PLaiC – Experience, Reflect, Apply
This past week, a group of teachers that work in my district got together for our monthly (3 months strong!) PLaiC meeting. This is a PLC (Professional Learning Community) session that centers around Arts Integration. The format for this session was different than that in the past and I believe it was very effective. We [...]
What Teachers DO When They are NOT with Students
It can be quite a discussion when negotiations come around. How much “prep” time do we allow teachers to have? How much “free” time should they get a week? How much time away from students do they really need each day?
Regardless of how much time we teachers have during the school [...]
Teach Free and Thrive
We have all heard this…
The what is in the standards … the how is up to you
This is why I do what I do every day. I love the freedom in taking the standards I need to cover and making them my own, developing lessons and units that meet the needs of my students [...]
Go Paperless – Write on Your Desk!
A few weeks ago, I pledged online through Twitter to “Go Paperless” for Earth Day. Soon after, I told my students about it and they were so excited! They immediately started to offer ideas and suggestions of how we could Go Paperless for an entire day.
“We can work on the computers,” said one [...]
Erosion Blues
This past week, my students and I had a great experience as we created a makeshift recording studio in our school and recorded an original piece of music: The Erosion Blues.
It is a great example of integration, collaboration and freedom in structure.
Integration: The blues was meant to be a culminating project for our unit [...]
Balancing Testing with Creativity
Our MCAS test begins today. Three days of testing in ELA (English Language Arts). Today, students are asked to write a personal narrative and the other two days, students will be given all other means of ELA testing: reading selections, multiple choice, essay response (open response), grammar, conventions, etc.
I do agree with [...]
Musical Experiences – Composing in the Classroom
In the spirit of Music in Our Schools month, I would like to reflect some more on how music can build community, this time through composition. With MCAS (Massachusetts’s high stakes test) next week, I think it is necessary to give my students a balance of testing with play. We WILL go outside [...]
My Biggest Need – Time
My biggest need as a professional is time, and in particular, time to collaborate with other teachers.
There is just no time to do what I really want to do at the level of quality that I would like to do it. I am fortunate enough to have an hour long prep time each day. (I [...]
