Day 69...Wednesday Oct. 21st

Wow...I have a ton of blogs to make up! Due to an issue with my computer's power cable, I wasn't able to use my computer for awhile so I couldn't blog. But for the most part, I've been busy and lazy all in one.

The days at work were getting increasingly stressful. The state of our classroom was in major disrepair and my lead and I were struggling for answers. After seeking out council from our staff's wonderfully experienced Montessori gurus, we were given the suggestions of changing up the environment of our classroom. You see, in Montessori training there is a tool used for pin-pointing a need. This tool is called the Montessori Triad. There are three main points to the triad: the adult, the child, and the environment. Each one of these factors can play a huge role in a child's behavior/actions. If any one of these three points were to be removed, the system would fall apart and the triad would cease to exist.

So, for an example: Susie is 18 months old and is playing in her room alone. She then sees a pair of scissors on a nearby chair. Susie grabs the scissors and starts to cut away at the long window curtains. In most cases, if a parent were to walk in and see their child cutting away at the curtains they would discipline the child, excusing it away as a result of bad behavior. But what the Montessori Triad challenges is what the true source of the behavior came from. Is it really the child's fault?

In this case, the parent is arguing that the child is the source of the behavior. But if you look at the other two points of the triad, the adult and the environment, one could argue that the real source of the problem was the parent for leaving, not only an 18 month child alone in a room, but also a pair of scissors within the child's reach. One could also argue that the source of the issue is with the environment of the room. Is it really safe to have the long window curtains accessible to the child? And could the scissors lying around the room in easy reach to the child pose a possible danger? After further evaluating the situation, the blame falls less on the curious child and more on the adult and the environment.

When considering the triad, my lead and I had to shake things up in our class. We had already tried to change our approach with the kids, trying to eliminate the adult factor in the triad so that we could narrow down the source of the bad behavior. Now it was time to eliminate another factor: the environment. My lead set to work on rearranging the classroom to best fit the needs of our class. Since we had been having a major problem with running in our classroom, my lead blocked off all large runways by using the shelves to create a sort of maze. This not only got rid of the running space, but she hoped it would cause all the kids to slow down and rediscover the room. She also rearranged all of the works on the shelves, getting rid of the works that weren't being used appropriately, as well as adding new ones that were more suitable for our kids' needs.

With a hope and a prayer, we tried to shake up our crazy class in a desperate attempt to normalize our classroom. We hoped the holy trinity of Montessori wouldn't fail us.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Pickle.