Pedagogy changes constantly. When I was a 5th-6th grade classroom teacher for a few years (15 years ago), the writing pedagogy sweeping through schools was characterized by 6 traits (content, voice, organization, word choice, fluency & conventions). I was trained in teaching the traits & scoring writing samples using rubrics built on them. Nowadays, however, […]
Entries Tagged as 'choreography'
Translating Writers Workshop
August 31st, 2009 · Comments Off · Uncategorized
Tags:choreography·curriculum integration·getting started·obstacles·PD·teaching·thinking skills
SYTYCD: so you thought you could disregard…
July 24th, 2009 · 3 Comments · Uncategorized
disregard vb. 1. to give little or no attention to; ignore. 2. to treat as unworthy of consideration or respect. So You Think You Can Dance has been going on for 5 years now, but I’ve only just hopped on the bandwagon. Despite having seen it once or twice a couple years ago — and […]
Performance: Kids & costumes & sound, oh my!
June 7th, 2009 · 6 Comments · Uncategorized
The silence resounding on this blog since the last entry reflects in reverse the noisy mantra that took over my brain and all spare moments of my life the past few weeks, accelerating toward and recovering from performance. Like the shrill chant of “lions & tigers & bears” in The Wizard of Oz, the details […]
Tags:chaos·choreography·curriculum integration·intermediate·logistics·management·obstacles·performance·primary
Performance: Learning x 325
May 12th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Uncategorized
Busy time of year… building toward the final performance. We’ve had small performances throughout the year — one class at a time, showing something at the end of a unit. And we meant to have a performance last December, but it was stormed out. So the excitement is bubbling now. Each day, students ask me, […]
Tags:achievement gap·choreography·curriculum integration·intermediate·logistics·performance·primary·teaching
Classroom management: space vs. energy
April 16th, 2009 · Comments Off · Uncategorized
Spring break may still be on my mind, but it ends quickly. Immediately following spring break, we start choreographing dances for the End-of-Year Performance. The assessments I did before spring break fulfill State requirements and provide data for evaluation of my own performance. But the End-of-Year Performance is for parents, the staff, and especially the […]
Tags:behavior·chaos·choreography·curriculum integration·getting started·management·obstacles·performance·primary·students·teaching
Assessing dance while unleashing creative chaos
March 16th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Uncategorized
Anyone happening into my classroom this week might think, or yell, “What’s going on here?!” Get the creative juices bubbling in 28 children, and you’re gonna have some moments of chaos… Students in intermediate classes just now are completing Classroom-Based Assessments in Theatre & Dance, which call for the choreography of solos. As quiet and […]
ArtsTime All the Time
March 3rd, 2009 · 2 Comments · Uncategorized
If you live at the intersection of art and education, somewhere in Washington State, consider finding your way to Tukwila on March 20 & 21. Perhaps Tukwila’s not where you thought to go for a refreshing break, but it’s the site of ArtsTime, a biennial professional development conference with an extensive menu of workshops in […]
Tags:assessment·choreography·curriculum integration·PD·standards·teaching
The dance cliché — tiresome? or useful?
January 29th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Uncategorized
It depends upon who’s using it. This dance is a cliché, with verbal descriptions and video examples, tickled my brain. Clearly, dance clichés aren’t any choreographer’s goal — confirmed by the number of videos in the discussion which have been disabled (presumably because it’s not a forum in which anyone would want to find their […]
And the winners are…
December 2nd, 2008 · 2 Comments · Uncategorized
Check out the contest winners for Dance Your PhD… I’m so glad there are scientists who wanted to dance their theses. I wish the choreography was on the same level as the science probably is. But that would take… more dance education, wouldn’t it?!
Tags:choreography·curriculum integration·higher ed·performance
Lesson Plan: Using Focus in a Narrative Dance
November 16th, 2008 · Comments Off · Lesson Plans
Grade Levels: 1-5 Enduring Understanding: Narrative dance tells a story. The use of focus supports a story. Target: Choreograph narrative dances. Assessment criteria: Students’ dance shows a story, including a beginning, middle, and end. Target: Use focus to help tell the story. Assessment criteria: Students use focus in showing the story. Context: Students already completed […]
Tags:choreography·curriculum·focus·lesson plans·performance·reading·teaching