MALI conference
The Maine Arts Commission is offering the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative Mega-Regional Conference at Hebron Station School in the Oxford Hills School District on Friday, March 17. In addition to these fabulous sessions (listed below) past participants remind us how the opportunity to network with arts educators from across Maine is so valuable!
REGISTER HERE!
Mega-regional conferences take place between 8:15 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
SCHEDULE
- 8:30 a.m. Registration begins
- 9:00 a.m. Opening and Morning Sessions
- 9:15 – 10:30 a.m. Breakout Session I
- 10:30 – 10:40 a.m. Break
- 10:40 – 11:55 a.m. Breakout Session II
- 11:55 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. Lunch, participants on their own
- 12:45 – 1:20 p.m. Artist Showcase
- 1:25 – 2:40 p.m. Session III Maine Arts Education Census Survey
- 2:40 – 3:00 p.m. Closing
SESSION I OFFERINGS
Stars and Stairs
Stars and Stairs, Where am I now and Where am I going? How can the use of Stars and Stairs in your classroom help to inform you and your students of their learning progression and actively engage them in the learning process. This will be a round table discussion. Looking at your standards and your curriculum how can you use the Stars and Stairs model in your classroom. All grade levels. All content.
Samantha Armstrong Paris Elementary School and Hebron Elementary Schools, Grades K-6 Visual Art
“Making Art History Come to Life with iBooks Author”
Dive into iBooks Author to harness the power of developing multi-modal, Multi-Touch iBooks. You’ll learn features which make iBooks come to life for learners by incorporating audio files, 3D widgets, image glossaries, study cards, jailbreaking templates, and much more. Be prepared to create an art history chapter together. You can also use this app for making comics and graphic novels or creating art portfolios. This session is great for MLTI beginners and experts. MLTI MacBooks with iBooks Author preinstalled is encouraged. Grades 7-12
Lindsey Carnes MLTI Apple Learning Specialist
Arts Residency In Action: Guidelines for a Successful Teaching Artist Collaboration in Your School
Many arts educators in K-12 education have never had the opportunity to work with a teaching artist. Knowing where to start and identifying the most important steps to take can feel daunting. This workshop provides a framework for creating a high-quality teaching artist residence in the schools. We will focus on the steps needed to create a powerful residency, and the nature of an effective collaboration between teaching artist and arts educator. We will provide experiential work and guidance in addressing the complexities and sometimes different languages of the teaching artist and the school-based educator. All grade levels. All content.
Carmel Collins Lake Region High School Dance and Visual Art John Morris Teaching Artist Dance
Improving Content Literacy Through Formative Assessment
Improve content literacy with a tool box of formative assessments and literacy strategies to gauge what your students already know, how well they are learning content, and help drive your classroom instruction. All grade levels. All content.
Iva Damon Leavitt Area High School Visual Art
More Cowbell
Playing and composing songs on your own is a blast for some, however there’s something special about making music in collaboration with other like-minded folks that just can’t be beat. In this hands-on, music making session, participants will use GarageBand to learn the basics of song writing and music production. Participants will have plenty of time to explore and experience the fun of collaborative music creation. Musicians of any and all skill levels are welcome. Make sure to bring your Mac and/or iOS device with GarageBand installed. All grade levels.
Tim Hart MLTI Apple Learning Specialist
Do You See What I Hear?
Participants will learn how to use graphic notation as a visual tool to reach all learners in the music classroom. (This is a great STEAM lesson!) Grades 4-6
Linda McVety Songo Locks Elementary School, Grades K-5 Music Jenni Null Songo Locks Elementary, Grades K-6 Music, District Fine Arts Coordinator
Arts Integration
When you are deeply engaged in Arts Integration you realize it is about learning with you mind, body and heart in the present moment. This hands on workshop explores this idea through drama, music, movement, poetry, storytelling, and the visual arts. Come prepared to experience arts integration through your own individual lens in a safe environment. All grade levels. All content.
Lindsay Pinchbeck Director Sweet Tree Arts/Sweetland School
Visual Notetaking/Doodling in Class
A combination of sketching and traditional note taking results in rich educational documents to support learning. Studies show that sketching leads to better retention of information and helps clarify ideas. Sketching is one of our original forms of communication. Visualizing ideas is a great way to learn. Why not bring this creative form of learning into your classroom? Explore how visual notes support learning. Discover techniques to create, share and integrate visual notes into your instructional practice. Visual notetaking, often called sketch noting, uses two parts of your brain, which is referred to as Dual Coding Theory. This has been found to improve learning. Research has shown that people who doodle while listening retain 29% more information (Andrade, 2009). Join this hands-on session and start sketching your notes today. Please bring your updated MLTI iPad, if available, with Notability installed. Arts supplies will also be available. All grade levels. All content.
Ann Marie Quirion Hutton MLTI Apple Professional Learning Specialist, former Art Educator
SESSION II OFFERINGS
Supporting Literacy in the Elementary Visual Art Classroom
This workshop focuses on a collection of techniques that aim to support literacy in the art classroom. From using word walls, sight words, and phonemic awareness participants will leave with a fresh perspective on incorporating literacy while still adhering to their art curriculum. K-5 Visual Arts, adaptable for middle school.
Elise Bothel Vivian E. Hussey School, Grades K-5 Visual Art
Including Students with Disabilities in Your Art Classroom Using iMovie OS
Use stations and sites fostering independence to help students collect assets for creating art infused iMovie productions. This session will showcase how a green screen and some photos can provide opportunities for all learners to showcase their creative side. MLTI MacBooks with the most current version of iMovie is encouraged. Grades 7-12. All content.
Lindsey Carnes MLTI Apple Learning Specialist
Guiding the Young Padawan to Become a Jedi Music Master
This workshop will demonstrate a scaffolded instruction process and assessment system created to guide middle school band students through the basic levels of performance to highly skilled musicianship. Grades 4-12
Dianne Fenlason Spruce Mountain Middle School, Grades 6-12 Music
The Cloud Ate My Portfolio: No More Excuses…Start a Digital Portfolio Today
This is a step by step experience designed to help you to consider how to use a digital portfolio to help students self-asses and manage the evidence of their learning. Access to Google Drive, Drawing, email, built in camera and mic ideal…but not required. . All content areas. All levels.
Suzanne Goulette Waterville Senior High School Visual Art
Making 8-bit Art
Beginning with early Atari and Nintendo video games, the 8-bit aesthetic has been a part of our culture for over 30 years. No longer just nostalgia art, contemporary 8-bit artists and chiptunes musicians have elevated the form to new levels of creativity and cultural reflection. In this session, we will focus on tools that assist in creating 8-bit images, animations, and music. Please bring your MLTI MacBook. All grade levels.
Tim Hart MLTI Apple Learning Specialist
The Heart of Advocacy
Educators will leave with the knowledge of how to create and present a variety methods to advocate for issues pertinent to their arts educational causes and how to organize those methods to feel comfortable in beginning personal advocacy efforts. All grade levels. All content.
Lynda Leonas Farwell and Longley Elementary Schools, Grades K-6 Visual Art
Theatre as a Tool: Using Theatre Across the Curriculum
Introduction to the process of using devised theatre as a teaching tool. I will take participants through that process and give them strategies for using devised theatre across curriculum areas and grade levels. All grades levels. All content.
Hilary Martin Vassalboro Community School, Grades K-8 Theatre
Illustrating to Write
One creation lends a hand to the other. Illustration is a part of many great stories, extending the ability of ideas to be shared, and increasing enjoyment and comprehension on the part of the reader. Apple technology provides many possibilities for creating illustrations, making drawing and visual images a part of the overall literacy experience. Learn how to use your MacBook Air to draw and paint creative illustrations in this “hands on session”. Bring your MacBook Air with Acorn installed (included with your MLTI participation). All grades levels.
Ann Marie Quirion Hutton MLTI Apple Professional Learning Specialist, former Art Teacher
Information on the professional development offerings this year from MALI located at http://mainearts.maine.gov/Pages/Education/MALI-Mega-Regionals.
The Maine Arts Leadership Initiative provides ongoing professional development opportunities. Resources are available by CLICKING HERE.
If you have any questions please contact Argy Nestor, director of arts education, Maine Arts Commission at argy.nestor@maine.gov.
In this clip from the Ellen Show, Ellen DeGeneres recognizes the creative and impactful work of Mr. Michael Bonner at South Greenville Elementary School. He uses music, movement and technology to help his students learn lessons. He explains that his students struggle with homelessness and hunger, but are still able to achieve academically when met with strategies that fit their needs. 
How do you use Technology? To engage? Deliver instruction? For Assessment? Not at all? Join R.S.V.P. ME online 3:30 to 5:00 TODAY Thursday, January 19th to share the ways you use technology in your art program.
Each site will have different sessions offered so you may wish to attend more than one Mega. Sessions will be provided by MALI Teacher Leaders and Teaching Artist Leaders. In addition, almost all sites will have technology offerings offered by MLTI Apple staff. A portion of the afternoon will feature a Teaching Artist and information on the statewide arts education census that was conducted during the 2015-16 school year. The report will be officially released in December.
Writing is a life skill that is of critical importance to our students. I will share ways in which I have incorporated writing composition and critical responses in to my dance classroom. All grades levels. All content.
Ellsworth High School, USM Portland, and UMaine Orono, and Hebron Station School Hebron, Easton Schools
Dates and Locations
Sessions for Ellsworth Mega
One educator said: “It is so nice to be able to talk with other arts educators about their views”. Yes, these were all arts educators conversing with other arts educators – the same tribe, our peeps, educators who share a basic understanding about what we contribute in the world. Another participate was grateful to know that “Others are going through the same frustrations as I am”. 
One of my favorite feedback comments of the day is not about assessment or standards or arts skills but about a broader critical piece of what we do: “I learned about helping children to become fearless about making a mistake – mistakes are okay.”
WHAT QUESTIONS DID PARTICIPANTS HAVE AT THE END OF EACH WORKSHOP?
Theresa Cerceo
If you couldn’t join us yesterday some of the workshop leaders provided their resources and they are posted online on the Maine Arts Assessment site. You can access them by 
What happens when you bring together the ARTS and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math)? Well, if you ask Jonathan Graffius, Poland Community School PK-6 art teacher, Scott Segal, Director of Poland Rec Department, and Jason Farson, Maine College of Art MAT student, the answer is educational, fun, and engaging for all involved.
During winter break Jon and Jason designed an opportunity for students called STEAM Camp. According to Jon, “The desired outcome for STEAM camp was that students would develop and apply both critical and creative thinking processes. The objectives were to use instructional practices that were trans-disciplinary, project-based, and highly engaging to young, developing minds.”
Jon: “I have offered a lot of visual art camps in the past, however this time around, I wanted to integrate art with other content areas. I have many interests beyond visual art and the STEAM concept allowed me, and the students, to experience the world in a broader way. Conducting this camp through Poland Parks and Recreation expanded outreach into the community; we ended up having students from four different towns spanning five grade levels. Both parents and students thoroughly enjoyed the camp and are eagerly awaiting the next camp.”
It was so fun to see their large finger prints, talk with them about their catapults and bridges, and see the problem-solving and creativity in action!
me arts ed 