Maine high school students are invited to participate in a virtual theater game night. The Maine Thespians officers will lead participants in an interactive workshop at no cost. Mark your calendars and join teens from across the state – Sunday, October 25, 5:00 – 6:30 p.m. This event is provided by the Maine Educational Theater Association.
For more information CLICK HERE! To register CLICK HERE!
25 Semifinalists announced – Maine proud!
In the beginning of June 2020 the Music Educator Award presented by Recording Academy and Grammy Museum announced their quarterfinalists for 2021. I was proud to announce on the blog that three Maine music educators were named to the list of nearly 2,000 nominees!
As a follow up Tracy shared her Covid story posted on this blog that provided details on her teaching journey through the school year.
Recently Tracy learned that she is one of 25 music teachers from 24 cities across 16 states to be named a semifinalist for the award given by the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum.
CONGRATULATIONS TRACY!
The finalists will be announced in December and Maine Arts Educators will be waiting to hear the outcome!
The Music Educator Award recognizes current educators who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of music education and who demonstrate a commitment to the broader cause of maintaining music education in the schools. The recipient will be recognized during GRAMMY Week 2021.
The award is open to current U.S. music teachers, and anyone can nominate a teacher — students, parents, friends, colleagues, community members, school deans, and administrators. Teachers are also able to nominate themselves, and nominated teachers are notified and invited to fill out an application.
Each year, one recipient is selected from 10 finalists and recognized for their remarkable impact on students’ lives. They will receive a $10,000 honorarium and matching grant for their school’s music program. The nine additional finalists will receive a $1,000 honorarium and matching grants. The remaining fifteen semifinalists will receive a $500 honorarium with matching school grants.
The matching grants provided to the schools are made possible by the generosity and support of the GRAMMY Museum’s Education Champion Ford Motor Company Fund. In addition, the American Choral Directors Association, National Association for Music Education, NAMM Foundation, and National Education Association support this program through outreach to their constituencies.
The finalists will be announced in December, and nominations for the 2022 Music Educator Award are now open. To nominate a music educator, or to find more information, please visit www.grammymusicteacher.com.
Amazing work
I know how time consuming it can be for teachers to collect resources so I’ve put together another list to help support your work – this one compiled over the last several weeks. Hopefully you’ll find the information informative!
Edutopia and social emotional learning
Edutopia tackles the challenges of social emotional learning by providing several videos on a variety of topics that are beneficial to educators, parents, and organizations who provide learning opportunities for learners. In this video series, they explore how educators can guide all students, regardless of their developmental starting points, to become productive and engaged learners. Below are just a few – you can find many more on the section of the Edutopia website called How Learning Happens.
You’re invited to join Educate Maine virtually for a NEW speaker series addressing innovation in education. The series will bring together national thought leaders and leading Maine educators to share their best ideas and deep wisdom on the topic of how education can adapt and evolve to meet the unique demands of our time.
Educate Maine is partnering with the Education Action Forum of Maine and Thomas College’s Center for Innovation in Education to host this timely series. Join them Thursday, October 15 from 3:30-4:30pm for the first of several engaging conversations among national thought leaders and Maine’s top educators as they discuss and explore what is next for the field.
SPEAKERS
At the first event, the presenter is Jason Swanson who is the Director of Strategic Foresight at KnowledgeWorks, where he helps lead the organization’s research into the future of learning. An award-winning futurist, Jason develops forecasts, sensemaking guides, artifacts from the future, and immersive experiences. Jason is a frequent public speaker and workshop facilitator and holds a BA in Public Policy from West Chester University and an MS in Foresight from the University of Houston. He is a fellow with the Royal Society of Arts and is a member of the Remake Learning Council and Learn Life Alliance.
In addition, we will engage two Maine educators to discuss the research and explore how educators can partner with government officials to explore these options for Maine’s families.
Matt Drewette-Card is the Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment for MSAD #46, a small, rural school district in central Maine. Matt is also the President of Maine ASCD, the Maine CSTA Penobscot/Piscataquis County regional representative, a Future Ready Schools mentor, and host of the “Maine Education Matters” podcast. Matt has been in education for over 20 years, has a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Oregon, and has taught in Maine, Oregon, New Mexico, Georgia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.
Heather Whitaker is the Alternative Education Teacher at Gorham Middle School and the 2020 Maine Teacher of the Year. During her 18-year teaching career at Gorham Middle School, Heather has been a true advocate for combining learning opportunities with the needs of the community. She started her school’s garden, which donates over 800 pounds of produce for the local food pantry each year. She also was a founding member of the Gorham BackPack Program, which provides students in her community, experiencing chronic hunger, with food over the weekend. Her alternative education students are active volunteers for both programs. Heather is passionate about and experienced in using restorative practices and experiential learning. She believes in the power of relationships and that learning should be meaningful to students. Whenever possible, Heather takes students out of the classroom and has them engaged in the community. Heather graduated from Boston College in 2000, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education with Moderate Special Needs. She later earned her Master of Science in Literacy Education at the University of Southern Maine.
Schedule for the event
3:30-3:50pm: Jason Swanson
3:50-4:10pm: Matt Drewette-Card and Heather Whitaker
4:10-4:30pm: Q & A
The zoom link will be emailed to all registered participants prior to the event.
#ArtsAreMySuperpower is a national campaign launched recently with Theatre for Young Audiences USA and 20,000 member youth arts institutions. The campaign is taking place throughout the month of October and is designed to empower young people’s artistic and civic voices across disciplines and regions, unifying national voices in support of communities’ choirs, orchestras, bands, ensembles, dance companies, theatres, museums, arts programs, and arts workers everywhere.
Specifically, #ArtsAreMySuperpower will empower young people to:
1. THINK about the ways they have been impacted by the arts in their community
2. WRITE a letter to their Senator
3. SHOW their “superpower” through their art: singing, instrument, visual art, acting, dance, puppets, etc.
4. POST their superpower and their letter to social media, tagging their Senators, @beanartshero (Instagram) or @BeAnArtsHero1 (Twitter), and hashtag: #ArtsAreMySuperpower, #ArtsHero, and #DAWNAct
5. MAIL their letter using the Post Office
For inspiration, you may enjoy this video created by the bassists from the Metropolitan Opera to the LA Philharmonic, and the many symphony orchestras in between. It was made independently but specifically for and the DAWN Act. It is a true gift. And a testament to how artists are coming together during this unprecedented and historic moment.
Information about the campaign with details and suggested templates for young people ages 0-9, 10-13, and 14+. can be found at: https://beanartshero.com/arts-are-my-superpower
Your support and engagement in this campaign are welcome and you are encouraged by the campaign to share with colleagues. You can find more info about the individuals responsible for the campaign at www.BeAnArtsHero.com.
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.
Message to parents
Nancy Flanagan is a retired music teacher in Michigan and the state’s 1993 Teacher of the Year. She has been blogging for 15 years at Teacher in a Strange Land. Perhaps because she’s in the arts I find that many of her posts really speak to me. She put together a list of ‘tips’ for parents. Knowing how busy you teachers are day to day, especially during the pandemic, you might find this list useful to share with parents and won’t have to write a list yourself.
The post is called Five (Conservative) Ideas about Going Back to School in the Fall and below are the five ideas – to save you time from going to the post.
Thank you Nancy for sharing your wisdom and experience!
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