All About Me

I came to Montessori when my oldest child, "the girl," was a preschooler.  I was working from home, and she was just old enough to need more attention than I could give with my full-time job.  I knew a bit about Montessori and knew that it offered an environment I could trust.  I found a school in my area and enrolled my daughter.
Within a few months I had decided it was time to quit my work-from-home job.  It was becoming more and more demanding of my time, and I needed a change.  I liked the girl's preschool, though, and I didn't want to pull her out, so in asked if there were any positions available in the school.  There were, and I was hired as an assistant in one of the early childhood classrooms.
I enjoyed my work, though I felt just a little off.  I could tell something wasn't quite right.  I was training to become a certified teacher, and many of the books I was reading - Dr. Montessori's own works and the many, many excellent Montessori books available - did not line up with much of what my school did in the name of Montessori.  Still, I didn't know better, and I stayed on for over two years.  In that time I quickly moved from assistant to head teacher, becoming certified in the 3-6 along the way.
Finally, though, I couldn't handle the cognitive dissonance anymore, and I left the school.  It was a big, dramatic moment, and while it felt good to leave, I was unemployed.  Fortunately for me, there was a public charter school in the area that was just opening up - the first public Montessori school in the state!  The girl had already been accepted as a kindergartner, and I was lucky to get on as a part-time specialty teacher - teaching Spanish to all of the elementary classes.  Soon enough, though, an assistant position became available, and I was hired on full-time - first as an assistant, and later as a head teacher.  I entered the school-sponsored certification program, becoming certified in the lower elementary.
It's been four years now.  I am preparing to teach my fifth year as a lower elementary teacher, although this year will be different.  I have been teaching a bit of a bridge class, including students ages 7-10 (grades 2-4) rather than the traditional 6-9 (grades 1-3), but this year I will be teaching a traditional 6-9 class.  I am looking forward to it and expect to find many interesting differences.
Stay tuned!