Skip to main content

Would this be considered rebranding or relaunching?


Welcome to my blog. If you've been reading this at all, you will have realized that I haven't been writing for quite a long time...years in fact. I'm sorry about that. In reality, I may only be apologizing to my mother, as I think she's the only one who read my previous posts. But I digress. I'm doing a relaunch of sorts, having changed the name of the blog from God over Golden Beads to Grace and Courtesy. Grace and Courtesy (or G&C) will be both a blog and a podcast in the coming weeks/months. The focus will be the intersections of Education--and Montessori Philosophy in particular--Christianity, and being a person of color, all at the same friggin' time. It doesn't quite seem as though these ideas would intersect, but if that is the case then I don't exist. Since I am pretty certain that I do exist (we can go into epistemological arguments at a later date), then I would like to dialogue with you regarding how the tenants of Montessori pedagogy can speak to both the strengths and ills of education in America. From the point-of-view of a person of color, my life as a student and a teacher in public and private schools has given me a distinct frame of thinking which, I hope, is continuously being enriched by my conversations with other educators and (true to Montessori) my observations.

But above and beyond this, the umbrella under which all of these ideas fall, is my faith in Jesus Christ. I've been a Christian since I was 7 years old and grew up out of a sheltered existence to the on-slaught of western and eastern ideologies showering their beliefs upon me, beckoning me to choose whom this day I would serve...and I chose Yeezy *ahem* Jesus. So the Bible is the lens through which I try to view everything else, including my ethnic makeup (Black and humble) and my profession(teacher of almost 10 years and Montessorian of about 4). Instead of just creeping around that central aspect of my life, I've decided to keep it central to this conversation.

Does this mean I'm going to have verses in all my podcasts? No. Well maybe. Does this mean I'm going to have Maria Montessori quotes in every post? No. But it does mean that these elements will exist throughout, as they are important to me and I hope will become important to you.

In the end, if I've encouraged a teacher to keep teaching passionately, or I've encouraged a retired teacher with the hope that there are still folks out there who care about kids the way they did, or I inform parents about the different school cultures, helping them make a great fit for their child, then I will have done my job. I want to bring everyone into the conversation, as educating young people inevitably effects an unknown future. Might as well do so with gentleness and love, truthfulness and care, grace and courtesy.
Location: New York, NY, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A return

 It's been a long while since I've used writing as an outlet for thinking about Montessori pedagogy. But I have been using my voice in other ways.  When I was growing up, I was slow to speak and would more likely be found writing in a journal rather than talking to others. There are some tendencies (not in the Montessori sense) that stick with you, even into adulthood. But lately, even in shyness, I've been speaking more rather than writing; sometimes to my colleagues regarding the lessons I've learned about the classroom; sometimes to parents to remind them that they are doing the most difficult of jobs, and that I know they're child well. But what I'd forgotten is how the written word has a magic to it that cannot--or perhaps ought not--be forsaken. It is in the written word that the ideas of one person can be conveyed, at least in part, to a completely different person. And in that transfer, hearts can be shared as well as minds. It's how I learned about...
Post a Comment
Read more

When a square is more than a square

While we've spoken of the long bead chains before, I wanted to focus on a specific point of interest. Each colored bead represents a certain number and a certain set of that number. When placed in a long chain, children are able to count them, identifying important numbers within the set. So in the Long bead chain of 5 (light blue in color) it has number tags for each set of 5 (5, 10, 15, 20, etc). There are larger tags for each square of 5 (that is, each set of 25). When a square tag is placed on each squared number, a square bead is placed as well. To think that Maria Montessori thought about the concept of squared numbers and considered a means to make it as concrete as possible! To think there are children all over the world who are learning a mathematical concept that they can feel in their hands before ever knowing how to connect it to an algebraic equation. It's quite baffling. What beautiful things God makes, both concepts and man to understand them.
Post a Comment
Read more

Dwelling Place

 The sensorial area of the Montessori curriculum has always been fascinating to me. They tend to be the more colorful materials in a Montessori classroom, standing out against the plainness of unadorned walls and shelves, making silent proclamations to the children to investigate and peruse. The red rods beckon them. The pink tower stands erect as a quiet monument towards budding curiosity. The constructive triangles seek one to dream new dreams. Children have this natural curiosity and desire to have engagements with the world around them through their senses. These days we adults don't have time for such exploration. But what is mindfulness if not a reconnection to our inherent ability to engage with the world around us in this present moment through the God given receptors we've been given, namely our senses? I'm still learning to give children (and myself) space for exploration. To do so is to lead one's heart to praise of some sort. There's just so much beauty ...
Post a Comment
Read more