1 Week Countdown.

It's my last week working in a Chinese kindergarten as an English Specialist. The feeling is good. I get to put all of the dry, boring textbooks away in the cupboard, pull out my notebooks and prepare for the next step to something better.

Next week, I'm going to begin my AMS Certification training here in Beijing, China. AMS as in American Montessori Society -- incase you were thinking of some other acronym. I've heard both the best and the worst reviews of this certification program. I've seen teachers sleep on classroom couches for weeks, too overwhelmed by homework and observational records to return home. While a few finish in a year, most struggle through 2, sometimes 3 years to complete all of the homework, the essays, the records, the materials, and everything else they may ask of you. Then again, I've been told Marlene's a genius (Marlene Barron, former professor at NYU, Head Lecturer of the AMS 3-6 year old program here in Beijing), Montessori is the way of the future, and my accreditation will be the best choice I've ever made. Take the bad with the good, then, I suppose.

I'm determined to keep a record, for myself, and for others -- of daily life in the world of an in-training Montessori student and teacher. I've gone through the books, listened to the stories, heard how much people have gone through in order to create the beautiful classrooms they now thrive in today. No promises I'll have the same experience. Mainly, I want to observe myself. Observation is at the core of the Montessori philosophy, and we must watch ourselves, judge ourselves, and learn to adapt ourselves. 

Plus, one day in the future when I think I'm having a bad day, I really want to have something to look back on to remember that it is strife that makes you a better person.

Shoot for the moon - - fluent Chinese and Montessori certification, starting in 1 week. Wish me luck!