Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Connecting with our eyes and voice tones.

Resident teacher talking to a student at Baan Huay mai pen school.

For the past couple of weeks we have been redirecting and connecting with our students to attain independence. One of the tools we have been using is our eyes and voice tones.

A good eye contact means communication, while a quieter voice volume indicates friendly.

Eye contact and moderate voice tones are one of essential tools in a Montessori classroom. Modeling the usage of these social graces encourages attention, good listening skills, interest, and respect and also creates understanding within a classroom community. This also provides the teacher and the learner with the assurance of being appreciated.
Montessori classroom at Baan Wang pha school

When new children come to our classrooms for the very first time, some express excitement to touch and explore everything in the environment, whilst others jump, run, scream, cry and sometimes these children are regarded as naughty and disruptive. One thing that we have to understand, most of these children get exposed to all kinds of noises both indoor and outdoor at their home environments for instance yelling or shouting of siblings/parent, computer games, loud music, cars, airplanes etc. 

However, once they enter a Montessori classroom they experience a total different surrounding with harmony, calm, and peace they also meet friendly and inviting adults who bend their knees to their levels, give eye contact and speak warmly with moderate voice tones. The modeling of these gestures contributes highly to the children's development at the classroom environments since the children sense acknowledgement.