Saturday, April 6th | 9:00am - 4:00pm EST
This workshop will offer Professional Development from three different perspectives:
- We will start by examining Montessori theory topics, discovering that when we revisit them as practitioners in the classroom, they provide us with a unique, comprehensive, and interconnected structure that is yet to be equaled. Montessori theory, we will also find, is very practical! It provides us with a rich resource to which we can turn to find powerful answers to classroom problems.
- From this foundation we will move to identify some of the critical tasks that Montessori Guides must attend to in order to nurture the maturation of a Montessori elementary community of children. This is work that begins before the first day of class, and it continues throughout the life of the class. When we consciously and consistently take care of these elements of our work, we optimized the opportunities for each of the children in our care to develop to their potential.
- A final section of the workshop will narrow the focus, introducing various techniques and strategies that can applied immediately in the classroom. Here you will find “tricks of the trade”, and targeted approaches that are designed for specific classroom issues. We will also examine some of Montessori’s own words of advice for teachers. Dr. Montessori was a practitioner herself, and her personal, hands-on guidance can be found throughout her published works. In this workshop section we will take a closer look at some of this guidance and consider its application to the classrooms of 2024 and beyond.
There will also be time for discussion and questions. This will enable us to delve more deeply into any part of the workshop where more details would be useful, and it will also provide an opportunity for discussion of additional topics that may have not been covered during the day.
The workshop will be recorded and the recording will be available for 10 days after the event.
Instructor
Greg MacDonald is an AMI Director of Elementary Training. He has trained Montessori elementary teachers in the USA, Canada, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, Germany, Mexico, and India. He co-directed the first AMI elementary course to be offered in Japan, and in 2013-2014 he directed the first AMI elementary training course to be offered in Mexico. In 2018-2019 he directed the first AMI Elementary training course to be conducted in Hyderabad, India.
Greg holds AMI 3-6 and 6-12 diplomas, and an elementary teaching diploma from the State College of Victoria in Burwood (Australia). He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern Queensland (Australia) and a master’s degree in education from Loyola University in Maryland (USA).
He has directed Montessori 3-6, 6-9, 9-12 and 6-12 classrooms. He has also worked as an elementary teacher in a traditional school setting, and he has served as Principal of both traditional and Montessori schools. Greg is a parent and grandparent. He consults with
Montessori teachers and schools in-person, and in real-time online. He is also a regular speaker at Montessori workshops, parent evenings and conferences nationally and internationally.