Riches beyond compare

Right now I am on Spring break, so it allows me the opportunity to be able to write. I'm thankful for this. But I am also thankful for the privilege of being able to teach in a lot of different spaces, to children of all ages. Teachers are an interesting breed, especially those guides of young children. They tend to have such big hearts, yet can also be prone towards wanting to control our little towns inside our classrooms, forgetting the bigger picture.

Depending on the type of guide you are (in public school, or private school, Montessori or otherwise) you have such a limited time with these little ones. The mark that you have on their lives will go well beyond your own. The same is true for the families we get to serve. Usually we are with them at the beginning of their journey as parents. So it speaks to the type of impact we can have on everyone in the household. What a privilege to carry.

And yet it's so exhausting. The self control and thoughtfulness is far beyond any other occupation I've had. But I've never felt more rewarded just in the act of living out my vocation. The work itself keeps me motivated to continue it. More than that, I see the faces of all the children I've once walked alongside, those with me now and those who have grown up and moved on from my children's house. They make me push myself to become better. I'm quite thankful to the hundreds of families I've been able to serve over the years; they have made me quite rich.

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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...

With Rods painted red

I first established the idea for this blog many years ago, when I just started working at a public Montessori school in a relatively poor neighborhood. But then life happened. Before I knew it I found myself in a Montessori teacher education program, graduate school, and lead teaching in an early childhood classroom. Being one of a handful of men in my school (there were three of us at the time), I felt a bit of pressure to perform. I was quite stressed and worn down. What constantly brought me back was the primary reason that I came to my school, that I began learning Montessori pedagogy, that I do anything at all: to bring glory to God. Granted, I had to learn the lesson of being satisfied in Jesus by being hospitalized, but that's another story for another day. (I'm quite fine now, thanks). My point is that there was very little time for me to reflect on what it means to be a Montessori teacher, while first being a lover and follower of Jesus. But now I can. On...

What am I reading right now?

I have a habit of reading multiple books at once. Hopefully I'm not alone in this. As I have just gotten off of a wonderful vacation, I took a good chunk of that time to read. And as you might imagine, my reading list is right at the intersection of Race, Religion, and education (I couldn't think of another "r" word that means the same as education). Some of these books are what I'm currently reading, so I don't have a review on it per-se. But hopefully they are helpful. Race How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized trauma and the pathways to mending our hearts and bodies by Resmaa Menakem Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman (which could also be in the religion category, but ah well) Education The Tao of Montessori: Reflections on Compassionate teaching by Catherine McTamaney Citizen of the World by Maria Montessori Religion Jesus Knowing God by J.I. Packer The Little book of Christian Living by John Ca...

Grace and Courtesy

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