Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Here We Go Again!



It is hard to believe that our second trip to the Batey Lecheria is already upon us, but summer has indeed slipped away and here we are again. Having left NYC on a 5:45 am flight, we were all still half-asleep as we disembarked in SDQ airport. Despite our early morning arrival, and the great distance to travel from the Batey to the airport, there she was again. Sister Mary Alice, with even bigger hugs than we remembered, greeted us at baggage claim talking excitedly about what the week would bring and how much our workshops would mean to her staff and to her programs. Her excitement was contagious and just being in her presence for those first few minutes wiped away all weariness and we were ready to get started.





Chulo and Jose were there with the welcome wagon, and loaded us up for the first leg of our journey. The first stop was our hotel, to freshen up, of course partake in that delicious Dominican coffee, and begin dress rehearsal for the next four days. During this trip, only the teachers of SHCJ will be present. They return to school for teacher training and classroom set-up prior to school beginning every August, and this year the focus is all about us. One of the many goals of SHCJ is to revitalize the Montessori Method in their programs, and the faculty of MSM intends to deliver. We will spend this week working in both large and small groups to deliver workshops on every area of concern that the teachers of SHCJ raised to us during our initial visit. We will cover everything from Montessori philosophy, to classroom management, creating and presenting materials, and classroom set-up. We are even going to brave our own acting skills, by setting up and conducting a "mock classroom" for the staff of SHCJ, designed to demonstrate/teach them the Montessori methods of observation, conflict resolution, recognizing readiness in a child, classroom management and curriculum planning. Though extremely valuable in content, I feel it safe to say that the Academy will not be knocking on our doors any time soon.




After several hours of walking through all of the planned workshops, revamping, revising, and trying desperately not to laugh at one another, we were (as my mother would say) “ as ready as we’ll every be”  so we called it a day. We all admitted to being a little nervous about meeting the staff of SHCJ on their home turf. It is our sincerest hope that the lessons we offer will be accepted as not only educational, but also useful in practice. We hope to help our new friends to grow even more within their profession, develop a deeper appreciation of the Montessori philosophy and all of its benefits, and provide them with the tools and ongoing support systems to maintain it long after we have left. These may be lofty goals on our part, but if something is worth doing, then it's worth doing well.

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