It’s been 12 weeks since school started, and the dust is just beginning to settle. The term “ratchet up” came to me this last week, as associated with pressure. Such is the climate in education of late, midst educational reform, standardized testing, furlough days, and cries for teacher accountability. I’m wondering when — if — […]
Entries Tagged as 'logistics'
“Meeting performance standards at this time, with steady progress”
November 20th, 2011 · 2 Comments · Uncategorized
Dance is to report card criteria as…
July 9th, 2011 · 1 Comment · Uncategorized
Colors are to numbers Dreams are to budgets Flow is to schedule… Such are possible analogies to highlight how jarring the idea of grades can be to dance specialists focused on inspiration, creativity & collaboration! My district, Seattle, recently decided to revise the reporting of the arts on the elementary report card. Previously, what’s been […]
Tags:assessment·logistics·standards·teaching·thinking skills
A great resource: Bad Wolf Press
June 27th, 2011 · 3 Comments · resources
It’s great to find a resource that really helps! Every March I have to start pulling together 6 or 7 dances for an end-of-year performance. Every school has its own schedule and rhythm for performance — based on student demographics, the focus of the school, the parent population, logistics, and money — so I operate […]
Tags:achievement gap·curriculum integration·logistics·performance
Pipe dream: integrating dance & the compass rose!
August 4th, 2010 · Comments Off · Uncategorized
Whoa! This, via Corey Mahoney, is cool. The kids would love it! Let’s see… …it’d be most appropriate for the 4th & 5th graders… but the boys probably won’t dig the skirt idea too much, so I need a boy-version of swishy clothing, hopefully with one-size-fits-all for both boys & girls. Then I’ll need 32 […]
The logistics of low-key
December 16th, 2009 · 6 Comments · Uncategorized
Last year’s winter performance, scheduled for just about now, with a performance in the afternoon for the kids and another in the evening for families, was snow- and ice-stormed out. So this year, we decided on a low-key performance: Audience: the kids Performers: instrumental musicians & anyone who wants to contribute. This afternoon. Low-key, but […]
Tags:logistics·performance·teaching
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
Arts Worrier: teaching theatre & music for dancers
February 8th, 2009 · Comments Off · Uncategorized
A number of years ago, when I first started teaching as a certificated dance educator, I heard someone (I don’t know who it was) say, “Every school needs an arts worrier.” That’s someone who worries about ensuring that the kids get a well-rounded exposure to the 4 arts disciplines. Someone who thinks about offering comprehensive, […]
Tags:assessment·curriculum·curriculum integration·logistics·music·percussion·schedule·teaching·theatre
Conversations with India
January 24th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Uncategorized
My list of reflect-and-blog-about topics is growing, even as I reflect and blog not at all. Spare time and energy has been spent in conversations with India about my computer. The short story: 1. I moved to a laptop & iTunes sound system two years ago and love it. 2. Don’t buy a Dell computer! […]
First week of school: managing dancers
September 7th, 2008 · Comments Off · Uncategorized
Whew! and this was only a three-day week. We started Wednesday, and by Friday, we’d covered enough logistics (fire drills, emergency drills, shoe drills, bandaid, bathroom, and tissue drills) to dance! What a relief. 5th graders — “The Hustle” went over big, providing a quick application for concepts — self and general space and direction […]
Tags:getting started·kindergarten·logistics·students·The Hustle