I’ll cut to the chase.  I know more about Greek mythology because half my summers were spent in my father’s library than because of anything l learned in school. My sister and I read, drew, made up stories and occasionally assigned each other book reports. I know about presidents who were assassinated or had attempts on their lives, including the sociopolitical economic situation surrounding the country at those times; I know much more than about these gentlemen than any other presidents. Why? All because I directed a production of a musical called Assassins.

At one point in time I could darn near recreate a Japanese Tea Ceremony to perfection, due to another theatrical project on the isolation, discovery and subsequent westernization of Japan. I venture so far as to say that the only reason I know how to string two sentences together in a cohesive manner can be directly tied to all of the plays, classical and modern, that I saw since my youth. No writing class taught me how to tell a good story. Listening and absorbing and encouragement did.

The connecting thread seems clear: for me and many others, most of our actual knowledge can be traced to topics that we enjoy. When we investigate or research for the pure joy of it, we don’t segment our interests into distinctive subjects, say: English, Math, Reading, World History, Social Studies, Geography (if that is even being taught any longer), U.S. History….the list continues.

So why do we ask our children to learn that way?

When we are interested in something, we don’t stop when the bell rings. We learn until we are full. We stop when we are satisfied or fall asleep with a book or laptop opened to the last page of our latest obsession..

The examples continue. To me, the point is clear. Give students some creative license. Validate their interests and capitalize on them. Who cares if they read Moby Dick or Catcher in the Rye or Great Expectations or Twilight? Encourage the Dickens fans to report on the historical accuracies and inaccuracies inherent in his stories. Ask the child in the corner who only wants to doodle if he knows that many great paintings began as sketches, and what different movements in art meant for the world at those times? Have the gamers follow their favorite brands in the stock market as if they owned a share; they can learn about the company, business decisions, economics, and maybe even know enough to read a stock portfolio one day.

Integrating learning based on interest creates critical thinkers and gives importance to their interests, to the things they care about in this world. Don’t you think that might make school more exciting?

At the beginning of the school year, teachers want to send a message to their students:  “We are a community of learners, together we will challenge each other and share with one another.”

We have a variety of ways to go about doing this and for some, they try to do it through the arts.  In infusing my beginning of the year activities with the arts, I am hoping to also say to my students, “I value your creativity and individuality.  I want you to grow as an individual and as a part of our community.”

In previous posts, I have blogged about ways to build community throughout the year with music making and listening and through a communal piece of art.  But at the beginning of the year, I do some quick activities that are based in the arts that help to establish our class as a community that values the arts.  Here are a couple of activities I do:

Names and Movement: This activity is great for learning names and giving insights to your students.  Have the class stand in a circle and one by one students say their name while doing a movement.   The movement can be a simple arm wave or an elaborate, dramatic gesture.  The key is not to think too hard about it when coming up with it.  The rest of the class then repeats the name and accompanying movement three times back before moving on to the next person.

This simple activity is a must for my first day of school but also is fun to do throughout the year.  You can really get a handle on personalities, interpersonal relationships and how students are feeling at that particular time.

First Time Doodles: In my fourth grade classroom, I have students make “My First Fourth Grade Doodle”.  It is a blank piece of paper with that simple title at the top.  On it, the students free draw for a period of time such as at the beginning of the day or during any free time they may have.  You can also carve out some time in your schedule if you so desire.  I will assign the doodling on one day and tell students it is due two or three days from now giving them ample time to return to their work and fill up the paper.

Understandably, this can be seen as an elementary activity, but it is really good for the middle and high school years too.  It builds oral skills as students are encouraged to share what they have done with you, a small group, or the class.  You may discover a hidden talent.  It can also become the inspiration for a story or poem.  You can search inside the doodles for patterns and symbols, lines and colors.  They can become the topic of a descriptive essay or the springboard for vocab work with your ESL students.

This year I intend on having students keep their doodle for some time, going back to it for various other integration opportunities.  We’ll see what comes about from that.  It may become it’s own post!

Enter to Music: This is so simple to do and can be so effective.  Set the mood for your classroom by playing a piece of music.  Classical works, big band is great and even contemporary music can invite the kids into your room and get them focused.  It’s amazing what a room filled with music can do to draw people in.  My choice for the first day with kids: Glenn Miller’s String of Pearls played on a loop.  It is chill yet invigorating; not too slow, not too energetic; just right for getting kids in and getting them ready for the day.

Creating a classroom culture that accepts a variety of art forms is important to do from the start of the school year.  Do you have an activity to share?

EMP

“If we demand quick results, the arts will not supply them.” -Eric Jenson page 1 of Arts with the Brain in Mind.

So true.

But that’s ok!

I believe I have made mention to this before. But as I read what Jenson says, I just can’t resist the urge to reflect more on how our society wants our children to learn quickly and effectively.  (Is that possible?)

It actually seems that everything nowadays is so immediate.

“I just emailed you something, did you get it yet?”

“Mommy can I see the picture you just took?”

I guess it is just natural that this mentality is found in education as well. We want our students to learn something after a lesson and a few follow up activities. What is worse is that we want these to pay dividends when it comes time for standardized tests.

If you are going to integrate artistic experiences into your teaching, you (and your administration) have to realize that the benefits may not show immediately. The value in art integration is not that you will see a rise in test scores that spring, it is something MUCH deeper than that.

For one thing the arts will provide a more enriching way for your students to develop skills and internalize concepts. They may create a dramatization of a story or event in history and by putting the time into such an event, get so much knowledge out of it. Students might practice their math facts by jumping in sequence.  As they move with the number concepts, some students will start to understand them better.

Another way to think of arts integration (and arts education) is that they not only provide for quality learning experiences but long lasting benefits.  When you integrate arts experiences into your teaching, you are helping your students to realize the importance of such things as perseverance and stick-to-it-iveness, questioning and flexibility, independent thinking and collaboration: all the skills we want for our children and future workers in society.

The artistic process can be paralleled to the learning process – it’s exciting, it takes time and it’s never really done. What a GREAT message to send to our students whom we are encouraging to truly become life long learners.

EMP

What are your thoughts on the long lasting benefits of the arts?

As a new school year is underway, so marks a time to refocus your goals and hone in on what types of things you want to impress upon your students.  We teachers get this great perk to our careers – we start a school year fresh, often with a new group of students, optimistic about our skills as teachers and hopeful that we will inspire all the children and young adults that travel our way.  For me, this is also proving to be a great time to reevaluate my own philosophy of teaching.

This September and October, The Inspired Classroom is getting back to its roots, the premise upon which it was built: a belief in the value and power of arts education and integration and I am excited to say that I will be joined my some amazing educators who will guest blog about this ever important topic.

To begin, I thought it appropriate to reflect on my own philosophy of education and explore how the arts play into this.

In cleaning out some old binders this summer, I came across the first philosophy statement I had to write while in college nearly 13 years ago.  Here it is:

My philosophy of teaching is not one that dictates, tells or pushes.  It is one that shows, lets students explore and guides students along in their learning.  The article How I Grew in the Garden by Emilie Barnes is a great parallel to my philosophy of teaching.  It compares teaching to gardening and all that goes with it.

Emilie reflects on how plants want to grow, that they were meant to grow and that she is allowed to be in on the process.  This is the same with teaching.  In gardening, Emilie must prepare the soil, plant the seeds and then weed, water and feed.  As teachers we do the same things.  We prepare lessons, give lessons and guide students in their growth.  Emilie must watch for disease, insects and for extremes of weather.  We must watch for bad habits and misunderstandings.

The parallels don’t stop here.  Emilie understands the importance of patience.  Instant flowers are non-existent.  A lot of work is needed for a good garden.  Teachers as well can’t expect instant knowledge.  Learning takes time and energy for it to be done right.  Pruning, for Emilie seems to be the hardest part of gardening.  There is so much work that needs to go into pruning.  Trimming and weeding are only the beginning steps to the painful process.  However the results are a great payoff.  This is so in teaching as well.  Refining a student’s ability can be a long, hard process but the outcomes are well worth it.

No one said that gardening was easy, but many people go through the hard work to get beautiful results.  As for us, we too are gardeners, but our results can be far more beautiful than any garden.  As a teacher, I hope that I would be a gardener to my students.

This philosophy (though not so well-written) is not far off my mark now.  Our job as teachers is to guide students, instruct them, inspire them and help them to realize their potential.  And the arts can very much be part of this teacher’s style.

So here are a few ways I hope the arts will help my teaching as I tend to my garden of students:

• To create community in my classroom.
• To encourage creativity and individuality.
• To emphasize the importance of the process and stick-to-itiveness.
• To empower learners by their mistakes.
• To enrich the other areas of our language arts and other disciplines.
• To help students discover their own learning styles.

And how?

• Through musical listening experiences
• Through music creation
• Through individual and community visual art making
• Through art study
• Through drama, dance and movement activities
• Through storytelling
• Through poetry reading and composition

What are some ways you plan to use the arts in your teaching this year?

Dr.  Richard Selznick is a psychologist, nationally certified school psychologist, graduate school professor and university professor of pediatrics. He is author of the book The Shut-Down Learner: Helping Your Academically Discouraged Child. Included in the book are numerous case studies drawn from his vast professional experiences.

As Director of the Cooper Learning Center, Dr. Selznick oversees a program that assesses and treats a broad range of learning and school-based academic and behavioral problems. The Cooper Learning Center is a Division of the Department of Pediatrics, of Cooper University Hospital.  The Hospital is a leading teaching hospital in the region.    Dr. Selznick presents nationally and internationally to parents and educators on a variety of topics related to school struggling.  A down-to-earth presenter who looks to discuss difficult topics in non-jargon terms, Dr. Selznick recently presented to educators in Dubai and Abu Dhabi on issues related to struggling children.  Among the topics that he presents include “Relationship:  The Key Variable in School Struggling,”  “Myths & Realities of Dyslexia,”  “Understanding the Shut-Down Learner Formula,” “Stages of Reading Development:  Signposts That Guide Instruction,”  “We Keep Telling Him You Have to Get Organized:  Executive Function Deficits.”

Toni Tabora-Roberts is the Outreach Coordinator of Young Audiences Oregon & SW Washington. She also manages Young Audiences’ Arts for Learning Literacy Lessons Program, a supplementary curriculum that integrates the arts into literacy learning. Young Audiences connects artists with classroom teachers and school communities to make learning come alive.

Toni brings a passion for arts, education and empowerment. She has worn all kinds of hats – outreach, program management, education, special events, development and grants administration – with a wide range of arts non-profits over the past 15 years including the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Center for Asian American Media, ArtsChange, KBOO Community Radio and Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center. She’s a media producer/writer and performer who has taught and directed theatre and improvisation to students of all ages. Current creative and community endeavors include Portland Theatre Brigade Board of Directors, APA Compass Radio Collective, The Asian Reporter columnist, Action Theater practitioner and her ramblings of a dabbler blog.

Joan Weber, Director of the Education Division, was raised in rural Carroll County, Maryland where she served as the student representative to the county Board of Education. After college at American University in D.C. and Western Maryland College, Joan settled in Baltimore City.

She has spent the 20 years since working in arts education and education. She was the Coordinator of Student Services and the Operations Manager for the Peabody Preparatory of the Johns Hopkins University. From there, she spent some time being an environmental educator for the Maryland Department of the Environment. It was in this capacity that she discovered her love of teaching. Thanks to Bruce Nelson, Joan began directing teenagers in Shakespeare productions at Rep Stage’s Summer Actor Intensive.

Shakespeare formed the basis of her work for the next four years, including teaching and performing Shakespeare across Maryland, and then assuming the position of Educator Director for the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival. In this position, she designed all of the education programs, including her favorite: Teen Performance Program. As part of the regular season of Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, one slot is given over to a production acted entirely by teenagers. Professional directors and designers help guide the students in the process. Joan’s production of Much Ado About Nothing broke the attendance record for a regular-season performance indoors. Most of the programming that Joan designed is still in use by the company, including touring shows and residencies.

Joan discovered arts integration during this time by creating a residency that taught students about the historic period of Shakespeare’s plays using theater and literature. She discovered that student engagement is very high when theater is used to teach other subjects. Character development, costume design, principles of stage combat and improvisation were all used to increase students’ empathy for the Elizabeth period to prepare them to read Shakespeare’s works. Joan described her process in an article entitled “Teaching History Using Theater to an English Class” in Teaching Artist Journal.

After spending a year programming concerts at the University of Baltimore’s brand new student center recital hall, Joan was chosen to be the first Executive Director for what was then called Baltimore Partners for Enhanced Learning. Baltimore was one of 8 cities across the country chosen to participate in a Ford Foundation Initiative called Arts Integration and School Reform. Joan started from scratch with a new organization to bring more arts education and arts integration to Baltimore City Public School children. Early on, she petitioned the Board of Directors to change the name of the organization to Arts Every Day to reflect the mission. During the three years of her tenure, Joan worked with Baltimore City Schools to include arts education in the reform plan being instituted. As of this writing, every school in Baltimore City is required to show support for the arts by working with arts and cultural organizations, as well as offering sequential arts instruction in the building.

To help schools find appropriate resources from the arts and cultural community, Joan led the construction of a website (www.artseveryday.org) that allows teachers to search programming from providers by using a robust search mechanism for subject and art form. The site was honored with a Webby in the education division. In addition, Joan worked with 6 individual schools across the city to help them become fully arts integrated. This process was designed based on the principles of strategic planning. Roland Park Elementary Middle was honored by the Kennedy Center for its work in arts integration during this time.

Joan served on the Fine Arts Education Advisory Committee for the Maryland State Department of Education and the advisory board for the Teaching Artist Institute. She has presented professional development programs across Baltimore City Public Schools on arts integration in the classroom and how to use the skills of the actor in the classroom.

Currently, Joan serves as adjunct faculty at Howard Community College, where she teaches arts appreciation.  She also serves as an adjunct professor with Towson University Arts Integration Institute, a graduate professional certificate program for teachers. Through this program, Joan teaches Drama Integration and is a mentor for graduating students in their Capstone project. She is also the group discussion facilitator for Edutopia’s Arts Discussion group at edutopia.com.

At Creativity & Associates, Joan is responsible for the education division. Creativity & Associates is the culmination of Joan’s path in arts education and reflects her philosophy that students enjoy learning and remember more when they use theater as part of the learning process. Joan brings her accumulated knowledge and experience to this new challenge. The primary focus of her work will be designing residencies, workshops and strategic planning for students, teachers and theater teaching artists.

Rachel Evans is Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre at NJ’s Kean University, where she teaches theatre education courses, mentors pre-service theatre teachers, and directs theatre for young audiences.  Currently, Rachel is VP/President-Elect of the Board of the Educational Theatre Association, for whom she regularly presents at conferences and state Thespian festivals.  She was the recipient of a Theatre for Young Audiences/USA Ann Shaw Fellowship that took her to Australia for ASSITEJ 2008.  Other activities include participating in SCASS Arts and NJ’s Standards revision, publishing reviews for Theatre Journal, writing original plays for young audiences, and designing costumes for modern dance.  Rachel is a former high school theatre teacher, arts administrator, and AEA stage manager.  She has a BFA in Theatre/Performance from Hofstra University and an MFA in Directing from University of Pittsburgh.

Michelle Baldwin is a learner, an educator, a self-proclaimed “techie,” presenter, and an advocate for teaching and learning WITH students!

Michelle returned to the classroom in 2010, after coordinating technology professional/staff development for eight years in a suburban school district. Although she continues to  assist teachers in the effective use of technology in the classroom, Michelle is thrilled to be teaching and learning with K-5 vocal music students and teaching studio voice to students of all ages. A parent of young adults and teenagers, she is also well-versed in blogging, podcasting, digital literacy, online profiles, personal learning networks, and learning how much she has yet to learn. You can find her blogging at http://avenue4learning and on Twitter as michellek107.

CINDY MARIE JENKINS is a Storyteller & Coach based in Los Angeles. Her stories take the form of fiction, poetry, teaching, theatre, editorials, PR and marketing, advocacy, plays….Cindy now explores interactive guerrilla/street theatre to engage and activate her community and dreams of art integration in education.
Previous community art installations/interactions have been shown at The Barnsdall Gallery, The Courtyard Gallery, the Silver Lake Jubilee and the Children’s Festival of the Arts in Hollywood.

CURRENT: Storyteller for the Friends of Echo Park Library, Chair of Outreach & Representative on The Atwater Village Neighborhood Council, Arts Consultant for Stephen Box for Council District 4 campaign, Associate Artist for The Indy Convergence, Associate Producer for the Directors Lab West, CONTRIBUTING WRITER: Bitter Lemons, Love Atwater, and her Storyteller blog, where you can find folklore related to the soon-to-be-published novel TEN.

PAST: Academy Teaching Associate and Artistic Associate for The Antaeus Company in North Hollywood, where she expanded both the Antaeus Academy for young classical actors and ShakesAlive! the Arts Education Outreach programs; Director of Education for Enrichment Works; Mentor/Director for Virginia Avenue Project, Program Director for Safe Moves: DUI Prevention Theater Program and CTG’s Speak To Me Program.

Her adaptation of VOICES FROM CHORNOBYL has been produced in different venues around Los Angeles since 2006 as part of the Anniversary Readings Series, an annual international event designed to build awareness and raise money for the residents and children of Chernobyl.  She was invited to be a Key Note Speaker at “Remember Chernobyl,” an Annual Conference for UK & Irish Chernobyl Charities, where the Demo premiered and the VFC Anniversary Readings launched.  The Demo is regularly screened around the world to both fund-raise and recruit host families for children in the affected zone.  In 2009 her adaptation was read in numerous locations around Los Angeles by the original ensemble as well as new casts, including a co-presentation with Deaf West which began the process of translating the play into ASL. Currently pre-planning for the 25th anniversary events in 2011.