Archive for the ‘Standards’ Category
December 25, 2012
Mega-regional workshops offered
The Maine Arts Assessment Initiative (MAAI) is partnering with the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) to offer all-day Mega-Regional workshops. Over 36 sessions will be offered at the four locations; Farmington, Portland, Ellsworth, and Presque Isle. These are FREE all day arts education workshops for elementary, middle, high school, and higher ed educators.
The workshops are provided FREE and contact hours are available. Workshop facilitators are the MAAI teacher leaders (phase 1 and 2) and MLTI technology integrators. At least one workshop included at each location will have an integrated co-facilitated session that connects at least one arts discipline and technology. In addition MLTI staff will be offering sessions. All participants must pre-register. Join us for this unique opportunity! Each participant can select two 1-hour morning workshops and one 2-hour afternoon MLTI session. You will need to bring a computer that has the MLTI image.
These workshops are in response to the feedback from arts educators requesting more professional development opportunities. Also happening all over the state are Regional workshops being presented by the arts education teacher leaders from the second phase of MAAI.
The Mega-Regional Workshops
- Monday, January 14, 8:00 to 3:30, University of Maine at Farmington
- Friday, March 1, 8:00 to 3:30, University of Southern Maine, Portland
- Friday, March 22, 8:00 to 3:30, Presque Isle High School, Presque Isle
- Friday, March 29, 8:00 to 3:30, Ellsworth High School, Ellsworth
Workshop descriptions are located here. Please click here to learn more and to REGISTER for one or more of the workshop sessions.
Posted in assessment, Communication, Community, Creativity, Curriculum and Instruction, Food for thought, Integration, Leadership, Opportunity, Professional Development, Standards, Technology, VPA | Tagged Ellsworth High School, MAAI, Maine arts assessment initiative, Maine Learning Technology Initiative, mega regional workshops, mlti, Presque Isle High School, UMF, usm | Leave a Comment »
December 20, 2012
Createquity blog
In a December 3rd blog writer Talia Gibas describes the model called “shared delivery” that provides students with an excellent arts education. This involves three parties:
- generalist elementary school teacher
- arts specialists, and
- teaching artists and/or community arts organizations.
In this model the three entities collaborate to provide a visual and performing arts education. It is a great read that provides an in-depth explanation of the model and the benefit to all students.
Once you read the post at http://createquity.com/2012/12/unpacking-shared-delivery-of-arts-education.html#comment-17302 be sure and read Ayanna N. Hudson, Director of Arts Education at the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) comment at the bottom of the post. I recently posted (on the “Prof Dev Opps” page) the grants being offered from the NEA.
Posted in Food for thought, funding source, Integration, Leadership, Standards, VPA | Tagged Ayanna N. Hudson, createquity, funding, National Endowment for the Arts, Talia Gibas, teaching artists | Leave a Comment »
December 17, 2012
Connections!
Not only are we in Maine looking at the connection points of the Arts and the Common Core for ELA and Math but that is the case in other parts of the country as well. The Gardner Museum in Boston has long championed Visual Thinking Skills and viewing and discussing art for the cultural experience. Now they also view the “powerful opportunity to tap into some of the same skills asked of students under the Common Core State Standards”.
In a Maryland county they are working across content areas to implement the new standards and see the “great platform for the arts to really rise and share their importance in the educational fabric of a school.” and in New York City they are working with arts educators to engage in a conversation to insure that the artmaking is not sacrificed while they “focus on developing and documenting interdisciplinary units of study and formative-assessment practices.”
The new president of the College Board, David Coleman, responded to a series of blog posts that were posted this fall on arts education and the Common Core. He said: “the great news is that the standards call on so many things the arts do well. The tradition of careful observation, attention to evidence and artists’ choices, the love of taking an artist’s work seriously lies at the heart of these standards.”
As the new national standards for arts education are developed and the documents are released in the near future you will see the alignment information that has been done with the Common Core. This will be useful information to the field of arts education and the work you may be doing in your local districts.
I know that many Maine arts educators are working with their colleagues to integrate the Common Core ELA and Math standards into the VPA curricula. Please do share the work you are doing by commenting on this blog post.
Let us not forget what Elliot Eisner said:
“To neglect the contribution of Art in education is to deny children access to one of the most stunning aspects of their culture and one of the most potent means for developing their minds.”
I recommend that you read the entire article that I am referencing found in Education Week, December 16, 2013, written by Erik W. Robelen by clicking here.
Posted in Communication, Curriculum and Instruction, Integration, Leadership, Standards, VPA | Tagged college board, Common Core ELA and Math, David Coleman, Gardner Museum, Maine arts education | Leave a Comment »
October 29, 2012
MAMLE
This past Thursday and Friday I attended the MAMLE conference at Sugarloaf where arts educators were well received in the workshops they presented on a variety of topics. I have included a bit of information below on each of the sessions where the arts teachers presented.
Allied Arts in the Standards World
Sacopee Valley Middle School art teacher and Maine Arts Assessment Initiative teacher leader Danette Kerrigan and Medomak Middle School music teacher Julie Sanborn participated in a panel presentation on the work they are doing at their respective middle schools and in their classrooms. The other panel members Lisa Hogan from Mt. Ararat, Barbara Greenstone from Boothbay and Phil Brookhouse from MLTI also made connections to the arts. Friend of arts education, Jill Spencer facilitated the session.
Panel members: Lisa Hogan, Julie Sanborn, Barbara Greenstone, Phil Brookhouse, Danette Kerrigan
Steel Drum Band
Julie also presented a session with the Pantastics, the school’s steel drum band. The band performs at community events and has traveled to other schools and events in and out of Maine. The students played several pieces at the start of the conference as well as in an individual workshop. Other middle school teachers were invited to play one of the drums as well. The members of the band promised to write a blog post on their involvement playing the steel drums. Look for that in the future.
How Can I Teach for Creativity?
Danette was joined by MAAI leadership team member Bronwyn Sale from Bates College for a session on creativity. They made quite a team with Bronwyn presenting foundational information on the creative process, creativity, and creative problem solving. Danette shared the practical components of addressing the topic in a classroom setting and provided participants with hands-on exercises including SCAMPER which stands for Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Magnify, Put to Other Uses, Eliminate (or Minify), and Rearrange (or Reverse).
Bronwyn Sale and Danette Kerrigan
Service Learning and Music Appreciation
Leonard Middle School music teacher Shianne Priest had students join her to share a service learning project that she her music appreciation class has undertaken for two years now. The 8th graders this past year raised $1600 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. They collaborated to write the lyrics for a song that 9th grader Lily Muscatell took a step further and wrote the music for and performed. Selling the CD was one part but hearing about their learning and how the experience affected them was amazing.
Shianne and Lily listen while the 8th graders explained the project.
Thank you to everyone for their fabulous work and sharing the opportunities that you afford Maine students!
Posted in assessment, Creativity, Curriculum and Instruction, Leadership, Music, Opportunity, Professional Development, Research, Standards, Standards Based Education, Visual Arts | Tagged arts education, Bates College, Bronwyn Sale, Danette Kerrigan, Julie Sanborn, leadership, Leonard Middle School, MAAI, Maine, Maine Association for Middle Level Education, MAMLE, Medomak Middle School, Sacopee Valley, service learning, Shianne Priest, standards based, steel drums, Sugarloaf | Leave a Comment »
October 23, 2012
In the best interest of students
Some of you are aware that the discussion at the Maine Department of Education (MDOE) is on LD 1422, the high school proficiency legislation. We are discussing the role of the Department in assisting school districts in implementation of this bill. We are looking at defining proficiency and what this looks like in standards-based systems in student-centered classrooms. Our conversations include how to deliver instruction in an integrated fashion.
In a September ASCD article independent consultant Christa Treichel reviews a project that brings educators together and breaks down the “silos” of content, classroom, and traditional teaching methods. The collaborative culture is used to improve student learning.
The school and teachers are located in west-central Minnesota and the arts educators are from the Perpich Center for Arts Education. The arts integration program uses “collaborative culture” to improve student learning. The teachers from different disciplines work side-by-side looking at the standards, plan and deliver, and assess arts-integrated lessons.
You can read the article to learn more about this Minnesota program by clicking here.
Posted in Communication, Curriculum and Instruction, Integration, Standards, Standards Based Education, VPA | Tagged integration, Minnesota, Perpich Center for Arts Education, silos, standards based, students centered | Leave a Comment »
October 9, 2012
Some weeks are crazy
Last week was filled with adventures! I started the week in Washington D.C. at the Arts Education Advisory Group (AEAG) meeting. They are part of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASSA) which is made up of the state arts commissions including the Maine Arts Commission. Every year the AEAG plans a professional development institute (PDI) for the arts in education associates at the state arts commissions which includes Meagan Mattingly. I am the representative to AEAG for my national professional organization called State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education (SEADAE) which is comprised of the arts education specialists from the Departments of Education. I had a chance to be with AEAG at the opening of their PDI. It was wonderful to meet people who are committed to arts education in each state. Not to mention they are interesting, knowledgeable, creative, and FUN! The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) are affiliated with the AEAG and NASSA since funding is provided by the NEA. Consequently, there were a handful of staff from the NEA who are responsible for arts education who attended as well. In attendance was Ayanna N. Hudson, the NEA Director of Arts Education. She agreed to write a blog post for meartsed that will explain the programs/funding that is available for teachers, schools and communities. This will provide an overview to help you learn what is available. One of the evening highlights was the opportunity to see the performance of the DC Youth Slam Team. They were INCREDIBLE!
Next my travels took me to Reston, VA where SEADAE met with the chairs of the National Arts Standards writing teams and the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards leadership team. The writing teams are moving along with their work in spite of the little funding that has been provided. The most recent draft of the framework was shared by Co-Chairs, Marcia McCaffrey and NH DOE arts specialist and Lynn Tuttle, AZ arts specialist and president of SEADAE. The writing teams have taken the first draft with the components including Disciplines, Essential Questions, Enduring Understandings, Artistic Processes, Cornerstone Assessments, and re-arranged the direction of the document to make it more user friendly. The work was shown to us on the website where the document will be housed so we could also see the work that has been done on the site. It will include a “quick view” button for finding stuff in a hurry, the use of tagging and keywords, and links to other works. All of this will be important aspects since it will be a web based document. You can view some of the ideas that are being considered at this link.
We had a discussion on what to call the final document so if you have any suggestions please email them and I can pass them along. The document will be arranged by grade level, PreK-8 but the high school format is still under discussion. You can read more about the format by clicking here.
At this point the expected date for the release of the “framework” will be in December. The first draft of the standards document which includes Dance, Media Arts, Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts will be within a few months after that, perhaps in March. Most likely the cornerstone assessments will be included when the standards draft comes out at grades 2, 5, and 8. The format will require feedback on the standards and the “userness” of the website.
Nancy Rubino from the College Board reported on recent research that looks at the Common Core State Standards for ELA and Math (CCSS) and the National Standards for the Arts. The research looks at the overlapping components of the CCSS and the arts frameworks and where the arts references are present in the CCSS. For example the research includes tells us that there are 26 ELA standards that have references to reading a work of drama. Looking closely at “college level learning” in the arts has been included in the research. The research will be released as soon as the final framework is determined and I am sure you will find it helpful. The College Board has done other research which I have mentioned in past blog posts and you can find links to this valuable information on the right side of the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards wiki.
The end of the day included the live stream from the meeting to provide an overview of the event. If you weren’t available or couldn’t get on since the system was full I understand that it will be archived on the site in the near future.
I flew back to Maine early on Thursday morning and headed to Point Lookout in Northport where the Maine Arts Assessment Initiative (MAAI) teacher leaders and leadership team met that night and all day Friday. We worked on the Depository for arts education resources in Maine located at MaineLearning.net and continued plans for the Mega-regional workshops to be held throughout the 2012-13 school year. On Friday the teacher leaders from phase 2 presented their workshops so they could gather feedback on their sessions to determine if they’d like to tweak anything before taking their session on the road for the regional workshops. The regional workshop sessions will be posted on the Department arts assessment page in the next two weeks so you can see what is available. The energy and expertise of their topics was inspirational and truly amazing. I was reminded of how fortunate we are in Maine to have such outstanding arts educators who are willing to share information and expand their horizons to become teacher leaders in the arts. I am sure when the Cornerstone Assessments are released from the national standards work that Maine will be ready to take on the task of reviewing them to provide feedback that will inform the nation.
Needless to say when the week ended on Friday evening I was exhausted! However, I am extremely proud of the work that arts educators are doing throughout the state and urge you to continue to read and stay abreast of the opportunities that are offered. If you have questions or comments on any of this please feel free to email me at argy.nestor@maine.gov or post a comment at the bottom of this post.
MAAI arts educators fall workshop
Posted in assessment, Communication, Creativity, Curriculum and Instruction, Dance, Food for thought, funding source, Leadership, Media Arts, Music, Opportunity, Research, Standards, Technology, Theater, Visual Arts | Tagged AEAG, Arts Education Advisory Group, college board, framework, leadership team, Lynn Tuttle, MAC, Marcia McCaffrey, Nancy Rubino, NASSA, National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, National Endowment for the Arts, national standards, NEA, SEADAE, State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education, writing teams | Leave a Comment »
October 6, 2012
Food for thought
I am forever finding interesting thought-provoking articles to read and share with the meartsed readers. Below are a list that have accumulated during the last month or so to share with you.
- Luminaries in Convention City Advocate for Arts Education written by Andrew Ujifusa, Education Week, September 6, 2012. The former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, based on her drumming chops, got the nickname “Sticks” and she was one of several who joined a discussion called Arts Speak.
- Rule Making in the Classroom written by Nancy Flanagan Education Week, August 14, 2012. How do we shift to students making the rules for a better classroom environment.
- Expanding the impact of Excellent Teachers written by Bryan C. Hassel and Celine Coggins Education Week, August 16, 2012. At this time in education with so many changes occurring how do we look to excellent teachers and expand on their impact?
- Travels in Education written by Deborah Meier, Education Week, September 23, 2012. How one educator travel experiences have and continue to impact her teaching.
- Teacher PD Needs More on Emotions written by Anthony Rebora, Education Week, June 8, 2012. Perhaps teachers need more training in order to provide emotional support for students.
- Tools for Teaching: The Amazing Sticky Note written by Ben Johnson, Edutopia, September 10, 2012. I just had to end this list of readings on a topic that I find very fun – the use of sticky notes. Those of you that know me are aware of how sticky notes on my computer are a lifesaver. Thanks to Chris Milliken for sending me this link!
Posted in assessment, Communication, Community, Creativity, Curriculum and Instruction, Food for thought, funding source, Integration, Leadership, Opportunity, Professional Development, Research, Standards, VPA | Leave a Comment »
October 4, 2012
Let’s put this in perspective
Recently I have received emails asking about our role as arts educators and the Common Core Standards for ELA and Math. My colleague from Arizona, Lynn Tuttle, was asked to write a blog post for ARTSblog, Sept. 10, 2012. Lynn is not only the Director of Arts Education for the Arizona Department of Education but she is also the President of my national organization called SEADAE (State Education Agency Directors for Arts Education). Her post was so fabulous that we reprinted it on our SEADAE blog. The blog post is called Common Core is Here – Don’t Panic. It provides an overview and how and where the arts connect. Lynn also reminds us of the importance of the each states arts standards. Of course in Maine we have the 2007 document Maine Learning Results: Parameters for Essential Instruction that are our responsibility to teach.
My colleague, Joyce Huser, the Fine Arts Education Consultant from Kansas conducted a webinar last year for SEADAE called The Arts, Common Core, and 21st Century Connections. She collaborated with her ELA and Math colleagues to develop the webinar that is available for you on the Maine Department of Education site.
Also underway are the re-writing the national arts standards. You can keep abreast of that work at the wiki National Coalition for Core Arts Standards. I will be traveling to Washington DC next week to meet with my colleagues from SEADAE and the chairs of each of the National Core Arts Standards writing teams. At this point the new standards are due out during the summer of 2013. I will provide a blog post on my return to share what I have learned.
Posted in Communication, Curriculum and Instruction, Standards, VPA | Tagged arts education, Common Core State Standards, ELA, Lynn Tuttle, Maine Learning Results, math, National Coaltion for Core Arts Standards, SEADAE, state standards | Leave a Comment »
September 19, 2012
I received the following email yesterday morning from Mount Desert Island High School Art Educator Dan Stillman. Dan and his two visual art colleagues, Charlie Johnson and Elizabeth Keenan all enjoyed the opportunity of attending the visual art education conference.
Dear Argy,
Once again our MAEA (Maine Art Education Association) Haystack weekend rejuvenated the student-artist in me and inspired the teacher within me too!
Please indulge an inspired rant:
During my reflective return trip home on Sunday, I mulled over a few stories from art teachers who had a challenging time convincing their administration of the importance of attending yearly Haystack workshops.
I lamented “Why can’t some administrators understand how important it is for an artist to expand his portfolio and broaden her range of media? Why would they even hesitate to support the feeding of our souls? Don’t they want happy, inspired art teachers?!
It later occurred to me that perhaps our MAEA Haystack weekend might be experiencing the same perception challenges that many of our art classes do in our schools back home…
My experience is that most art students, parents, guidance counselors, administrators, and teachers-of-the-three-R’s naively measure the merits of an art class by the tangible art works and the apparent “fun” students have making them. “Specials” are often perceived as a reward for the students– a pleasant break from the rigors of an academic day. Is Haystack just a resort? Just an artist’s retreat? A pleasant break from the rigors of teaching?
While those perceptions are appreciative in nature, we art educators KNOW there are valuable skills and practical benefits to practicing one’s art. Do our principals and superintendents understand the rigor and discipline of an exhausting right-brained workout? Do they understand the degree to which our Haystack workshops put the ARTS STANDARDS into practice?
They should…and it’s up to us to teach ‘em.
- WE are the teachers and preachers of the CREATIVE PROCESS for crying out loud!
- WE offer an entirely different vocabulary and language to communicate and demonstrate understanding in all the academic disciplines!
- AND we work and play at the tippy top of Bloom’s Taxonomy!
For sooo long the arts have been peripheral enrichment to core-subject learning in public education…
Now we have representation at the State level, our own Essential Standards and evolving, technologically-advanced assessments that give us voice and a level of pedagogical understanding no other generation of art teachers (or Haystack participants) have had before…
We should write thank you letters to our learning communities, show them samples of our work and spell out the rigor and reflection we enjoyed… and endured.
Those rushed samples of our weekend art-making can’t capture the intensity of our humbling experience as a student of art and the learning process. We need to share teacher-artists statements too.
Haystack where is not just a break from school… it IS SCHOOL that humbles us right back into students!
Phew,
Dan:)
2012 Haystack – Maine Art Educators conference
Photos in this post were taken by Charlie Johnson. You can view other photos from the conference by clicking here.
Posted in assessment, Communication, Community, Creativity, Curriculum and Instruction, Food for thought, Professional Development, Standards, Visual Arts | Tagged Charlie Johnson, Dan Stillman, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Maine Art Educators Conference, Maine arts education, Stonington, visual arts | 5 Comments »
August 25, 2012
Writing teams work on EUs, EQs, CAs
Earlier this summer the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) writing teams met in the Washington D.C. area to continue their work on the writing of the the national standards. They discussed the Enduring Understandings (EU), Enduring Questions (EQ), and Cornerstone Assessments (CA).
This was their first meeting face to face since they started the work electronically. This meeting with the leadership team of the NCCAS was possible thanks to the generosity of the states, national arts education organizations (NAfME, NAEA, NDEO, AATE, EdTA), and the partners at the College Board.
You can view (and hear) the highlights of the work on the NCCAS wiki at:
http://nccas.wikispaces.com/Reston%2C+VA+June+2012.
The site has a document that is updated periodically with questions and answers. Here are a couple:
- Are there continued efforts to understand where the arts are already in alignment with the Common Core State Standards? I would imagine I would be interested in knowing this for the purpose of articulating the possible standards for Arts Integration techniques. If so are there efforts to articulate how Arts Integration techniques can help meet the CC standards as well as to understand where arts and creativity processes are cognitively parallel to skills and tasks that are laid out in Common Core? Project Director Phil Shepherd: Yes there are continual efforts to make connections to the Common Core. Not only do we have some research conducted by the College Board, but as the work continues comparisons are brought forward in each of the writing teams.
- How does this document address the important process of creative thinking? This is the leading characteristic CEO’s say they are looking for in a 21st employee. The learning of this process I believe could be one of those elements that could connect all the art forms. The creative thinking process can be taught, but are we teaching it in K-12 schools? Rarely have I seen it specifically addressed in my 35 years of art public school teaching. So….If not in this domain, where? Project Director Phil Shepherd: A goal established by the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards is to bring creativity to the forefront. Alignment with the 21st Century Skills framework is a part of the process. The College Board has done research to support this effort as well and our writers have reviewed that research. Additional work has been done to review creative practices and provide an overview of how those practices play out in the artistic processes.
You can keep up with developments on the new national standards by checking the NCCAS wiki site at: http://nccas.wikispaces.com
Posted in Communication, Creativity, Curriculum and Instruction, Standards | Tagged cornerstone assessments, enduring questions, enduring understandings, National Coaltion for Core Arts Standards, national standards, NCCAS, Phil Shephard | Leave a Comment »
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