About tjleone.comI'm TJ Leone. After several years in the educational software business, I decided to become a full time Montessori teacher. I now teach children aged 6 to 9 at Chiaravalle Montessori School in Evanston, Illinois. I also teach classes for Northwestern University's Center for Talent Development. I love my job and the kids I work with. They continually broaden and deepen my respect for the heroic effort it takes to make oneself into a mature human being, and impress me with the unique paths they follow. Mission StatementTo learn all I can about what helps kids develop healthy relationships with the people, objects and ideas they find in learning environments, to support that development and to share what I learn. About meI was educated at the City College of New York (BA in Math and MS in Computer Science) and at Northwestern (a couple of years of going back and forth between graduate programs in Computer Science and Learning Sciences). The first job I ever loved was the three years I spent as a primary Montessori teacher from 1978 to 1981. After that, I spent several years as a computer programmer and analyst in industry and academia. From 1997 to 2003 I worked as an educational software developer at Northwestern and eventually picked up part-time work as a teacher for Northwestern's Center for Talent Development. I ran a tutoring and educational software business from 2003 until I attended Montessori teacher training for the elementary child at the Montessori Institute of Milwaukee in 2006-2007. In 2007, I returned to Montessori teaching full time at Chiaravalle Montessori School. My favorite things include spending time with my wife Dolores, hanging out with my two daughters and their husbands and my friends, teaching, computer programming, meditation, and running. Here are Dolores and I finishing our first race, the Chicago marathon, on October 12, 2003. Everybody who finished got a medal. |
