Montessori Foreign Language Record Keeping System
by Matt Bronsil, author of English as a Foreign Language in the Montessori Classroom
One of the biggest challenges in the Montessori classroom is how to do record keeping. It can get even more difficult when you are a Montessori EFL teacher. You have all these students and parents are paying extra money to see their child develop something specific: the English language. I decided a while ago to simplify my system so I made sure I got to all the students as efficiently as possible. Above are some of the notebooks I use in my system.
Every child has a notebook with his or her name on it. The notebook you see in the front that says "Matt" is actually my notebook. I carry it around with me throughout the day and write down what I do with individual students during the class period and what group lessons I gave. I also write down other notes I have about anything else I see that is worth noting. I highlight the names to make it easier to go back and look at who did what.
The other notebooks are on a shelf in a separate room. I then go to those notebooks and select the books of the students I highlighted. There are two piles of notebooks (the shelf is unfortunately too small to stand them upright). There are notebooks to the left of me, notebooks to the right. (Here I am, stuck in the middle with you....sorry. Those lyrics just popped into my head). Ok. So I select the students I need to make notes on and write down those notes with the date. As I put the notebooks back, I move the ones on the right over to the left pile if I worked with that student. As I do this more, the pile on the right will become less and less. But there will always be a constant reminder of who I have to work with. Nobody moves back over to the right until all there is no more right side pile, then I start the process all over again.
That is not to say I ignore the students on the left. I still work with them as needed or when their requests come up. But it gives me a much clearer picture of who I still need to work with.
Have you found a good way of record keeping? E-Mail Me and tell me about it.
Matt Bronsil is the author of these posts. He can be contacted at MattBronsilMontessori@gmail.com
<<< Back to the full article list <<<
Recommended Second/Foreign Language Books
Montessori Second/Foreign Language Blogs
EFL and Montessori
EFL and Montessori
EFL Record Keeping
EFL Record Keeping
Teaching Reading
Teaching Reading
Montessori Grammar
Montessori Grammar
Silent E
Silent E
Become a Teacher
Become a Montessori Teacher
Montessori's Different
Montessori is Different