Informative, interactive, and practical workshops to support your ongoing practice and service to students. We hope you will be able to join us!
Tuesday, February 11th
Communication, Collaboration, and Coordination for Connection
Presented by Christine Lowry
5:30 CST/6:30 EST-7:00 CST/8:00 CST
A strong classroom team is the foundation for a calm, peaceful classroom of happy, thriving students. This learning opportunity will focus on the ways that you and your teaching partner can work together to provide the consistency that today’s students need. From predictable routines, transitions, boundaries, and activity to the most important, relationships we can create a classroom of security and belonging for all our students and ourselves.
The second half of our time together will give you the chance to share specifics of your classroom so that we can explore ideas, and useful tools that are relevant, meaningful and useful for all of us as we do this important work in serving and supporting today’s students.
With two master’s degrees in special education and a Montessori credential, Christine has worked for many years with a range of diversity in a variety of settings including the founding, directing, and teaching of two inclusive Montessori schools.
With a focus on current research and evidence-based practices, she shares her knowledge in alignment with Montessori philosophy and pedagogy. Her areas of expertise include inclusive education for Montessori schools in supporting Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, Sensory Processing disorder, behavior disorders, learning disabilities and developmental delays. Christine is well known for her online courses for school leaders and Montessori educators as they deepen their understanding with strategies and solutions for today’s classrooms. She also provides customized professional development, consultations, and coaching with school leaders and educators.
Communication, Collaboration, and Coordination for Connection
Presented by Christine Lowry
5:30 CST/6:30 EST-7:00 CST/8:00 CST
A strong classroom team is the foundation for a calm, peaceful classroom of happy, thriving students. This learning opportunity will focus on the ways that you and your teaching partner can work together to provide the consistency that today’s students need. From predictable routines, transitions, boundaries, and activity to the most important, relationships we can create a classroom of security and belonging for all our students and ourselves.
The second half of our time together will give you the chance to share specifics of your classroom so that we can explore ideas, and useful tools that are relevant, meaningful and useful for all of us as we do this important work in serving and supporting today’s students.
With two master’s degrees in special education and a Montessori credential, Christine has worked for many years with a range of diversity in a variety of settings including the founding, directing, and teaching of two inclusive Montessori schools.
With a focus on current research and evidence-based practices, she shares her knowledge in alignment with Montessori philosophy and pedagogy. Her areas of expertise include inclusive education for Montessori schools in supporting Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, Sensory Processing disorder, behavior disorders, learning disabilities and developmental delays. Christine is well known for her online courses for school leaders and Montessori educators as they deepen their understanding with strategies and solutions for today’s classrooms. She also provides customized professional development, consultations, and coaching with school leaders and educators.
Saturday, February 22nd
An Act of Simplicity: Personal Rituals and the Spiritual Preparation of the Guide
Presented by Carolyn Jeanne (C. J.) Miller
8:30 AM CST/9:30 AM EST
“It is not enough for the teacher to love the child. She must first love and understand the universe. She must prepare herself, and truly work at it.” ~ Dr. Maria Montessori
"Tea is an act complete in its simplicity." - Thich Nhat Hanh
In this session, we will explore the small personal rituals that can be enhanced and built on to create a space for managing stress, sorting priorities, and feeling renewed and ready to enjoy our classrooms. When we think of tea and meditation, the Japanese tea ceremony springs to mind, but you don't have to have matcha powder and whisk to enjoy a mindful moment with a hot drink. Simple actions like the care and preparation of a drink can set the tone for your whole day. We shall meet on Zoom dressed in our comfiest clothes, sitting in a peaceful spot, and have our preferred warm beverages ready to enjoy. From this vantage point, we will explore what brings each of us peace in the mornings, and how we can spread that peace to the rest of our day and to our students.
Carolyn Jeanne (C. J.) Miller Bio: Originally from Virginia, C.J. has lived in four states and three different countries over the course of her life. As an adolescent, C.J. attended a public school based on the Sudbury model of education from 7-12th grade. She attended New College of Florida from 1983-1987, graduating with a degree in Literature and Anthropology. From there she went to Arizona and then to Japan, where she learned to love languages and teaching. After her first two years in Japan, she moved to England and taught English there to college hopefuls and refugees from the Bosnian War. She was then able to transition back to Japan to continue her teaching career.
Returning to the United States (upon finding out that her European teaching credentials would not allow her to teach in the US), she went into technical support, working as a desktop technician, and a network help desk technician, first for DARPA and then for the Pentagon. After 9/11 and the initial stages of the Iraq War, C. J. left the Pentagon to raise her daughter, start a business as a freelance editor, and go back to school to get her teaching license. In 2004 she returned to her first love: teaching English. In 2017 she received her Masters from WGU in Curriculum Design. Now, after 14 years with the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System in various roles, she has taken on a new adventure in Montessori as an Adolescent I Guide for Amare Montessori in Clarksville, Tennessee.
An Act of Simplicity: Personal Rituals and the Spiritual Preparation of the Guide
Presented by Carolyn Jeanne (C. J.) Miller
8:30 AM CST/9:30 AM EST
“It is not enough for the teacher to love the child. She must first love and understand the universe. She must prepare herself, and truly work at it.” ~ Dr. Maria Montessori
"Tea is an act complete in its simplicity." - Thich Nhat Hanh
In this session, we will explore the small personal rituals that can be enhanced and built on to create a space for managing stress, sorting priorities, and feeling renewed and ready to enjoy our classrooms. When we think of tea and meditation, the Japanese tea ceremony springs to mind, but you don't have to have matcha powder and whisk to enjoy a mindful moment with a hot drink. Simple actions like the care and preparation of a drink can set the tone for your whole day. We shall meet on Zoom dressed in our comfiest clothes, sitting in a peaceful spot, and have our preferred warm beverages ready to enjoy. From this vantage point, we will explore what brings each of us peace in the mornings, and how we can spread that peace to the rest of our day and to our students.
Carolyn Jeanne (C. J.) Miller Bio: Originally from Virginia, C.J. has lived in four states and three different countries over the course of her life. As an adolescent, C.J. attended a public school based on the Sudbury model of education from 7-12th grade. She attended New College of Florida from 1983-1987, graduating with a degree in Literature and Anthropology. From there she went to Arizona and then to Japan, where she learned to love languages and teaching. After her first two years in Japan, she moved to England and taught English there to college hopefuls and refugees from the Bosnian War. She was then able to transition back to Japan to continue her teaching career.
Returning to the United States (upon finding out that her European teaching credentials would not allow her to teach in the US), she went into technical support, working as a desktop technician, and a network help desk technician, first for DARPA and then for the Pentagon. After 9/11 and the initial stages of the Iraq War, C. J. left the Pentagon to raise her daughter, start a business as a freelance editor, and go back to school to get her teaching license. In 2004 she returned to her first love: teaching English. In 2017 she received her Masters from WGU in Curriculum Design. Now, after 14 years with the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System in various roles, she has taken on a new adventure in Montessori as an Adolescent I Guide for Amare Montessori in Clarksville, Tennessee.