It seems like whenever I scan through the Facebook, I am noticing a trend in the education world. Every third of fourth post someone is announcing that there school is going virtual. in the post, the person is usually a little (or very) exasperated because, like before, they need to completely alter their mode of teaching and try deliver their content the best they can virtually. It has affected me as well. Both of the conferences that I was going to present at have gone completely virtual. Thankfully, due to the incredible investment of my school in testing, we have been able to remain open despite the incredibly high infection rates in Chicago (and the country in general).

For Montessorians, going virtual can be incredibly difficult because we rely on many of our classroom materials to teach concepts concretely before we move on to abstraction. Materials are expensive, so each student having their own set is essentially impossible. Trying to recreate the tactile experience of the materials through a computer screen can feel impossible. The students are watching us use materials, but we know that physically moving the pieces oneself is where the learning is happening. A couple of my favorite quotes from Maria Montessori about the power of the hands in regards to learning are:

The hands are the instruments of man’s intelligence.

What the hand does, the mind remembers.

For PE teachers, going virtual can be incredibly difficult because we don’t have access to our usual large play spaces, we don’t have access to our materials, and everyone is isolated so team based activities are out. Students are usually in their rooms (which tend to be small), have access to far fewer materials than we have in our gyms, and they are tethered to a computer. And we are expected to deliver high quality content that engages the student, as well as provides gross and fine motor movement practice. Even worse, we know that for some of these students, this is going to be the only exercise they are doing.

If you have gone virtual again, or will be going virtual soon, check out my free At-Home lessons section of the website. Here you can find lesson plans for lessons that I personally taught during our last virtual session in 2020, so they are tried and tested. I believe they are helpful for Montessorians and PE teachers alike. Montessori teachers can get there students moving with these fun integrated lessons, and PE teachers will find many of these activities novel, or at least interesting due to the integrative aspects with the classroom curriculum.

If you have not gone virtual, but are looking for some new ideas, inspiration, or lesson plans for the new year, I encourage you to take a look at the newly released Montessori Physical Education Volume IV. There you will find my latest lessons that my students have really enjoyed, as well as improve. Many of these write-ups also contain pictures and diagrams to better explain set-ups and rule sets. Volume IV has close to thirty new lessons, and clocks in at over 250 pages! All for the low price of $29.