Doe a Deer

We have been struck with Flashmob Mania, and we are to learning how this is educational.

Marlene showed us this video, today -- and even did some of the moves, which was so fantastic. Before watching it, however, she asked us this:

How...No, why is this an ideal Montessori classroom?

Montessori Hits Antwerp

How can a flashmob be an ideal Montessori classroom? I was struck for a few moments. When I have thought of Montessori in the past, it has been placed in a box of educational philosophy and jumbled up with some real life experiences and kept in that consortium within my brain. Now I suddenly had to think outside of the box (which was exactly what she wanted). With the help of the other students in the classroom, we came up with the following ideas:

1. The dancing begins slowly, and as you watch the people around the square, they look confused, if not even irritated by the sudden distraction. However, as the music continues, they start to tap their feet, shake their shoulders, and the next thing you know -- they're dancing. In a Montessori classroom, this process happens each and every day. Children watch other children in a state of confusion, wondering what they are doing with all of these strange materials. However, slowly, as they start to gain a sense of order and understanding, they join in and in time, your Montessori classroom becomes a humming, buzzing world of learning.
2. Flash mobs are so enthusiastic and exciting! Watching all of the people dance incites a powerful feeling within! And guess what? Montessori classrooms are exactly the same. When visitors come in and see children preparing their own food, cleaning their own messes, working on high level manipulative mathematics and sorting and matching items in hundreds of different ways, they are filled with the same feelings of excitement and enthusiasm that we feel watching this video.
3. The flash mob is self-regulated. They are doing the dancing on their own, keeping each other going, without a conductor at the front telling them what to do. A Montessori classroom runs the same way. The children help each other, and regulate themselves. The teacher is instead a guide, who is available to help when children choose to ask for help.
4. This is an orderly event, done neatly with everyone joining in -- again, like a Montessori classroom, where there is an order which children are aware of and are able to regulate on their own.

I could go on. But I'd like to hear other ideas from people who know about Montessori and who enjoy this video as much as I do -- what do you think?

Until the next time...