Montessori Conference 2015

This year I attended the AMS Annual Conference in Philadelphia. It was my first Montessori conference and it was also my first time visiting Philadelphia. So I was pretty excited! The conference was from March 12-15th.

Montessori Teachers at a bar haha! 

I arrived Thursday evening or should I say Thursday night because it was about 10pm when we arrived at our hotel. We stay where the conference was being held, Philadelphia Marriott.  My co-workers and I went to a bar in downtown Philadelphia.

I do not remember the name of the bar...how sad is that? (Sorry had to look it up, its called McGillin's Olde Ale House) But I remember they serve the yummiest Chili nacho platter ever!


Friday morning, I attended my first workshop. I decided to attend the "Supporting Infant & Toddler Language Learning in English, Spanish and ASL". I loved this workshop! This workshop was about children learning a different language at home and at school and how we in the Montessori environment can help that child continue to learn and be fluent in the languages they learn. What I enjoyed the most was the examples they gave and the 5 Simple Strategies to Facilitate Language Development.

I loved the displays all around the hotel that showcased work from so many different schools.

Philadelphia Montessori Charter School

Montessori Peace Table

I attended a few vendors at the conference and bought some materials for my classroom. I seriously wanted to buy so many things at the conference but I tried to stick with the list I had made before attending the conference.  I bought a practical life frame (shoe clips) and a few object to picture matching activities for counting.

I would have to say my favorite vendor was Mad About Montessori only because I got so many things from them! I think I bought about five key chains to give to family and friends, so many pencils and pens and I also got a bumper sticker for my car that says, "Montessorian". I even bought a small tote bag which I absolutely adore.

I was excited to take a photo with Frank Leto. My students love his music and so do I! They're so catchy and fun for children to sing and dance along to.



Saturday, very early in the morning,  I attended a workshop being presented by my director, Dr. Kathy Roemer and Mary Ellen Kordas. Let me just say, I have been working at my school for four years now and I have never heard my director speak outside of my school setting. It was called "Support for Aspiring Leaders". This was such an amazing workshop! I have always respected my director but I honestly gained a whole new respect for her. Lets just say her workshop was very inspiring.

We had a keynote speaker that day, Jennifer Senior (she is the author of All Joy No Fun). I loved to hear her speak. She was so brutally honest about how parents really feel about their children and what goes on at home sometimes. She left us all with a quote that totally resonated to me "Joy is grief inside out".

Saturday night, my co-workers and I attended the Philadelphia Freedom Party. It was so much fun! They had little video montages where we wore props to take photos. 

It being my first Montessori conference, I totally enjoyed myself! I left this conference feeling inspired. It was such a special feeling being amongst other Montessori professionals who understand and value the philosophy just like I do. I am looking forward to next year's conference which will held in Chicago!

Until next time,

Our beloved dog, Dino

It has been ages since my last blog post. I have been so busy this school year that I have neglected this blog. So sorry! I promise to write more now that I am on spring break.  I wanted to do a post about my dog Dino. He was such a special pet. 

I remember it like it were yesterday, the day I saw Dino for the very first time. 

It was the end of summer 2001, I was just about to start my first year of college. My family and I had gone to visit several animal shelters but had no luck in finding the perfect dog. It wasn't until we visited the last shelter of the day, Yonkers Animal Shelter, where I spotted Dino next to a hound dog. What I remember most about that day is the way Dino looked. He had beautiful white and black fur. The shelter worker asked if we would like to take him for a walk, but we walked right out with him! We adopted him on the spot.

On September 9th, 2001, Dino came home to live with us. He was truly the best pet/companion anyone could ever hope for. He had such a sweet demeanor and always wanted to run around and play. I remember he loved to have balls in his mouth as well as bottles. If he saw someone with a water bottle or a soda bottle...you better run because he would start to whimper and try to get it from you. We could not play catch with him because once he caught that ball...game over! LOL

We would dress him up in sweaters that were too small for my brother. Dino was so sweet. Whenever any of us came home, he would greet us and want one of us to pet him. When my sugars were low while I was sleeping, Dino would try to wake me up by licking my hand or jumping on my bed.

Meet The Teacher!

I am so late joining these lovely teacher bloggers in the "Meet The Teacher" linky but hey better late than never right? Thanks Stephanie for creating this!

I'm a 31 year old,  Pre-school teacher living in NYC. This is my forth year teaching at a Montessori school and my first year working with 2 and 3 year olds so I am very excited about that! I am currently working on my masters in Early Childhood and Special Education (it feels I have been in grad school forever!)

No more sweets!

Wow it's been ages since my last blog post. I am so very sorry for not posting anything sooner. I get all wrapped up in work that I tend to neglect this little blog of mine. Anywho, today I am writing because I was inspired by an amazing person who also happens to be one of my favorite fashion bloggers, Elle from Living In Color Style. She wrote a very inspiring blog entry about something personal in her life. You should definitely check out her blog! Not only does she have an awesome fashion sense, she's also very sweet and a fellow teacher! With that being said, here is my #realbloggerbeauty story: