Theater production – UMA
This is the first blog post of the Phase 6 Maine Arts Leadership Initiative (MALI) Teacher Leader stories. This series includes a set of questions so you can learn a little bit about the work each Maine visual or performing arts teacher or artist is doing. 
Jason Bannister presently teaches Theater to grade 7 and 8 students at the Troy Howard Middle School, RSU 71, Belfast. He has taught for 14 years, all in Belfast – 5 years at 4th grade, 3 years middle school ELA, 6 years middle school theater. Jason teaches 250 kids each year, one trimester of performing arts (theater primarily) each year for two years. He also directs the drama club productions and created the Maine Student Acting Competition.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Guiding the Young Padawan to Become a Jedi Music Master
The Cloud Ate My Portfolio: No More Excuses…Start a Digital Portfolio Today
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.
The Heart of Advocacy
Theatre as a Tool: Using Theatre Across the Curriculum
SLAM! Nurturing Student Leadership through Arts Advocacy
Networking within Local School Administrations to Increase Art Programming
Easy Jazz Improvisation Teaching Techniques for Nervous Beginners
“Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story?”
Arts Integration
Teaching Hamilton in the Classroom
Writing Across the Curriculum in a Performing Arts Classroom
Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing: Care and Feeding Teaching Artists as part of a Long Term Education Plan
Next Step Rubric Makes Learning More Progressive
Looking in the Mirror: The Importance of Student Self-Reflection
Using Multiple Intelligences to Teach Students with Disabilities
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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. 
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Drawing on the artistic genius of many collaborators, the company guides adventurous audiences on journeys where, in the words of one reviewer, “layers of reality vs. abstraction, of reality vs. performance, of perception itself, are gently explored.”
The company has toured all over the world – from Sofia, Bulgaria to Tokyo, Japan, to Lima, Peru. Besides performing at venues such as the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian Institution, and the New Victory Theatre on Broadway, the company retains a strong commitment to teaching and performing throughout its home state of Maine.
me arts ed 