Subject: Welcome to the Montessori-L List! From: "Molly Beane" ********************************************************************** Welcome* to the ML Montessori-L The Montessori Education Discussion List *********************************************************************** *** To leave Montessori-L send e-mail to: Listserv@Listserv.AOL.COM and in the body of the message type: UNSUBSCRIBE MONTESSORI-L To subscribe again, type: SUBSCRIBE MONTESSORI-L Please *save* this message in a separate file or the url in your bookmarks: http://www.light-side.net/ML/welcome.txt (copy and paste to avoid typos ) You will find it has answers to such basic questions as subscribing, unsubscribing, digest mode, and nomail/mail settings for times when you are on vacation. As with any contract, it is also your Agreement for posting messages to the ML list. You can put this at the top of your new "ML" folder as your first item, and then use the folder to store other messages from the list that you wish to save (or, *print* this out to save it). We hope you will enjoy and learn from the discussions here. Please do not be shy to ask questions. There are many generous and knowledgeable people here who are willing to share their advice, expertise, and wisdom. Your Agreement before Posting to the ML -------------------------------------------------------- Please take a moment to read this message fully while it is fresh in your mailbox. It is very important that you understand the terms of ML list participation and *agree* to the posting guidelines stated here. If you post to the ML, and we do hope that you will, then you have agreed to the posting guidelines stated in this message. Please save this message! The ML List -------------------------------------------------------- The Montessori-L List is an International Forum for the discussion of all things Montessori. It is a place to share information, lesson plans or ideas, to ask questions, and to discuss challenges and successes. We welcome all those with an interest in any aspect of Montessori: teachers, trainers and trainees, parents and grandparents, those with children attending Montessori schools or using Montessori at home, and everyone who is interested in a Montessori approach to the education and development of children at any age. We have members from a wide range of countries, languages, religions, certifications, and settings. *All* are welcome! And, the Montessori professionals who participate in this list have an extra special place. They are the hub of the list, and they have our ongoing gratitude and appreciation for the support and sharing they offer to the rest of us. Without the professionals on this list, it would not be as unique and as rich in information and resources as it is. Sometimes professionals leave the list complaining of too many parents. Sometimes parents leave for the reverse reason. All those who stay benefit from our unique diversity. On this list not all topics will be of equal interest to everyone. The Archives will often answer your immediate questions. -- Posting Grace and Courtesy in a Nutshell -- We can sustain the invaluable richness of diversity-within-Montessori and avoid abusing others' time and bandwidth by faithfully remembering to: - limit your posts to 4 per day - KISS! (Keep It Short and Sweet) on all Quoting avoid Long Quoting (repeating another's entire post in your own) send me-too's and personal "chit-chat" and remarks privately send individual thank you's to just one or two people privately ask the owner privately for help or a member's e-mail address - Sign every message with both your name and e-mail address - use your Delete key for things not of interest to you - use the Digest option to reduce the number of messages you receive - Permit each person to share their opinion and perspective - Respect differences and disagreements - avoid Shouting (using ALL CAPS), ridicule, and rudeness at all times - Forego posting when emotionally upset, please "sleep on it" first - Forego posting any and all words that "forget" or even temporarily put aside grace and courtesy More on all this is covered under --Montessori-L Posting Guidelines-- -- This List is Moderated -- "Moderation" includes: a) keeping this mailing list focused on Montessori education issues, b) ensuring the guidelines are followed, including gentle reminders when needed, c) avoiding spammers (those looking for money, etc.) or being taken over by other interest groups. The list is not edited -- all messages to the list pass without being reviewed by the owners, except for necessary exceptions (!). One exception is that new subscribers may be on initial review status until after they have posted an Introduction to the list because of the need to filter out some domains and spammers. Please keep in mind private reminders and those posted to the list are intended to smooth the way for you and the other 450 members of the list. Please do not be offended. General Information -------------------------------------------------------- List name: Montessori-L Montessori Education Discussion List Address to post your message to the list: Montessori-L@Listserv.aol.com Address for subscription changes: Listserv@Listserv.aol.com Address for questions and help: "Molly Beane" Your list owners are: "Molly Beane" "Patricia A. Davis" Created on: Thu, Aug 22, 1996 By: Sonja Buhlman, who began this list, ran it for 3-1/2 years, and has our lasting gratitude for her initiative,service, shining example of grace and courtesy, and our good wishes for her freeing up more time for her family. Thank you Sonja! Subscription Information: At both the beginning and end of this document Montessori-L Posting Guidelines -------------------------------------------------------- - Ambassadorship for Montessori This is a unique list that brings together professionals, parents, and others with an interest in Montessori from around the world. We ask that members conduct all on- and off-list communications and interactions, both business and personal, with the highest level of grace, courtesy, and conduct. While this is a private, moderated list, we are "on display" to many. Each member is an Ambassador for Montessori in the world. Some visitors subscribe and unsubscribe in a very short time -- taking with them brief impressions from just a few messages. Let us show each visitor Montessori and the ML at their best, even in, most especially in, the face of disagreements and differences. -- Cultural and Linguistic Differences -- This International list has about 450 subscribers from at least 35 countries. While English is the language used, not everyone understands English well. Thus special understanding is required in dealing with postings from people for whom English is a foreign language. Additionally, slang might be taken as profanity or insult by those in other English-speaking countries, and may not be understood at all by non-native speakers of English. It is probably best to avoid non-standard English so as to provide the clearest and least-objectionable exchange of ideas. -- Please Sign *Both* Your Name *and* E-Mail Address -- Please always Sign with *both*. A few added signature lines are acceptable as well. Not everyone can easily read your e-mail address from the header. If you need another member's address, please avoid posting this to the list and e-mail the owner *privately*. -- Please KISS! (Keep it Short and Sweet) with Quoting -- Please include only a *brief* portion of any post to which you reply, (Quoting) if that. If it isn't *essential*, leave it out. Long messages that are mostly a repeat of already posted messages are an ongoing source of hardship, annoyance, complaints, and attrition. Some of the list members have to *pay* by the hour or the post, have small mailbox space, small hard drives, restricted access time, quota limits on their free services, or simply limited time to read the ML list (!). Scrolling through repeats of entire prior messages "inside" new messages is especially hard on our Digest members who have to review everything to read what is of interest to them -- a frequent reason people give for leaving the list. Please Respect Other People's Time and Bandwidth. Please do take extra care *not* simply to Quote in Full by adding your reply to the entire message and sending it all back to the list. Some ways to spare others this hardship: - avoid "hasty" use of the Reply: and Send: buttons - check your message to see that all extra words are deleted - check that after your signature lines there is no other text at all - check the address in your To: line -- should it be private? -- Private Responses Can Help! -- Please send only messages to the list that concern at least a few list members - otherwise send them privately. Private is *best* for: all me-too's, as well as most individual thank you's, personal replies, "chit-chat," and comments to just one or two people. Group thank you's to several people are appropriate to send as a message to the whole list. -- Change of Subject Line -- Please *keep* subjects of discussions while participating in that thread. *Any* unneeded change in the Subject: line (such as television to tv) can confuse others and make archive searches on a given topic more difficult to do successfully, and your contribution may be missed. Please *do change* your Subject: line *only* when your message changes topic. It can help to link to the prior subject. For example, you might change "New Member" to "Montessori Resources [was 'New Member']." -- Plain Text Only -- Please send all messages in Plain Text Only or Plainest Text Only (there are different kinds of "Plain Text.") Please avoid sending your messages in HTML format. Our server, Listserv, has difficulty interpreting them, not to mention the rest of us. -- Off-Topic Threads -- Anything related to Montessori is *On* topic and can be assumed to be of interest to many on the list, and messages and sharing on it are welcome. You can help make the connection to Montessori if it is not obvious. If a conversation occurs that seems more appropriate for private e-mail (very rare), we will personally contact the participants and ask them to take it to a private loop. A public message will then be sent to the list by the owner, to let you know where the conversation has gone, so that you may join in, if you wish to do so. -- Posting Private E-Mail to the List -- If you'd like to share a private e-mail with the list, please *ask* the author for permission first and state in your message that you did do so. If someone on a mailing list has sent a private message to you (not to the list at large), and you have lost that person's address but want to reply, please do not post to the list, but e-mail the owner for the address. -- Copyrights -- All postings belong to the author(s) under copyright law and can be republished *only* with the author(s) express permission. You must ask the author(s) first before you reproduce, forward, or otherwise distribute another's postings to anyone other than current ML subscribers. -- Attachments -- Please do *not* send attachments to the list - they can cause trouble and are a common way viruses are spread. Please check with the owner first if an exception needs to be made, which can be done. -- Advertising -- We welcome *one-time* announcements of events, goods, and services specifically related to Montessori. A few short signature lines may always be used. -- Flaming is Inappropriate -- Flames (insults) and personal attacks are inappropriate both publicly on the list and privately. Discussions will often result in disagreements. Please state your opinions in a rational and mature manner. Please respect others' interpretations as being different from your own. If you have a concern with another subscriber, we ask that you talk it over with them in private e-mail. Please do not do it publicly on the list. Please remember that insults and attacks posted to the ML list a) are poor Ambassadorship, b) can hurt in both intended and unintended places, and c) reflect poorly on the person writing them. Whether these be words of ridicule, flaming, anger, frustration, name-calling, making others wrong, or any other form of rudeness or unkindness -- these words reveal everything about the person writing them and nothing about that person's "target." So at the very least for self-interest, but more so for the sake of Montessori in the world, please spare us and yourself this embarrassment. If you have a concern with another subscriber, we ask that you talk it over with them in private e-mail. Please do not do it publicly on the list. -- Intimidation of List Members -- We cannot accept private and public intimidation on this list. Please forward any e-mail of this type to us, and we will take care of it. -- More on Netiquette -- Please do try to make time to inform yourself about this issue, and review the information at these web sites: "Newbie" Help: http://www.windweaver.com/searchpage1.htm#Newbie "Netiquette": http://www.in.on.ca/tutorial/netiquette.html "Beyond Flaming": http://www.windweaver.com/email.htm Subscription Information and Listserv Server Commands -------------------------------------------------------- For messages and postings to the whole ML list: MONTESSORI-L@LISTSERV.AOL.COM For changes in your subscription, unsubscribing, digest, nomail, etc: LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM For me-too's, individual thank-you's, and chit chat: yourfriend@theirdomain.com For help, including members' e-mail addresses, write the owner: mbrio@attbi.com For this Welcome message, go to: http://www.light-side.net/ML/welcome.txt - To JOIN the list Send an e-mail to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM In the body of the message, type SUBSCRIBE MONTESSORI-L yourfirstname yourlastname - To LEAVE the list Send an e-mail to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM In the body of the message, type UNSUBSCRIBE MONTESSORI-L - To receive the DIGEST version, which groups messages into periodic packages instead of many individual posts Send an e-mail to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM In the body of the message, type SET MONTESSORI-L DIGEST - To place your mail on HOLD until you return from vacation Send an e-mail to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM In the body of the message, type SET MONTESSORI-L NOMAIL - To RESTART your mail upon your return Send an e-mail to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM In the body of the message, type SET MONTESSORI-L MAIL - To avoid a BOUNCE of your mail to the owner's mail box - To avoid being automatically deleted from the ML by Listserv, please: - set your subscription to NOMAIL if you are away - avoid forwarding your mail unless you verify that it works - double check your subscription address from Listserv Sometimes a new subscriber's address does not work, generates errors right away, and is then deleted by Listserv automatically! If you are a new subscriber but are not receiving messages, do contact the owner. To SEARCH the ML Archives -------------------------------------------------------- You can search the Listserv ML archives by topic, author, or date. For a simple search, please send an e-mail to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM and put in the first line of the body of the message SEARCH yourtopic IN MONTESSORI-L Listserv will send you a listing of posts that include "yourtopic" and instructions on how to request the specific posts you wish to read. Then you will need to send a second e-mail to Listserv, and type on the first line of the body of the message: GETPOST MONTESSORI-L xxxx xxxx xxxx where xxxx are the specific post numbers you wish to receive. Please note: Listserv will return to you only those posts that include "yourtopic" exactly as you have written it in your request (it is case- and spelling-sensitive). "YourTopic" may result in a different listing of posts than "yourtopic" or "yourtop" will. For Fancier Searching and Listserv Commands -------------------------------------------------------- You can download and read even more by requesting REFCARD (20 pages of Listserv commands) or GENINTRO (100 page user's guide to Listserv)! Send an e-mail to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM In the body of your message type either one of these commands: INFO REFCARD INFO GENINTRO A warm *Welcome* to the Montessori-L list! Please feel free to ask questions, participate, and share ideas, and contact me directly if I can help make any of this work better for you. A special thank you for being considerate of your fellow list members, and for sharing your own knowledge and experiences with us. Molly Beane Revised April 2, 2002 mbrio@attbi.com Owner, Montessori-L List