Anna Betina is our Toddler Division Coordinator and Half-Day Toddler teacher here at GMS. She was born and raised in Ukraine and has been teaching since 2009. She began with GMS in 2017 and has a Montessori accreditation in infant and toddler care.
She and her husband, Hristo, have their daughter, Mimi, who is in fourth grade here at GMS. Outside of the classroom, Anna loves live music, but also a quiet nap.
GMS: Why did you choose to work at our School?
AB: I did my research based on Montessori theory and fell in love with the method here.
GMS: What excites you most about working in your division?
AB: It excites me to see children as capable human beings and it gives me huge feedback, which inspires me as a teacher.
GMS: What aspect of the Montessori method inspires you the most?
AB: A toddler's sensitive periods and how to prepare the environment that facilitates those effortless windows of learning.
GMS: What do you enjoy learning from our students, and what do you enjoy sharing with them?
AB: How to be patient and see the child. I love sharing my positive attitude to problem solving.
GMS: What do you enjoy learning from your coworkers, and what are you excited to share with them?
AB: Learning how to listen. Recently, we started sharing articles and podcasts across our division on how to support children in a fast-changing world and how to support this in the classroom. It was very exciting and inspiring.
GMS: Tell us something about yourself that we wouldn’t learn from your résumé or CV?
AB: I used to be a ballerina and during my teenage identity crisis, I switched to wrestling for 3 years.
GMS: Where did you grow up, and do you mind sharing one favorite memory from childhood?
AB: My favorite memory is playing outside with my friends without adult supervision. Also, going to camps each summer without parents for 6 weeks.
GMS: Do you have any pets? If so, what are they and what are they named?
AB: I have a Black Pomeranian named Mia.
GMS: Of all the places you’ve traveled to, what is your favorite destination and why?
AB: Italy because there is a lot of history and nature to explore.
GMS: If you could travel anywhere else, where would it be and why?
AB: Japan because I’ve never been there and would really love to experience the culture.
GMS: What is something you don’t get to do often but it still feeds your soul?
AB: Visiting my family in Europe.
GMS: What is your favorite snack?
AB: My favorites are seaweed and dried fruits.
GMS: You’re going out with friends? Do you meet for coffee or cocktails? What is your favorite drink from those selections?
AB: I like to drink coffee or tea, or a virgin cocktail.
GMS: Other than Dr. Maria Montessori, who would you like to meet from history and why?
AB: J. Lacan because I would love to understand his theory firsthand.
Katie Jones is a Lower Elementary teacher and has been teaching since 2001. She joined our team in 2014 and has always had a passion for both Montessori education and special education. She has a Bachelor of Science in psychology and a Master of Arts in special education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She also holds her Montessori teaching credential in Elementary I (ages 6 to 9).
Katie grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and she and her husband, Matt, have a daughter, Willa, who is a member of the GMS class of '22 and currently a senior in the International Baccalaureate program at Page high school.
GMS: How did you first learn about Greensboro Montessori School?
KJ: We wanted a Montessori education for our daughter. She joined GMS when she was 4 years old. We absolutely fell in love with the school and the community. I decided to leave my teaching career with Guilford County Schools to come to work at GMS.
GMS: Why do you choose to work at our School?
KJ: The close knit community and the wonderful teachers.
GMS: What excites you most about working in your division?
KJ: The 6-to-9 age group is my favorite. I love the child’s sense of wonder and awe, their excitement, and getting to see those lightbulb moments ... I really enjoy teaching reading as well.
GMS: What aspect of the Montessori method inspires you the most?
KJ: The peace curriculum and focus on individuality, plus the hands on materials.
GMS: What do you enjoy learning from your coworkers, and what are you excited to share with them?
KJ: I enjoy observing various teaching styles and gathering their wisdom.
GMS: Tell us something about yourself that we wouldn’t learn from your résumé or CV?
KJ: I love True Crime. I collect nature. My home is my cozy nest and sanctuary, and my passion is to make it beautiful and homey.
GMS: Do you have any pets? If so, what are they and what are they named?
KJ: We have two dogs, Dusty Jones and Chloe Bell Jones and one cat, Oliver Wendell Jones.
GMS: What hobbies do you enjoy outside of work?
KJ: Gardening, hiking, nature, swimming, and reading.
GMS: Of all the places you’ve traveled to, what is your favorite destination and why?
KJ: Two weeks in Maui, Hawaii. It was my first trip with my husband. It had breathtaking scenery.
GMS: If you could travel anywhere else, where would it be and why?
KJ: Italy because of the food, beauty, culture, and art.
GMS: What is your favorite indulgence?
KJ: Affogato (vanilla ice cream, caramel, and warm espresso) and a massage.
GMS: What is something you don’t get to do often but it still feeds your soul?
KJ: A full day of antique shopping and lunch with my mama.
GMS: What are your favorite snacks?
KJ: Nachos.
GMS: Other than Dr. Maria Montessori, who would you like to meet from history and why?
KJ: Anne Frank. We need to learn from history.
Isabelle Bangham joined our School in 1996 as a Primary teacher. She has her Bachelor’s Degree in educational studies from the University of Nice, France and her Montessori teaching credential is in early childhood (ages 2 ½ to 6). Isabelle is originally from Nice and quickly found GMS when she moved to Greensboro.
Isabelle currently works in the Primary 4 classroom with her co-lead teacher, Jackie Shannon. Primary 3 teacher Carmen Romero is also a good friend of Isabelle and has been at GMS for over 30 years.
GMS: How did you first learn about Greensboro Montessori School?
IB: Through a neighbor after my family and I moved back from France to Greensboro, NC.
GMS: Why do you choose to work at our School?
IB: GMS is a very special school where teachers respect their students, and because I believe in Maria Montessori's principles. I have had my two daughters here and they have learned a lot in a safe and wonderful environment who taught them skills that they would not have learned elsewhere.
GMS: What excites you most about working in the Primary division?
IB: I love the fact that each day is a new day and that we can start all over again to help our students the best we can! I also love creating an environment where my students feel loved and appreciated, where they can enjoy learning and have fun!
GMS: What aspect of the Montessori method inspires you the most?
IB: "Following the child", also being respectful and trusting the child.
GMS: What do you enjoy learning from our students, and what do you enjoy sharing with them?
IB: I enjoy seeing their beautiful smiles, their love of learning, their curiosity, and their spirits. I enjoy learning from them their learning style, the way they see others and life, but above all, I love their enthusiasm for everything that they discover and explore every day! I enjoy sharing my gratitude for life, wisdom, kindness, embracing differences, the ability to accept people who are different, empathy, compassion, appreciation of beautiful things, love of traveling, and the French language.
GMS: Is there anyone in your family or close circle of friends that you'd like to tell us about? If so, who?
IB: Yes, my good friend Carmen Romero is a Primary teacher and works next door! I worked with her at the beginning of my career at GMS and we are very close. She was also my children's Primary teacher. Our oldest daughters are very good friends and now have children who are about the same age, so they do a lot of things together! It makes us very happy to know that they are doing life together as parents and can help each other! I have been part of GMS for almost 30 years (and counting), so I know a lot of staff and teachers here. I am blessed to be part of this wonderful community of teachers and students, and I feel good to be a part of this big family!
GMS: Tell us something about yourself that we wouldn’t learn from your résumé or CV?
IB: Nine years ago I became a grandmother of a sweet little baby girl, and five years ago, another angel came along, so I feel very blessed and my heart is very happy to be able to spend time with them and teach them everything that I know! When times are rough, they are always there to remind my husband and I that we have so much to look forward to and so much love to give every day! They are the apples of my eyes!
GMS: Where did you grow up, and do you mind sharing one favorite memory from childhood?
IB: I grew up in Nice on the French Riviera in the South of France. I have fond memories of the beach and different places where my brother and I went with our parents. One of my favorite childhood memories is going to Spain (Eastern part of Spain) with my family. We used to leave in the afternoon and my brother and I would sleep in the car. We would get there late at night, but everything was open and we loved going to eat at the "Bodegas"! We would stay in nice hotels and it was just great! Both of my parents have Spanish origins! My great grand-father was from the island of Mallorca.
GMS: What hobbies do you enjoy outside of work?
IB: I enjoy practicing yoga in class, swimming in the summer with my grand-daughters, going on walks, gardening and cooking when I have the time! I also love organizing parties! In the winter, I like to have Tea at the O'Henry in Greensboro!
GMS: What is your favorite indulgence?
IB: I love chocolate, crepes, french pastries. I love traveling! I also love flowers!
GMS: What is something you don’t get to do often but it still feeds your soul?
IB: Having a facial, or a massage, but the first one is definitely so relaxing and good for my soul!
GMS: Other than Dr. Maria Montessori, who would you like to meet from history and why?
IB: I have always loved and respected Maya Angelou as a poet, writer, actress, director, producer, and Professor and I had the pleasure to see her at one of our AMS conferences in NYC years ago! I love her words of wisdom and quotes.
GMS: Is there anything else you would like to share with us?
IB: I miss my family in France and wish they were closer! I wish it was not so far away! I also enjoy living here in the U.S.A and wish I could have both worlds! I have many blessings in my life including my husband of almost 43 years, and my daughters, son-in-laws, and my lovely grand-daughters!
Have you ever been reminded of an Abbott and Costello skit when talking with your three year old? Ever fallen down a rabbit hole of questions, only to hit the rock bottom of your ability to come up with an answer? If so, you have encountered the phenomenon that is the "Why?" stage. Where does this dizzying vortex of inquiry come from? And, more importantly, when will it stop?
"Get your shoes on, honey. We're going to the store."
"Why?"
"Because we need groceries."
"Why?"
"Because we ate up all our food."
"Why?"
"Because we were hungry."
"Why?"
Maria Montessori provides us with profound insight into the seismic shift in children's cognitive development that takes place around the third birthday. Before this milestone, infants and toddlers are "unconscious, absorbent" learners who acquire skills such as walking and talking without self-awareness or intention, by simply following their own innate desire for autonomy and imitating others in their environment. Around age three, however, they become "conscious" learners, who actively seek knowledge and master new skills through purposeful, deliberate inquiry and practice. It is around this time that many children stumble upon a magical word; one that elicits a seemingly endless wellspring of useful information from adults. Thus begins the litany: "Why? Why? Why?”
In truth, a child's "why?" is not the same question we ask as adults. Yes, children do crave our explanations as they seek to understand their world, but they are not necessarily expecting any elegant, logical, or scientific answers. More often, "why?" translates to: "I'm curious about this topic. I like it when you explain what will happen next. I cherish your attention and the love I feel from you when you talk to me. I want to hear all of the words you know so that I can learn how to use them, too. I want to use long sentences and have conversations, just like you do. Let's practice talking together!" Like a game of verbal ping-pong, each thread of "whys" and responses helps children develop engaging, socially adept conversation skills that will serve them well throughout their lives.
For a great perspective on the whys behind "why," click here for a great article from child psychologist Dr. Alan Green. And to learn more about Montessori's research on the developing brain, please visit our Parent Resource Library, or ask your child's teacher at GMS. (Why? Because we love talking about this stuff.)
If you are a parent of a Primary student then you may have wondered about the square pieces of paper with tracings of geometric shapes that your child brings home in her work folder. When she tells you what it is, you may ask her to repeat herself because it sounds like she is calling them "metal insects." Secretly, you think to yourself, "funny, these don't look anything like insects." And you would be right!
These designs are made with a fundamental Montessori material known as the Metal Insets.
The Metal Insets, predominantly found in the Primary and Lower Elementary classrooms, are used to develop a core set of skills that build upon one another in sequence. In the Primary classroom, this material is the first direct preparation for handwriting. The introduction to the Metal Insets usually follows a lot of indirect preparation for handwriting that is developed through the use of the Practical Life materials and the Sensorial materials (e.g. the three finger pincer grasp used with the small tongs, eye dropper, and knobbed cylinders aids the child in correct pencil grip).
Becoming proficient in using a writing instrument is a long process. When children work with the Metal Insets, they engage and practice a host of fine motor skills including lightness of touch, evenness of pressure, continuity of line, and control of line. Not to mention, this work also aids children in the development of concentration, memory and a sense of order (all necessary for executive function).
The physical material that is displayed on the shelf is both beautiful and organized in appearance. The Metal Inset materials consist of ten geometric shapes that each fit into a corresponding metal frame (like a puzzle piece). There are five straight-lined figures and five curve-lined figures: square, triangle, rectangle, pentagon, trapezium, circle, oval, ellipse, curvilinear triangle, and quatrefoil. The shapes correspond directly to the curves and angles found in the letters of the alphabet.
Beyond preparing and strengthening the hand for handwriting, there are 7 different presentations of Metal Insets that increase with difficulty starting with the simple tracing of shapes to the gradation, design and superimposition of shapes and colors. Lower Elementary students often revel in making intricate patterns by combining the shapes and observing their geometric proportions and relationships to one another, laying the foundation for true work in geometry.
Click here to learn more about the Metal Insets on www.montessoridaoshi.com
