A Teacher's Role

"The greatest sign of a success for a teacher...is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist." -Maria Montessori

Every year, my goal as a teacher is to be able to have each student work independently. It is the greatest satisfaction that I can have when my students are able to do a task without my assistance.

Chapter 4 mentions that the author at the beginning of the year gathers "just-right" books for her students and schedules reading conferences for each of them. The author also uses writing conferences and guided writing to see their ability. In my very first year of teaching, I used these strategies when grouping my students. At the end of the year, I did individual conferences again to see if each student improved in their reading and writing. It was a great feeling when I did see progress in my students.