Education TEDx talk
Educator Nick Donohue talks about learning today in a student-centered learning environment.
Archive for December, 2015
Cardboard Guitar
December 20, 2015Looks good and sounds good
This is pretty amazing. The challenge of building a guitar out of cardboard was accomplished and testing it by musicians and Voila! an amazing accomplishment. I suggest that you share this YouTube with music and art students (be sure and view it first for the language)! Read the article and see (and show your students) how it happens at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3346513/The-guitar-really-shred-Fender-cardboard-revealed.html.
Boogie Music and Dancin’
December 19, 2015LaRoquebrou Festival
This was recorded in 2004 at LaRoquebrou Festival but it is timeless. Switzerlands pianist Silvan Zingg, Nuno Alexandre on bass, and Simon Shuffle Boyer on drums. World champions in 2005, 08, 09 and 10 french Boogie Woogie dancers William Mauvais and Maeva Truntzer are pretty incredible to watch. I’ve watched it several times and one time through just looking at their feet. After watching the embedded video you may want to go to the LaRoquebrou Festival website and listen to the music and share it with your students. I especially like Bart & Baker feat Nicolle Rochelle – The Swing Phenomenon. It reminded me of the time that Nancy Salmon and her dancin’ partner did a dance residency at the school I was teaching at (with Partners in Arts Learning funding) to teach our middle school students how to dance to 50’s and 60’s music. It was awesome!
Marching Band
December 17, 201510 Reasons
In October Ms. Kruse wrote a blog post called 10 Reasons Being in Marching Band Makes You a Better Person at http://www.retale.com/blog/reasons-marching-band-makes-better-person/. Many of the points cover student involvement in the arts, not just marching band but read the blog post for yourself and see what you think.
My favorite is #4: You Learn the Value of Community
Regardless of their dorky reputation, it’s obvious to high school creatures of every stripe that band kids are having more fun than you. The way they congregate in the halls….their wacky inside jokes…the ruckus of the band room just before class. Band kids STICK TOGETHER and definitely seem a little bit kinder than the other cliques. This closeness and sense of community may be the first kids experience outside of their families. It’s a powerful feeling that sets them up for building and being a part of other communities throughout the rest of their lives.
Art in the Dark
December 16, 2015Don’t miss it – December 21 – Boothbay Regional High School
The Intermediate/Advanced Art program of Boothbay Region High School has put together a production of visual art, including student created poetry and accompanied by music. The class is very excited to share their work and joy with the community. The art will be displayed one night only, December 21, 2015, at 7:00 PM on the outside wall of the high school gymnasium. Everyone is invited and admission (and hot cocoa) are free! Snacks will also be available (for sale). Please join us for the exciting premier of “Art in the Dark”!
Statewide Arts Education Survey
December 15, 2015Launching today Arts Education Census
Many of you remember that in 2008 a statewide arts education census was conducted. At that time the work was lead by the Maine Alliance for Arts Education. Out of that work the Opportunities to Learn in the Arts reported the findings. The full report and executive summary are located at https://mainearts.maine.gov/Pages/Education/Arts-Education-Census. At that time PK-12 Visual and Performing Arts Educators were asked to complete a lengthy survey.
It is time to update the information and get a clear picture in 2016 what is happening statewide in arts education. This time every Maine school Principal is being invited to complete the survey. Principals may be asking you (PreK-12 arts teachers) to help complete the survey. I urge you to participate in any way that you can so we can get a complete picture. Our goal is 100 per cent – without every school participating we will not have a complete picture of Arts education in Maine!
Below is today’s news release from the Maine Arts Commission. You can learn more about the census plan and the opportunity that you have to participate at http://mainearts.maine.gov/Pages/Education/Arts-Education-Census. Please email me at argy.nestor@maine.gov if you have any questions.
The Maine Arts Commission is leading the effort to conduct a statewide inventory of all arts education resources in the state’s 751 PK-12 schools currently recognized by the Maine Department of Education. Data collection has just begun and will continue through May 2016, with the goal of collecting information from 100% of Maine schools.
The objectives and outcomes of the Statewide Arts Education Census include:
- Identifying the changes in Maine’s visual and performing arts education programs and resources since the 2009 census.
- Discovering where students have access to quality arts education and where it is unavailable.
- Development of a comprehensive report to inform stakeholders and policy makers at both the local and state levels.
- Broad sharing of the census findings so that it can be used to frame conversations, evaluate where programs or program enhancements are needed, and guide policy-making decisions.
This work is an important part of the education initiative of agency’s recently-completed, five-year cultural plan. The education component of the plan will guide and inform the agency’s work in educational collaborations, promoting arts learning and enhancing the quality of arts education throughout Maine.
For the Census, the agency is collaborating with the Maine Department of Education and a steering committee comprised of representatives from the Maine Principals’ Association, Maine Superintendents, Maine Alliance for Arts Education, New England Institute for Teacher Education, Maine Art Education Association, Maine Music Educators Association, cultural and arts organizations, and PK-12 educators. More information about the census can be found at http://mainearts.maine.gov/Pages/Education/Arts-Education-Census.
The Maine Arts Commission shall encourage and stimulate public interest and participation in the cultural heritage and cultural programs of our state; shall expand the state’s cultural resources; and shall encourage and assist freedom of artistic expression for the well being of the arts, to meet the needs and aspirations of persons in all parts of the state.
Michelle Obama on College
December 14, 2015You Should Go to College
The United States First Lady Michelle Obama and Saturday Night Live’s Jay Pharoah put together this video to encourage young people to go to college.
In the First Lady’s own words: “When I launched my Better Make Room campaign in October, I said that this campaign is about celebrating students the same way we celebrate athletes and celebrities. I want to honor and empower young people who are working hard in school and pursuing their dreams – and I want to do it in a fun and fresh way – and that’s why I was so excited to film this “music video” with Jay Pharoah, CollegeHumor, and the Gregory Brothers”.
NSF Funded Research
December 13, 2015Arts Based Learning of STEM Works
Wondering about the impact on STEM that the Arts are making? If so, I suggest that you check out the following information.
Article: http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/8724148
Research Project Summary: http://www.artofsciencelearning.org/3rd-year-project-update-report/
Related STEAM Resource Website: http://www.artsciencematchup.org/
• The high school students who had arts-based learning showed large and statistically significant pre/post improvements in such creative thinking skills as idea range (13%), problem analysis (50%) and number of solutions generated (37%). In many cases, students who had traditional STEM learning actually declined in these aspects of creative thinking — so the overall differentials between arts-based and traditional learning was even more dramatic (idea range = 22%, problem analysis = 121%, solutions generated = 43%). Thus, it appears as though arts-based learning may be an effective way to “inoculate” learners against the collapse of creativity that may sometimes accompany traditional forms of high school learning.
• Arts-based learning had a far more powerful impact on the collaborative behaviors of adults than traditional learning, based on actual observed behaviors. Examples from the final week of the study: arts-based teams exhibited 56% more instances of empathic listening, 33% more instances of mutual respect being shown, 119% more instances of trust being demonstrated and 24% more sharing of leadership. All differences cited here are statistically significant.
• The innovation outputs of high school student teams who had arts-based learning showed 111% greater insight into the challenge, a 74% greater ability to clearly identify a relevant problem, a 43% improvement in problem solving, and their innovations had 68% more impact. All are statistically significant.
• 120 days after the study, high school students who had arts-based learning were 24% more likely to have been able to apply the learning to school, extracurricular, work or volunteer activities, than students who had traditional learning. They were also 44% more optimistic in their belief that the training would prove helpful in those realms in the future.
Congratulations Stu
December 12, 2015Makers, Mentors and Milestones
![KC-Emaillogo[14]](https://argynestor.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/kc-emaillogo14.png?w=450)
Stuart Kestenbaum to be named honorary member of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts during the Makers, Mentors and Milestones: the 50th Annual Conference of the Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts!
Stu was the director of the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts for 26 years, and left in May of 2015.The November 10, 2016 conference will be held in Kansas City Convention Center and will explore personal, social and aesthetic forces that animate creative work with elemental materials, methods and ideas in the midst of the information age.
Recipients of this award have made outstanding contribution to the professional development of the ceramic arts. Haystack serves learners and teaching artists from throughout the U.S. and abroad. Under Stu’s leadership programming has included workshops, community focused initiatives, mentorship for teens, interdisciplinary symposia, retreats, a writers’ series, residencies, and launched a digital fabrication studio.
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