Classroom Assistants and You: Cultivating Healthy Relationships

1.5 CPDs, Run Time 55:18

We are all familiar with the Montessori learning triangle in which the environment, teacher, and child are inexorably linked. I propose that we add another element—the classroom assistant—creating instead a triangular-based pyramid.

Recognizing the assistant as a crucial aspect of classroom success, how then do we as teachers build a solid, respectful relationship with our assistant(s) while demanding of them their very best selves, often with little or no Montessori, or even classroom, training?

I will walk you through concrete steps to take, how to create a mission statement of sorts, building a checklist for your assistant to follow, when and how to allow your assistant to take on greater responsibilities in the classroom, and defining and respectfully enforcing boundaries.

Learner Outcomes

• You will identify specifically what you need from an assistant
• Understand that it will take time and patience before your assistant is able to meet your classroom needs
• Understand the 3-year cycle and how it relates to classroom assistants.

Allison Dodrill is a lead Early Childhood teacher at Northview Montessori in Boise, ID. Montessori-credentialed (Early Childhood).

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