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2009 Annual American Montessori Conference |
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2009 Annual AMS Conference A BIG Success Volunteer Day of Service at Audubon You may have noticed some new wonderful additions and changes around both campuses due to a lot o f hard work over the Mardi Gras vacation. Last Thursday, February 26, over 90 volunteers from Hands-On New Orleans, Americore, and AMS conference attendees from around the country visited both the Broadway and Carrollton campuses. The volunteers worked alongside Audubon faculty and staff members all day on multiple school improvement projects; Lost and Found Shelves and Racks were built, Murals were painted, and Peace Poles and Woodchips were planted on both campuses. Volunteers also organized the Science Lab and Library and painted the outside girls and boys bathrooms at the Carrollton campus and cleaned out the attic, created classroom materials, and painted the blacktop and teachers’ lounge at the Broadway campus. A big thank you is due to all of the Audubon faculty and staff members and volunteers from Hands-On New Orleans, Americore, and AMS who gave so much of their time, energy, and resources to improve our school. We would also like to thank Angela Hauser from Mojo Coffeehouse who donated an abundance of delicious coffee that kept everyone energized and focused during our work day. Ms. Dollie's Students Shine During the AMS Conference Over 80 Montessori and French Students performed in front of AMS Conference attendees on Friday, Feb. 27. Ms. Dollie and the children showed the audience each of the different performances that they are currently working on in their Creative Movement class. Many thanks to all of the parents who brought their children to the Marriott Hotel to perform on Friday; the time spent transporting as well as spending at the hotel for the rehearsal and performance definitely count for Family Volunteer Hours. Please email Ellen Selvidge (Montessori families) and Loetitia Ducos (French families) the total number of hours you spent making sure that your child participated in the performance. Over 100 Audubon Faculty, Staff, and Parents Attend Workshop Sessions at the AMS Conference We are very fortunate that so many members of our school community were able to attend the conference. There were 2,200 Montessori parents, teachers, and administrators worldwide who attended the 2009 AMS Conference. We will share the information and resources that we gained with the Audubon community over the next several weeks. Audubon Charter School Earns Multiple Compliments Over the conference weekend, attendees continued to compliment our helpful and dedicated parent volunteers at the Welcome Desk and Registration area of the hotel, as well as our hard-working and friendly faculty and staff members and talented students. Thank you to everyone for coming together to represent Audubon during the conference. Way to go Audubon! Parent Reviews of the AMS Conference I attended a workshop given by Dr. Paul Epstein on Sunday morning that was really enlightening for a parent. The workshop discussed Dr. Epstein’s research and observations regarding different types of attention in children. The take home point for me was that all children do not necessarily pay attention in the same way and that “concentration” is only one form of paying attention. Recent neuron-logic studies show that humans are better wired for social, shared attention. Expecting all children to focus in an isolated, concentrated way may not be easily attainable for all kids. (I know that Audubon has an audio CD of his lecture for those parents who are interested). I attended the following workshops:
Dr. Cotter's presentation demonstrated how card games played in a small group reinforce mathematical operations such as addition and multiplication. She put a unique spin on card games such as "Go Fish." Her version is called "Going to the Dump" and rather than making pairs of the same number with the cards, you aim to make pairs equal 10. She developed the multiplication games while helping her children, who were struggling with memorizing the multiplication tables. There is no need for rote memorization of the multiplication table when children can see the built-in logic of numbers. As someone who has always enjoyed math, she made me wish that I had learned math using these games. Her website with presentations, handouts, and products is www.ALabacus.com for those that want to learn more. I want to thank you for allowing me the opportunity to attend the conference and learn more about Montessori education. ~ Heather Porter (parent of Montessori Primary student)
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French & Montessori Education