I love celebrating Beethoven’s birthday each year!  And this year, his 241st birthday is no different.  My plans for the day today include:

• Having my students complete their math open response question which is based on Beethoven’s 9th symphony.
• Having my students work on their fact and opinion project using leveled Beethoven biographies.
• Conducting an in-class all-Beethoven recital where my students are the performers.
• Having my students continue their work on their compare/contrast essay comparing Beethoven to Bach.
• Watching Beethoven Lives Upstairs and writing a short essay on perseverance.

(These activities and more can be found in my new eResource Celebrating Beethoven in the Classroom on sale now for download at The Inspired Classroom’s book store.)

This year, I’m also celebrating his birthday with more fun – a Teacher Field Trip!  After not planning one for over a year, we back in full force tonight with a triple D: Dinner, Drama and Dance.  I am looking forward to eating out with other teachers in Portsmouth, NH, then attending a modernized performance of A Christmas Carol at the Player’s Ring and finishing the night dancing over at the Gas Light’s third floor.  It should be a birthday bash!

Enjoy your day and your week end!

And Happy Birthday Beethoven!

Related posts:

1. All-Beethoven Recital
2. Celebrate Beethoven in the Classroom
3. Beethoven's Birthday – a December Holiday

Many of our readers are interested in actual lesson plans and ideas.  So, here you go!

My mind over the last week has been focused on collaboration and how it is the key to effective integration.   We cannot all be experts in everything, so we need to ask for assistance with things we may be otherwise unfamiliar.  Today, I’d like to highlight a collaborative partnership between an ELA teacher and music teacher.  The following modified excerpts come from my book, Inspired by Listening: Teaching Your Curriculum While Actively Listening to Music.

Collaborating with other teachers can be rewarding and often fun.  With Active Listening experiences, the integration of music is different than the traditional norm.  Here, the collaborating teachers are focusing on both the music and the curriculum; both have equal importance.  When this happens, two things occur: the students are learning about the music as they experience, analyze and interpret it and other parts of the curriculum are being taught, developed or reinforced.

During music class, students are developing their music skills as they actively listen to music and during other classes they are using the listening experiences as mini field trips to interpret the music.  For example, after actively listening to and studying some program or instrumental music in music class, students will write a narrative in language arts using the music as a springboard for inspiration.  Instead of using music to interpret the curriculum, you use the curriculum to interpret the music.

If you are a music teacher, you could be the one to introduce the musical concepts as well as the music itself:

Once your students have listened to a piece of music, allow them time to tell what they thoughtof it, whether it be a musical observation or a personal one. Then listen again and again at various times during a given week or class period. Each time you listen to a piece of music, you will hear new things. Challenge your students to discover surprises. Asking open-ended questions between the times you listen is the best way to get students thinking and talking about the music.

• Why did you like/not like the music?
• What made the music pleasing? Why?
• What was your favorite part about the music? Why?
• What was your least favorite part about the music? Why?
• What did the music sound like/remind you of? Why?
• What do you picture/imagine when the music is playing? Why?
• How did you feel when the music was playing? Why?
• What could have been the composer’s thoughts when he/she wrote this?
• Why did the composer use this/these particular instrument(s)?
• Why did the composer write/use these lyrics for the music?
• Why do you think this piece was written?

The classroom teacher could follow up and allow time for repetitive listenings.  Allowing for this time is important to keep students interested and listening.  Students need repetition in order to fully experience a piece of music.

Active listening time is similar to taking students on a field trip. You give them experiences outside the regular “norm” and build upon those experiences. Listening to music in your classroom is like taking a short filed trip and when you “get back” you are able to use these experiences to enhance your curriculum, especially in the language arts. You can do something as simple as journal writing in response to your class discussions or as complex as write a story using the music as an inspirational springboard.

The ELA teacher can then take those experiences and integrate them with his or her current curriculum.  Interpretation can be something you do in music class but also in other classes as well, especially in language arts.  There are many ways to integrate the language arts into the interpretation of music: poetry writing, story writing, letter writing, development of the parts of speech, etc.  For a full list of activities and lessons to use, please see the book, Inspired by Listening.

Here are some other ideas to use now:

• Brainstorm some words and/or phrases that come to mind as you listen to the music. Use these words/phrases to create a poem.
• Write a letter using the interpretations of the music. The letter may be from the composer telling why he/she wrote the piece, from the audience about the piece, or to or from an instrument in the piece.
• After listening to two different pieces of music, have students write a comparison paragraph or essay.
• Use a graphic organizer to develop a story including: character, setting, problem, details and solution. Have students fill out a graphic organizer using their interpretations of the music as inspiration. Students then write the story or tell it orally.

Music is motivating and inspiring to teachers and students alike!  Not only will students be stimulated as they actively listen to music: experiencing it, talking about it, and writing about it, but teachers will feel empowered as they collaborate with each other.  Providing these enriching, integrative experiences for your students is a collaborative effort well worth your time and effort!

In what ways have you collaborated with other teachers?

Related posts:

1. Musical Experiences – Listening in the Classroom
2. Musical Experiences – Composing in the Classroom
3. Collaboration at #ntcamp

Years ago when I was finishing up my master’s program from Endicot College (Beverly, MA) in Arts and Learning, I had to present my final project to my cohort.  As part of our finals, we were encouraged to express our journey through an artistic form.

During my journey, I discovered that I was an artist.  Maybe not one you would pay to see… but I was a creative being and when allowed the time to PLAY: to explore mediums, discover new ways to do things and interact with others going through the same process, I was developing my own skills and becoming a curious and well-rounded learner.  Not to mention, I was finding a bit of myself through that process as well.

I was Feeding My Flame.

The flame became an image I kept going back to: a collection of swirling red lines, always changing, always growing…  And so when it became my turn to express my journey not just in words on a paper but more deeply through an art form, I danced with my own flame (a red veil) and together we showed the story of how my flame had been fed through the arts.  (For music, I spliced together some great music from Alice in Chains, Disturbed and Stone Temple Pilots.)

Years later, as I work on my CAGS degree in Arts, Leadership and Learning from Plymouth State University in New Hampshire, I am visited by the flame again.  During my last class, we were given studio time to create a cover for a journal we would be using.  I grabbed some scrap papers from the collection of materials to use and found myself creating my old friend the flame.  I hadn’t looked at her in a while.  With work and kids and life rushing in, I hadn’t given myself that chance to PLAY, to create, to feed my flame very often.

But this time when I made my image of the flame, it was different.  Down at the bottom, I put two sets of googly eyes: one for each of my young children.  You see, now I have a different purpose for feeding my flame – my kids.  I want them to see me create and discover the world around me.  I want them to see me play, dance, make music, tell stories.  That is so important.

It’s important for me to feed my flame now more than ever, because I want my kids to find their own!

As teachers, it’s the same thing.  We need our students to see us be creative beings, to model behavior that is curious and creative.  This is a very important step in becoming a teacher who integrates the arts into their teaching.

Tonight I am hosting a Teacher Field Trip to a Greek restaurant where we will eat great food, listen to live music, watch a belly dancer and then dance ourselves.  Last night I worked diligently into the evening making the favors: mini scarfs for the teachers to hopefully use as well as a mix CD of middle eastern music (including Greek, Arabic and Armenian tunes).

As I was sewing each seam of each mini veil, I was thinking back to my own first veil, my red flame and how it has been folded and tucked away in a closet for so many years.  It’s time to take it back out, both figuratively and literally as a means and a reminder to create again.

It is my mission to continue to reach out to teachers and help them feed their flames so that when they bring the arts into their classrooms, it is real, it’s from their own experiences.  It’s a challenge yes, but it’s so worth it!  We all need to stop every once in a while and take time for ourselves to feed our own flames.

What are you doing to feed yours?

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

Usually when there is talk about the importance of play, it is usually focused on children who are preschool or kindergarten age.  There are countless studies about how playing dress up or grocery store helps children’s social, physical, language and cognitive growth.   Play is used to help assess children’s development and help them to process emotions.  Play is important!

What is play?  To me, it is unstructured time for people, young and old to explore, interact and discover things.

Unfortunately, just like so many other artistic endeavors, play seems to stop at a certain age.  In schools, play can even be seen as a waste of time past first or second grade as students are required to do so much in the world of academia.  However, teachers who find themselves at recess duty will often comment on how much they learn about students as they observe their actions on the playground.

There is a place for play at all ages.  It should not be just for young children.  Recess is crucial for older students as is other free time during the day.  Middle and secondary students would also benefit from some time to explore new things and discover the world around them.  And something I  find time and again is that adults need time to be free and play too!  Give an adult a chance to play around with some finger paint or drum sticks or a wide open dance floor pulsing with music and you may find a smile creep onto his or her face.

It’s unfortunate that the older we get, the more inhibited we are to be free and play.  It seems that once we hit a certain age of self awareness, our ability to play dwindles at a rapid speed.

So what do we do about this?  My solution is to create these times and to drag other people along for the ride.  That’s one of the reasons why I started organizing Teacher Field Trips: times when teachers can get out together to do something fun and just play!

After all, we all need a little playtime.  Don’t you agree? 

~EMP

Join the conversation tonight!  Renee (@enrichingkids) from Creative Sitters is having a Twitter Party.  The topic? The Importance of Play  When? September 30, 2010 at 9:00 EST

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

I cruised down the road for my morning commute to school.
It was Friday,
no kids in the car,
sun was out,
radio was on
and then the beat started to pound,

Lady Gaga’s Just Dance started.
YES!

Volume turned up,
hips started to move,
head bobbed
and fingers tapped.

“I need to get out tonight
and DANCE!”
But wasn’t sure how,
never mind…
must listen and groove right now.

My mind wandered,
I visualized myself on the dance floor.
Who’s with me??
Teachers on the mind
(going to school after all…)
We jam,
sway,
stomp,
clap,
wiggle
and groove.

That’s it!
that’s when it came to me
WE needed to get out and dance
Yes, WE teachers!

That’s part of getting inspired
for ourselves
for our students…

That’s what we need
Our OWN Field Trips!

Click play to view pictures from our field trips!

Some may laugh at the idea, but not teachers. We need this and it’s great! A chance for us to get out, connect and get inspired.

The Inspired Classroom has had four Teacher Field Trips so far. The first was to go out dancing. Next we visited the Isabella Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. Our third field trip was to a poetry Beat Night in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and finally this week we painted pottery at Firefly Pottery studios.

Our mission is to reach out to the teachers and help them to become and remain inspired in what they do for our children. We have done so through this website, at workshops and conferences, PLaiC and now these field trips. The teachers love it. For each field trip, they experience something new, connect with other teachers who are interested in expanding their horizons and even get a party favor.  Beth Cavalier, my good friend and colleague has been instrumental in helping to bring these field trips together…thanks Beth!

Personally, I have enjoyed each one. I have learned new things, been able to connect with like minded teachers and grown as a professional.  I look forward to continuing these field trips through the summer and for the years to come.

Related posts:

1. Teacher Field Trips
2. Teacher Field Trip-Beat Night-Jazz and Poetry
3. Teacher Field Trip – Pottery Night

This past Thursday a group of teachers took their third field trip organized by The Inspired Classroom. We attended Beat Night at the Press Room in Portsmouth, NH. What fun! It was a great night of relaxin’, groovin’ and inspirin’.

Four of the teachers out at the Press Room for Beat Night.

The evening began with an hour of featured poets reciting their original poems. There they stood, poets of all ages and backgrounds sharing their experiences with us – unhinged, unrated, truthful and full of life. They spoke of love and pain, emotion and faith. And all this was recited to the backdrop of live, improvisational music. The poets asked for a certain feel and the musicians started to play, laying out the landscape on which the lyrics of the poems rested.

The second hour was open mic and those who felt it, signed up to recite a poem with or without the band. I, knowing I would regret it if I didn’t, decided to put my name down before I lost my nerve. Ayanna Gallant, the hostess of the night (and guest blogger on TIC) introduced the readers one by one and they got up to read.

One poet was a former student of mine who gave an emotional poem about a tragic childhood experience. And in the end of the poem we heard her be at peace. It was beautiful and poetic, it sucked me in to her experience and emotional past. Tears welled up in my eyes as I thought how poetry must have been a healing agent for her and how fortunate for me to have been able to witness this beautiful young lady share this part of her with all of us.

A couple of poets later, it was my turn. Once introduced, I got up to the mic, asking the band leader, Larry Simon to play something rhythmic and sultry with lots of drums. He instructed the rest of the band and the music started to play…

It was like magic how my words melted together with the music. We complimented each other with each nuance of melody and lyric. The words poured out my mouth like satin and I was entranced in the moment created by the sounds all around me.

It was a great experience and I’m glad it was captured on video, or at least you can hear the audio.
Later, as I listened to the performance and remembered the experience, it got me thinking.

Why don’t we do things like this more often? Be creative, share our experiences and build community through these art forms in true, raw, and meaningful ways? For me, reading my poem was pure enjoyment, a thrill, but for others it can be a way to get a message out, to tell a story or act as therapy for their soul.

Why don’t we ask students to do this more – write from their experiences, from the gut!?

Another teacher near us had some of his high school students there. Two were being featured that night. HE allows for this in his classroom. He inspires his students to write gutsy poetry that means something real for them in their lives.

We need to do more of this for our children and for ourselves. I am thankful for these field trips. They have helped me to stay inspired in my own teaching so that I can inspire my students!

Next month is jazz and poetry month. What a great excuse to use to try out some poetry writing with my students.

For more pics from Beat Night, visit our Flicker Account.

Related posts:

1. Teacher Field Trip-Beat Night-Jazz and Poetry
2. Musical Experiences – Playing in the Classroom
3. Musical Experiences – Composing in the Classroom