Free Tools for Montessori Practitioners
These templates are designed to help you implement strong Montessori. Feel free to reformat them and adjust them to serve your school community.
Family Conferences
Langauge of Reverence
Classroom Observations
Montessori Educator Growth
Interviewing and Onboarding
Going Outs - Elementary
Student - Guide Conferences
Lesson Planning
Data Teams
Closing Up the School Year
Elementary Student Conferences
This template helps to structure an elementary student conference.
Student Conference Overview
This guide provides step by step instructions on how to conduct a successful student conference.
Onboarding Process
The Onboarding Process provides an outline for how to move from the hiring process through to the orientation of new staff.
Interview Questions
Part of every hiring process is the formal interview. Here are some questions schools have used to support in the hiring process that allow for Honest Talk at the first meeting.
Interview Lesson Observation Tool
Part of the hiring process is offering a model lesson. This tool provides space for the interview team to observe and make notes about the interview lesson.
Going Out: A Checklist
This tool is designed to support guides and students in not forgetting aspects of the Going Out planning process. With this checklist, everyone can ensure that they have thoroughly planned out their trip.
Going Out: 5 Important Steps for a Successful Trip
This tool is designed to support guides and students in planning a meaningful and organized Going Out experience.
Closing Up the School Year: Timeline
This tool is designed to support school-based adults through a busy spring into summer noting important tasks and events to be completed each month
Closing Up the School Year: Checklist
The end of the year brings many extra tasks that classroom adults need to attend to. This checklist provides a place to keep track of all that needs to be accomplished in closing up the school year.
Elementary Student Conference Sheet
Data Team Tool
Montessori schools collect different types of data which can simply accumulate without review. This simple process allows level teams to share successes and think into strategies to support growth. The accompanying tool offers structure for each classroom to prepare for the meeting and leave with an action plan to implement.
Lesson Planning Observation Tools: Early Childhood and Elementary
The use of observation in planning will animate and customize the unfolding of the Montessori Curriculum based on the children before you. It is the Montessori educator's task to tailor lessons to the actual children who will receive them and this is done through the regular practice of observation. These tools provide space for classroom adults to make notes about the children that will then support in crafting strong lesson plans.
Montessori Educator Self Reflection Tool
Reflection is a powerful practice that is often underutilized in the busy day-to-day lives of educators. This new self-reflection tool was designed collaboratively by a group of Montessori teacher trainers and coaches to be used both in teacher preparation programs as well as in schools. It was created to be used multiple times across the school year to support educators in both reflection and renewal.
Montessori Renewal
This tool was designed to support a full return to in-person learning. Written as a checklist, it allows Montessori educators to walk back into full implementation of the Montessori program following an unusual year.
Family Conference Notes
Family conference notes are filled out by the classroom adults in the meeting with the family. The Montessori teacher is often conducting the conference while the supporting adult adds to the family conference notes. This clarifies for families that the two adults are a team, yet they should bring their concerns to the Montessori teacher. When completed, they are copied and shared with families. This acts as both a record of the conversation and an artifact of the collaboration between the adults at school and at home. This fosters independence for the families to provide additional support to their child at home to help reach goals set together at the conference.
Year-End Reflection Tool
Take 30-60 minutes with individuals and teams to do a review of what worked, needs work, and ideas for the coming year. Here are two small but mighty tools that guide the conversation and help harvest improvements to make your summer planning stronger.
Professional Development Year-End Survey
As your school completes the year it will be important to reflect on the past cycle of professional learning. Here is a template for a professional development survey that holds all the sessions from the year. Participants are asked to rank them with #1 representing the most valuable session and the highest number representing the session of least value. Also on the survey are some open-ended questions. School leaders spend time in the summer reviewing the results from the survey as both an opportunity to reflect on the previous cycle of learning and to plan the next one.
