Dr. Mary Ann Christison is a professor of ESL/English and director of the International Center at Snow College and teaches graduate courses in the M.A. in TESL/TEFL program at the University of Utah. She is co-author of several teacher resource books for language teachers including Purple Cows and Potato Chips, Drawing Out, Community Spirit, and Look who's Talking. Mary Ann works as language consultant both within the United states and abroad. Since 1993 she has been serving on the Board of Directors of the TESOL organization and was Convention Chair of the TESOL '95 Convention in Long Beach in March of 1995.
Nature endows a child with a sensitiveness to order. It is a kind of inner sense that distinguishes the relationships between various objects themselves. It thus makes a whole of an environment in which the several parts are mutually dependent. When a person is oriented in such an environment, he can direct his activity to the attainment of specific goals. Such an environment provides the foundation for an integrated life.
-Maria Montessori (1972, p. 55)