Does it mean we're...
- using math flashcards? NO.
- able to lead a short, reflective discussion on the gravitational pull of the moon? YES.
- having our students write essays? NO.
- using a language-rich environment? YES.
- skip-counting equipment? YES.
- singing songs about the organs of the body because the science teacher asked us to? NO.
Authentic support is tricky. It's....the art of teaching. Often times, the specials teachers find ourselves attending professional development sessions that are outside of our content areas. Does it make us better at pulling in the content of other core content subjects? No. Does it have the potential? Yes. It all depends on the teacher who is sitting in the professional development and how they're able to synthesize the information and apply it to their speciality area (again, the art of teaching).
I recently returned from a trip to San Antonio, TX for our annual Texas Music Educator's Association conference. It's 3 days of intense professional development presented in ways that speaks to how our worlds exist every single day. There are ginormous ballrooms packed with 1,000 chairs, and three 6' tables. Yes, that's right. Only three tables.
Can you imagine a math, science, or language arts professional development that has only three tables for 1,000 people? Do you understand how suffocating it can be to sit in a professional development where it's a constant "sit and get?" I think you can, because you can imagine how our students feel when they are restricted to only their desk and chair area.
I digress. That's an entirely different TED talk.
There are only 3 tables for 1,000 people because we use the chairs as the place to drop our bags of snacks, session handouts, sweaters, and water bottles. We don't even sit in the chairs! We gather in the big open space, move through the spaces with creative movement, group into instrument players, strum ukuleles, become body percussionists, develop the ability to fly while standing on the ground, and we sit on the carpet.
We.
Sit.
On.
The.
Carpet.
One of my favorite ways to tell if you're looking at a band/choir/orchestra/elementary division attendee is to look at their clothes. If they can get up and down off of the ground, they're elementary. If they're wearing anything else, they're not elementary. I've never attending a band/choir/orchestra division professional development session at this conference (and they have a BUNCH of sessions from which to choose!), but that's because I always have such a jam-packed schedule from the elementary sessions. I just can't even begin to tell you how awesome this conference is for the elementary music teachers who attend. Top notch stuff.
Here are my main takeaways from #tmea2017 :
1. Build elementary movement vocabulary by verbalizing HOW something moves before you actually move.
I was slapping myself in the face when the presenter said this! OF COURSE we should talk about HOW something moves before we actually move! What a wonderful way to help build rich, authentic, level 2 movement vocabulary!
2. Use a non-verbal tone to bring the class back into focus when they've been in collaboration with each other.
I do this, but it was very nice to have someone else tell me that it's the cool thing to do.
3. Entertainment happens within what we already know. Art happens outside of what we already know.
This was an answer to the question of "How are entertainment and art different?" I thought it was an incredible answer, and very inspiring to the "teaching artists" part of my brain.
4. We are the agents of artistic experience. We draw out students out of what they are and what they know.
Yes, yes, YES! Agents get people their dreams based on the hard work the people have done to get there. Agents open the door. Yes, agents usually make a high commission.
But not all payoffs can be measured with money as the currency.
5. Every child must feel like an asset. Radical inclusion.
Um, YES.
6. The greatest determinant of arts education is the motivation of the learner; second most is the social context--a safe environment.
Let's meet the basic needs of our kids and NEVER stop there. Let's keep meeting the needs of our learners until, until....always. Let's ALWAYS meet the needs of our learners. Their needs keep moving the bar? Okay, Teacher. Move with it or get left behind.
7. The teacher can be ordinary. The STUDENTS are the creative energy. The experience becomes unparalleled.
Yes! The smartest person in the room is the room. EACH AND EVERY DAY.
8. Strap your cello into your side car and connect kids with music.
Be willing to strap your materials in the side car of a motorcycle to deliver quality instruction and experience to learners. Take the risk that the sidecar won't be big enough, or that you won't have enough gas, or that it's the middle of the night when you're making the material move. But, whatever you do, make sure the learner is supplied.
9. 80% of what we teach is who we are. It comes from who we are in the room with our learners. Identify success, invite growth, develop joy.
I want to take part of this takeaway and focus on it next year in my Stout Nation blogs. This year, I'm working on two posts per month: one is about the vision of our school, and the other is about what's going on in my corner of the teaching world. I'd love to take the formula "Identify success, invite growth, develop joy" and think on that in 2017-2018.
Be good to each other.
Virginia