The focus of this course

What Are Your School’s “New Year” Resolutions?

Guiding Staff to Set Goals

for Practice, Program, and People Skills Improvement

If you want the people you lead, or teach with, to be better Montessori practitioners, exhibit more professionalism, and be better communicators with children, colleagues, and parents, they need to set self-improvement goals during prep week. Some Montessori schools go so far as to require teachers to formulate individual, teaching team, program level, as well as all-staff goals. These schools sometime identify a theme of the year, such as better communication with parents, lengthening the uninterrupted work period, or focusing on character education.

But is there really time to accomplish this level of professional development with everyone hankering to set up their classrooms, not to mention the schedule of in-services and policy review meetings? School heads, who have instituted some form of goal-setting, will tell you that they can no longer afford to not engage their staff in this kind of work. They will tell you that the expenditure time and effort paid off during the school year, as they observed teachers who were more willing to relinquish ineffective practices in favor of new approaches that enhanced learning and communications.

How a Montessori leader can motivate their people to engage in this type of start-of-year planning is the topic of this pre-recorded three-week online course.

The recorded sessions were highly interactive with time set aside for questions and sharing of ideas. We will be happy to respond to questions from students enrolled in the pre-recorded course.  A comprehensive workbook is included be provided to all participants. 

The course has been developed, and was facilitated, by Jonathan Wolff, senior consultant and leadership coach for The Montessori Foundation. It is open to school administrators, teachers, and members of your board. The cost is $150; $125 for International Montessori Council (IMC) members or the staff of IMC member schools.


Instructors

Jonathan Wolff is a senior Montessori school consultant and leadership educator with the Montessori Foundation. He is also the Founder and Director of Learning for Life and Montessori Leadership. Jonathan is a Montessori teacher trainer, speaker and author who infuses his work in leadership development with 30 years experience as an educator and administrator. 

Through the Montessori Foundation and Learning for Life, Jonathan provides retreats, workshops, consultations and coaching for parents, educators, leaders, Boards of Directors, community organizations and learning communities around the globe. The best-practice leadership retreats and workshops he leads facilitate community building, strategic planning and improved organizational effectiveness.

After earning his B.A. degree in Secondary Education from Temple University, Jonathan began teaching at-risk youth in Philadelphia. Early in his career, he read several books on the Montessori philosophy and quickly recognized the power her work in human development had to effect transformation not only within the young child, but within adults as well. He went on to study with Mother Isabelle Eugenie, one of Dr. Montessori’s first students, earned his Early Childhood Credential through the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), and began his career as a Montessori educator at one of the first Head Start Montessori Centers in the United States. 

Jonathan’s incisive ability to apply Dr. Montessori’s educational constructs to training adults led him to positions as a teacher trainer, as the director of education and training for various education and business organizations, and as the administrator for several nationally recognized schools. Thirty years in the field have provided him with solid first-hand experience in leading and managing rapidly growing for-profit and not-for-profit schools, education institutions and business organizations. Today, the primary focus of his consulting practice is on leadership development – designing best practices and writing books and articles that enhance individual and organizational performance. His creative, interactive programs, his humorous and inspiring teaching style, and his deep insight into the needs of people and organizations are in demand by organizations around the world.


Tim Seldin is the President of the Montessori Foundation and Chair of the International Montessori Council. His more than forty years of experience in Montessori education includes twenty-two years as Headmaster of the Barrie School in Silver Spring, Maryland, which was his own alma mater from age two through high school graduation. 

Tim was the co-founder and Director of the Institute for Advanced Montessori Studies, the Center for Guided Montessori Studies, and currently also serves as the Head of the New Gate School in Sarasota, Florida. He earned a B.A. in History and Philosophy from Georgetown University, an M.Ed. in Educational Administration and Supervision from The American University, and his Montessori certification from the American Montessori Society.

Tim is the author of several books on Montessori Education, including his latest, How to Raise An Amazing Child, The Montessori Way with Dr. Paul Epstein, Building a World-class Montessori School, Finding the Perfect Match – Recruit and Retain Your Ideal Enrollment, Master Teachers – Model Programs, Starting a New Montessori School, Celebrations of Life, and The World in the Palm of Her Hand.Tim is the father and step-father to five former Montessori students, and the grandfather of a new generation of Montessori students. He lives on a small vineyard north of Sarasota, Florida with his wife, Joyce St. Giermaine, their many horses, dogs, and cats.

Course curriculum

  • 01

    Before We Begin

    Show Content
    • What Are Your School’s “New Year” Resolutions?
  • 02

    Week One

    Show Content
    • Week One Workbook
    • First Week's Workbook in Word Format
    • Workbook What Are Your School's New Year Resolutions Session II
    • Video: What Are Your School's new year resolutions session 1
    • Audio What are your school's new year resolutions Session 1
    • Text of Live Chat During Session 1
    • Discussion Area
  • 03

    WeekTwo

    Show Content
    • Workbook: What Are Your School's Session III
    • Slides for Session 2
    • What Are Your School’s “New Year” Resolutions Video Session 2
    • What Are Your School’s “New Year” Resolutions audio Session 2
    • EXAMPLE 1 HOMEWORK - SESSION ONE, "NEW YEAR" RESOLUTIONS
    • EXAMPLE 2 HOMEWORK - SESSION ONE, "NEW YEAR" RESOLUTIONS
    • EXAMPLE 3 HOMEWORK - SESSION ONE, "NEW YEAR" RESOLUTIONS
    • EXAMPLE 4 HOMEWORK - SESSION ONE, "NEW YEAR" RESOLUTIONS
    • EXAMPLE 5 HOMEWORK - SESSION ONE, "NEW YEAR" RESOLUTIONS
    • EXAMPLE 6 HOMEWORK - SESSION ONE, "NEW YEAR" RESOLUTIONS
    • EXAMPLE 7 HOMEWORK - SESSION ONE, "NEW YEAR" RESOLUTIONS.
    • EXAMPLE 8 HOMEWORK - SESSION ONE, "NEW YEAR" RESOLUTIONS
    • Text of Live Chat During Session 2
  • 04

    Week Three

    Show Content
    • Workbook: What Are Your School's New Year Resolutions? Session III
    • Workbook in Word Format: What Are Your School's New Year's Resolutions Workbook? Session III
    • Video: What Are Your New Year's Resolutions? Session III
    • Audio: What Are Your New Year's Resolutions? Session III
    • Text of Chat During Live Session III

Registration

We offer a discount to current members of the International Montessori Council (IMC)