About+Us

1) One thing that you should know about my life is . ..
Cherice Montgomery: That I love what I do, that my faith guides my work, and that as a result of my desire to make a difference in the world, I have a tendency to overcommit myself. When I can't do things as well as I envision them or as efficiently as they need to be done, it bothers me a lot and sometimes interferes with my ability to do the work at all.

2) One thing that I’d like to know about you is . ..
Cherice Montgomery: What do you like to think about, why, and how do you like to do that thinking?

3) The primary reason I wanted to work with this group was . ..
Cherice Montgomery: That it offered me an opportunity to return to what I love doing most (working in a K-12 environment)!

4) One of the ways that I think this group will challenge me is . ..
Cherice Montgomery: They will force me to question my assumptions in new ways.

5) One thing that you should know about working with me is . ..
Cherice Montgomery: I care a lot and I invest deeply in the people and tasks to which I choose to devote my attention. (That also means that the personal cost of failure is very high when things don't work out.)

6) I hope that you will be patient with . ..
Cherice Montgomery: My excessive use of words. (I talk/write in order to process and it sometimes takes me a while to get to the point.)

7) One of my biggest pet peeves in collaborating with others is . ..
Cherice Montgomery:


 * //Conflict// (I don't work well in tension-filled environments, especially when I feel that the negativity is directly related to me in some way)
 * //I////nterruptions// (I have a hard time maintaining my train of thought when they occur and having to retrace my steps in order to rebuild the momentum necessary for my thinking to continue to progress after an interruption is very frustrating and energy-draining for me)

8) When it comes to technology, I am not comfortable . ..
Cherice Montgomery: Having to "perform" in front of others when I'm not secure with the content/process. In other words, I don't mind "bumbling around," but I prefer not to do that in front of an audience.

9) What I would like to learn about technology is . ..
Cherice Montgomery: More about the technical side of technology, more shortcuts, more about Macs.

10) When it comes to literacy, one of the things that I'd like to try this year is . ..
Cherice Montgomery: To experiment with the ways that new technologies can be used as tools to develop and support literacy development.

11) One way that my thinking has changed over the course of my career so far is . ..
Cherice Montgomery: A shift from thinking about teaching to thinking about learning, from learning to doing, from covering content to designing experiences that will immerse students in concepts, from seeking the "right answer" or the "best way" to exploring the possibilities, from simplifying content to complicating and connecting it, from safe predictability to surprise and uncertainty. . . the recognition that just because it works best today for a given group of students does not mean that will even be remotely true tomorrow.

12) Three ideas or experiences that have significantly influenced my philosophy of teaching and learning are . ..
Cherice Montgomery: Relationships have influenced my philosophy of teaching and learning the most. For those of you who like details, the most pivotal experiences have been:

a) //Observing my parents// - Throughout my childhood, I had numerous opportunities to watch my parents (who are not teachers by trade) plan inservices and other leadership training experiences for adults, teach a variety of lessons to both children and adults at church, and discuss other teaching experiences over dinner (i.e., engineering courses, etc.). As a result of those experiences, I learned that stories and metaphors are powerful pedagogical tools, that visual aids and music support long-term retention, that involving students is critical, that there is no substitute for careful planning and organization, that emotions matter, that technologies can be used in fun ways for a wide variety of purposes that support teaching and learning, and that service is the foundation of true leadership.

b) //Working in a// [|large, urban, public high school] - My students and several key colleagues taught me that learning has to start with who and where THEY are, that people's lives are never as simple as they look, that many teenagers have already lived through experiences that are much worse than those that the school is supposedly "preparing" them to survive, that 14-year-olds are capable of understanding more than most adults realize, that learning should be joy-filled, that misbehavior on the part of both students and teachers is a response to unmet needs, that when people fail to respond one should ask why at least 5 times, that responding to unmet needs can serve as a powerful source of inspiration for creativity, that people are more important than papers or policies, that understanding institutional memory and systemic constraints is the first step to initiating change, that mentoring really does matter, that it really doesn't matter how it "is," but rather, how it feels, that I don't hate math--just how it makes me feel, that what I teach isn't as important as who I am! ;-)

c) //Summer institutes// at the [|National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC)] at Iowa State University - Moved me in the direction of standards-based, thematic teaching, supported me in the integration of children's literature and culturally authentic materials into my curriculum, opened my eyes to the possibilities of technology as a powerful pedagogical tool, nudged me to think of myself as a member of a network of professionals with an obligation to consider how my actions as an individual teacher affected the profession as a whole, provided me with access--to key ideas in the field, to experts, to resources, and to professional development experiences.