NEWIDEAS

Integrating Technology into the

Montessori Elementary Classroom

she also will have time to seairh

the National Geographic colthird-year student in the early ellection in the room for a good
ementary, one of the first to arpicture of Mesa Verde. If she
rive this chilly Tuesday morning,
doesn'tfindone there, she knows
comes quietly into her classroom at the
that her teacher can have a picMontessori School of Denver. She's used
ture scanned from the many
to the routine: she hangs up her coat and
books in theclassroom. Another
backpack, puts her lunch in the refrigeraoption will be to find a picture
tor, takes her clipboard and pencil out of
online. She feels comfortable
her cubby, then makes her way over to
downloading a picture into her
retrieve her work record to see what she
Word document and resizing it
A computer hooked to a TV screen can be used to demonstrate
has on her "to-do" list today.
to the 4-X-6" size needed.
nteniet use.
The work records are on a table, neatly
In order to begin, she first
arranged by year. The work record itself is
set. Children test each other on facts from
goes to the computer where she saved her
a piece of paper on which a table of subjects
the Famous Places Cards and are often
work yesterday in a folder with her name as
is printed, headed under the days of the
a title. This particular computer, one of five
inspired to create their own.
week, created in Microsoft Excel. The
in the classroom, has a small, yellow square
Before the day begins, her teacher has two
child's name has been automatically printed
taped to the front of it. Corresponding to the
quick mini-lessons to show the class. In
onto the work record using a database. Her
square is a yellow sign-up sheet on the table.
conjunction with their study of Africa, she
specials for the week, includShe writes her name on the
has found two websites from PBS that will
ing Spanish, Music, Art. PE,
sheet, then begins. Other stufurther their understanding of the continent.
and a typing tutorial program
dents who are interested in
One website allows the students to exare also automatically inserted
working on this computer come
plore the inside of a pyramid. Another
under the correct day from a
up quietly as the morning
has short video clips of animals that live
database. Highlights, placed by
progresses and place their
in the Sahara desert. Her teacher sits at a
the teachers, show that she
names on the bottom of the list.
computer that is hooked up to a TV. The
needs to complete her "GeogSome need to use the typchildren carefully watch as she types in
raphy/History" from yestering tutor. Others need to use
the web address, shows them how to
day. The child also notes that Students signup daily for the Internet for research. Some
bookmark it, and then how to place the
her request to have math high- computer use
children need to type a story
bookmark into an yi/rfcflfolder. She writes
lighted was gladly honored;
orpoem. Still others are interthe web address on a dry erase board.
she has wanted to work with the checkerested in the math software that has been
Later that day, several children will volboard to improve her skills. The highlights
installed on this
unteer to go around to the
serve as an organizational tool for the teachcomputer for the
other computers and bookers and studenLsduringindividualworktime.
week. One child
mark the website. ToThere is room for choice within the subsigns up in order to
gether,
they watch a short
jects, but the highlights help to direct chiltype his spelling
movie
about
the spitting
dren to areas in which they need to focus.
words for practice.
cobra.
Then,
taking sugThe day before, her teachers had caj'efully
By the time her
gestions
for
directions,
the
noted on theirformswhichlessonsorprojects
teacher rings the
teacher
guides
the
students
she had completed. She has been working on
small bell for
partly through a pyramid.
creating a new card for the classroom's
moming meeting.
She does not finish, leav"Famous Places" card set. Yesterday, she
the child has
ing the children excited to
completed herreseairh of Mesa Verde using
nearly completed
see what's in the center.
the encyclopedias in the classroom and from
her typing. Having worked with a typing
an Internet search on Yahooligans, a
Getting It All In
tutor program for 3 years, she is now able
children's search engine that finds age-apto
type
around
10
words
per
minute
with
At 9 o'clock, the first- and second- years
propriate, validated websites. Today, she
accuracy. She is excited to be nearly finleave for music. The third-years gather
will begin typing her research, being careful
around fortheir weekly math lesson. Their
to format the font and size so that it looks like ished with this project. Once the fmal card
individual math works, scheduled through
the rest of the cards in the set. Perhaps today. is ready, her teacher will have it laminated,
then will place it with the other cards in the
their highlights, are on various levels. The
By Elizabeth Ross Hubbell

40

Montessori LIFE Surine 2003

group lesson is to show new work available in the classroom or to start a new unit.
In this case, the class is starting a next step
to their geometry unit: geometric solids.
Their teacher takes out the Montessori
geometric solids that they have seen in the
past. Many remember the work and eagerly
offer the names of the sohds. They play a
few well known games to famiharize themselves with the shapes, feel, and nomenclature. Their teacher then gives them a packet
ofactivitiesthatwilllastfor the next several
meetings. The student sheets came from the
Illusions website, sponsored by the National Council of Teachersof Mathematics,
that their teacher found using the MarcoPolo Intemet Content for Teachers search engine. One sheet is a grid in which they record
the number of faces, comers, and edges of
various geometric solids that are not included in the Montessori set. The students
go to the website written at the top of the
page where they can tum, count, color, and
explore the various solids on their grid.
Other activities in the packet include making a "jackef for various solids and creating their own solids with materials such as
balls of clay and straws. The children are
happily engaged during the math hour.
Once the hour is up, the child goes back
to her original computer and completes
her Mesa Verde project. That afternoon,
she gets math problems from her teacher
and works more with the checkerboard.
On Wednesday, she will have math highlighted so that she can fmish her work
staited today, as well as one new highhght.
At 2:30, the teacherrings the bell forjobs.
The child goes to the jobs hst to remind
herself what her job is this week. The list is
created in Microsoft Excel and the teacher
is easily able to rotate jobs among the
children using the spreadsheet design.
After a productive day, the child goes
home. She is excited about her accomphshments. She has written down the web
address ofthe PBS and the math websites.
Perhaps, if there is time after soccer and
dinner, she will explore them this evening
at home with her parents or sisters.
Later, her teacher heads home. Her day
Resources
http://pbskids.org/africa/
http://www.pbs.org/saharawww.marcopoloeducation.org
http://uluminations.nctm.org/inriath/3-5/
GeometricSolids/student/GeoSolidsLhtml (Courtesy MarcoPolo search
engine)

www.pbs.org/teacheriine (online training modules for teachers)

also has been productive. Thanks to the use

of technology, she was able to spend much
more time teaching and exploring with her
children ratherthan with tedious tasks. She
also is happy with the knowledge that her
students will go out into the worid ready to
use the tools available to them to create,
explore, and share. It is modem Montessori
practical life at its best.

NCTM ^ l i i n d a r i f

GcomoLr

Esidoring GeimetMc SoUd: and Tbeir Propertl

n you nWKe tnat
cn joNd na^ nat vasi

m m Dit conned Inc

CH>r Haw Bhtpa 10 adect a nape

^ViOy me ^nape try rotDtmg (t

The Learning Environment:

It is a common misconception that integrating technology into the Montessori
classroom will replace the time-honored,
gross/fine motor activities from our training. It is also a mistaken belief that using
technology requires more time and that
lessons using technology are "extras"
outside ofthe fundamental lessons.
While there is certainly aleaming curve
for those new to technology, true integration does not take extra time nor replace
any part of the Montessori curriculum.
Many of my lessons are two-part: first
with the manipulatives, then with the
computer. The follow-up choices expand and I fmd that children gravitate to
both, depending upon their needs.
Maria Montessori created hundreds of
beautiful materials, especially within the
math curriculum. She believed that a child
had to experience many different methods
of finding an answer in order to understand
the process truly. I find that technology is
simply one more method of showing what
I am trying to teach. Different children
have different leaming styles, and having a
variety of vehicles through which to deliver and explore can only be beneficial.
When I first began to integrate technology
into the classroom, I used softwai-e tocomplement the children's lessons in early reading
skills and memorizing math facts. {Reader
among my favorites.) Overtime, as my skills
and my students' progressed, I began using
technology as a production tool, as an organizational tool, as a tool to show what otherwise might have been very difficult or expensive to show, such as how the eye works
or to take a virtual tour of a faraway place.
Now, my students create PowerPoint pvo.sentationsaboutfamous African-Americans
during Black History month. They create
Excel pie charts showing favorite ice cream
flavors of their classmates. They use the
digital camera to help them create their own
three-part cards ofthe geometric solids. They
chart their own progress in memorizing their
addition facts. We create newscast simulations about taking care of the envii-onment.
We produce a clay-mation movie about the
Amazon rainforest and donate proceeds from

(H

[ClltHoU.tlhtToolll

2 Hgw marry ^int? a

navi'

net me souci hveweMiMDielacKalIkE

n=de.p,a>y^<..ni,

4GL.ina.m,rv

Ho* many edges - < " - '

e wtiai Oo ynii trank =u,yo.rn, emodc.sueir.g7

? Guejho" marry omen are in Die Ulla Explain ycuTinird^rig
10 HolO Die Slim P/aiotllc^or, tacncomtrracoiorfl
n

Mo.m,rcom

12 DlQvQurQLJe^S T a r " yDUf CD r^lorm-romeri!

lawraaoyouwn

. . .

snaps

name Of

Flu

FhplDrlnq BoniBini Sol'Ot

SUOonach
Fg

umoetul
1C

NumtwT

nnMorgn
#
cutt

OUilinlron

Doaicfhetfnjn

the sales of the movies to GreenPeace. The

children often propel my own technological
progress with their enthusiasm and creativity.
We do a great disservice to our children
if we release them into "life after Montessori" ill-prepared for modem educational
expectations. If used correctly, with forethought and respect to the Montessori
philosophy, technology advances and
complements the experiences we make
available to our children.
What purpose would ducotioti serve
in our days unless it helped humans
to a knowledge ofthe environment to
which they have to adapt themselves?
Maria Montessori (1989, p. 11}

ELIZABETH ROSS HUBBELL teaches

an early elemeutaiy class at the Montessori School of Denver, CO.
Reference
Montessori. M. (1989). The formal ion of man. London: Clio.
Montessori LIFE Spring 2003

41