New Venture--Realizing a Dream

Embarking on a new venture can be scary, exciting, invigorating, enriching and evoke countless other feeling. These feelings can be both negative and positive, often at the same time. Realizing a Dream is such a wonderful feeling. Nothing ventured, nothing gained is so true. Investing in a new venture is an investment in yourself and your dreams. These can be as small as learning to quilt or play the piano for you own enjoyment to opening your own business.

taking on a project, learning new skills, and achieving personal growth is something that money can not buy.

Montessori

I am so excited because a dream of mine came true this week. About 5 years ago I met a wonderful woman with a wonderful job. She was traveling from San Francisco to Iowa to train teacher on how to make school more fun. She taught teachers and children how to learn more and be more productive through Music and Movement.

Soon after meeting this dynamic woman (in her 50's) I attended a workshop given by a popular children's song writer/musician with a Montessori background. These two event helped me formulate a plan.

I want to teach teacher how to use more music in the classroom. But first I want to be a Music Teacher in Montessori Schools. Well, as of Thursday, I am a Music teacher in my first Montessori School. I am so excited to start customizing my curriculum for this dynamic school. The Head of School hired me after a short interview. She has great energy and turly loves her job. I am so ready to begin collaborating with her to bring my music to her students and teachers.

Positive Energy

Positive Energy

I know this topic may sound a little "out there" for me and maybe for my readers, but I think it is worth the risk.

I am 're-listening' to a motivational speaker, Dr Wayne Dyer, on CD. The set is called, "Excuses be Gone". I highly recommend everything I have read and listened to by this man. He really speaks to me, and he seems to make a lot of sense. Anyway, listening to these CDs again has got me thinking--as he always does--about positive energy.

The idea is that you attract into your life--whatever 'that' is---what you 'are'. Now just think about that for a minute. Wow--that means, to be happy I need to first be happy. Now that sounds paradoxical and not possible but it is really a wonderful way to live. In other words, if you want to be happy (and you are not) you just have to start believing in happiness and things will start happening in your life to make you happy. This sounds way too simple and way too 'out there' to work. But, believe me, it works.

Let me give you an example. If you are sad--your energy and thoughts are on sad things. If you just consciously make yourself think about happy things then you start to feel better--if only a little bit. Try it, it really works for me. The idea is that your thoughts really have power over you mood, actions, interactions with people, etc...and therefore positive thoughts bring positive energy into you life---I say it is worth a try.

A saying just came to mind, 'fake it until you make it', or something like that--in other words, if you do not feel particularly happy, but you 'fake' happiness, you may 'attract' something into our life that really will make you happy.

Enough about that. I sincerely hope someone comments on this post--it would be very helpful to me--but, no pressure, if you enjoy reading and do not want to post, just send me your positive energy!

Montessori

Wow, it is not hard at all to connect the dots on this topic and the classroom. When the teacher is positive and uplifting, the classroom is a much happier place.

Children are great this way. They are so much more pure and honest about their feelings than adults. They are completely sad one moment and completely happy the next. I just love their ability to be so present in the moment that way.

I do not believe in 'telling' children how to feel. Just like all of us, their feelings are real and belong to them. But children tend to follow your lead. If adults are moody, sad, or tense, I believe they will pick up and reflect those emotions.

People who care for and teach children, in my opinion, have a greater responsibility than the average person to understand this. We teachers are constantly an example for our students. We can not 'turn off and on' our influence and affect on the children. Every sigh, gesture, and frown, is seen and felt by the children. Isn't it so much more wonderful to give them smiles, nods, and positive feedback, the vast majority of the time.

If we are positve almost constantly and without really thinking, then the occasional correction will be so much more meaningful and effective. But, if they receive to much negative and only the occasional positive, the positive gets diluted in the negative.

I hope this make sense to my readers--it is what I try to do in the classroom and whenever I am around children. It really works wonders for me.

Beautiful Morning Walk

I had a beautiful morning walk. The temperature was in the 70's and it had rained the night before, so the air smelled great and the sky was gorgeous. It was enough to make me glad to be alive and able to get out and enjoy nature.

Simple pleasures are the best kind. They are easy to find and plentiful to those willing to look and appreciate them. I find that a positive attitude makes life so much more enjoyable. We can all benefit from keeping our attitude upbeat and positive. To accomplish this I have to 'check' myself throughout the day, week, and month. It is very helpful to take stock each day and point out to myself the blessings I have received that day. It can be easy to overlook the little thing in life that make life worth living. When I take time to do this I am more grateful and have a more positive attitude. Try it, you may benefit from this exercise.

Montessori

How can we apply this topic in the classroom? Well, when the teacher has a positive attitude, even in the most challenging of circumstances, the atmosphere in the classroom is noticeably better. When teachers and children focus on the positive and downplay the negative the classroom is a more pleasant place to work and learn. That is a wonderful gift to give the children in your classroom. It does not cost a dime and can be accomplished by all of us.

Living without regret

Another week has passed. Another month has started. We are now in the eighth month of 2011 with a little over four months to the Christmas season and another new year. I mention all of this to remind myself just how fast time goes by. I want to remember to stop and appreciate all the blessings I have in my life and think about how precious is the gift of time and life.

As I get older, time seems to fly by at neck brake speed. I find myself making choices with this in mind. I want to spend my time on things that matter and not waste time of worry or futile pursuits. With that in mind I set off for my Friday activities and look forward to what the weekend has to offer.

My hope for all of you is that you love what you do and that you are proud of your life and the choices you make. A life lived without regrets is a life worth living.

Montessori

Living without regrets is important in the Montessori classroom. As a teacher I want to do my best to prepare the best environment for each and every child in the room. That means that I do my very best to keep the classroom fresh, interesting, fun, and challenging. That is a tall order to fill, but it is one that carries great rewards when achieved. There is no better feeling than knowing I have done my job well. It is so great to see the light in the eyes of a child that is happy because she is in a rich, well-prepared environment. Knowing that I have provided that experience for the children in my room is a wonderful feeling.

life

Dear blog readers

Another week as passed. Another month as started. We are now in the eighth month of 2011 with a little over four months to the Christmas season and another new year. I mention all of this to remind myself just how fast time goes by. I want to remember to stop and appreciate all the blessings I have in my life and think about how precious is the gift of time and life.

As I get older, time seems to fly by at neck brake speed. I find myself making choices with this in mind. I want to spend my time on things that matter and not waste time of worry or futile pursuits. With that in mind I set off for my Friday activities and look forward to what the weekend has to offer.

My hope for all of you is that you love what you do and that you are proud of your life and the choices you make. A life lived without regrets is a life worth living.

Needs vs Wants

Thought for the day:

Appreciate what you have.

“It’s not having what you want, it’s wanting what you have.”

Those words are so true, and make me think.

I think we waste a lot of time thinking about, working for and being envious over things we do not have. It is just a waste of time and energy. Most of us have plenty when you consider what are the essential needs for a happy healthy life. As I see it, we all need food, shelter, faith and love. These are the ingredients for a happy life; everything else is surplus.

Don’t get me wrong; I like my surplus. Life is easier and more pleasant because I don’t have to struggle to pay my bills and put food on the table. I enjoy having nice things. I think we would all be happier though if we would regularly take time to ‘take stock’ of our needs and wants. That is to recognize how very fortunate we are.

Montessori

In the classroom this is also a very worthwhile practice. It is valuable to look at the classroom and realize what is necessary and what is surplus. When we do this we we find there are lots of things in the environment that are not needed. Children do better with fewer and clearer choices. When a 3 or 4 year old looks at a cluttered shelf with too many choices it is hard to choose an activity. If we take the time and thought to clear out the surplus and focus on the necessary elements in the classroom we will make it easier for the children to make good choices.

Routine

I went on a six day and night trip with my wonderful daughter. We had some interesting chance encounters, a lot of good time to visit with friends and loved ones, and great mom/daughter bonding time.

I like getting away from my routine for just long enough to start missing my routine.

Thought for the day:

Routine is good. I notice that I miss familiar things, places, people and the things I do without much thought when I am away form home for more than four days or so.

Familiarity of our surroundings is comforting to young and old alike. It is nice to be able to flip on a light switch, push out a chair or close a door without looking or thinking much. In my own home these small actions I have done hundreds of times become part of my ‘muscle memory’. I push the chair out after breakfast with just enough lift to get over the worn spot in the carpet that has developed over months and years of routine use. The chair and carpet in the hotel or restaurant do not feel and respond in quit the same. I reach and find a light switch that I know is to the right as I go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and falter; it is just a bit higher or lower than I thought. Returning home is comforting. Waking up in my own bed is a welcomed feeling after even the best of vacations. Going away from home makes me appreciate home all the more.

Montessori:

Routine in any classroom is important and useful to the teacher and children. Transition from one activity to another is often hard for preschool children. Routine helps to ease the children into the necessary transition throughout the day. In the Montessori environment children thrive on predictable routine. This is not to say the children are not able to be flexible and can’t benefit from the occasional variance from the familiar. Early in the school year routine will help the three year old that has not yet developed a sense of time to know that soon after the second time we sing songs mom will be coming. This can be very comforting to a child with separation issues. If the routine is unpredictable the child my have more anxiety for a longer period of time.

The young child knows what she DOES, not what you SAY she will DO. That is to say, if mom comes soon after you sing for the second time three days in a row, it is much more comforting to the child than hearing you say, ‘your mom will be here soon’. SOON is an abstract concept the child may not have developed yet. ‘Doing’ is ‘knowing’ at this literal time of life. ‘Telling’ is just not as meaningful to the very young child.