I love working with other teachers, and I was so fortunate to do so for the past three weekends in my own district.  14 teachers in Amesbury, MA signed up for and took my Arts Integration course.  It was yet another amazing experience where I was able to work with great teachers in grades Pre-K through 12!

Yes, the first point I want to make is that there were teachers spanning the entire breadth of public education.  We were also wide spread including general ed and special ed, library, technology, music and guidance.  Some may say we were a Motley Crue, but boy did it work!

I broke the course into three main sections:

1.   Our first week end together we focused on ourselves as we worked through the creative process.  I think this is the most important piece to great PD in the arts.  If we are to go and use these valuable tools in our own teaching, we first need to experience it first hand.  (Actually, that should be true for all PD!)

I think I really personalized this course. Maybe overpersonalized it. “It’s all about me!” Not really – but I sort of had to stretch myself in order to expect my students to take leaps into creativity and the arts.”

I just thoroughly enjoyed it. I feel as though I learned more about myself through this course and as a result that will help me in becoming a better teacher.” ~MEU

2.   The second week end was focused on what true arts integration is and how to create arts integration lesson plans.

The best “take away” from this class is that it has allowed me to slow down and really think about my planning. I think it is important when thinking about Arts Integration that you look at it as a philosophy and overall feeling in your classroom in order to be successful at it.” ~MEU

I think what I will take away the most is that arts integration is different than just including an art project. By giving the integration process the time it deserves and connecting to the content area, both the arts and the content will be more meaningful. It gives me the foundation for valuing the arts.”  ~PB

That you don’t have to be an artist to teach using arts integration. I don’t feel entirely comfortable in all art areas but I realize that there are some I can do now and others I can learn more about.”  ~JM

3.   Finally, we put some focus on advocacy and how to continue having this renewed feeling of purpose even after our time together has ended.

I absolutely loved this class. As you know I feel inspired and energized. It has helped me as a teacher to be able to articulate the learning process while integrating the arts into the curriculum.”

The best take away?  Being with teachers at all the different grade levels who have the same goal. I’ll also always think about the “elegant fit” as I use it to direct me.  My happy bubble will go on!!:) Thanks a bunch!!” ~MAC

The really powerful part about our experience is that our time together really hasn’t ended.  Because we all work in the same district, we can continue to work together in various forms.  Plans are already in the works!

The teachers in this course are all so very inspiring. I will, without a doubt, continue to collaborate with these amazing women. Not only do I feel more confident about integrating the Arts into the curriculum, but, I also feel less intimidated about asking for help. The resources that I have been exposed to just from the connections made these past three weeks are positively priceless.”  ~MLK

I hope that these wonderful teachers will share some of their experiences with you in the coming weeks and months as they post as guest bloggers.  It is, after all, through others’ experiences that we can find support and motivation to do the work we know is so important.

For me, teaching this course is always rejuvenating.  I too need that time to rekindle my flame.  I feed off of other teachers’ excitement and enthusiasm to teach and teach well.

I encourage you to find that someone in your district: that teacher or group that helps you to sustain a sense of purpose and drive in your teaching.  We need that.  Our kids need that.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

~EMP

To learn more about how the arts can be integrated into your teaching, or to learn about professional development opportunities available in your area, contact Elizabeth through the “Contact Us” tab at the top of this page.

Related posts:

1. Arts 4 Learning – Putting Integration into Practice
2. Arts Integration Cannot Replace Arts Ed
3. Highlights from the Arts Integration Series

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

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