Institute starts tomorrow!
This is an exciting week and today and tomorrow are jock full of preparing for it! As you know (if you’ve been following the blog) we have launched phase 3 of the Maine Arts Assessment Initiative (MAAI) and tomorrow is the first day of the summer institute. This is a week that I tell myself “Argy, no one ever died of lack of sleep!” since there are so many details to pay attention to. Fortunately, the MAAI leadership team is a wonderful group of educators who have guided the initiative every step of the way. It is an ongoing volunteer job that they have committed to and I want to THANK each and every one of them:
- Catherine Ring, New England Institute for Teacher Education, Executive Director
- Jeff Beaudry, USM Associate Professor, Ed Leadership
- Bronwyn Sale, Bates College, Lecturer in Education
- Bill Buzza, Edward Little High School, Music Educator
- Pamela Kinsey, Easton Schools, Music Educator
So what is the excitement all about? For starters, we have 14 new teacher leaders and 21 returning taking on leadership roles for phase 3. Thirty-five teacher leaders will be creating assessment workshops that will be based on research, practical knowledge and experience, professional development at the institute, and will be on topics that are relevant to visual or performing arts education. They will provide the workshops over the next school year at the regional, mega-regional, and statewide level. The dates for all of these workshops will be made available in the near future. How fortunate we are in Maine that 35 (52 counting all the teacher leaders from the past) visual and performing arts educators are committed to helping other arts educators. This is a HUGE commitment and I certainly appreciate their willingness to take on the leadership role! THANK YOU to the teacher leaders who represent pre-school, elementary, middle, and high school, dance, music, theatre, and visual arts, and all regions of Maine.
- Drew Albert
- Allysa Anderson
- Susan Barre
- Sasha Bladen
- Andrea Chase
- Amy Cousins
- Melanie Crowe
- Jennie Driscoll
- Jen Etter
- Judy Fricke
- Patti Gordan
- Suzanne Goulet
- Mari-Jo Hedman
- Gloria Hewett
- Lisa Ingraham
- Charlie Johnson
- Susan Jones
- Jane Kirton
- Beth Lambert
- Lisa Marin
- Jen Nash
- Jen Neal
- Jenni Null
- Brian McPherson
- Linda McVety
- Leah Olson
- Jeff Orth
- Pam Ouellette
- MaryEllen Schaper
- Ashley Smith
- Jane Snider
- Shari Tarleton
- Shannon Westphal
- Andrea Wollstadt
- Rebecca Wright
The teacher leaders and feedback from the over 800 arts educators who have participated in some way in the first two phases of the initiative have identified these focus areas for phase 3.
- Standards
- Depository
- Advocacy
- Outreach
We will hit the ground running using these Essential Questions to guide the standards segment of the work.
- What is proficiency in the arts in reference to the Maine Learning Results?
- How do teachers in the arts articulate what proficiency is?
- What does it look like at different grade levels?
- How will we do this in Maine?
This work is a direct response to preparing Maine arts educators for LD 1422 which goes into effect with the graduating class of 2018. I hope that you are having conversations around these same questions at the district level to be ready for students graduating showing proficiency of the standards. This will transition us from discussing “seat time” or “one credit in Fine Arts” to talking about what will be in place for students to “fulfill the standards and the guiding principles”?
So, as I spend today and tomorrow gathering resources, organizing groups, answering questions, packing the car, crossing items off the forever long “to do” list, I can’t help but smile! I know how fortunate I am to work in a state with outstanding arts educators and people who truly care about the quality of arts education programs. Each student benefits from the work that each teacher does! I look forward to the traditional group photo that shows the teacher leaders at the end of the institute – tired and full of new ideas ready to hit the ground running! You can look for that photo as well – posted on the blog at the end of this week!
me arts ed 