During my first semester in Theory of Elementary Math, I had the pleasure of doing service learning at St. Anne Little Flower Montessori School. I worked in a third through fifth grade combination class with two spectacular teachers. During my hours of service, I had the opportunity to observe mathematical discovery at its finest. I really enjoyed my time there and learned so many great ideas that I will apply to my own classroom some day.

Due to the Montessori setting of the classroom, the children were truly able to discover the math concepts they were learning. The particular class I was in, had a wide variety of manipulatives and activities the students used to practice the concepts they learned after every lesson. Some of the greatest manipulatives were actually home made! I loved the hands-on activities so much, that I wrote down the names of my favorites so that I can have them in my own classroom some day.

Aside from the manipulatives, I also enjoyed the tremendous amount of group work in the classroom. The children worked well in groups because the teachers had great management strategies. After they completed assignments, the children would grade their own work and then have the teachers check it off in the grade book. I loved this idea because it taught the students to be responsible for their own grades. If they did not grade it, they did not get credit. The students were aware of this and took the initiative to finish all their work so they could see their grade in the grade book. I also liked the idea because it allowed the teacher to spend more time teaching and helping students.

One of the major things that really stood out was the great attitudes and personalities of the children in the class. I strongly believe that the nurturing environment of the school, and in particular the class, was one of the main reasons for this. I realized the importance of building character in class. As a teacher I will always be aware of my students and the feelings they are bringing to our class. The teachers of this wonderful class inspired me to really try to help my students reach their potential as human beings.

I am truly grateful for my experience at St. Anne’s. It is an experience I will never forget. I learned so much from this class and truly believe that I will be able to apply many of the ideas to my own classroom some day.