Working closely with your Montessori assistant benefits you and the children |
When I first learned that, as a Montessori teacher, I would have a full-time assistant, I was ecstatic. Having taught in a conventional classroom with large class sizes and no help, an assistant seemed like the answer to a prayer.
Working with an assistant can certainly be rewarding. It can be beneficial to you and the children to have an additional adult in the classroom, walking around and assisting children while you are giving lessons. However, as I soon learned, working with an assistant does not necessarily come naturally. Creating a working team takes time and patience, and most importantly, an open dialog between teacher and assistant.
Establishing Clear Expectations with Your Montessori Assistant
The Montessori lead teacher and assistant work together to establish a positive learning environment |
- How to talk to children
- Presenting lessons
- Snack and lunch expectations
- Handling interruptions
- Talking to parents
- Children asking for help
- Children behaving inappropriately during work time; during circle, on the playground
- Children complaining or “telling” on another child
- Children who behave aggressively
- Children getting sick
- Greeting children in the morning
- The morning work cycle
- Communicating with the other adult(s) in the classroom
- Nap time
- Cleaning the classroom
- Going out/field trip responsibilities
- Writing observations
- Maintaining confidentiality
As much as possible, NAMC’s web blog reflects the Montessori curriculum as provided in its teacher training programs. We realize and respect that Montessori schools are unique and may vary their schedules and offerings in accordance with the needs of their individual communities. We hope that our readers will find our articles useful and inspiring as a contribution to the global Montessori community.
© North American Montessori Center - originally posted in its entirety at Montessori Teacher Training on Friday, January 18, 2013.
© North American Montessori Center - originally posted in its entirety at Montessori Teacher Training on Friday, January 18, 2013.
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ReplyDeleteHi, thank you for this post. It's very helpful. I was wondering if you could expound further. You said having clearly defined expectations is one way to promote ongoing communication and you suggested some things to talk about. Can you give a few examples of how those expectations would be written out? What they would look like? Thank you. Looking forward to your reply.
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