Understand the curriculum's scope and sequence and identify when each child is ready for the next steps.

Teachers need to identify where each child is with their learning and know the steps to get them where they need to go.

Effective classroom design encourages clear sightlines, student collaboration, and concentration while being mindful of safety and not allowing space for running in the classroom. In doing so, it demonstrates the foresight to uphold student safety.

Having the flexibility to understand where each child is with their learning and the ability to pivot between them while keeping each individual on their learning path.

Knowing how to change the energy of a classroom from a loud, unproductive state to a calm and focused environment through subtle cues from the teacher and subtle changes in the environment.

Teaching as a service also involves establishing well-developed ground rules that establish a community culture of kindness and respect within your classroom and the greater school community. For example, my preschool classroom and greater school community refer to being kind, gentle, and safe as our school community's established core ground rules. We always go back to these pillars for any conflict that may arise. A significant amount of time through the beginning weeks of school is focused on teaching and reinforcing these groundrules.

One of our first collective classroom activities is creating a poster of our kind, gentle, and safe groundrules where each child adds their handprint to the poster and colors it in. This is a great way to get each child to buy into the groundrules. The teachers also added their handprints and the children seemed to love the poster. This poster is permanently displayed in our meeting area and serves as a place to revisit if a challenging peer conflict should arise.

Establishing these ground rules early in the school year lays a solid foundation for your classroom management and the year ahead. ~

Having the ability to adjust and think creatively to achieve the same goal in a more engaging way.

One of the best examples of this in my own life is a leader I had, who explained to us that a leaders job is to serve those below them. I think of this in terms of teaching as being there for your students. Your goal is not to get test scores but to develop good citizens.

It requires keen observation and a wealth of life knowledge. Every day, one must consider what to bring to the students that aligns with their learning needs. For example, in September, themes could include autumn, pumpkins, pumpkin seeds, and the life cycle of pumpkins. many things as so.

requires a teacher to have rich life experiences and a keen observation of life. For example, in September, teachers can focus on the beauty of falling leaves, guiding students to collect leaves and create leaf art projects. This helps students appreciate the beauty in everyday moments and understand the changes happening around them.

As a Montessori approach teacher, I deeply understand the concept of teaching as a service. It involves providing students with the space they need to become the individuals they aspire to be, offering assistance whenever they require it. This approach demands confidence, extensive knowledge, and a constant readiness to support the students.