From Mr. David’s Desk
In Montessori lingo, we say that teaching should “follow the child.” What does that mean? I understand it to suggest that the individual student should dictate, to some degree depending on age and readiness, the direction, sequence, and pace of learning. Another way to say it is that students should, at the least, be equal partners in learning.
I started a new “partnership” this week with the elementary students. Our goal is to write, illustrate, and produce a book. It was inspired by second grader Kennedy Nance. “Make a story,” she asked, handing me a homemade book of two sheets of paper, stapled together and folded to create a spine. It was called “The Book.” At her request I wrote two paragraphs:
There was a school in a city. Across the street was a hospital. A big, old hospital. Sick people came from all over the world to get help from the doctors and nurses.
In the hospital, in a high room in the oldest part of the building, there was a table. There was a painting. And there was… an ancient Egyptian mummy!
Kennedy then drew pictures and colored them in. As she did so, my wheels started turning.
I spoke to Ms. Sherla, our Associate Head of School and chief Montessorian. I spoke to Ms. Judy and Mr. Dan., our elementary teachers. Could I steal an hour a day for a week or so? They agreed.
On Day #1, I shared all this with the students. Together, we listed the jobs required to make a book: Publisher, Project Manager, Designer, Writer, Illustrator, Editor, Marketer. Each child then wrote a paragraph explained why they wanted that job.
On Day #2, we took a walking field trip across the street to Massachusetts General Hospital. Round trip: 1881 steps. That included an elevator ride up the 4th floor of the neoclassical, gray granite Bullfinch building, there to visit the Ether Dome. In that high-ceiling amphitheater in 1846, a patient was anesthetized and operated on for a tumor of the neck. Surgery while unconscious. An operation without pain. Arguably, modern medicine was born. The students looked at a painting of the event with being too squeamish. They shared what they observed. They also took a look at surgical instruments from the era as well as… the mummy! The mummy, a man named Padihershef (born c.600, BCE), shipped his way to Boston in 1823, the first complete ancient Egyptian burial ensemble to find its way to America.
Day #3 found Dr. Lisa Hammond, a practicing pediatric anesthesiologist and Torit parent of Marcus and Gianna in the classroom. Dr. Lisa brought masks, oximeters, stethoscopes, and surgical caps for the students, who learned about her work with hospitalized children, the relationship between respiration and pulse, and listened as Dr. Lisa read a book she had written about Marcus’s experience of surgery as a toddler.
Day #4 saw the group receive their assignments. There would be a team of three writers, but six students wanted to be illustrators. A boy suggested we hold a “call for artists” and commission the best three. The prospective illustrators were given five minutes to sketch Ms. Sherla’s hand. As they drew, we discussed the importance of anatomical illustration in art, juried competitions, even the process that led to the Ghiberti doors in Florence, Italy. By the end of the session, all the students had their assignments.
Next week, I’ll take a back seat as the team writes and illustrates their story. Will it be serious, funny, or scary? It’s up to them, but they’ve been exposed to lots of information and ideas this week, enough to launch them into the process. A decade hence, it might also find them in publishing, medicine, or design. Our goal at Torit is to “Open Doors,” and “Open Minds.” Those are doors through which we’re happy to follow the children.
David Liebmann
Head of School
