which workshops will you choose?

2020 Workshops

Adults need to be able to understand numbers and data that is being presented so they can help to make better well-informed decisions that effect our society. But more than that, we need people who understand what knowledge is - that have well-trained minds as well as open hearts in order to enact real change. We want our adolescents to enter into the adult world as people who can think critically, evaluate information, and who have a moral compass with regards to facts and logic. To do this, we must help them to develop their mathematical minds.  We will look at the ways in which we can help foster these ideals in our students, with the ultimate goal being peace through education.

In 2018, Michael Waski transitioned from the classroom to a new role where he could share his ideas, practices, and enthusiasm with the community of Montessori adolescent practitioners. As the Director of The Math Institute at Great Work, Inc., Michael has truly expanded his message to a global audience.

Under his guidance, The Math Institute has published three of his math books. He has authored five comprehensive review sets, as a recursive daily student work, consisting of over 8,000 unique problems. He has also overseen the production of several adolescent math materials of his own vision. Michael has continued to travel around the globe to bring his workshops and inspiration to the many fans of his work!

In Chinese medicine, we believe that the human body is a small universe connected and parallel to the Universe. The child comes from nothingness. They are responsible for creating their small universe. When they are adolescent, their body is the channel between the Universe and the human realm. Jack is presenting the parallel concepts between Daoist and Montessori.

When the child comes to the world, they have the potential to become a person with human characteristics just like the nebulae having the potential to form a planet. The inner forces guide and support the child to form the psychic organs and perfect them over time. The adolescent searches and equips themselves with the social organs. They connect with the Universe by finding their Cosmic Tasks.

Jack Yu is a primary trainer for the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI). Jack holds Primary and A to I diplomas from AMI. He also has a B.A. in Social Work from Soochow University, Taiwan. He was a social worker prior to working with young children. After he went through the trainings, he performed different roles in Montessori schools as toddler guide, primary guide, pedagogical director and consultant serving children and families from diverse backgrounds. Over the years, he has translated Assistants to Infancy, Primary and Elementary training courses from English to Mandarin in the US and China. He has also done primary assistant certificate training which were well attended.

Tina Booth has worked in Montessori adolescent communities since 2001. She has worked as a humanities and ethics teacher in private and public Montessori schools. She holds the AMI Elementary diploma from Bergamo, the NAMTA Orientation to Adolescent Studies certificate, a BA in archaeological studies from Boston University, and an MA in anthropology from Northern Arizona University. She has acted as Orientation Leader, advisor, and lecturer for the Orientations in Ohio, California, and Colorado. She is interested in digital humanities, and is committed to better understanding issues of equity, inclusion, accessibility, and methods of building resiliency for both children and teachers in Montessori environments.

The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown has had an impact on the health of adolescents. The adolescents' routines and regular life occurrences went through dramatic change. What are the emotional impacts of this?

As part of the preparation to meet the needs of the adolescent, Montessori de Chihuahua school conducted research trying to get some important information from the adolescents and their lives during the pandemic. The results and some reflections should help our adolescent program, and hopefully yours, make some adaptations beneficial to their needs.

Eder Cuevas Iturralde holds an AMI elementary diploma from Bergamo, Italy and Orientation to adolescent studies through NAMTA in the USA. He has a degree in Education and Physical Education and master's degrees in Education and Sports Psychology. 15 years’ professor at the Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua and part of the AMI-NAMTA staff in the Orientations for adolescent studies since 2015. International Speaker and Advisor on Montessori Education, School administration and Parents education.

My presentation aims to elucidate my work as an adolescent guide at Pragnya Montessori School, India. Our program is located in an urban setting and I will be presenting occupations undertaken by our adolescents, our successes and our challenges. I will also be talking about how study and work paned out in our school in the context of the production and exchange that took place at our school. My presentation will hopefully serve as an example to help navigate the challenges faced by urban models in implementing Dr. Montessori's principles outlined for the adolescent. I will also be discussing briefly on the challenges we faced during COVID-19 and our attempts to work on our occupations during this period.

Chaithanya Yalamanchili is the Program Director for the Erdkinder Program at Pragnya Montessori School. Along with a bachelor’s in Engineering and a Master’s in Mathematics, he also holds an AMI diploma for Elementary and Orientation certificate for the adolescent level. He assists the adolescents with Math, Physics, woodworking and Computers.

The adolescent, awakening to the problems of society, is in the “social embryo” stage of development. They are now studying society through the lenses of “why” and “how” rather than “what.” They no longer gather facts for information or intellectual knowledge but to develop social understanding. On the verge of entering adulthood, adolescents turn their focus toward social justice. This marked change demonstrates the emerging awareness of fairness in the adolescent as a deep social value.

This workshop will demonstrate a model of how to guide students to identify a specific local problem that concerns them and their community, and then provide the tools to create an environmental or social action project in response. 

Judith Cunningham is the Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Montessori Model UN and Youth Impact Forum. Judith founded MMUN to help students find their voices, take action and build peace as a way of honoring Maria Montessori’s legacy and implementing her dream of world peace. Judith holds an AMI Elementary Diploma, a Master’s Degree in Education, post graduate work in Alternative Dispute Resolution. She is a board member of Montessori Europe, Montessori Model UN and Montessori Global Games. Prior experience includes 17 years as a Montessori teacher for elementary and middle school, 15 years as a Montessori Head of School in the US and Canada.

Where did my students go once COVID-19 dramatically changed the learning landscape? This presentation provides a unique peek behind the screen and a much-needed deep dive into adolescent student experiences of learning during a global pandemic. In this session, through student stories from interviews collected in the spring of 2020, you will learn about factors that facilitate and thwart students' motivation in distance learning as well as strategies to foster self-directed, independent learners. Opportunities for reflection and discussion during this session will facilitate application of the learning in your own virtual classrooms and schools.

Andrew Christopherson began in Montessori as a high school social studies teacher, mentor, and program coordinator at the Grove School in 2006 until 2019 when he became the Head of School. Andrew has a master's degree and credential in School Administration and completed the 2008 NAMTA Orientation to Adolescent Studies.

Elyse Postlewaite is a Montessori enthusiast, former Montessori student of 13 years, and current doctoral student researcher of the Montessori Method studying at Claremont Graduate University. Elyse holds a master’s degree in education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and seeks to understand the science behind Montessori.

Although we often view English Language Arts and Humanities as two distinct disciplines, I propose considering ELA as a lens for exploring Humanities topics. Rather than teaching communication skills and social science content separately, they can be combined in ways that are motivating, structured, and full of opportunities for self-expression and peer teaching and learning in an adolescent community.

Catherine Lewis is a passionate adolescent guide who especially enjoys developing curriculum ideas that provide structured exposure to content with plenty of room for student exploration of their own interests through various modes of creative expression. She is motivated by Maria Montessori's mission to bring lasting peace to the world through education.

Primarily a science lesson, but useful for all! This session will look at using an online program called ThingLink to create virtual interactive labs, videos, and images. During the presentation, attendees will participate in and create virtual labs that students can “perform” asynchronously. 

Danny Rudnick is a lifelong Montessorian. He attended and taught at Near North Montessori in Chicago, completed the Adolescent Orientation in 2013, and is in his 6th year at Beacon Academy High School in Evanston, IL teaching Integrated Science and IB Chemistry. Danny is also an award-winning magician.

Doing social emotional learning work with children and youth starts with the preparation of the adults- a principle mentioned by Dr. Montessori, but often not really addressed in training.  In this session, we will explore different activities and practices that will help you be more centered in your work with the diverse learners in our schools.  There will be a focus on preparing you to be a more inclusive educator.

Jennifer has AMI Elementary diploma, AMS  Secondary I diploma, and  a certificate from the NAMTA Orientation for Adolescence.  She also has a PhD in Free-Choice Learning. In her Montessori career, she has worked with toddlers through adolescents and in both public and private settings. Currently, Jennifer works as part of the elementary staff at Montessori Northwest and teaches part time for Oregon State University.

Looking at Montessori's focus on the importance of Production and Exchange for the adolescent community. Making and growing things is the perfect outlet for many students searching for creative self-expression. Buying and selling things is certainly motivational for adolescents. Bringing these two activities together, in the context of Montessori's syllabus for adolescent education, is a function that many schools fulfill.  How and Why does it work? From practical reality (including COVID) to psychological theory we will explore the phenomenon of entrepreneurial adolescent programming in and some methods to better meet the needs and tendencies of this age group.

Gena Engelfried is a Public Montessorian who has served adolescents for over 20 years. She strives to accomplish "Montessori for all" and envisions a world where all humans can self-construct with dignity and respect.  Gena has an AMI diploma from Dublin and helped establish NAMTA’s Orientation to Adolescent Studies.

After a brief refresher of Montessori pedagogy with a linguistic lens, we will dive into the nuts and bolts of how to create a framework for providing meaningful experiences through which the Adolescents learn World Languages and Culture.

Françoise Sansoni is a Montessorian of over 20 years with 3 levels of AMI training. She was raised bilingual and bicultural in Europe. Françoise created the French curriculum at MHS and presented on World Languages at the previous 3 AMI Orientations in California, Colorado and Ohio. Françoise currently runs an Adolescent program. in NJ. (53 words)

By slowing our thinking process implicit and explicit biases can be discovered. This reflective journaling intervention is designed to help middle school Montessori teachers identify assumptions and behaviors in order to create equity pivots within their teaching.

Susan Andree works with Adolescent Communities in the Pacific Northwest, serving as a Montessori teacher, coach, consultant, designer, and advisor. She believes in the social mission of Montessori with its potential to be a culturally sustaining pedagogy, and this is the driving purpose of Susan’s work with students and teachers.

Christine Moses is a former teacher and CEO of Buffalo Cloud Consulting. She consults with schools on issues of equity, diversity, inclusion.As a Univ. of Oregon doctoral candidate, she has created a reflection process for Montessori teachers to identity their biases in order to make equity pivots within their teaching. Susan Andree works with Adolescent Communities in the Pacific Northwest, serving as a Montessori teacher, coach, consultant, designer, and advisor. She believes in the social mission of Montessori with its potential to be a culturally sustaining pedagogy, and this is the driving purpose of Susan’s work with students and teachers.

Community Montessori School combines science, technology and innovative machines to create Montessori materials to integrate into our manipulatives based math program and to put up for sale in our emerging adolescent micro-economy . CMS adolescent students use a laser cutter, 3D printer, epoxy techniques, wood working, fiber arts, photography and videography in order to create an online store and deliver a professional quality product to our consumers. Technology is integrated at every level in our STEM based program, and the integration of creating Montessori materials takes our program full circle, with adolescents contributing materials to the communities that helped them in their journey to abstraction.

Charlie Applegate and Randie Piscitello are working together for the first time this year at Community Montessori School. The program was started by Charlie in 2019, who has a nearly two decade history in STEM education at the adolescent level. Randie joined Charlie at CMS this year after working in public Montessori since 2017. Randie and Charlie are enthusiastic to be working together now to integrate STEM education more fully into the adolescent community, and to continue to contribute to this conversation with unique approaches to teaching science, financial literacy, and technology at the adolescent level.

"If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.” From a young age I have been drawn to the river, its connecting tributaries and winding paths seemed to mirror my perspectives on life’s journey. Paddles in lakes and walks along mountain streams as a child led to an eight-year career as whitewater rafting guide. The guiding experience reinforced my own belief in the need to protect our most valuable natural resource – water. My own life took a winding course, like the rivers I loved, and I worked as a midwife doing water births before landing as a Montessori adolescent teacher for the last 16 years. During those 16 years I have been working to pass on an understanding of the importance of water to our planet by having my students work monthly with the Charles River Watershed Association to protect our local watershed. Out of that volunteer work came a robust, interdisciplinary occupation around our most valuable natural resource. I will share how we cover: pedagogy of place through examining historical uses, current political state, biological health, water chemistry, habitat assessment, and engineering impacts of this fundamental need of all life. A variety of hands-on projects will be provided as a resource for attendees that will reinforce the various curricular areas being discussed.

Christina is dedicated to advocating for Montessori, having served as a board member for the Montessori Schools of Massachusetts for 16 years. For the last four years she has served as their Program Coordinator. Christina is a Positive Discipline instructor and canoe guide/naturalist for Massachusetts Audubon. She has served on the board of Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom and is currently vice president of the New England Skating Club board.

Adolescent practitioners will gain key insights from our effort to build a Montessori practitioner and researcher focused partnership across geographic boundaries, languages, and an ocean over the past year. We have collaborated to create a system of accountability of in-progress as well as upcoming adolescent training. We are creating and co-creating assessments that fit the two-year time frame of the post-bachelor Adolescent Training program. We will share processes of meaning-making and establishing reliable assessments. Our context is at the intersection of educational researchers, Association Montessori Internationale, and practitioners in Amsterdam with an extensive Montessori school network. The state funded Dutch secondary Montessori Third Plane schools, most of which are urban schools and all of which run an obligatory national exam program, provide opportunity to intertwine the Montessori way of working while building a community in and around the school. Ample time will be dedicated to discussion on training, adolescent learning environments, and the third plane development of character, discipline and understanding the current world.

Paige M. Bray, Ed.D., Associate Professor, Advocate for Children and Families, and Director, Center for Montessori Studies at University of Hartford, Connecticut, USA. Koen Schaap, MEd, Social Science teacher and curriculum developer/trainer Montessori Mastery Course for Secondary School Teachers, Montessori Scholengemeenschap Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Rogier Dijk, MEd, English Teacher and curriculum developer/trainer Montessori Mastery Course for Secondary School Teachers, Montessori Scholengemeenschap Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Joshua A. Russell, Ph.D. Professor. Director of Research, Center for Montessori Studies at the University of Hartford, CT USA

This session will begin with some guiding questions: Why do social justice work? Are we ready? Is our community ready? What are the potential benefits and harm of this work? These are critical reflections which will dive into. We will then discuss the work which entails understanding our own identity, and working to uncover biases and their impact, and building norms within ourselves. Then, we transition to the work within our classroom such as building a safe space and sitting beside our students in this work. Brian will provide his experience and examples of how he approaches the work of social justice in his classroom. There will also be space for you to share your ideas, experiences, and wonderings throughout.

Brian Hyosaka is currently an Educator at Embark Education in Denver, Co, an independent micro-school embedded within a coffee and bike shop.  Brian holds a MS. ED in Educational Leadership from the University of Denver, and served as the Assistant Principal of Academia Ana Marie Sandoval, a public dual language Montessori school.  As a teacher, Brian taught 4th/5th grade in a public bilingual IB school as well as serving as the Science Coordinator and Team Lead at the American School of Guatemala.  Brian is passionate about supporting students to be agents of change and social justice while constantly developing himself alongside them.

This forum will discuss resources to start or strengthen your secondary or Erdkinder program. There are many successful adolescent farm programs, that are not Montessori! We can learn from them in how to secure funding and resources, without compromising any part of the Montessori pedagogy. We will review resources from  these programs and share best practices. This forum is ideal for farm school program directors, charter school leaders, and anyone looking to start or grow their secondary program. 

Candace Cheung has over 18 years of experience in alternative and choice education--with a particular focus on Montessori and farm-based models. She is trained as a Montessori elementary teacher and secondary guide, has served as a teacher and an administrator, and has worked in both public and private schools supporting students between the ages of 3 and 18 in programs ranging in size from 30 students to 650 students. Candace has experience designing and implementing new school programs, supporting and coaching administrators and teachers, writing charter school applications and renewals, reviewing large-scale grants, writing comprehensive grant applications (NewSchool Venture Fund, Walton, the Federal Charter Schools Program grant--to name a few), and collaborating on School Performance Compact teams for Denver Public Schools. Candace is well-versed in administrative and public school systems and structures, she is a big-picture thinker, and she serves with an unwavering goal of total respect for, and service to, the child.

Maria Montessori wrote that adolescents need "the opportunity for social experience...on a larger scale" (Childhood to Adolescence, 69). One of the most impactful experiences for adolescents is the opportunity to travel and bond with their peers. In the age of a global health crisis, however, how are adolescent practitioners able to still provide opportunities for travel and authentic social experiences? This lecture will discuss different ways to tailor social and travel experiences for the adolescent in both in-person, virtual, and hybrid forms. 

Emma Rodwin has been teaching young adolescents (ages 12-15) for six years at Butler Montessori in Germantown, Maryland. She is passionate about travel, having spent time abroad in Tel Aviv, Israel and Málaga, Spain. Emma spent the first part of the last school year teaching in a lovely old house on Butler’s 22-acre campus, and the second part teaching online from her kitchen table. She is currently pursuing her Montessori Elementary Diploma and Master's Degree in Montessori Education through the Montessori Institute of San Diego and Loyola University Maryland.