Smash Notes
3: the Montessori Method

The Cult of Pedagogy Podcast

3: the Montessori Method

What makes a Montessori school so different from a traditional public or private school? How is the Montessori philosophy -- which many only associate with the preschool years -- applied on the elementary level? How can all teachers use some of the Montessori approach in their own classrooms? We spend an hour with Benedicte Bossut, who started her own…

Notes

  1. Montessori is focused on functional independence such as potty training, holding onto things, washing hands, etc. Full answer

  2. Jennifer Gonzalez asks Benedicte Bossute, lead teacher at the Montessori Elementary School of Bowling Green, where her standards come from. Full answer

  3. The teacher has suggested tasks laid out as well as repeated tasks. Full answer

  4. 25 students. Full answer

  5. Benedicte Bossute tells Jennifer Gonzalez on The Cult of Pedagogy Podcast that a typical day starts with morning group time, then a three-hour block of… Full answer

  6. There is morning group time as a class followed by 3 hours of independent work time. Full answer

  7. It is important to reiterate to them to keep working at it and invite them to engage in the process. Full answer

  8. If she feels that way, she removes herself from the situation. Full answer

  9. She rarely has an issues. Some children and more apt to respond to situations with frustration than others. Full answer

  10. Benedicte Bossute tells Cult of Pedagogy host Jennifer Gonzalez that Montessori assessment is not only watching. Full answer

  11. In the Montessori environment, you rarely see children who aren't motivated to learn something. Full answer

  12. First and foremost, it is an emotional experience. Full answer

  13. Asked what a third-grade teacher could steal first, Benedicte Bossute tells Jennifer Gonzalez on Cult of Pedagogy to build a few explorative stations in the… Full answer

Related notes

Related episodes

Plays from this note through the rest of the episode.

Weekly highlights

One letter a week.

The notes worth hearing, with the minute they were said.