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The 6-week Classroom Leadership On-line Course for assistants, substitute teachers, specialty subject instructors, parent volunteers or as a refresher for trained staff. The first cohort for 2010 starts 8th February.

Calling all MAC school members - you are eligible for this special offer!

This course will give participants the opportunity to join staff around the world to share experiences and ideas while learning in this unique classroom. Self- paced learning anytime, anywhere!  Enrolment forms for member schools are available from the MAC office.

• Enrol one adult for the reduced rate of $200 US
• Send a second and third person for $150 US each 
AND
• Send a fourth person or more for $50 US each!

This course presents the principles of effective classroom leadership necessary for the practical application of Montessori philosophy and methodology in today’s classroom environments. Course content includes: classroom roles and working in partnership with co-workers and parents, designing the prepared environment, establishing daily routines, starting a new class, lesson strategies, as well as techniques for positive disciple and problem solving in implementing effective classroom strategies.

Participation in this professional development course will lead to an understanding of and greater competency in the following:

1. The ability to explain the importance of a prepared Montessori environment; how it meets the needs of children and how it contributes to the development of a positive and healthy learning environment.

2. Design and maintain a well prepared Montessori environment that supports the developmental needs of children from the ages of 2.5 - 6 years of age and is responsive to specific needs and interests of the children served.

3. Demonstrate effective techniques of establishing and maintaining a positive tone and order in the class that leads to children developing a sense of inner discipline

4. Understand and implement Montessori best practices for presenting lessons and guiding the development of children ages 2.5 - 6 years of age.

5. Understand classroom roles and create positive working relationship with teaching partners.

6. Understand and apply cultural sensitivity in working with both students and parents.

Create Classroom Leadership Resource Album to keep notes from your videos viewing and reading as well as handouts.

Video Lectures will take approximately 2 – 4 hours to view each week. The time of each video is posted in the course outline below so you can plan your viewing schedule at your convenience.  Watching videos in a timely manner during the assigned week will enable you to participate in group discussions and get more from the course. Additional resources such as handouts, articles, and power point presentations are also provided. Print out hard copies as some will be helpful to refer to during the videos or for review off line. Place them in your resource album.

Participation in Online Discussions is an important part of this course and enriches everyone’s learning experience.  Each week’s work section will contain a Leadership Discussion Forum with questions pertaining to the videos and readings for the week. You are expected to respond to at least one of the course questions marked with *** and respond to at least one fellow course participant. You can also ask your own question or bring up other topics related to the course work in this forum. This forum is also where you will post summaries of your observations and other “Putting it in Practice” assignments.

Chat Sessions. We will have two chat sessions in which we meet in real time in the course website chat rooms. These will occur week two and week five (more chat sessions may be arranged if the group chooses).  A time for these live discussions will be determined in the first week. We ask that you make a significant effort to be available at that time and participate. Chat sessions enable the group to connect with each other and the instructional guide to ask questions and take course topic discussions to a deeper level.

Observation and Other Experiential Assignments are designed to further your understanding of course topics by giving you an opportunity to put the concepts into practice.  These assignments include such things as observations of children and/or other teachers, discussions and planning sessions with teaching partners, practicing a specific technique, and interviews of teachers. The focus for these assignments are the experiences themselves, not a formal product, however, with each such assignment you are asked to write a paragraph or two summarizing what you learned from the experience. This is a way to verify to your IG (Instructional Guide) that you have done it and it also enables us to learn from each others’ experiences. These summaries go in the Leadership Discussion Forum.

Journaling is a valuable means for adult learners to reflect on and process what you are learning. You are asked to keep a journal during this course. Include your thoughts about the topics of the week and your experiential assignment. Each week there will be a journal prompt to help focus your reflection. Write in your personal journal and by the end of the week share a paragraph or two of insights from you journaling in the Journal Forum.

A Certificate of Completion and/or Continuing Educations credits can only be awarded if there has been satisfactory participation as described above.

Week1
Introduction – Topic Outline

Week 2
Classroom Leadership Section 1 – Orientation and Introduction to Montessori Philosophy

Week 3
Classroom Leadership Section 2  - The Prepared Environment/ The Role of Environmental Design

Week 4
Classroom Leadership Section 3 – Starting the School Year/ Creating a Culture of Kindness Respect and Cooperation

Week 5
Classroom Leadership Section 4 – Classroom Roles and Parent Communication

Week 6
Classroom Leadership Section 5– Classroom Management and the Montessori Approach to Discipline