This past week end, I started teaching my arts integration grad course through the district in which I work.  16 teachers from grades Pre K-12 gathered together and worked hard getting started on the track of Arts Integration.  It was wonderful!  We talked, we listened, we created, we collaborated, we connected.  What else can you ask for?

On Friday evening, after watching a webinar on arts int and having some great discussion, I asked each person to create a poem that highlighted their take-aways thus far.  Each participant wrote such great stuff which we shared as our opener on Saturday morning.  (I am hoping to share some of the work with you at a later time.)  And then one of my colleagues asked me slyly, “Where’s your poem, Elizabeth???”

And so I went to work.

Throughout the day on Saturday, the teachers went through the creative process together as they worked through their ideas focused on arts integration: the values and challenges it poses.  I walked around, observing each group and as I walked I wrote this poem.  I hope you enjoy…

Teachers working

Separate, alone

distant and disconnected.

Where’s the love?

the connection?

the engagement?

Day by day we work:

little play,

little time,

little help,

little time.

Did I mention time?

and papers?

and pressure?

and… AHHHH!

Then put us together

and give us some time.

and let us create

for heaven’s sake!

I see these teachers.

I live their walk.

I watch them work

and see a spark…

It’s dulled, though.

So let’s fix it.

Put us together,

and give us some time.

Frustrating at first:

“You mean we’re together?”

“My ideas are shared?”

“Wait! I want my doors back!”

“I want them locked!”

“This can be hard.”

or can it?

Does it really have to be?

Just put us together

and give us some time.

With time, we can work it.

With time, we can process

build ourselves,

build relationships,

share ideas.

Collaboration at its best!

And what do you get?

Well, first you need to

Put us together

and give us some time.

And then you’ll see

the possibilities –

Smiling faces

(Yes, that’s important)

Calm collaboration

Organic work

It’s raw, it’s real

and

Work gets done!

So, don’t doubt it

or disregard

just trust it.

Trust the process.

And put us together

and give us some time!

Have a great day! ~EMP

Related posts:

1. My Biggest Need – Time
2. Active Listening Time – A Vehicle for the Music-Literacy Connection

In my last post, “Common Formative Assessments Built by PLCs,” I talked about what common formative assessments are as a reflection of my reading Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work – New Insights for Improving Schools (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, 2008).   But you may be wondering WHY you would do this.  I’d like to explore that here.

When you do not have common formative assessments (CFA), the teaching among teachers can be disjointed.  For example, I work in a team of five fourth grade teachers, if we all teach “States of Matter” but do it all in our own way and assess it in our own ways, our students may not all receive and understand the same information.  In addition, we are all doing our own work to prep for lessons and assessments that could be shared with one another.

When teachers come together to create a CFA, all the teachers have an end in mind – a goal for students that has been thoughtfully created and embedded in the standards.  Of course this “end” is not really the end at all.  Since the assessment is formative, the results of such an assessment are then analyzed by the team and students are given additional opportunities to learn the content.

The use of CFAs helps students, individual teachers and teams.  Think about it – you work with other teachers to create and then analyze the data knowing that students will get the help they need to achieve the high standards you’ve set.  Then, those students who are lacking skills can get assistance from anyone in the team of teachers.  It’s not about analyzing the data and pointing fingers at students who aren’t “getting it” or at teachers who aren’t “giving it right.”  Instead, when these teachers meet, they are sharing strategies, ideas and talents with one another.  These types of meetings have the potential to help individual teachers as much as they do individual students.

The key to remember with CFAs is that they are assessments FOR learning not OF learning (as in summative assessments).  The book explains the three steps that must take place in order to have effective common formative assessments (p 217).  Here they are:

• The assessment is used to identify students who are experiencing difficulty in their learning.
• A system of intervention is in place to ensure students experienceing difficulty devote additional time to and receive additional support for their learning.
• Those students are provided with another opportunity to demonstrate their learning and are not penalized for the their earlier difficulty.

See, creating CFAs is not enough in a PLC.  There is an implied step here that teams do not simply create CFAs, but they also meet to reflect and problem solve in the interest of all students reaching high standards.  Teams need to plan for this and some sort of system for flexibility needs to be in place.

Let’s face it, we all want students to do well.   In a PLC, the whole idea is that we work together to make that happen.  I’m sure I mentioned in the last post that my principal and a group of teachers are looking at the PLC model to see how it can be a good fit for our school.  It has such potential and the use of common formative assessments seems to be one of the backbones of implementing successful PLCs.

The great thing to realize is how our teams of teachers do work together often and are always striving for student excellence.  Working toward this PLC model will certainly make our work more efficient and in-depth.  I look forward to sharing more about our journey.

~EMP

Image from http://www.impactconsultingassociates.com

Related posts:

1. Common Formative Assessments Built by PLCs
2. So many assessments!
3. Creating a Safe Learning Environment

PLCs are Professional Learning Communities made up of teachers who work together in a professional environment to discuss student work and help student learning. This year, I joined a book club at my school that is reading Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work – New Insights for Improving Schools (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, 2008).  Throught the reading of this book it is our hope that our school starts to look at how implementing PLC time in our days will in fact impact student learning.

To start the year, our principal assigned chapters of the text to people in the book club.  My chapters are on assessment (chapters 8 and 9).  My next couple posts will be about my findings, specifically in common formative assessments – the backbone of strong and effective PLCs.

True student learning occurs when achievement is NOT limited to selected students, but is offered to ALL.  PLCs use common formative assessments to help all students achieve high levels of learning.

Common formative assessments are assessments made by a team of teachers in a PLC that guide their teaching.  This is very different from summative assessments.  Summative assessments take the attitude that at the end of a unit, the grade you get is the grade you get; we are done with this material and need to move on.  When you really think about it, that should not be the goal of teaching, yet, we are probably all guilty of this way of thinking – until, of course, it’s brought to our attention.

The idea of a formative assessment is not only to “check in” with students, but then to put them in a position to learn what they have not yet learned.  In this way, students are held to the high standards of learning.  After a formative assessment, students are given additional tutalage independently or in groups.  That is what’s expected by both the teacher and student.  It isn’t a punishment, simply extra practice so that all students are able to achieve the curricular goals.

The teachers themselves create the assessments that are given.  That, of course, is the “common” part of the assessments.  Then the teachers all teach in their own styles, give the common assessment and meet to review the outcome.  It’s at these meetings that teachers are able to analyze their students’ progress skill by skill and, in essance their own teaching.   They then share ideas and strategies that will allow all teachers to make sure all students are learning all the material they need to understand.  They also figure out how to reach the students who are lacking skills.  They may go back and reteach or break up the students so they can teach those that need it most.

In this way, teachers are sharing, collaborating and using their talents in a professional, collegial manner.  The intent is not to show up another teacher, but to all learn at once as they strive for student excellence across the board.

In my school we have some common assessments.  I would even consider many of them formative.  However, this in-depth approach to team work and meeting to truly assess each student’s progress is what’s lacking and what could be the most important piece to make the most success.

I am actually wondering if it may be best for a PLC of elementary teachers (such as I am) to start working with common formative assessments in a content area that isn’t already “assessed to death” such as math or literacy.  That way, the approach to the creation, use and review of such assessments are more pure.  That is, they are build from the ground up by a team for a team.

As always, I would love your comments.  Please let me know what your thoughts are about common formative assessments and their use in PLCs whether you have experience in them or not.  In the next post, I plan to write more about my reading about these assessments and how I feel they will play a part in my classroom, my team and my school.

~EMP

Related posts:

1. So many assessments!
2. PLCs and PLNs – Go Us!
3. Community Built Through Music

Before I begin, I want you to know that I hear you rapping the title of this post to the line in Bust a Move by Young MC, “No fine girls, just ugly faces…”
Ok, I know that’s bad, but stick with me! There is an actual post coming…

I was rereading a post from Kyle Pace where he talked about what a great teacher his mom was to many students and especially to him. It’s a great post! (You should go read it.) In it, he mentioned how his mom worked so well with her colleagues to bring about wonderful learning experiences. In one paragraph, he wrote:

This is just a sampling of the great things my mom did with her students.  This all required extensive interdisciplinary collaboration with her teammates. No closed doors or islands here! Teachers working together to do what’s best for kids and bringing an engaging team approach to everything that they did. Is it just me or has this mantra of teaching dwindled? Why do some not want to do this? It will make your job easier people and your students are the ultimate winners!

I’ve been that closed door teacher.  In my first school, it was kind of what you just did.  It wasn’t frowned upon, it just happened.  Sure, I talked with my teammates and we collaborated on things, but when it was teaching time – Slam, the door was closed.

I also have worked in a school where a closed door was a safe haven.  Get rid of the noise, ignore those in the halls, discourage the wandering principal from coming in and please, don’t listen to me teach, don’t judge me – just let me do my thing.  Not the most collegial place.

Now, I work in a modified open concept school.  I have no doors to close, just large, open entrances to all corners of my room.  My walls are cardboard thin (the walls that I have) and on one side, I have tried to create a wall with bookshelves.  (If you are interested in seeing my room on You Tube, please visit by clicking here.)

So, do I like this?  It definitely has its downfalls.  The noise is one thing.  I hear everything my neighbors do and they hear me.  If I want to listen to music with my students, I need to schedule it carefully so that it doesn’t interfere with my neighbor’s schedule.  As much as we can, we schedule tests at the same time as well as group work, snack and many other activities throughout the day.

But that brings me to my main point: there is a huge sense of collaboration and collegiality when you do not have doors.  You are forced to work together and make things happen.  You see other teachers more often and, well, you just can’t lock yourself away from the rest of the school.  Everyone can hear you and you can hear all.

My journey thus far as a teacher has led this to be one thing, that, believe it or not, I’ve ended up really enjoying at the Cashman School in Amesbury.  We can yell to each other for a quick meeting, gathering at the intersection of our rooms or even have a full out conversation from our desks 40 feet away from each other.

Don’t get me wrong here – if given the opportunity, I just may welcome some solid walls and maybe a door (or even better a window) in my room, but if we are to see a silver lining here, easy collaboration with my teammates is definitely it!

So remember, “Bust a move” on that classroom door of yours and keep it open.  No teacher should feel isolated in the confines of their four walls.  “If you want it, you got it. Uh, You want it, baby you got it!”

I know, it’s a stretch… but I hope you enjoyed the song today!   ~EMP

Click one of the tags from this post to find related posts.

He’s been asking for over a year, and finally I was able to say, “YES!”  Well, actually, I told Jerry Blumengarten, AKA “Cybraryman” yes when he first asked if my class would like to Skype with him, but the process to make that happen was a little long and slightly complicated.

My district, at first was a little hesitant to allow for Skyping, but with the help of our tech support technician, Kathy and school tech teacher and integrator, Leslie, we did it.  Some of the equipment used was given to us by a grant form our local education supporter AEFI. We projected the mixbook that Jerry put together illustrating the writing process he went through to create a comic book about Energy.  Then we hooked up another laptop to a TV so that we could see Jerry’s smiling face!  We also had a camera, microphone and speakers set up from there.  Kathy worked hard on getting it all set up and it was worth it.

On the morning of our Skype session, Leslie and I gathered the kids into our “Little Theater” and soon Cybraryman was calling.  The kids were excited!  Jerry did a great job of involving the kids in his presentation: asking questions and getting their feedback.  When Jerry was done, he stuck around for quite some time to take questions.  My students came up with some great impromptu questions about Jerry’s writing process.  And Jerry, in his undying enthusiasm, always answered honestly and positively.  “It takes a lot of work, but you can do this!”

As soon as we got back to the room, it was snack time.  I immediately grabbed my camera to get my students reactions from our experience.  Many students were happy to share what they learned and what they thought about the experience Skyping with Cybraryman!  Maybe you would like Cybraryman to visit your school too…

Enjoy this Animoto.

P.S. Jerry, I think you need your own character made with a cape!

~EMP

Click one of the tags from this post to find related posts.

Again today, I bring you a collaborative piece put together by my team from the EduCon 2.3 session on Arts Integration.  (Find Part I here - A Collaborative Reflection) Here are some words about how we are going beyond the conversation and putting our words into action! ~EMP

Contributors:

Michelle Baldwin:  http://avenue4learning.com | @michellek107
Andrew Garcia: http://educationalparadigms.blogspot.com/| @berkshirecat
Yoon Soo Lim: http://singimagination.wordpress.com | @DoremiGirl
Kyle Pace: http://www.kylepace.com | @KylePace
Elizabeth Peterson:  http://www.theinspiredclassroom.com/ |  @eliza_peterson

The Fun Part

by Elizabeth Peterson

Going beyond the conversation is the fun part.  That’s when you get to put your ideas into play.  For me, that means bringing arts-rich experiences to my students while tying them into the curriculum.  How about some drama and storytelling during reading instruction?  (Get kids to look back in the story, pick out details, visualize, conceptualize and bring the story to life.)  How about movement in science?  (Get students to move through the water cycle or work together to become the parts of a plant.)

Sure, there are hurdles along the way, but I’ve learned I need to trust myself.  And BECAUSE of the conversations I have had: the ones that help me to define my position on arts integration and reinforce the idea that what I do is important, I go into the “do it” part of the journey with a little more confidence!  It’s also a great feeling knowing that I will have my PLN to reflect with at any time as well.
~Elizabeth Peterson
@eliza_peterson

Yes, You Can!

by Kyle Pace

Technology integration with the arts. It’s a little bit more difficult to do in these areas but it can be done! We’ve complied some resources on our Google site on the Teacher Resources page. Those are just a few examples but here’s what we have to remember: don’t use technology just for the sake of the technology. It shouldn’t make your job harder. It should enhance what you’re already doing and the real benefit is when it positively impacts student learning. Is there a time commitment upfront? Absolutely. You have to become comfortable with the technology and have a strong support system from your administration and colleagues. If you have an instructional technology specialist to work with, please utilize them! If you don’t, please feel free to tweet to/email myself, Michelle, Elizabeth, Yoon, or Andrew and we’d be happy to help in any way we can.
~Kyle Pace
@kylepace

Brainstorm Your Ideas!

by Yoon Soo Lim

Take a look at collection of tools here. This tool remix is a great place to look as you brainstorm ideas to integrate into your lessons. There are web 2.0 resources for drawing, painting, storytelling, music making, dance, and multimedia. Start simple and add different dimensions to your projects as you collaborate. I personally use Symbaloo, an online organization tool, to have all my tools in one place. Especially for our EduCon session attenders (and our readers), Symbaloo is giving away Certified Voucher so that you can get trained to create your own Symbaloo.

~ Yoon Soo Lim
@DoremiGirl

Action Plan

Now Do It!

by Elizabeth Peterson

Actions speak louder than words.  I could talk forever about the importance of arts education and integration, but putting it into play – that is the key.  Since my EduCon experience, I have had a jolt of motivation to continue what I do and to explore how I can share my experiences with other teachers in new ways.

My first line of action will be with my own students.  MCAS, our Massachusetts testing, is on the horizon and with all these snow days, the pressure is on to prep for the test.  But after having these conversations with others who are equally adamant about the values of the arts, I am confident that I will not let that dissuade me from doing the arts-rich lessons the students yearn for.

For example, I want to have another “Studio Day” where students spend nearly the entire school day working on one focused arts integrated project.  The one I am planning on doing before February vacation involves Vivaldi’s Winter, poetry, visual art and descriptive writing.  I believe that having the students work for an extended period of time using the creative process is invaluable.  And the ending to the experience is self and peer reflection.  It teaches the students so much about themselves as learners.

The other plan of action needs to be outside of my classroom.  I feel the need more and more to make change outside my “four walls” by doing things such as inviting my administrator and other teachers into my room, working with other classroom and arts teachers to collaborate and to showcase the work we accomplish by sending out a press release or incorporating what we do into the spring “Celebration of Learning.”

The idea is to get gutsy and do it.  (That just became my motivation phrase to myself!)  People are really starting to understand the value of arts education, but to make change, we need to put those ideas into practice and actually show how arts education and integration affects student learning.

~Elizabeth Peterson
@eliza_peterson

On a Mission

by Yoon Soo Lim

After EduCon, I’m all the more convinced that we (arts teachers) not only have to be our own advocates, but also be active participants in the general educational community. Arts people are known to do our “own” thing. I think it’s been a long segregation. We need to join and partner together with passionate teachers who believe in making connected learning a reality for students. The only way this will happen is if we are present. I hope to talk to my colleagues on musicpln.org and twitter to join in educational conversations to build relationships. I bet we’d have a very different experience if we had more arts educators at EduCon next year!

One of my professional goals this year was to work closely with classroom teachers to integrate the arts into the curriculum. I will take what we preached and do exactly that: engage in lively dialogs, brainstorm, and make meaningful projects with teachers at my school and beyond!

Lastly, I am going to work (draft a proposal)  and meet with our administration to restructure my department to answer the question: “What role does music have at our school?” I will look at our existing schedule, our school expectation of our students in the role of music, and determine which learning environment would best align with our school mission.  And then I can move on to our art department and do the same.

Here’s to a great shift in paradigm!

~ Yoon Soo Lim
@DoremiGirl

Going Beyond:

by Andrew Garcia

@berkshirecat

The following were contributions from the Arts Integration conversation at EduCon:

• “It requires a human to make Art!”
• “We teach all subjects within the arts.”
• “In the school day, we are not getting any more time. The only way to do better job [keeping the arts alive school] is to integrate them.”
• “When you’re in a drum circle, all are responsible for each other. Need to respect everyone in the drum circle.”

Moving beyond the conversation means making the above explicit in each of our schools-in our local places. I have five recommendations for moving forward:
1-Be The Change: Collect/Keep and Share Student Work(s) and Performances

There is no denying that good work in the name of the arts and student learning is happening all the time in schools..both in and out of arts classes.  However, if nobody sees or experiences the work, it’s tough to convince others that it is happening.  As Stephen Sondheim’s Georges Seurat sings in Sunday in the Park With George: “A vision’s just a vision if it’s only in your head.  If noone gets to see it, it’s as good as dead.  It has to come to life”.

Indeed.  It has to come to life.  Your vision.  Your artist-teacher vision. And the vision and creations of your students. They must come to life and be seen and experienced by other teachers, administrators, parents, school committee members, reporters from the local paper, senior citizens and pre-school classrooms. When others experience these visions and creations, they will be moved on a human level.  Nothings “speaks” louder than an emotional response.

2-Examine the school’s Mission Statement

On a practical level, getting the staff on board to examine the school’s mission statement can be a backdoor approach to achieving agreement about valuing the arts in schools. As conversations unfold as the ‘old’ mission statement is examined, insert your thoughts, ideas, opinions about the arts/arts integration into the conversation and see where it leads.

3-Study the Curriculum of Other Subjects/Make Connections  with other Teachers

Aligning with other teachers is a powerful way to achieve recognition for the arts in schools.  If your school has undergone a curriculum mapping process, the curriculum of every teacher should be posted for all to see.  Usually, the specific units and resources that they use are included. As you examine the curricula of other teachers, you can make connections with them to see if they are interested in collaborating on any of their units. Arts teachers will see many ways to bring the arts into a unit.  That is a skill we can share through collaboration with other teachers–one unit and one teacher at a time. And. if you have the inclination, make your collaboration Global.

4-Know Your Principal

I can’t stress enough that it is completely detrimental to have a ‘long-distance relationship’ with your school Principal.  My approach is to actually make several appointments per year to to have a conversation framed around what’s happening in my classroom and more broadly to read the Principal’s perceptions around the arts’ place in school.  In the very best cases, Principals are explicit about their support in word and deed.  But if you don’t know, it’s important to probe their understanding.  Misconceptions abound–even in the minds of administrators.  Many may not know how the arts can help students to grow/learn in concrete ways. Some administrators may also have had ‘bad’ arts experiences in school themeselves.  Help to educate misperceoptions and misconceptions. The Principal holds much Power to make or break the creative spirit in schools.

5-Do Arts Integration Inversion:

If you are an arts teacher, try subject integration in arts classes. Depending on circumstances endemic to your school culture. It might have more impact than the other way around.  In my situation, 100% of all students in grades 6-8 take music for 10 weeks, every day, every year.  That amounts to 80-100 hours of music class at the middle school level, all said and told.

Doing Arts in schools can go viral if we keep the ‘conversation’ going within our local situations and continue to document, collect and share the good work that we and our students do everyday in the name of the arts. In the name of Humanity.

Related posts:

1. The Educon Experience – A Collaborative Reflection
2. PLaiC – Experience, Reflect, Apply
3. Making Connections Through the Arts (Part II) – Ideas