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Joining Pieces Together for Peace

Sunday workshop

The Dynamic Classroom: Managing the Elementary Curriculum

Sunday, January 13, 2019 | 8:30 a.m.–4 p.m.
La Crescent Montessori and STEM School
La Crescent, MN
Presenter: Michael Dorer, Ed.D.

Managing the teaching and curriculum in the elementary Montessori classroom is daunting. How does it affect you?

Learn how to offer the entire curriculum, develop a better functioning classroom, and increase your confidence. It is possible to teach the entire curriculum if positive Dynamic Classroom procedures are followed. You will leave this intensive workshop with a new, refreshed perspective on the elementary program, and a plan to be the guide you always wanted to be.

Participant Outcomes:

The participants will:

  • Learn a system of regular curriculum management for Montessori elementary programs
  • Identify three common management problems in Montessori elementary curriculum management
  • Discover eight solutions to common management problems
  • Learn the CORA approach
  • Reflect on the impact of a new management system
  • Plan the implementation of the Dynamic Classroom system

Agenda

Part One - The Challenge and Opportunity

Three Areas of Challenge

  1. Educational—relating to delivery of lessons
  2. Strategic—I don’t know how to organize. I am having trouble with organizing the curriculum to maximize my delivery of curriculum
  3. Psychological—The teacher’s feelings of inadequacy or despair - burnout   How many elementary teachers feel under the gun to bring students up to state standards or the expectations of the parents and the admin. Shame and blame that the teacher below you did not adequately prepare the students and that you will not adequately prepare your students for the next level.

Different albums - varying language, different sequences, etc.

Part Two:  8 Steps to Managing the Elementary Curriculum

Introduce the 8 Steps

We will examine these two steps in detail

  1. The great work period
  2. Curriculum planning and curriculum mapping - What are the characteristics of a curriculum plan, its qualities (scope, sequence, and age)?

 Part 3: Three More Steps to Managing the Elementary Curriculum

  1. Weekly lessons, for whom, grouping, designated days, lesson frequency
  2. The open lesson policy
  3. Follow up work

Part 4 - Three more strategies for managing elementary curriculum

 Guided Discovery

  1. Setting lesson priorities
    1. The must teach
    2. The good to teach
    3. The optional topics (enrichment)
  2. Focus Learning Groups

Part Five:  CORA Circulate, Observe, Reflect, Apply

How to end a lesson

 Circulate: what it is, why we do it, how to do it, when do we do it?

  1. Observe: what it is, why we do it, how to do it, when do we do it?
  2. Reflect: annotation of observation notes, use of colored ink, what it is, why we do it, how to do it, when do we do it?

Apply: how are curriculum, observation, and review used to improve learning? What do we mean by applying in this context, why we do it, how do we it, when do we do it?

Part Six - Summary and wrap up