live-streamed*

In this keynote Andrew Kutt will share reflections, in both word and in song, about our noble task as Montessorians empowering students to find their own true voice and bravely follow the path they are meant to walk in this world. As Montessori guides and leaders who travel this journey with our students, we too discover the song our lives are meant to sing – a song both of self-offering and self-flowering. We give of ourselves every day in our classrooms and schools, while along the way we learn many transformative life lessons from the children and parents we serve.

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Meanwhile all of us – students, educators and parents -together form a global Montessori community, which, like a vast, melodic and diverse choir, is also finding its own collective voice at this seminal moment in human history.

Drawing upon 35 years of stories as Montessori educator and school founder, as well as upon his repertoire of over 100 original songs, Andrew will invite us to celebrate the heritage we all share, and embrace the future we all build together when work and play in harmony, as one.

1:45 pm – 2:15 pm

Break

Network & Visit Exhibitors

2:15 PM- 3:45 PM

Terri Sherrill 

(For Toddler)

4A | Unconscious to Conscious – Supporting the Development of a Healthy Will

*In-person onsite & live-streamed*

From a one-cell organism to a small human who can walk, talk, laugh, climb, and sing … a lot happens in the first three years of life. How can we help our children to grow strong … not only in body and mind … but in spirit too? What is a healthy will? How can our focus on the will help us to keep everything else in perspective? This workshop will help us to ground our practice in this important philosophy.

2:15 PM- 3:45 PM

Lindsay Pollock

(Leadership)

4B | Spiritual Preparation of the Montessori Leader

*In-person onsite & live-streamed*

Spiritual preparation of the Montessori leader is essential to establishing a peaceful school culture for students, families and faculty. During this session we will explore strategies to embrace Dr. Montessori’s guiding principles as daily practices as they are applied to our work and personal spaces. We will engage with one another in case studies and problem-solving to stimulate deep thought and dialogue around challenges that face today’s Montessori leaders with a lens on social justice and equity.

2:15 PM- 3:45 PM

Christine Lowry

(For All/SPED)

4C | Session 2 of 3, Challenging Behaviors: Reframing Our Approach

*In-person onsite & live-streamed*

Even before the pandemic, we struggled to understand and work with students whose behaviors challenged us. In this time of “collective trauma,” the increase in anxiety, depression, dysregulation, learning difficulties, and aggression has made that need to understand what to do greater than ever before. This 3 session, day long workshop, will give you the opportunity to gain knowledge, as well as practical strategies and tools as we learn the importance and the “how” of “guiding” positive behavior and learning rather than just “managing” our students. For Montessori school leaders and educators, from toddlers through adolescence, join us in this participatory learning experience that will reframe your thinking and your approach to supporting all students in the Montessori way.

2:15 PM- 3:45 PM

Tim Seldin

Kathy Leitch 

(For Leadership)

4D | Session 2 of 3, Leadership the Montessori Way Part 2: Finding the Perfect Match, Recruiting and Retaining your Ideal Enrollment

*In-person onsite & live-streamed*

In this session, we’ll look at who are the families who will appreciate and support your school for who you are and would be a great fit for your school community. We will explore the process of defining your target audience, getting the word out, and generating far more interest and long-term enrollment than you ever imagined. Admissions is only the first step in an ongoing process of building deep relationships, a strong community, and continuing enrollment.

2:15 PM- 3:45 PM

Anne Epstein  

(For EC/LE)

4E |  Expanding on Current and Culturally Responsive Children’s Literature

*Live Streamed*

From equity and social justice to growing up trans, children’s literature is bursting with award winning books for today’s young children. We will review an array of fiction and non-fiction books that address race, economic opportunity, sexual orientation, family configuration, exceptionalities, and religion. We will discuss follow-up activities that fit well with our language materials (for example the movable alphabet) and explore opportunities to partner with families regarding historically sensitive content.

2:15 PM- 3:45 PM

Karen Simon 

(For All)

4F | Social Justice Through Bilingual Education

*Live Streamed*

This workshop aims to deepen the capacity and expertise of Montessori teachers serving Spanish-speaking children in bilingual classrooms. With a focus on language development, dual literacy, culturally relevant and globally competent teaching, and strong family connections, we will present ideas on how to develop strong and healthy pride in their heritage for Spanish-speaking children and how to involve parents and family members in this endeavor. This workshop is based on a course presented by the National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector.

2:15 PM- 3:45 PM

Warren McPherson

(For All)

4G | Optimizing Care of Yourself and Your Brain

*On Site only*

Many new discoveries in health practices and brain health have emerged in recent years to fortify us against the psychological and environmental stresses or our culture. You will receive critical insights and practical guidelines for achieving health and balance to support your demanding career.

 

3:45 pm – 4:15 pm

Break

Network & Visit Exhibitors

4:15 PM – 5:45 PM

Erica Santana

 

(For Elementary)

5A | Practical Life, Practical Applications

*In-person onsite & live-streamed*

Come to this workshop to learn useful ways to expand practical life into the elementary classroom! The Practical Life area is very important in the primary classroom, but, once a child enters the elementary classroom, practical life is usually lost among the academic curriculum. The true purpose of lower and upper elementary is to help the child find their place in the universe by allowing them to make real life decisions and giving them real life experiences.

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Participants will learn grade appropriate focuses and activities, gather ideas for classroom work and projects, find ways to incorporate practical life skills into other curricula areas, and learn about field trip and stewardship ideas.

During this interactive workshop, you will get a chance to see and engage with material. You can take the ideas back to their own classrooms and implement them immediately

4:15 PM – 5:45 PM

Andrew Kutt

 

(For All)

5B | Re-Designing our Montessori Classrooms, Curriculum and Schools after the Seven Living Systems of Nature

*In-person onsite & live-streamed*

As we look toward the post pandemic future for our schools, how can we apply the new perspectives we’ve gained, and turn the challenges we’ve faced into fresh opportunities to reimagine how we live and learn? The seven living systems of nature provide us with a blueprint of the design principles inherent in every thriving classroom, organization and ecosystem. Indeed Nature’s seven living systems – Identity, Information, Emergence, Relationships, Patterns, Structures and Processes – form the very fabric of the one big living system we all inhabit, what Maria Montessori called the Cosmos. In this workshop, Andrew Kutt will share the insights he’s gained from the book Seed & Spark by Sam Chaltain, and from the global movement it has spawned, and invite us to think anew about “what’s next” for our Montessori environments and ourselves as Montessori educators, using nature as our guide.

4:15 PM – 5:45 PM

Christine Lowry

 

(For All/SPED)

5C | Session 3 of 3, Challenging Behaviors: Reframing Our Approach

*In-person onsite & live-streamed*

Even before the pandemic, we struggled to understand and work with students whose behaviors challenged us. In this time of “collective trauma,” the increase in anxiety, depression, dysregulation, learning difficulties, and aggression has made that need to understand what to do greater than ever before. This 3 session, day long workshop, will give you the opportunity to gain knowledge, as well as practical strategies and tools as we learn the importance and the “how” of “guiding” positive behavior and learning rather than just “managing” our students. For Montessori school leaders and educators, from toddlers through adolescence, join us in this participatory learning experience that will reframe your thinking and your approach to supporting all students in the Montessori way.

 

4:15 PM – 5:45 PM

Tim Seldin 

Kathy Leitch 

 

(For Leadership)

5D | Session 3 of 3, Leadership the Montessori Way Part 3: Finding the Perfect Match, Recruiting and Retaining Ideal Faculty 

*In-person onsite & live-streamed*

Montessori guides are hard to find. A school is a community of people. The process of attracting the right faculty and staff will make all the difference in the life of your school. We need to think outside of the box, to respond to any situation, including the need to attract new master teachers and the importance of nurturing talents and sponsoring candidates through training. We will share systems that will dramatically increase the odds of finding the right teachers and staff, smoothly bringing them into your professional community to ensure consistency of program and practice, and developing a strong, stable, and mutually supportive team. We will look at programs to support their professional development and increase their ability to form enduring relationships and bonds with parents, students, and the entire school community.

 

4:15 PM – 5:45 PM

Mary Beth Ricks 

(For Leadership)

5E | Finance 101 for School Leaders

Many school leaders become leaders by rising up through the ranks and don’t have strong finance backgrounds. Understanding school finances is a significant part of the role. This workshop will guide you through simple school finances and help you work through your own issues with budgets, planning, staffing, fundraising, and much more. In addition, if you are advancing your school with DEI and ABAR work means having the resources to take on the work and make it valuable. A clear understanding of the financial picture, will help you grow your school and help you create a strategic path forward.

4:15 PM – 5:45 PM

Kathleen Dzura 

(For All)

5F | Obstacles to Personal Peace

*Live Streamed*

In this interactive workshop we will take a look at some things that prevent our personal healing from past or current transgressions against us. We’ll look at how our personal wounds can effect us as a teacher in the classroom and how they they affect our relationships in every aspect of our lives.Often we look to those who have hurt us to be accountable for what they did to us. What happens to us if they can’t or won’t ? What happens if they never acknowledge that they hurt us? Can we move past that or is our pain held hostage by it? In my own life, I have had to learn how to move on without hearing the words “I’m sorry for what I did to you”. I will share how I was able to do that and how wonderfully freeing it has been…

5:45 pm

Dinner on your own 

The Montessori Foundation

19600 State Road 64 E
941-729-9565
Bradenton, FL 34212

[email protected]

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The International
Montessori Council


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Questions About The Conference?

Email:

[email protected]