Teaching Through The Arts

My good friend, Lesley University professor and movement educator Doug Victor sent me this letter after we had traded numerous emails regarding integrating the arts in education. In it he asks everyone who is so moved to contact President Obama and remind him of the importance of the arts in education. So, I'm posting it here in hopes that some of you who read it will feel compelled to contact the President. Hi, Everyone, Hope this finds you all well and inspired in your lives and your teaching. I am writing to ask you to consider giving our newly inaugurated President some feedback about his plan for Educational Reform. I know how committed you all are to teaching creatively through the arts so I thought this might be the perfect opportunity to have your voice be heard in concert with other past Creative Arts and Learning Lesley students from around the country with whom I have had the joy to get to know. First make sure you watch the 2 following powerful and thought-provoking vid...

Click on the title of this post and listen to the song and watch the video by songwriter Tom Chapin called "Not on the Test" It really gets to the heart of the matter regarding the growing trend of "teaching to the test" and the return to rote education. It also serves to underscore the importance of integrating the arts into the curriculum. This is something that should be shared with policy makers, administrators, teachers, parents, and students alike. Here are the lyrics: Not On The Test by John Forster & Tom Chapin © 2008 Limousine Music Co. & The Last Music Co. (ASCAP) Go on to sleep now, third grader of mine. The test is tomorrow but you'll do just fine. It's reading and math, forget all the rest. You don't need to know what is not on the test. Each box that you mark on each test that you take, Remember your teachers, their jobs are at stake. Your score is their score, but don't get all stressed. They'd never teach anything not on ...

Everyone had a great day at our Integrated Teaching Through the Arts workshop at Barnstable High School on January 16th. Focusing on Creative Movement, Poetry, Music and Drama, the day was full of energy and engagement. Here are some reflections from the participants. Great workshop, now we are all ready to move in our classrooms. It has brought the fun back into teaching! This workshop was incredible and rejuvinating!! I've already started making a list of activities that I can do with my first graders to go along with what we are learning about now. I can't wait!!! A big THANK YOU! This workshop introduces methods that can be adapted to fit any level or subject area by providing simple yet far-reaching practices that enhance students' thinking and creativity. This workshop was very successful in addressing my interests and needs. This was one of the best workshops I've ever had. I liked how the workshop flowed from one activity to another. Sometimes we sat and then w...

Sir Ken Robinson says that Creativity is as important in education as literacy and should be treated with the same status on Ted.com. You really need to watch this and see what you think. Here's some information on him from Ted.com. Why don't we get the best out of people? Sir Ken Robinson argues that it's because we've been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. Students with restless minds and bodies -- far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity -- are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. "We are educating people out of their creativity," Robinson says. It's a message with deep resonance. Robinson's TEDTalk has been distributed widely around the Web since its release in June 2006. The most popular words framing blog posts on his talk? "Everyone should watch this." A visionary cultural leader, Sir Ken led the British government's 1998 advisory committee on creative and cultur...

Keith and Jeff will be offering an Integrated Teaching Through the Arts Workshop at Barnstable High School on January 16th, 2009. This all-day program will focus on the integration of drama, music, movement and poetry into every classroom. The goal of this workshop is to introduce teachers to an arts-based approach to learning that will engage students and energize the classroom. Participants will have the opportunity to learn strategies that they can put to use right away in their own classrooms. This workshop has filled up very quickly in the past, so all Barnstable teachers should hurry and sign up! Hope to see you there.

Donald M. Norton, M.Ed. holds a Masters degree in Creative Arts in Learning from Lesley University. Over an eight year career he has taught the third, fourth, and fifth grades, as well as English to ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders. Currently Donnie teaches fifth grade English and history at the Abigail Adams Middle School in Weymouth , Massachusetts. Having just completed directing Weymouth High School's senior class musical, he understands the profound impact the arts have on students of all age and ability levels. As a teacher, singer, actor, dancer, storyteller, poet, and father, the arts are an everyday part of Donnie's world. He has recently developed a teacher-training course called "The Blossoming Learner" that focuses on practical ways to integrate the arts into the everyday learning process. It is designed to expose educators to various arts modalities in a non-threatening way, making it possible for any teacher to immediately bring the arts into...

Everyone had a great day at our Integrated Teaching Through the Arts workshop at Barnstable High School on January 18th. Focusing on Creative Movement, Poetry, Music and Drama, the day was full of energy and engagement. Here are some reflections from the participants. I loved it! I'm excited to go to school next week and try some of the ideas that were presented. It brought me back to the most important aspect of a child's learning-the process and not necessarily the product. It gave me more insight as to how some students could learn and understand content better by using kinesthetic methods through the arts. I got so many great ideas! It was great discussing different subjects and how these ideas could tie into these subjects. I knew movement was important for children, but now I have some knowledge of how to incorporate it into any area of the curriculum. Great way of looking at some ways to pique the interest of our students and relay subject matter in a more exciting and e...