Archive for June, 2020

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School Reopen Preparations

June 12, 2020

Maine DOE

Nikki Millonzi

The Maine Department of Education, in collaboration with a diverse group of stakeholders and experts in the field, has created this initial iteration of a framework to assist in planning for a safe return to in-person instruction. It should be noted that this framework will be further developed and will evolve as additional information and guidance is provided about the epidemic.

This framework provides options, ideas, and considerations for organizing the work of reintegrating back to in-person, classroom instruction. In general, these steps are not intended to be used as requirements or mandates, rather they should be viewed as customizable starting points and resources for school administrative units (SAUs) in the difficult work of planning for the fall.

Each SAU’s Collaborative Planning Team, led by the superintendent, is responsible for the development and review of their Emergency Operations Plans. Your Collaborative Planning Team should include school nurses, administrators, educators, and representatives from transportation, food service, local emergency responders, and your local or regional community health experts. This team will need to determine procedures for the schools within that unit.  Exceptions to this include any applicable executive orders, state laws or local ordinances, which may be subject to change during this unpredictable emergency, and the “minimum expectations for remote learning” which will be required of all SAUs.

The pillars of this framework include safety, equity, and accessibility for all students and staff, and  should encourage innovation and honor the professional integrity of Maine educators.

This framework is organized in this way – click to read each section of the framework.
Part I – Physical Health and Safety Considerations
Part II – Social, Emotional, Behavioral, and Mental HealthConsiderations
Part III – Academic Programs and Student LearningConsiderations
Part IV – Common Foundation for Remote Learning
Part V – Additional considerations

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Congrats Visual and Performing Arts Educators

June 12, 2020

MMEA and MAEA

The following educators were recently recognized by the professional organizations who represent music and visual arts.

CONGRATULATIONS!

 

Maine Music Education Association 

  • Spirit of Education Award -Joseph Meyers
  • Education Appreciation Award – Joe Shaw
  • Outstanding New Music Educator – Alexander Adams
  • Outstanding Administrator – Heather Blanchard, Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School, Brunswick
  • Dale F. Huff Outstanding Music Program – Cape Elizabeth
  • Hall of Fame – Gerry Wright and Terry White
  • Music Educator of the Year – Caitlin Ramsey and Phil Edelman

Maine Art Education Association

  • Art Educator of the Year – Jodi Thomas, Thornton Academy, Saco
  • Middle Level Art Educator of the Year – Libbie Winslow, Medomak Middle School, Waldoboro
  • Secondary Art Educator of the year – Raegan Russell, Berwick Academy, South Berwick

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Samantha Smith Challenge

June 11, 2020

St. John’s Catholic School – Brunswick

Students working in the classroom before the pandemic

Like other education initiatives this year the Samantha Smith Challenge (SSC) has been turned upside down a bit. The The planned Samantha Smith Day celebration to bring together participating students from throughout Maine was canceled for June 1. However, some schools have continued their projects working with their teachers remotely.

One such school is St. John’s Catholic School in Brunswick. The focus of Tiffany Jones 5th graders project is ‘disabilities’ and they have chosen to write and illustrate a children’s book. They are working with publisher Just Write Books based in Topsham. The book is about animals with disabilities, e.g. a moose who is blind, and how they come together to a place of acceptance and understanding. This project is a great example of using the arts to deliver an important message and of staying connected and not losing momentum in a time that has thrown us all a bit off course.

MISSION

Rob Shetterly

The Samantha Smith Challenge is a dynamic educational program for Maine middle school students designed to build a bridge between the classroom and the world and to create curious, courageous, and engaged citizens. SSC projects teach students that, no matter what age, they can be part of solving the challenge and problems they see around them.

The Samantha Smith Challenge is a program of Americans Who Tell the Truth. Artist Robert Shetterly is the founder and Connie Carter works with Rob to bring the program to classrooms across Maine. It is an amazing program!

THE STORY

They have 9 animals from the story in Life On The Farm:
  • Maddie Smith – Jewel the Peacock has Spina Bifida
  • Eliza Davis – Everly the Raccoon has diabetes
  • Maeve Coughlin – Nicole the Fox has Autism
  • Tessa Couture – Puff the Ostrich has Anxiety
  • Wyatt Papernik – Maverick the Moose has Blindness
  • Aurora Blier – Carrie the Cricket has Deafness
  • Ava O’Connell – Fluffernutter the Deer has Depression
  • Abbie Minzner – Buddy the Dog has ADHD
  • Mrs. Jones – Tom the Turkey has Asthma

The animals arrive at a farm where they don’t “fit in”. The story shows how they come together and enjoy playing… learning that it is ‘Best to fit in with the ones who Stand Out’:)

BOOK COVER

STUDENTS RESPONSE

Describe your animal character and something about them that is unique.

  • Jewel, the peacock,  has two different sides.One is competitive and daring and one is kind and loving
  • Nicole, the fox, is unique because she doesn’t care whether or not people know about her “disability”
  • Everley, the raccoon, is special, caring and creative, she cares about other animals and doesn’t let her                                           diabetes define who she is.

What was the most exciting part of this project?

  • The most exciting part of this project was knowing that we were actually publishing a book. Helping the world become a better place. I’ve always wanted to write a book or do something in the creative field. Being able to do this with my class is just an amazing experience I’ll carry throughout my entire life – Eliza Davis
  • Doing it with my friends and teacher. – Maddie  Smith
  • I think the most exciting part of this project was the fact that we could actually get this book published, which is amazing. – Maeve Coughlin
  • Maybe getting money from the book and giving it to charities.- Medal of Honor Recipient / Wyatt Papiernik
What skill or tidbit that you learned that you can take with you throughout your lifetime?
  • Well, something I learned was not really a skill, but I didn’t previously know about spina bifida.  I also learned how cooperative you have to be to write a book. – Maeve Coughlin
  • A skill that i learned that i’m certain i will take with me is the use of different words. Will writing Life on the Farm a lot of our writing sounded very repetitive. There’s so many words out there so we learned how to use them. Often I find writing just needs a variety of words to spice it up a little. – Eliza Davis
  • Being patient. – Maddie Smith
  • Be grateful and be respectful in life. – Medal of Honor Recipient / Wyatt Papiernik
If you were to write and illustrate your own book what might the title be?
  • Deep within. – Maddie Smith
  • If I were to write my own book it would most likely be a novel. I would call it a night on the train. A murder mystery story where each time they leave the carrige there numbers decline. – Eliza Davis
  • I would probably write a nature book, I don’t know exactly what I would name it though. – Maeve Coughlin
  • Learning about  Disabilities For Kids – Medal of Honor Recipient / Wyatt Papiernik 
FROM TIFFANY
“Nancy Randolph is the amazing Publicist. We are getting so so close to publishing!!  We have an ISBN number and may have a first published copy by June 8th!! YAHOOOOOOO!”

Posted in Creativity, Food for thought, Opportunity, Visual Arts | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment »

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Summer Learning Opportunities

June 10, 2020

For young students

Opportunities for the summer are filling my inbox each day. Below are a few to share with your students who might be asking.

DANCE

  • Creative Dance Virtual classes for 4-10 year olds start Tuesday, June 30. Thirty minute classes are being provided each week for six weeks by the amazing dance educator Elly Lovin. Each week Elly will start with a different theme and make dances around that theme. Elly also offers Dance at Home Kits with dance props and ideas for using them. She will ship them directly to your home. LEARN MORE – Elly Lovin at www.ellylovin.com/dancing-in-place

THEATER

  • Virtual camps, blended outside & at home camps, and half day outside camps. Options for rising K-12. Financial aid available for these programs. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE!
    FREE RESOURCES include: Facebook live-streaming of Play Me a Story Dramatic Readings, Tutorial Videos, Games to Play at Home, Follow-Along Videos, and other Interactive Activities. These resources are designed to get your bodies and creativity moving, all from the comfort of your own home! 

    Each resource is accompanied by an age recommendation for ease of access, but you know your students & kids best.

    Contact Portland Stage Education Administrator Julianne Shea if you have any questions.
  • Check out the online summer camps from Unwritten Roads! Learn filmmaking from home! Engaging acting and filmmaking camps available for two separate weeks. July 20th – July 24th for  Grades 1 -4 and July 27th- July 31st for Grade 5 and Up! Visit unwritten roads.com or find them on facebook or instagram @ unwritten roads! Please be sure and reach out with any questions. Included is a link:  link from our website with our summer offerings.

MUSIC

  • Fiddle Camp will take place online this summer. I included the information on it – you can find at the bottom of this blog post.
  • Midcoast Music Academy, Rockland
    • Lessons will be offered in packages of one to eight lessons.
    • Once you purchase the number of lessons you want, you can add yourself to your instructor’s calendar on www.mymusicstaff.com. (If you are a new student, you will be sent the login information.) We are also happy to help with this!
    • You can schedule your lessons for any available time on the calendar, with 48 hours’ notice. You can also reschedule a lesson (with 24 hours’ notice) if your plans change.
    • Lessons can be purchased online at www.midcoastmusicacademy.com/summer-2020 or by contacting our Operations Manager Maddy at (207)701-7410 or info@midcoastmusicacademy.com.

    Lesson packages can be purchased in the following amounts:
    Single Lessons (normal cost)
    60 mins = $64
    45 mins = $48
    30 mins = $32

    Packages:
    4 Lessons (10% Discount)
    60 mins = $230.40
    45 mins = $172.80
    30 mins = $115.20

    6 Lessons (15% discount)
    60 mins = $326.40
    45 mins = $244.80
    30 min = $163.20

    8 Lessons (20% discount)
    60 mins = $409.60
    45 mins = $307.20
    30 mins = $204.80

    TUITION ASSISTANCE NOTE: If you are receiving or would like to apply for tuition assistance, these discounts would not apply. In that case, please contact Operations Manager Maddy Silletti to purchase summer lessons.

VISUAL ART

  • Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland

Zoom ArtCamp – for ages 8-13

In order to keep our community safe, we will be offering two summer camps through zoom. Working closely with a teaching artist, campers will turn creative ideas into tangible original artwork right at home. Each week campers will be provided with an art kit filled with materials and tool needed for artmaking, which can be picked up the previous week. In addition, campers and families will be encouraged to visit the CMCA during the week (w/free admission) to take a closer look at our galleries.
For more information contact Mia Bogyo, Education Coordinator at mbogyo@cmcanow.org

CLICK HERE TO LEARN  MORE!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

  • Youth art classes with Erin McGee 
    • Ages 6-14 – Eight Lesson Self-study ECourse for Youth Art

Artist, Erin McGee Ferrell, offers Art Classes from her Painting Studio.

Fun Art History as EMcGee becomes Frida Kahlo, Henri Matisse, Georgia O’Keeffe and others. CLICK HERE

  • Summer Online Art Lessons (June-August 2020) Ages 6-14

Virtually Join EMcGee as she paints around Maine, Kentucky, and New Hampshire.

Students around the world step outside into yards, onto porches, or by windows as the interactive class learns drawing and painting techniques.

With students participating from around the world, it will be fun to compare differences in buildings and nature.

  • Oil Painting Online for Teens. Landscape and Architecture (June-August 2020)Erin McGee Ferrell leads teens in an interactive online oil painting class.Classes will be streamed from woods, beaches, and cities.With students participating from around the world, it will be fun to compare differences in buildings and nature.CLICK HERE.  https://www.facebook.com/EMcGeeArtLessons/

 

Posted in Community, Creativity, Curriculum and Instruction, Food for thought, Music, Opportunity, Theater, Visual Arts | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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Young Artists in Quarantine

June 9, 2020

Student’s share their stories

This is part of a series highlighting the stories of young artists in quarantine. The period of free time that many people are experiencing has led to a sense of freedom in creating– when not held back by the standards expected by society and in much of art education (or needing to prove talent/fill resumes) it’s incredible what can be done. Alone in your room with just a paintbrush or guitar has led many students to find a new independence in art when they have the ability to create just for themselves. We’re hoping that by telling these stories, a change will occur in the way we approach arts education, to focus on the growth of the individual, even after quarantine comes to an end.

This post is written by Robyn Walker-Spencer, 2020 graduate, Camden Hills Regional High School who had the seed for this blog post series.

At 18 months, my family would play “name that tune” with me as I was strapped into my high chair, gleefully crying out the names of song after song, with an impressive base of musical knowledge for my age. I was by no means a prodigy at any point in my life, but as I grew up I felt my love for music grow with me. I took part in piano lessons, then band and chorus in middle school, and eventually musical theater, guitar, and chamber singers once in high school.

I never planned on studying music or becoming a professional in any aspect of the arts (I will be majoring in biology at Bowdoin in the fall), but it didn’t matter. Music and performing was something I always did for myself. As a child, I made up songs to sing as I played in the yard, and now I will play guitar for hours after a long day to blow off steam or relax. I love to express myself on stage, become an evil nanny or a god-fearing nun, and singing in Chamber Singers at my high school has always been cathartic.

I started lessons at Midcoast Music Academy in Rockland, Maine, in the spring of 2018. I was able to discover the importance of music to my own mental health, but perhaps more significantly I began to develop somewhat of my own musical pedagogy. Much of my previous music education had been extremely structured: practice for this rectial, prepare for this audition, complete a piece following specific guidelines. I practiced because I was told to practice (most of the time) but I didn’t enjoy it– it was seemingly necessary to get better, but I spent many a piano lesson wondering if it was even worth it. Starting high school added in another layer. Not only was our creative time structured, but many students kept participating for the sole reason of padding their resumes. At MCMA, I initially found it difficult to get away from the mindset of what I fondly considered mandatory misery– I wasn’t used to practice being something that I felt motivated and excited to do. So what changed? For the first time I wasn’t being ​told​ to do anything– each lesson was simply exploring what interested ​me,​ what ​I ​wanted to learn and improve at. And if my attention shifted, it was fine! We just moved in a new direction. I was practicing frequently because I wanted to, and because I was excited about what I was learning.

I think that this period of quarantine has provided that same sort of change for a lot of young artists my age. For the first time in a long time, we have all the time in the world and just ourselves to keep our minds busy. Groups like ​Quarantine Karaoke​ on Facebook show people coming together to make music from all over the world– people who normally never perform but are now creating for the sake of creating. I’ve seen friends pick up new instruments and play for themselves for the first time. I’ve personally stretched far out of my comfort zone, teaching myself recording techniques on my laptop and even writing a song for the first time. The period of free time has pulled aside the curtain and has really just exposed people’s raw selves: we are able to create art just for the sake of creating. We are practicing because we are excited about it. And we are taking risks that we never would otherwise.

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Social Justice Resources

June 8, 2020

How to do better

I believe that we have a role as educators to teach about race, social justice, equity and similar topics. This education should take place in the home and in every classroom. It can take on a variety of formats from teaching kindness and understanding to teaching culture and history to looking at, listening to, and creating artwork that provides a format for conversation. At every age we need to have open conversations to help bring an understanding of the value of every person’s life.

I have started to compile a list of resources to help support educators. I will continue to add to this blog post as my research leads me to more resources. I invite you to return to this blogpost in the future. And, if you have resources please share them with me at meartsed@gmail.com so I can include them or you can post them in the comment section below.

At the end of this post there is a link to a facebook page that belongs to the British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason. He and his 6 siblings performed “a tribute to the families and communities who are affected by racism and racist violence.” Their message is one that arts educators understand: “music is a form of expression and a testament to hope and love.”

BOOKS

  • Young Children
    • Patricia Polacco books
      • Pink and Say
      • Chicken Sunday
      • Holes in the Sky
    • Ashley Bryan books
      • Beautiful Blackbird
      • Freedom Over Me
      • Infinite Hope
    • Let’s Talk About Race by Julius Lester
    • Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges
    • Books by Ezra Jack Keats
    • Books by Leo and Diane Dillon
    • Books by Jerry and Andrea Davis Pinkney
  • Middle Grades
    • A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramée
    • Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
    • New Kid by Jerry Craft
    • Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt
  • Young Adult
    • Dear Martin by Nic Stone
    • All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
    • I am Alfonso Jones by Tony Medina
  • Books to Teach White Children and Teens How to Undo Racism and White Supremacy – a long list of books available
  • the conscious kid – website of books

EDUCATIONAL BLOGS, ARTICLES, and OTHER RESOURCES

TED ED EDUCATOR RESOURCES

EDUCATION WEBSITES

OTHER RESOURCES

Sheku Kanneh-Mason’s facebook page archived livestream.

Posted in Communication, Community, Curriculum and Instruction, Food for thought, Resources | Tagged | 1 Comment »

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Maine Public

June 8, 2020

Lessons for grades 3-5 students

In addition to ‘schooling away from school’ teachers from across Maine have created videos focused on the learning for students in grades 3-5. This was a response to families who have little or no access to the internet. 2018 Maine Teacher of the Year, Sedomocha School music educator and Maine Arts Leadership Initiative Teacher Leader Kaitlin Young has a lesson included in the series. More videos will be posted in the near future.

The Learning Space is broadcast Mondays through Fridays at Maine Public Television.

12:00 p.m. – New episodes 12:30 – Rebroadcast episodes

Maine Public, the Maine Department of Education, and Educate Maine have joined forces to create original, educational programming for students in grades 3 through 5. Dedicated teachers from across Maine have developed original video lessons, pulling content from their own lesson plans and sources to provide exceptional learning opportunities for Maine students.

This project would not be possible without the help from these valued partners:

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In Today’s News

June 7, 2020

Portland Press Herald

Maine artists taking action in their own way about the news of George Floyd. READ the article from the Portland Press.

 

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Spirit of Music Education Award

June 7, 2020

Quarantine Karaoke

The Spirit of Music Education Award was presented (virtually) to Joseph Meyers who lives in Brewer by the Maine Music Educators Association. Feeling a bit depressed 6 weeks ago, Joseph, who had been a music major at UMaine went to his cellar to play and sing music. Out of that experience the facebook group Quarantine-Karaoke which now has 700,000+ members! 

CBS News out of Boston had a piece on the topic. WHDH out of Boston had a piece on the topic.

Vicky Cherry, MMEA executive committee and advocacy chair recently met with Joe. She describes Joe as “kind, well spoken who has seen the amazing difference this facebook group has made for so many people during this time.” Joe manages 65 volunteers who assist him to monitor the facebook group of over 700 K. He shared some incredible stories with Vicky of the letters he receives daily from people thanking him, life changing stories. Check out Quarantine Karaoke.

Joe is a graduate of UMaine School of Music Program, he is not an educator. He works in the business field. What a great story – so happy that MMEA has recognized Joe for this movement underway; providing opportunities who really need music in their lives, now more than ever.

Posted in Communication, Community, Creativity, Food for thought, Leadership, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments »

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E. Pluribus Unum

June 6, 2020

Washington Conservatory of Music Collaboration

Posted in Food for thought, Music | Tagged | Leave a Comment »

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