I am really not sure where to begin.  I feel like I have started wonderful journey of self improvement as an educator.  When I grew up in California I was given many opportunities to participate in arts education.  I look back and feel that the arts were the tapestry of my learning experiences.  I danced, sang, took pottery, visual arts and drama.  I never felt like I “mastered” any one genre, yet I loved all of my opportunities and look back with appreciation for these experiences.

When I decided to be a teacher, I wanted to bring this tapestry of my arts experiences to life for my students.  But I found that somewhere along the way I lost this determination.  I allowed testing, correcting, report cards etc.. to edge out a lot of my creative ideas.

The Art Academy has given to me the tools and the desire to integrate the arts in my classroom as an essential part of my curriculum.  George and Callie helped me realize I CAN teach the core with the arts, and teach from my nexus to the nexus of my students.  I have gained a much greater appreciation of my own strengths and how the integration of arts empowers my students.

In October I started taking baby steps as I tried some of the ideas the arts academy presented to us like brain dancing, drumming, drama and more.  I also realized I was doing more than I gave myself credit for.  Now I feel like I dare to leap occasionally !!

Thank you for helping me remember the value of an engaged teacher and class.  Thank you Callie, George, Deb, Diane, and everyone else involved in the Arts Academy.  And a special thank you to Beverly Taylor Sorensen for giving me the opportunity to take these classes.

I am really not sure where to begin.  I feel like I have started wonderful journey of self improvement as an educator.  When I grew up in California I was given many opportunities to participate in arts education.  I look back and feel that the arts were the tapestry of my learning experiences.  I danced, sang, took pottery, visual arts and drama.  I never felt like I “mastered” any one genre, yet I loved all of my opportunities and look back with appreciation for these experiences.  

When I decided to be a teacher, I wanted to bring this tapestry of my arts experiences to life for my students.  But I found that somewhere along the way I lost this determination.  I allowed testing, correcting, report cards etc.. to edge out alot of my creative ideas.  

The Art Academy has given to me the tools and the desire to integrate the arts in my classroom as an essential part of my curriculium.  George and Callie helped me realize I CAN teach the core with the arts, and teach from my nexus to the nexus of my students.  I have gained a much greater appreciation of my own strengths and how the integration of arts empowers my students.

In October I started taking baby steps as I tried some of the ideas the arts academy presented to us like brain dancing, drumming, drama and more.  I also realized I was doing more than I gave myself credit for.  Now I feel like I dare to leap occasionally !!  

Thank you for helping me remember the value of an engaged teacher and class.  Thank you Callie, George, Deb, Diane, and everyone else involved in the Arts Academy.  And a special thank you to Beverly Taylor Sorensen for giving me the opportunity to take these classes.

I was really impressed reading Judy Trotter’s lessons and examples of meaningful arts integration.  She used drama, visual art, dance and music as tools to teach objectives.  I decided to use some rhythm instruments to lay the ground work for two things.  One: teaching recorders. This is one of those projects  that 4th grade teachers do for our music core. Two: I wanted to use music to help my students have a background for the the upcoming fractions unit.  I spent time teaching 4/4 time signature and listening to music in 4/4 time.  We claped it, we marched it, we snaped it and we moved in 4/4 rhythms.  We also used rhythm sticks and drums to beat the 4/4 time to our Utah History songs. It was especially effective in our Indian music, and we loved it!

Next, I introduced whole notes, and quarter notes.  We drew them, we clapped them, and listened for the difference.  We used our rhythm instruments to play different beats in our Utah History music as well as in other songs.  This naturally lead to how many beats in a whole measure, (here comes the fraction connections) and how a measure is divided into beats.  We drew fractions of circles and shapes and discussed how music measures connect to fractions.  We even worked with our rhythms to show emphasis on the first beat.

We also did 3/4 and 2/4  time signatures as well.  We now listen to see if we can tell the rhythm of a new song by the first beat emphasis and count the beats in each measure.  We then draw, and beat out the rhythm.  We are ready to start recorders and I know my class has a better background for our music lessons than we had before.  We are also starting fractions and we can understand better the relationship of the numerator to the denominator because of our rhythm integrations.

Hi everyone!  I came back from our classes in Park City so excited to implement some new ideas that I got started the very day I arrived back.  These are a few of the things I have tried.

1. The first thing I did was give the class (4th grade) a journal.  I had previously purchased notebooks before school started.  I was unsure what to use them for and decided to give them the same guidelines we got with our journal.  This has been such a rewarding experience already.  They love “free writing” or drawing in them.  The most significant change I have seen in a student is in Todd.  Writer’s Workshop is not his favorite time, even though he is a good writer.  He has started writing a book about dragons in his journal, complete with chapters and illustrations.  For some reason because I told them I was not reading or grading the journals he has felt such freedom to write!!  He constantly updates his story with me by reading it aloud to me with  wonderful enthusiasm and expression.  He has planned the next chapter and shares some of his art with me too.  I am so grateful to have had this opportunity to see him embrace this activity.

2. I have also done an art lesson on shading and light source.  We discussed one of Cezanne’s fruit bowls and then I demonstrated how the light source shows the highlights and shadows on the fruit.  We then drew our own fruit bowl and shaded it as if the light source was in the upper right corner of the picture.  I think the art turned out great and the kids loved it.

3. I have also put to use some of the information in George’s book when interacting with my students.  I am such a blue personality that I was one that thought everyone needed a hug everyday.  I now give my greens a lot more space and feel like I am much better at  letting them participate in a more comfortable way for them.

4. For our “Say No To Drugs” activity this week we did role plays.  The kids got into groups and discussed situations they have encountered or may encounter in their lives.  They did skits and role played some personal experiences, and one group even made up a rap. We had some great situations and a successful discussion after with everyone involved!