Teaching Artist Professional Development

MAC offers workshop June 22

Teaching Artists Brian Evans-Jones, Karen Brooks, Tim Christensen, and Dana Legawiec

PreK-12 Teaching Artist Professional Development Workshop

The Maine Arts Commission (MAC) invites Teaching Artists to a one day professional development opportunity on Friday, June 22, 2018, 8:45 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. The workshop will take place at Viles Mansion/Governor Samuel Cony House, 71 Stone Street, Augusta. The cost is $25.00 and the workshop is limited to 20. REGISTRATION is available.

Whether you are a veteran teaching artist looking to build on your practices and expand your reach in the PK through grade 12 environment, or a new teaching artist looking to be included on the Teaching Artist Roster and start working in the schools or community arts programs – this workshop is for you!

PURPOSE

Teaching Artists Tim Christensen, Tom Luther, Brian Evans-Jones

The workshop is focused on the role and benefits of a teaching artist. We will address how to structure and market a residency as well as tips for communicating and collaborating with educators (including teachers and administrators), and community arts representatives.

OUTCOMES

• Information on applying your expertise as an artist to the structuring of your lessons and residencies.
• Hands-on experience in relating the learning standards and assessments to your work.
• Participation in sessions that are planned to fit your needs as a teaching artist.
• Promoting yourself and your work as a teaching artist.

WORKSHOP FACILITATORS

• Argy Nestor – Director of Arts Education, Maine Arts Commission
• Brian Evans-Jones – Poet and Creative Writing Teacher and Maine Arts Leadership Initiative (MALI) Teaching Artist Leader
• John Morris – Teaching Artist/Dance Educator, member of MALI Design Team
• Kate Smith – Pre-K-3 Music Educator Central Elementary School, So. Berwick, member of MALI Design Team
• Kris Bisson – Grades 6-8 Music Educator Marshwood Middle School, MALI Teacher Leader

John Morris

Learn more about the MAC Teaching Artist programand visit the Teaching Artist roster.

5.5 teacher contact hours are available for attending all day on June 22.

NOTE: In order to apply for the MAC Teaching Artist Roster, artists are required to attend the workshop on June 22. The Commission will be accepting applications for the roster in the fall of 2018.

If you have any questions please contact Argy Nestor at argy.nestor@maine.gov.

If you need a special accommodation to fully participate in this event please contact Kathy Shaw at kathy.shaw@maine.gov by June 8.

Call for MALI Teaching Artist Leaders

Application available – Deadline Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Maine Arts Leadership Initiative, Year 8

Visual and Performing Arts Teaching Artist Leader Application

Teaching Artist Leaders, MALI Summer Institute, August 2017

Join us for a GREAT opportunity! The Maine Arts Commission invites you to be a part of    the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative (MALI). Now in its eighth year, MALI offers a unique opportunity to learn and network with teaching artists and PK through grade 12 visual and performing arts educators from across the state. MALI is looking for teaching artists interested in leading and in taking a close look at effective teaching and learning in the arts. This is an opportunity for you to participate in professional development and networking, as well as to have a voice in the direction of arts education in the state of Maine.

APPLICATION

Deadline: Wednesday, June 13, 2018

If you are selected, you will be required to attend our summer institute, July 31, August 1 and 2, 2018. We will provide sessions to help you develop your ideas and support your work. We will then ask that you take what you’ve learned and share it with other teaching artists, educators and community members in your region and beyond.

Selected Teacher Artist Leader responsibilities for the 2018-19 school year include:

• Full participation in the 3-day summer institute, July 31, August 1 and 2, 2018
• Communicate in a timely fashion by email and in a MALI phase 8 google site
• Be prepared for summer institute by completing pre-readings and responding to prompts with the MALI community
• Critical Friends Day – follow-up to the summer institute, fall 2018
• Participate in 2 meetings electronically with teaching artist leaders during 2018-19 school year
• Contribute your teaching artist leader story for the Maine Arts Education blog
• Attend a retreat to reflect on the phase 8 MALI work and plan next steps, winter 2019

Application requirements

•    Current resume
•    Letter of support
•    Paragraph of interest

MALI BACKGROUND

Teaching Artist Leaders, MALI summer institute, August 2017

Since 2011 the initiative has been building capacity by training arts educators on the “what” and “how” of teaching and learning in the arts so they can provide the leadership in Maine through professional development opportunities. Teaching artists have been included in MALI for the past four years, and the goal of training Teaching Artist Leaders is now in its third year. As the initiative enters Phase 8, MALI has grown to include 101 leaders.

MALI’s OVERALL OBJECTIVES

• Create and implement a statewide plan for teacher leadership in arts education. This includes professional development opportunities, locally, regionally and statewide, which will expand on the knowledge and skills of teachers and teaching artists to better prepare them to teach in a student-centered and proficiency-based learning environment.
• Develop and implement standards-based high quality teaching and learning statewide for Visual and Performing Arts
• Continue to build on expanding the team of arts educators and teaching artists representing all regions of Maine
• Provide workshops and other professional development opportunities for educators

APPLICATION

Call for MALI Teacher Leaders

Phase 8 leadership role

VPA Teacher Leader Search

Maine Arts Leadership Initiative (MALI) – Phase 8

The Maine Arts Commission invites you to consider applying for the role of Teacher Leader with the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative (MALI). Now in phase 8, MALI offers the opportunity to learn and network with arts educators and teaching artists from across the state. MALI is looking for PK-12 teachers interested in leading and in taking a close look at effective teaching and learning in the arts. Join us for a GREAT opportunity!

DEADLINE: Tuesday, 29 May 2018

APPLICATION

MALI Teacher Leader Winter Retreat, March 2018

MALI provides professional development and asks that you take what you’ve learned and share it with other educators in your region of Maine and beyond. Teacher Leaders are required to attend the three-day summer institute, July 31, August 1 and 2, 2018 at University of Southern Maine, Portland.

If interested, please submit a completed application by Tuesday, May 29. APPLICATION 

Selected teacher leader responsibilities for the 2018-19 school year include:

• Full participation in the 3-day summer institute, July 31, August 1 and 2, 2018
• Communicate in a timely fashion by email and in a MALI phase 8 google site
• Be prepared for summer institute by completing pre-readings and responding to prompts with the MALI community
• Critical Friends Day – follow-up to the summer institute, fall 2018
• Participate in 2 meetings electronically with teacher leaders during 2018-19 school year
• Contribute your teacher leader story for the Maine Arts Education blog
• Attend a retreat to reflect on the phase 8 MALI work and plan next steps, winter 2019

Maine Arts Leadership Initiative Background Information

Overall Description

MALI Mission: Committed to the development of Teacher Leaders to ensure deep understanding and meaningful implementation of high quality teaching, learning and assessment in the Arts for all students.

Since 2011 the initiative has been building capacity by training arts educators on the “what” and “how” of teaching and learning in the arts so they can provide the leadership in Maine through professional development opportunities. MALI DETAILS.

MAAI Summer Retreat, phase 1, MECA

MALI’s OVERALL OBJECTIVES

• Create and implement a statewide plan for teacher leadership in arts education. This includes professional development opportunities, locally, regionally and statewide, which will expand on the knowledge and skills of teachers to better prepare them to teach in a student-centered and proficiency-based learning environment.
• Develop and implement standards-based high quality teaching and learning statewide for Visual and Performing Arts
• Continue to build on expanding the team of arts educators and teaching artists representing all regions of Maine
• Provide workshops and other professional development opportunities for educators

HISTORY – Phases I through VIII – Summer 2011 to present

• Ninety three PK-12 teacher leaders and eight teaching artists leaders attended summer institutes on assessment, leadership, technology, creativity, proficiency-based standards-based and student-centered teaching and learning
• Teacher leaders presented workshops at three statewide arts education conferences: USM Portland, UMaine Orono, and Point Lookout Conference Center with over 700 educators attending
• Teacher leaders facilitated about 125 regional workshops and 16 mega-regional sites across Maine
• Another Arts Educators Story series (94) on the Maine Arts Ed blog
• Arts assessment graduate courses provided by The New England Institute for Teacher Education
• Nine arts education assessment webinars for Maine educators facilitated by Rob Westerberg and Catherine Ring. Archive
• Video stories of seven teacher leaders that demonstrate a standards-based arts education classroom, Maine ARTSEducation YouTube channel
• Teacher Leader Resource Team development of items for resource bank
• Maine Arts Assessment Resources website contains a plethora of information

APPLICATION

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

• Current resume
• Letter of support
• Paragraph of interest

MALI Critical Friend Day, Point Lookout, October 2013

In the near future we will put a call out for Teaching Artist Leaders! If you have questions please contact Argy Nestor, Maine Arts Commission, Director of Arts Education at argy.nestor@maine.gov.

 

MALI Teacher Leader Story: Hope Lord

Visual Art Educator

This is one of several blog posts in 2018 that include stories of the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative (MALI) Phase 7 Teacher Leaders and Teaching Artist Leaders. This series includes a set of questions so you can learn a little bit about each leader. CLICK HERE  for more information on MALI. CLICK HERE  for more information on the 93 Teacher Leaders and 8 Teaching Artist Leaders. CLICK HERE  for Arts education resources. CLICK HERE  for the MALI Resource Bank. Search in the “search archives” box on the bottom right side of this post for past teacher leader stories. Thank you Hope for sharing your story!

Hope Lord has been the Art & Design teacher for 300 grades 6 through 8 students at Maranacook Community School for the last 7 years. She also teaches and inspires 16 gifted and talented art students and is the co-advisor for the school’s yearbook. Prior to that Hope taught in RSU #38 for 19 years, 12 as a special education teacher.

What do you like best about being an art educator?

It’s wonderful when I see my students make connections between art & other content areas. I love watching my students take risks in their art and grow as artists. I enjoy being surrounded by young artists and presenting them with opportunities to explore, develop, challenge, and create art. The best part of being an art educator is witnessing a student’s success, as they become and see themselves as artists.

What do you believe are three keys to ANY successful visual and performing arts education?

Three keys to a successful visual arts education program are creativity, perseverance, and collaboration.

1. First of all, creativity is important because an arts educator is always looking for creative inspiration for new lessons and challenging their students to innovate and take creative risks in their artwork. Art educators also have to be creative in obtaining the resources they need for their art classrooms and for adapting materials and lessons to challenge and meet the needs of all their students.
2. Perseverance is also key to successful arts education. The process of creating art requires the artist to experiment, revise, and rework their art numerous times. Students need to learn perseverance because students often experience failed attempts in communicating their message or executing their design. By encouraging students and supporting them through the revision process, students learn to persevere and develop a life-long skill. Perseverance not only helps students become artists, it also helps them work through any difficult task they face in school and future careers.
3. The final key to a successful arts program is collaboration. Seeking and receiving feedback and collaboration is crucial in planning, developing, and creating artwork. When students collaborate they gain insight and new perspectives that they wouldn’t if working in isolation. Collaboration also challenges and inspires an art educator. Collaborating with other educators and community members enriches an art program, providing greater resources and connections that working alone cannot. Collaboration teaches vital 21st century skills that prepare students for life.

How have you found assessment to be helpful to you in your classroom?      

Quality assessment helps me understand how a student is learning and the degree to which they comprehend a concept. It also helps me plan my instruction based on concepts students need more instruction or may have misunderstandings and need clarification. Assessment also provides students feedback on their learning and how they can improve their work. 

What have been the benefits in becoming involved in the Maine Arts Leadership initiative?

MALI has provided me the support, encouragement, and skills I needed to become an arts leader in my school, district, and state. I have the confidence to take creative risks in my teaching. My teaching has improved because of those risks and the collaboration with teachers throughout my district. My professional growth has enabled me to become an arts education leader and mentor to new teachers in my district. Additionally, I have the confidence to share my teaching experiences with other art teachers and receiving constructive feedback. MALI has been a great inspiration. 

What are you most proud of in your career?

I am most proud of the work I’ve done with some of my most challenging students. I love seeing these students grow creatively and find success in art, when they have not been successful in other content areas. As I watch their art confidence grow, I also see their self-esteem improve, and it warms my heart. I know the extra investment and encouragement these students need, is well worth the effort. Every student needs to feel they are good at something. I am proud that I have been able to assist students in finding success in art and also building their self-esteem.

What gets in the way of being a better teacher or doing a better job as a teacher?

The day to day politics of education interfere with being a great teacher. The increasing demands of our time and ever changing policies, hinders educators. The lack of support & funding for the arts from administrators, school boards, community, and legislators, all interfere with being a great teacher.

What have you accomplished through hard work and determination that might otherwise appear at first glance to be due to “luck” or circumstances?

I have spent the last seven years developing an arts curriculum that is engaging and fosters creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication, while connecting the arts to other content areas. It is hard work and requires continuous revisions and alterations, as I teach each group of students. When a well planned and integrated art unit is executed, it seems effortless. However, it requires numerous hours of planning, research, collaboration, and support.

Look into your crystal ball: what advice would you give to teachers?

I would tell them to trust their instincts and take risks. Share your ideas with colleagues and get feedback and support to act on those ideas. Reach out to your community and colleagues throughout the state for resources and support to bring your ideas to fruition.

If you were given a $500,000.00 to do with whatever you please, what would it be?

Making drums at the MALI Summer Institute, August 2018

I would take some of the money to build a new art and design studio and gallery at my school. I would also establish a grant that would be available to art teachers to help fund art materials and equipment, field trips, and artists in residence programs throughout Maine.

Imagine you are 94 years old. You’re looking back. Do you have any regrets?

My only regret would be that I didn’t start my teaching career as an Art Educator. Even though I enjoyed the challenges and successes of a Special Education teacher, I wish I would have taught Visual Arts from the beginning. I would still have had the opportunities of teaching students with special needs, but through the arts lens. Teaching art and mentoring young artists has been very rewarding and my only regret is I didn’t start sooner.

MALI Teacher Leader Story: Laura Manchester

Visual Art Educator

This is one of several blog posts in 2018 that include stories of the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative (MALI) Phase 7 Teacher Leaders and Teaching Artist Leaders. This series includes a set of questions so you can learn a little bit about each leader. CLICK HERE  for more information on MALI. CLICK HERE  for more information on the 93 Teacher Leaders and 8 Teaching Artist Leaders.  CLICK HERE  for Arts education resources. CLICK HERE  for the MALI Resource Bank. Search in the “search archives” box on the bottom right side of this post for past teacher leader stories.  Thank you Laura for sharing your story!

Laura Manchester teaches visual art at Montello Elementary School in Lewiston. She has been teaching the entire school population of just over 750 children, 32 classes a week for 7 years. Laura also teaches the after school art club, 4 days a week for an hour. Each session runs for 6 weeks which includes a rotation of 15 students from grades 1-2 and 15 students from grades 3-6.

What do you like best about being an art educator?

The best part of my job is when teachers bring their classes back to me in a week and tell me that their students made connections between what they’ve learned in my room and what they’ve been learning in their general classrooms. Seeing that art is influential and valid throughout a student’s day is integral to keeping art alive and relevant. It’s very rewarding when the kids can make their own connections, independently.

What do you believe are three keys to ANY successful visual and performing arts education?

1. Relevance. Keeping what students learn relevant to their world keeps them engaged and excited. It’s natural to want to know WHY you are learning something or how it connects to you.
2. Consistency in routine. When students know where things are and what to expect, they can focus their energy on learning new things. This doesn’t have to be boring. By having clear, positive expectations you allow students to “own” their experiences and be more adventurous when learning new ideas and processes in the art room.
3. Get excited. If you’re excited about what you’re teaching, the students will be as well.

How have you found assessment to be helpful to you in your classroom?

Assessment helps me to check what students know and need to learn. By using a variety of summative and formative assessments throughout the year, I can see how close students are to meeting specific overarching curriculum goals and where they need practice or support. I use a lot of student self-assessments to help kids make connections between lessons and curriculum goals.

What have been the benefits in becoming involved in the Maine Arts Leadership initiative?

As the only visual arts teacher in such a large school, it has been difficult to get connected with other arts teachers. By joining MALI, I’ve opened so many more opportunities to collaborate and celebrate my craft. MALI inspired me to try new things in the classroom, refreshed my approach to assessment and overall given me the chance to approach this school year with my best foot forward.

What are you most proud of in your career?

I am most proud of the connections I have made with the school’s community during my time here in my current teaching position. Attendance in after school events is quite low at our school- with only 4 parents participating in our parent-teacher organization and typically less than 50 attendees at any given event. Several years ago I joined our parent-teacher organization and have consistently made calls and had conferences with parents to engage them in what their child is doing in my classroom. I think it is because of this, and because of the genuine interest and excitement that art can bring to people that our annual art show is the best attended event of the year. As I mentioned earlier, many events are not well attended after school. The art show has consistently brought in over 500 attendees for the last 6 years. Those numbers alone are something to brag about- let alone the enthusiasm that parents have when they see the incredible work their children have done. While my work here is exhausting, the connections and results of those connections with families are priceless.

What gets in the way of being a better teacher or doing a better job as a teacher?

Laura works with Jen Nash at the MALI summer institute, August 2017

The number one challenge for me is that our school simply does not have enough arts staff to appropriately accommodate its high volume of students. My schedule is packed at 32 classes a week, some of those classes having students from multiple classrooms crammed in for a single 40 minute block. With this tight schedule, I have limited planning time at school- which is never used for planning but usually a time to catch up on grading, hanging artwork, providing additional time for students to finish their work, etc. This schedule is so exhausting that it truly inhibits what I can do outside of school to continue my own education or continue as an artist. I rarely have time to plan additional fun activities and because of limited staffing elsewhere in the building, I am very limited in the amount of professional development time I can take.

What have you accomplished through hard work and determination that might otherwise appear at first glance to be due to “luck” or circumstances?

In my classroom students are absolutely a joy. I run a tight ship with a lot of student responsibility with materials and procedures. Although many might say it is because I teach a fun subject that students are so responsible and receptive, I believe that it is just as much (if not more) due to the idea that I set high expectations for students and reinforce positive behaviors. Allowing students to “own” the room by providing access to material shelves and student-led responsibilities as well as facilitating student choice is imperative to giving kids a chance at finding a sense of self in a classroom that they only get to visit for 40 minutes, once a week.

Look into your crystal ball: what advice would you give to teachers?

Take the time to reflect on what is truly important about your role in your students’ lives. Messes can be cleaned up, rough days come to an end and eventually all that’s left is the impact of the experiences you gave and allowed to happen while you were there teaching. If nothing else, be able to say that you were kind and allowed something special to happen while you were together.

If you were given $500,000.00 to do with whatever you please, what would it be?

If I was given $500,000.00, I would pay off my student loans and then buy a few groceries. Haha! Just kidding… I would invest in an unused building- probably one with some cool history to it- and design the interior to accommodate a bunch of arts-based classrooms and studios. There would be a gallery and performance space on the main floor. I would run the building to have classes throughout the year for students of all ages to explore and experience different art forms. Classes would be facilitated by local artists, musicians who would teach their craft to the public in exchange for having a free space to showcase their personal works. There would be some sort of annual fundraiser that would help sustain funds to keep the project running and progressing. Oh, the possibilities!!

Imagine you are 94 years old. You’re looking back. Do you have any regrets?

Most definitely: If I live to be 94 years old, I’ll regret not having dessert every day. That’s a lot of wasted ice cream and cake.

MALI Mega Oxford Hills

Fabulous learning opportunity

Over 70 PK-12 arts educators and Teaching Artists traveled to Oxford Hills High School in late March to attend the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative conference. The workshops varied greatly and participants had the opportunity to attend three during the day.

Thank you to the Oxford Hills visual and performing arts staff and administrators for providing the space for the conference. One week before the conference we learned that their workshop day turned into a teaching and learning day due to the many snow days. We are grateful that they were still able to make it happen.

Kris Bisson, Kate Smith, Brian Evans-Jones

A huge THANK YOU to visual arts teachers Cindi Kugell and Samantha Armstrong for all of their attention to detail.

Thank you to the following who offered workshops:

• Cindi Kugell – Bookmaking 101: summative assessment never looked so good!
• Lindsay Pinchbeck – The Arts and Emotional Intelligence
• Dorie Tripp – Flexible Grouping Strategies for the General Music Classroom
• Catherine Anderson – Tableaus of Courage: How to Help Students Engage with Complex Content through Theater
• Samantha Armstrong – Stars and Stairs
• Phil Hammett – Creativity
• Tom Luther – Improvisation Crusader: Improvisation as an Essential Musical Skill
• Nancy Harris Frohlich – Inspiring Environmental Stewardship Through Visual Arts
• Lori Spruce and Tim Christensen – Integrating Curriculum: Making it Happen at the High School Level
• Mandi Mitchell – Looking in the Mirror: The Importance of Student Self-Reflection
• Brian Evans-Jones and Kris Bisson – Bridging Adolescence: A River Runs Through Us – Composing our Story
• Jenni Null and Linda McVety – All Aboard for Arts Travel, Full STEAM Ahead!
• Bronwyn Sale – Teaching Aesthetics and Criticism: Approaches to Standard D
• Andrew Harris – Creativity and Taking Back the Classroom

Amanda Huotari

In the middle of the day we had the fabulous opportunity to work with and learn from Teaching Artist Amanda Houteri from Celebration Barn Theater.

Participants during Amanda’s session

In June there will be an opportunity for teaching artists. PK-12 arts teachers and teaching artists will have an opportunity to apply to be a leader. Watch the blog and weekly email to learn more.

Dr. Katie Rybakova and Thomas College pre-service teachers

Jan Gill and Jenni Null

Kris Bisson and Brian Evans-Jones presenting

Tom Luther presenting

Mandi Mitchell

Samantha Armstrong and Linda McVety

Teaching artists Tim Christensen, Tom Luther, and Brian Evans-Jones

New England Institute Courses

Encountering the Arts, Music assessment, G/T 

• Encountering the Arts: Choice, Voice and Creativity, (hybrid) taught by Lindsay Pinchbeck – April 7 to June 9, 4.5 CEUs
• Assessment in the Music Classroom, (online) taught by music educator, Jake Sturtevant – April 2 to June 11, 4.5 CEUs
• Educating Gifted & Talented Learners, (online) taught by Grace Jacobs – April 2 to June 18, 4.5 CEUs

Encountering the Arts: Choice, Voice and Creativity – April 7 to June 9

You can join Lindsay Pinchbeck, MALI Design Team member, in her very own school, Sweetland School in Hope, and learn some wonderful strategies to incorporate into your classroom right away. Sweetland School is s a project based elementary program inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach. Drama, Movement, Music, Poetry, Storytelling, and Visual Arts will be integrated across content areas: Math, Science, Social Studies, Reading and Writing.

Work with colleagues, build relationships, and ask questions of the professor, in person, for two Saturdays and have the convenience of doing the rest of the coursework online. Encountering the Arts: Choice, Voice and Creativity is one such hybrid course.

Assessment in the Music Classroom – April 2 to June 11

This online course taught by music educator and MALI Design Team member Jake Sturtevant provides looking closely at assessment practices through a collaborative and fine-tuned lens. It can provide unique opportunities for growth. Connecting new assessment practices to instruction can bring exciting changes to how we approach our students and their learning.

Participants will discuss how best to apply recent music assessment work to their own unique situations in their own school music programs. This will lead them to create a personalized plan for implementing new strategies. Assessment in the Music Classroom will provide a great opportunity to look closely at assessment practices.

Educating Gifted & Talented Learners

This introductory course provides foundational information relating to the field of gifted and talented education (i.e. history, laws, etc.), details characteristics of gifted students from various populations, describes how such students are identified and assessed, and presents up-to-date, research-based pedagogy relating to curriculum design and instruction.

It may be applied toward the 690 (Gifted & Talented) endorsement for the State of Maine teachers. Join Grace Jacobs for this Educating Gifted & Talented Learners online course.

If you have questions contact Catherine Ring, Executive Director, New England Institute for Teacher Education.