I am an 8th grade ELA teacher at PS/MS 95 and a member of the ALT. For the past three years, I have been fortunate to partner with DreamYard teaching artists. This year I am partnered with Asma Feyijinmi, a dancer and teaching artist. We have been working together this year to help our students understand the connections between narrative elements in dance and the written word.
One ALT initiative that is underway at 95 is planning and preparation for our upcoming professional development. Currently, there are 15 arts partnerships at 95 and several teachers without partnerships who want to more actively integrate the arts into their curriculum. On March 25th, we will hold a PD for teachers paired with teaching artists and their unpaired “buddies.” One goal for the “bring-a-buddy” PD is to encourage more inter-grade and cross-curricular sharing. We want to explore how sample arts activities can be applied in a multitude of settings. How can one art activity be successfully brought into a literacy classroom OR a science classroom, an eighth grade classroom OR a first grade classroom?
In the past, it has been challenging to attract non-DY affiliated teachers to PDs, so we’re hoping our bring-a-buddy strategy will jump-start involvement by teachers who may not have attended otherwise.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Asma // Mar 15, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Hi Monica…It has been a kismet experience working with you because of your passion for the arts… because you see, I also know like me you share a commitment to empowering the young people that we work with to deal with issues of social justice as well. But that all begins with them asking questions and making comparisons with what they learn in class and the world around them…as well as linking their daily academic classes with real life situations too.
2 Maile // Mar 20, 2008 at 2:47 pm
I agree with Asma… Asking thoughtful questions and having students make comparison are very important to their learning process.
It’s been really great working with your ALT and seeing how everyone has taken this idea of inquiry through art and create a professional development workshop in which this idea can be shared with other teachers in your school in a way where they can also incorporate the arts into their curriculum.
3 Phil // Mar 25, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Please tell how well the PD worked, and if the “Bring a Buddy” strategy worked. I bet there are other partnerships who might use this method if they think it’s worthwhile.
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