Archive for March, 2014

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Arts Education Day

March 16, 2014

State House, Augusta, April 2

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Please join us for Arts Education Day….

8:30 – 9:00 am            Music and National Anthem performed by the Bangor Children’s Choir

9:00 am – Noon          Exhibits in Hall of Flags

Noon – 1:00 pm          Program and Awards Ceremony

Welcome and Introduction by Peter Alexander, Executive Director, Maine Alliance for Arts Education

Choral Selection: Bangor Children’s Choir, Robert Ludwig, Conductor

Introduction by Stephen Wicks, Chair, MAAE

Remarks and Presentation of Proclamation [and/or Joint Resolution]:  Senate President Justin Alfond

Introduction by Joan Staffiere, Board Member, MAAE

Poetry Reading: (Martin Steingesser’s student poets)

Remarks: Zack Fisher, student representative, MAAE board

Remarks: Jeff M. Poulin, Arts Education Program Coordinator • Americans for the Arts

Introduction by Elizabeth Watson, Chair emeritus, MAAE

Remarks: Senator Emily Cain

Presentation of Awards:

Distinguished School Leadership Award and the Bill Bonyun Artist/ Educator Award

Remarks: Argy Nestor, Maine Arts Commission

Closing remarks by Peter Alexander

Choral Selection: Bangor Children’s Choir, Robert Ludwig, Conductor

Feel free to explore the exhibits of leading Maine arts organizations before and after the ceremony.IMG_0775

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Posted in VPA | Tagged , | 2 Comments »

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Free High School Curriculum

March 15, 2014

For Immediate Release
Free Curriculum for High School Social Studies Teachers Just Released

Rethinking the Region: New Approaches to 9-12 U.S. Curriculum on the Modern Middle East and North Africa

We would like to announce the release of Rethinking the Region, a curriculum resource of 15 lesson plans (with appended and accompanying resources) to help US World History high school educators teach about the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in their classrooms.  Developed by a team of five education professors, the curriculum was created in response to the need to contextualize the MENA region in a more nuanced manner for high school educators.  It is grounded in a rigorous process of US World History textbook analysis and review, which subsequently served as a springboard for the curriculum design. The authors also consulted with history and area studies scholars in order to synthesize and integrate new scholarship on the region, using this material to generate curricula, web-based materials, and study guides.

The curriculum is framed around the following themes:  Women and Gender, Plural Identities, Political and Social Movements, Empire and Nation, and Arts and Technology. The lessons—drawing heavily on primary source materials—were generated in specific response to the findings of the textbook analysis, and are aligned with the Common Core Standards.  These lessons can be taught sequentially or can stand alone, even within each theme.  In this sense, they are designed for teachers to be able to choose when they want to pause and delve in more depth on a particular theme or topic, while still adhering to the state curriculum.

In approaching the curricula, the authors not only wanted to illuminate how peoples and societies interacted in collaborative and fluid ways, but also how ordinary people were agents in shaping their own trajectories. Given the present political context in which the region and its peoples are often misrepresented, this research and curriculum serves as a necessary and urgent intervention. The curriculum is meant to interrupt some of the simplistic and reductive narratives found in contemporary history textbooks through lessons that embody creativity, cultural responsiveness, and nuanced approaches to teaching more completely about the region.

The curriculum can be downloaded at http://www.teach-mena.org.  Please feel free to contact us at info@teach-mena.orgwith questions, concerns, and feedback, as well as to inquire about possibilities for workshops.

Sincerely,
Dr. Maria Hantzopoulos, Principal Investigator
Vassar College

Dr. Monisha Bajaj, Co-Investigator
University of San Francisco

Dr. Ameena Ghaffar-Kucher, Co-Investigator
University of Pennsylvania

Dr. Roozbeh Shirazi, Co-Investigator
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Dr. Zeena Zakharia, Co-Investigator
University of Massachusetts Boston

Posted in Curriculum and Instruction | Leave a Comment »

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Terry Eldridge

March 14, 2014
RUMFORD – Terry Eldridge passed away peacefully on Feb. 18 after a long illness. Born April 2, 1954, in Columbus, Ohio, he was the only child of Carolyn (Eastman) and Edward Eldridge. While growing up, Terry was very active in the Boy Scouts, church and music. As a teenager, he found his passion for music and developed his skills as a trombonist.

Terry attended Otterbein College in Ohio, where he earned his bachelor of arts degree in music performance as a trombone and euphonium player. He spent a year at the Cleveland Conservatory of Music, and went on to Kent State University earning his bachelor of science degree in music education. Terry moved to Maine in 1978 and later went to the University of Maine in Orono where he earned his master’s in music education. It was in graduate school where he met his wife, Becky.

Terry was an amazing musician and a gifted teacher. He touched the lives of thousands of young musicians, instilling a lifelong love of music in all of his students. Many went on to become music educators or professional musicians. It is with great fondness his former students remember him. Terry taught music in the Oxford Hills system, School Administrative District 74, Carrabec, and the Rumford school system.

Terry was very active in many ensembles throughout Maine. A man very much respected by his colleagues as both a musician and music educator, Terry held many leadership roles. Among them were president of the Maine Music Educator’s Association and president of the Kennebec Valley Music Educator’s Association. His proudest honor was when the Mountain Valley High School yearbook was dedicated to him in 2005.

His beautiful daughter, Lila, was the light of his life. Many wonderful days were spent as a family on their farm and at the camp. He loved to watch her ride and was very proud of the young woman she became.

Terry is survived by his wife, Becky, of Norridgewock; his daughter, Lila, of Cornville; a special aunt, Patricia Eastman, of Columbia, S.C.; uncles Kenneth Eldridge, of Portville, N.Y., and Jack Eastman, of Virginia; very special cousins Charles and Carl Shipman, of South Carolina, Chris Shipman, of Atlanta, Ga., and Carolyn Hughes, of Virginia.

Memorial services will be announced later in the spring.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Smart & Edwards Funeral Home, 183 Madison Ave., Skowhegan.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to the Skowhegan Area Music Boosters, c/o Cheryl McGowan, 155 Academy Circle, SAMS, Skowhegan, ME 04976.

Please go to the page with the obituary at http://obituaries.onlinesentinel.com/obituaries/mainetoday-morningsentinel/obituary.aspx?pid=169784202 and scroll down to read the guestbook with thoughtful comments made by many of Terry’s former students.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

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Creativity and Art Education

March 14, 2014

Orlando artist launches global art awareness project using paper bag mushrooms
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WHEN:
April 1st – May 31st 2014

WHERE:
Worldwide

CONTACT:
Doug Rhodehamel  dougrhodehamel@yahoo.com

website : www.dougrhodehamel.com

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/SPORE-Project/313598041142

Do you know the mushroom man? You might, and you might not even know it. Orlando Installation artist, Doug Rhodehamel, has been covering the planet in his whimsical paper bag mushrooms for more than 20 years. This spring he is asking the citizens of the world to help promote his awareness program: The SPORE Project.

Developed in 2005, the SPORE Project was designed to promote support for creativity and art education by constructing and planting patches of mushrooms made from brown paper lunch bags. Why paper mushrooms? Quite simply, they are fun and easy to make.
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Whether real or constructed from paper bags, mushrooms awake the imagination, seemingly popping up whimsically overnight like a magical, storybook happening – and they are familiar worldwide!

With the help of many different participants, Rhodehamel has managed to plant mushrooms on every continent in the world … including Antarctica. This time around, rather than merely planting as many mushrooms as he can, Doug hopes to focus more on the purpose of the SPORE Project. “What I really hope to achieve is more on the awareness aspect of this project,” Rhodehamel says. “I want people to know just how important creativity and art education is. A lot of people take both for granted, but without the twin forces of creativity and art education we really have nothing.”

This spring, Rhodehamel himself will be planting masses of mushrooms in unexpected areas during April and May, located all around Orlando and in other parts of Central Florida. He hopes that schools, community centers and individuals around the world will join him in the effort to use paper bag mushrooms to create art education awareness.

Why spring? Spring will have sprung, and the kids (as well as their teachers) will be full of the season’s fever and will need something fun to do in school. Based on his past efforts, Spring is a great time for making mushrooms: It has a calming effect on everyone; the cost of materials is extremely lo, averaging 5 dollars per hundred mushrooms; and children especially love painting them.

Photos of the individual plantings will be posted on the SPORE Project website to give participants a sense of involvement. They will be able to point to a part of the project and say “I did that!”  The project’s Facebook page also allows participants to communicate, organize and post photos of what they have done, or intend to do.

Doug also has two secret pet paper bag mushroom projects in the works. One is to have mushrooms planted on the lawn of the White House, and his other endeavor hopes to send a mushroom up to the International Space Station. He has already developed a specialized mushroom perfectly suited for space travel.

The SPORE Project is open to anyone who wants to participate. It’s a great excuse to get some friends, relatives, coworkers, or inmates together to create something. Make some mushrooms and plant them in someone’s yard and above all, have fun! You’ll be helping to make the world a better place.

The SPORE Project is web-based, and everything you need to know can be found at www.dougrhodehamel.com.

Posted in Creativity, Visual Arts | Leave a Comment »

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What is Proficiency-Based Education?

March 13, 2014

Maine Department of Education resources on Proficiency-Based education and Standards

Screen shot 2014-03-09 at 9.53.10 PMThe information below can be found by clicking on this link or on the title of this section.

http://maine.gov/doe/proficiency/about/proficiency-based.html

What is Proficiency-Based Education?

Proficiency-based education refers to any system of academic instruction, assessment, grading and reporting that is based on students demonstrating mastery of the knowledge and skills they are expected to learn before they progress to the next lesson, get promoted to the next grade level or receive a diploma. In Maine, academic expectations and “proficiency” definitions for public-school courses, learning experiences, content areas and grade levels are outlined in the Maine Learning Results which includes the Guiding Principles, expectations for cross-disciplinary skills and life-long learning, and eight sets of content-area standards, including the Common Core State Standards in English language arts and mathematics.

The general goal of proficiency-based education is to ensure that students acquire the knowledge and skills that are deemed to be essential to success in school, higher education, careers and adult life. If students struggle to meet minimum expected standards, they receive additional instruction, practice time and academic support to help them achieve proficiency, but they do not progress in their education until expected standards are met.

The information below can be found by clicking on the link or on the word Standard.

http://www.maine.gov/doe/proficiency/standards/index.html?utm_source=Maine+Department+of+Education&utm_campaign=aa95a68366-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_21283d239d-aa95a68366-216954057

Standards

A critical component of any proficiency-based education system is a clearly articulated set of learning standards that define what students are expected to know and be able to do. The following set of resources provides support for schools to identify and align standards in a proficiency-based system.

  • Standards in a Proficiency-Based Education – A description of the role standards play in a proficiency-based diploma.
  • Maine’s Guiding Principles. A link to the Guiding Principles and the five standards for the Guiding Principles. In 2018 students are required to demonstrate proficiency of the five standards of the Guiding Principles.
  • Eight Content Areas of the Maine Learning Results. A link to the eight content areas. These content standards include career and education development, English language arts, health education and physical education, mathematics, science and technology, social studies, visual and performing arts, and world languages. Schools are required to provide a program of instruction aligned to  the eight content areas. In 2018 students are required to demonstrate proficiency in the standards of the eight content areas.
  • The Proficiency-Based Learning Simplified (PBLS) Model. A model showing the relationship among the Guiding Principles, the content standards, performance indicators and unit-based learning objectives.
  • Sample Content Area  Reporting Standards. A set of example content-area reporting standards and performance indicators. These examples show one way that schools can organize content area standards to report proficiency of the standards for the purposes of awarding a proficiency-based diploma.
  • Standards Resources. A set of design criteria, protocols and other resources for creating content area reporting standards.

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Steel Drums Performance

March 12, 2014

WCSH6 Morning Report

I just got an email from Falmouth High School music teacher Jim Horwich about an upcoming event at their high school. In addition the played on WCSH6 Morning Report with the Falmouth Steel Drum. Not only does Jim teach steel drum classes but he plays in Pan Fried Steel from Yarmouth.

Screen shot 2014-03-11 at 12.45.41 PMAS SEEN ON TV!  Fresh off their recent appearance on the WCSH6 Morning Report, The Falmouth High School Percussion Ensemble and Steel Drum Band will be presenting their annual “Percussion Night” Concert on Thursday, March 27th at 7 PM in the FHS Theater.  They will be performing on a variety of percussion instruments, including traditional instruments, Electronic Percussion, Steel Drums, and even trash cans.  Music will cover many styles, including calypso to modern rock and even a new steel band arrangement of “Sweet Caroline.”  The concert will feature High School Percussion and Steel Drum classes, 8th grade Percussion Ensemble and special guests, “Pan Fried Steel” a community steel drum band from Yarmouth.  They play a diverse repertoire including calypso, reggae, soca, Latin, swing, and covers from Charlie Parker to Jimmy Buffett to the Beach Boys.  Come enjoy a fun night of music!

There are two videos clips at http://www.wcsh6.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=3269738751001

Posted in Curriculum and Instruction, Music, Opportunity | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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hART rocks Professional Development

March 12, 2014

Hancock county art teachers gather for professional development opportunity – March 28ARTatheCORE copy

Posted in assessment, Community, Creativity, Curriculum and Instruction, Leadership, Opportunity, Professional Development, Visual Arts | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Mega-regional Workshop at USM

March 11, 2014

March 7 – in Lisa Ingraham’s words…

On Friday I attended the Maine Arts Assessment Initiative (MAAI) Mega-Regional workshop at USM, this time as a participant rather than a teacher leader. I got to take it all in without a focus on preparing for my own workshop. I met many arts educators I haven’t had the opportunity to spend time with before, quite a few with a similar elementary visual arts background. And I finally got to attend other teacher leaders’ workshops that I have been dying to see since first hearing about them at last summer’s MAAI Institute!

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MAAI teacher leaders Amy Cousins, Jennie Driscoll, Brian McPherson

There were a couple of big take-aways from the day for me. The first was as a result of Amy Cousins’ workshop “From Overwhelmed to in Control: Power Standards Help Connect the Dots”. Before the session was over I began mentally planning for when I could really dive into power standards (most likely this summer), and I realized that while I have done a substantial amount of work around the what, why, and how of assessment since the MAAI Institute, it is an ongoing process. While “ta das!” regarding student learning should be celebrated, as a life-long learner I then look toward the next step. Thanks Amy for showing me the next step!

My second take-away was as a result of another participant’s comment that when she thinks about her curriculum, she considers what she would like her students to know and be able to do as adults. This changed my view of the art curriculum from the five years I get to spend with them from kindergarten through grade four and extended it ahead into the future. It left me with the question, “What kind of relationship would I like my students to have with the visual arts as grown-ups?”

100_3166Time with visual and performing arts teachers is always creatively well spent. The day was filled with questions and answers both small and large. I look forward to the Mega-Regional workshop April 11th at the University of Maine, Orono!

THANK YOU Madison Elementary School and Maine Arts Assessment Initiative teacher leader Lisa Ingraham for contributing to the Maine Arts Education blog!

For more information and to register for the April 11 workshop at UMaine, Orono please go to http://mainearts.maine.gov/Pages/Education/MAAI-Mega-Regionals-Orono#orono

Posted in Creativity, Curriculum and Instruction, Leadership, Opportunity, Professional Development, Standards Based Education, VPA | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Call for Presentations

March 10, 2014

MAEA is Calling!  Will you answer?

Cure for the Core: Visual Art, Design, and Creativity

Anticipated Venue: Brunswick High School
Date: April 12, 2014
Time: 8:30-3:00
Registration: $40 (free for members presenting)
Lunch: included
MAEA Art Educator Awards Reception: Friday evening, April 11th

We invite you to consider sharing your expertise and craft with your peers.

Click below and fill out an application to present at our annual
MAEA Spring Conference.

Applications are due no later than Friday, March 14th!
Registration will open the week of March 17th!

Apply by clicking on the link below:
https://docs.google.com/a/aos92.org/forms/d/13kbrVYdmJQYM81Lgi_9mIsd84J1hmI4jt2x5emO0ygk/viewform

Additional perks include:
Opportunity for leadership and collegiality
A day of networking and fun
Please save the date and join us!

Posted in Opportunity, Professional Development, Visual Arts | Tagged , | Leave a Comment »

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Harlow Gallery on St. Patricks Day

March 9, 2014

Traditional Irish music returns to the Harlow Gallery for Third Annual St Patrick’s Day Concert

For more information:  Deb Fahy at 207-622-3813, kvaa@harlowgallery.org, http://www.harlowgallery.org

Date and time: St Patrick’s Day – Monday, March 17, 2014 6-7:30pm

Location:  The Harlow Gallery, 160 Water Street, Hallowell, Maine 04347

Cost: FREE and open to the public with donations accepted

Hallowell, Maine — All are welcome on St. Patrick’s Day, Monday, March 17th from 6-7:30 pm for an all ages Irish music performance at the Harlow Gallery, at 160 Water Street in Hallowell.

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Musicians Adam Soosman and William Fahy performing at the Harlow Gallery in 2013. Photo by Andy Molloy courtesy of the Kennebec Journal

Local musicians Adam Soosman, William Fahy (with special guests?) will perform traditional Irish music with Irish tin whistles, Irish flute, recorder, and other woodwinds, to celebrate the holiday. The performance will also include select pieces from other European and American cultures and traditions. This is the third year that Fahy and Soosman have played this performance and it is becoming a tradition that is welcomed by the Hallowell community.

Adam Soosman has been performing since 1976, and in Maine since 1989. He has been teaching music in Maine since 1996. He is an instructor for the Musician’s 1st Choice School of Music & Performance in Augusta, specializing in Woodwind & Brass instruments and Voice. Soosman can be heard on the Sam Shain and the Scolded Dogs album playing various saxophones – the album was recorded in Hallowell, at Bob Caldwell’s studio. Soosman plays regularly with the popular function band, JONES’N, which is celebrating its twelfth anniversary this year. He also performs with the dynamic duo “A n’ D”, and the coastal Jazz ensemble “Best In Show”.

William Fahy is a freshman at Hall-Dale High School. He has been studying Irish tin whistle, flute and saxophone with Soosman for over three years at Musician’s First Choice School of Music.  William earned first flute in the Maine Music Educators Association District III High School Honors Festival, which took place at Cony High School in January.

Posted in Communication, Music, Opportunity | Tagged , | Leave a Comment »

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