This week, I wrote a guest post for Jessica Balsley’s website Art of Education. She is an art teacher who provides many resources and ideas for other teachers interested and invested in arts education. I decided to stay with my focus on arts integration and cater to her major audience – art teachers. Here is [...]
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Each year, my school celebrates a special, yet under-acknowledged anniversary in our country’s history. September 14, 1814 was the date when Francis Scott Key wrote the poem that became our National Anthem while witnessing the battle at Fort McHenry. Three years ago, I approached my principal and colleagues with the idea of bringing the tradition [...]
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Rejuvenating! Having Conversations, Making Connections Total Participation Creating and Sharing These are some of the responses that were told to me in the last 20 minutes of the Teacher Art Retreat that was held Monday through Wednesday of this week (August 15-17). I am so energized by the time we had together at this wonderful [...]
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In Part 1 of “Poetry in Balance”, I focused on the importance of teaching students poetry appreciation. But to have a good study of poetry, just as with the study of any art form, you must balance it out with creation. This month I am requiring my students to write one poem each day in [...]
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With April here, I can’t help but reflect on the ideas of improvisation! It’s Jazz Appreciation Month and National Poetry Month. Jazz and poetry: two art forms that emulate improv! “Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one’s [...]
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Last night on #ntchat (New Teacher chat) we discussed resources and ideas to use for National Poetry Month. During the chat, someone tweeted me a “ponder”: I was taught a poet, then made 2 mimic. Valuable? Exposure was, not regurgitation. how to start? #ntchat ~@theHelpGroup To which I replied: I hear ya! There needs to [...]
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Daffodils start sprouting, Rain comes showering down, A joke, a stroke of laughter And then there’s snow, a frown. A jazzy rhythm’s happen’n And poems fill the air April’s now upon us There’s so much to do, to share! I’ve come to realize how much I really love April. Not just because it sends us [...]
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Oddly enough, it’s been almost an entire month of writing about music and literacy and I haven’t even mentioned lyrics in music! Well, now is the time. Of course lyrics are a natural connection music has to literacy. They are authentic texts! Composers and song writers go through their own creative writing process to come [...]
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The anniversary of the penning of our National Anthem is September 14th. MENC, the National Association for Music Education, has made this historic date an annual event! In an effort to help get Americans singing again, they have called this “The Campaign to Restore America’s Voice.” Schools across the nation will participate in this event [...]
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