Library Summer Camp
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 [...]
The Arts are not Quick
“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 [...]
Learning in the RAW
In these last few weeks of summer, I have been taking my two kids (4-year-old boy and 3-year-old girl) to Music Together, a music program for infants, toddlers and preschoolers. This is one of those great luxuries a teacher-parent has: to enjoy a family class such as this during the day in the summer. In [...]
Pleasure, Experience and Art
While in Sicily, Elizabeth Gilbert tries to understand a piece of the pleasure seeking Italian culture. In her book, Eat, Pray, Love, she refers to Luigi Barzini, an Italian journalist and author of The Italians who provides her with a large piece of the puzzle.
She writes, “Because the world is so corrupted, misspoken, unstable, [...]
Seeking Pleasure
In her book Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert, travels to three countries to find herself once again. The first place she travels to is Italy – in an attempt to seek and experience pure pleasure. The Italians she comes across have no problem with this idea, in fact they applaud and encourage it. However, [...]
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 [...]
Children’s Freedom in a Classroom Structure
It is most important in my teaching for my students to have freedom to think, freedom of movement, and the freedom to be responsible for themselves, their work and their relationships. I want this to happen each day in my classroom as we work through the curriculum, snack, specials, lunch and recess.
To achieve this [...]
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 [...]
It’s All About Experiences
Community building in the educational profession is important for teachers, students, administration, staff, parents and the whole community. This month, I have enjoyed reflecting about how I try to build community in my classroom with my students. In the future months, the topic of community will certainly be further explored.
What I have discovered [...]
Reflections on Beat Night – Poetic Experiences
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’.
The evening began with an hour of featured poets reciting their original poems. [...]
