Welcome back 8th graders
Camden Rockport Middle School 8th graders were greeted by the 8th grade teachers video called Welcome Back 8th Graders. They’ve started at a new school using cleaning supplies, masks, social distancing, and all that other stuff that is keeping us safe! Just like the rest of us!
Enjoy and be inspired by music educator Allysa Anderson and the CRMS staff and friends.
MALI art making sessions
The Maine Arts Leadership Initiative (MALI) is offering a second round of Open Art Teachers Studio: Quarantine Edition, starting October 7. Yay! The same MALI teacher leaders are running it, so it’ll be fun and efficient: Melanie Crowe, Iva Damon, and Bronwyn Sale. As a reminder, this is a virtual half hour of jumping right into creating together per provided prompts, followed by a half hour of discussion.
Attached is a poster with the details. Open to all at no cost. Join in on the fun – another way of knowing you’re not alone! To register/attend click above.
Teaching in a Pandemic
Below is a blog post contributed by Kate Smith, Central School, South Berwick Music Teacher. Kate is the 2014 York County Teacher of the Year and is a leader in the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative. Kate has made an amazing list of some of her favorite children’s books with information and suggestions on how to use them in your classroom. THANK YOU Kate for providing not only books but your passion for teaching! The post starts out with this message from Kate…
Kate Smith with What If…
Hello colleagues! If I have learned anything these past six months, it is this: keep your friends close and your ARTS colleagues closer! I have learned so much from interacting with all of you through MALI events, Tuneful Talk webinars, DOE-hosted events, virtual book clubs, Facebook groups and, on the rare occasion, socially distanced gatherings. You inspire me, encourage me, support me, make me laugh, understand the frustration, and your authenticity and vulnerability in these unsettling times remind me I am not alone. THANK YOU. To attempt to pay it forward, I have offered to write a blog post for Argy (I owe her big time), and hopefully there will be something here that will benefit you in some way. Better, I hope you will comment with your own resources and we can make this an even more valuable blog post.
Favorite books Kate is using in her teaching…
WHAT IF by Samantha Berger and Illustrated by Mike Curato. This book came recommended to me by Kaitlin Young, a music teacher at SeDoMoCha and the 2018 Maine Teacher of the Year. It’s called “What If” and it is written by Samantha Berger and illustrated by Mike Curato. This would be a great book for art, music, dance or theater teachers and their students. I used this book to explain what we can and can’t do in the music room this year. Little, Brown and Company do allow us to videotape ourselves reading the book but with restrictions which you can find on their website.
I’m Going on A Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury. This is an oldie (1997) but goodie. It works just fine as a chant. Adding hand motions and body percussion can make this a crowd pleaser, add instruments and they’ll be begging for more. First we acted out the book as a chant and added motions for each obstacle. Then we talked about how to make appropriate sound for each challenge using a drum. Each child had their own drum. We rubbed, scraped, tapped and banged our way to the bear cave and back!
Ada’s Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay by Susan Hood and Sally Wern Comport. Are you having your students make their own instruments? This book can be inspiring and eye opening. A true story, a quick google search and you’ll find some videos of the actual orchestra to share as well.
Mole Music by David McPhail. Another oldie but goodie. This one is great for discussing hopes and dreams with your students, music’s impact on our feelings and emotions (sometimes when we don’t even know it!), and that learning a new instrument takes time and a lot of practice. I once invited a violin player to play while I read. It was awesome. Especially the screechy part at the beginning. 😉
We Will Rock Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins, a Maine author with a fantastic sense of humor (if you haven’t read Mother Bruce, you must drive to the nearest bookstore right now.) This book addresses nerves when it comes to performing, in this case, the school talent show.
Because by Mo Willems and Amber Ren, published in 2019. This beautiful book speaks of persistence, hard work, inspiration, legacy, community and discovery. How did this book come to be? I will let Mo and Amber tell you at THIS LINK. And here is THE LINK to Hilary Purrington’s symphony, The Cold, featured in this book!
Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow is a wonderful book that celebrates the beauty, history and magic of names. Saying them correctly is important and it matters. CLICK HERE for a video of a read aloud and THIS LINK will help to pronounce the names in the book from the author!
I will be reading this book to the students soon, have you used it in your classroom? Some teachers have their students draw their name in an artistic way to show what their name means to them. How powerful!
Please consider sharing one of your ideas or work that you have underway with the Maine Arts Education Blog readers! Email me your ideas at meartsed@gmail.com.
Art Education
Last spring art education students at the University of Maine in one of Connie Albertson’s courses were working on a yearly community artreach/servide learning project called the University of Maine Art Education Community Outreach (UMAECO).
Community partners Kathy Pollard of Know Your Land and the lead project director of the Bangor Land Trust’s Edible Landscape Project, Ann Pollard Ranco, enrolled member of the Penobscot Nation, and others who worked together to develop interdisciplinary/ intercultural art lessons that also address LD 295. In addition art teacher Courtney Harvey at the Doughty Middle School in Bangor was part of the project with plans to teach in person lessons. When schools closed because of the pandemic the university students turned to video lessons. Consequently, they’ve produced useful online lessons that are available for a broader audience at THIS LINK. You might find this helpful in person and/or remotely when planning lessons for the school year.
The resources include the history, culture, and all kinds of interesting information about the outdoors of Maine’s Indigenous peoples and directly connect with Maine’s Bicentennial celebration. Several resources are included and geared to grades 6-8, adaptable for high school.
Thank you to these students who are responsible for the work.
Iorthanis Andoniades
Blake Eden
Marion Harless
Sarah Picard
Kate Westhaver
This project was supported by generous grants from The Maine Humanities Council, The University of Maine McGillicuddy Humanities Center and the Department of Art. If you have any questions please contact Connie Albertson at constant@maine.edu.
Global Oneness Project
Photo by Unni Raveendranathen
Global Oneness Project is sponsoring their second student photo contest, “The Artifacts in Our Lives,” . The deadline is October 15, 2020. The contest challenges students to photograph an artifact and tell its story. For more information and to enter.
Charlie’s story
One of the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative (MALI) Teacher Leaders from the first phase is Charlie Johnson. Charlie teaches Digital Design, 3D Design and Photography at Mount Desert Island High School. For many years he has been a proponent of student centered learning and using technology as a tool for effective teaching. He wrote the essay below “Teaching in the Pandemic” for the Union of Maine Visual Artists Journal.
Charlie has worked tirelessly as an art educator since 1973 and over the years I’ve been happy to watch him be recognized for his commitment to Arts Education. Charlie received the Carol Trimble Award for Exemplary Service to Education Award in 2015, was a finalist for the 2008 Maine Teacher of the Year, and is the 2006-07 Maine Art Teacher of the Year from the Maine Art Education Association.
Matilda A., Spring, Mixed Media, 12” x 12”, May, 2020 “I’m grateful for spring coming and all the flowers starting to come up.”
My initial concern as a high school art instructor with the closure of school buildings within our district was that I had no time to prepare my students for the transition. Fortunately students in my classes used the Google Suite of applications on a regular basis, primarily for presenting their work on Google Drive to obtain formative feedback and ultimately to organize their summative portfolios. Their previous work with the structures and protocols of digital submission of work did provide them a basic foundation.
Working with a Digital Media class in a computer lab equipped with the Adobe CC Suite did not translate to student laptops or home computers. Adaptations to software available on student laptops had to be constructed, causing a shift in curriculum structure and constricting student choice for exploration purposes within a less robust software .
The class that caused me the most regret for my students was Black & White Photography, as the creation of individual darkrooms labs in student homes was impractical. Even with these changes, the photography class has been particularly resilient, with the requirement to switch to digital imaging and to shoot in grayscale causing several students to improve the content and quality of their work significantly.
Alex S., What Makes Me Happy, Mixed Media/Photograph, 12” x 12”, May 2020 “I am grateful for the ability to create, both physical and emotional, to keep my inner colors bright and vivid, even when I’m the only one who sees them.”
While there remains a visual and performing arts requirement for graduation at our school, all of these classes are elective by students, and in some cases are chosen out of necessity rather than interest. Being present physically in these classes allows the instructor to personalize instruction and teaching as students become more familiar with both the content and the teacher. Because this had already taken place during the school year for semester long classes, there was a certain basic foundation to work from during the transition period.
The group of students that I am in contact with in the most meaningful ways during this pandemic is the National Art Honor Society art students. Now, this is not an art class, but a group of the most interested and dedicated visual artists in our school, and from the very first “virtual” meeting we all shared not only time, but ideas and concepts for artworks, emotional states in reaction to the closure of classroom doors, and an artistic fellowship that was purely exuberant! During the second weekly meeting of this group, students decided to create “squares” of their feelings of gratitude that would eventually become a “GRATITUDE QUILT”, expressing the variety of things to be thankful for during the difficult time of the pandemic.
Charlotte P., Technology, Digital, 12” x 12”, May 2020 “I’m grateful that technology is able to keep us connected even if it can become a little too overwhelming sometimes.”
MDI NAHS, Gratitude Quilt, Digital Assemblage, 4’ x 4’, May 2020
“A collaborative piece by members of the MDI HS Chapter of the National Art Honor Society”
IMAGE LIST/CAPTION:
“A collaborative piece by members of the MDI HS Chapter of the National Art Honor Society”
“I’m grateful that technology is able to keep us connected even if it can become a little too overwhelming sometimes.”
“I’m grateful for spring coming and all the flowers starting to come up.”
“I am grateful for the ability to create, both physical and emotional, to keep my inner colors bright and vivid, even when I’m the only one who sees them.”
Report from Wolf Brown
Dennie Palmer Wolf is a friend of Maine Arts Education having been the consultant in our first state wide census that was a project of the Maine Alliance for Arts Education. The Maine Department of Education and the Maine Arts Commission collaborated on the project in 2007.
In July 2020 Wolf Brown released a report for the Bernard van leer Foundation called Making a Joyful Noise: The Potential Role of Music Making in the Well-Being of Young Families. I encourage you to download the report (no matter what grade level you teach) and use segments of it to support your music programs. It is timely with the pandemic dictating parents to take a more active role in their child’s education. We know it is critical that the school and home teaching and learning be filled with balance. Not to mention the enormous benefits to the development of young children and how to support learners on the ‘human’ side through all of this.
The report highlights several areas and provides a substantial overview of why music is important to our youngest learners. It is broken down by periods of development; Pre and Perinatal Period, Early Infancy: 
2-5 Months, Later Infancy: 6-12 Months, Interdependence and Autonomy: 1-3 Years, and Expanded Learning: 4-5 Years. Researchers looked closely at programs across the country and around the world. Schools with pre-school programs would find this report useful. Many of our students have younger brothers and sisters so sharing the report through school and district newsletters would help build future elementary programs.
Wolf Brown include techniques and activities for adults to guide young children in their development and joy of making music, what an emphasis on music provides young children and families, and how music impacts their well being and social emotional learning.
Interestingly enough the opening report statement on “why music matters” is comprehensive and supports why music matters for every individual and family in the world.
Find the report at THIS LINK
Rapid changes
I don’t know about you but ideas continue to fly into my email box on how best to do “school” at this time. I trust and value some resources more than others, sometimes depending on the source. Edutopia from the George Lucas Educational Foundation provides thought provoking and action packed articles, many times written by practicing educators. When I see that, it’s a 5 Star resource. Below are links to articles sent by Edutopia that contain valuable teaching strategies. Most of them include addressing the social and emotional learning needs of students. Even though not all are not specific to arts education they can be adapted and I hope you find at least one useful. You can sign up to receive Edutopia emails by going to their website.
Andrew auditions – don’t miss this
Watching this video reminds me of why we should focus on the whole child and why dance is so important. It’s often the art form forgotten in schools. And, during the pandemic dance education is more critical. The dance education programs in place across the state are excellent, sadly there are not many, especially at the high school level. The good news is that almost all music and physical education teachers at the elementary level include dance and movement in their curriculum in some way.
The benefits that dance offer to developing and supporting the body and mind are enormous. There is plenty of research that emphasizes the benefits of dance.
Interestingly enough the Maine Arts Commission (MAC) Teaching Artist Roster has 14 dance teaching artists. Consider bringing a dance educator to your school this year. There is funding available through MACs Arts Learning grants which will become available in January 2021 with a deadline of April 2, 2021. Plan ahead for the next school year.
Let’s think about the possibilities for dance and why the time, right now, is PERFECT!
If you’re wondering about the benefits of dancing for all learners watch Andrew in this video.
Ashley Bryan
As educators around the world seek ways to incorporate racial justice into their curriculum right here in Maine we have a treasure that leads us to multiple resources. Ashley Bryan, now 97, has been sharing stories, songs, history, and the culture of black people for years through his work as an artist.
Ashley first came to Maine in 1946 to study at the Skowhegan School of Paining and Sculpture Ashley. In 1988 he retired from Dartmouth College and moved to Little Cranberry Island where he has continued to create. In 2013 the Ashley Bryan Center was established to preserve the over nine decades of Ashley’s work. His art has a strong message but is stated in a joyful way, as only Ashley Bryan can do. He has received many awards including the Coretta Scott King Award for illustrators multiple times and the John Newberry Medal.
Ashley’s work is on display in the Maine State House until December 30 as part of Art in the Capital provided by the Maine Arts Commission (MAC) with a virtual show on the MAC site.
Recently Maine Public Broadcast featured I Know a Man … Ashley Bryan, a film created by Kane Associates and available streaming.
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