Teaching as a dance specialist in a public school can be an uneasy fit. Dance isn’t your usual content area, with various curricula to choose from and years of practice in the public schools. Even in states where dance educators have a solid foothold (of which mine isn’t one), there aren’t many of us. And […]
Entries Tagged as 'PD'
Thanks to my Professional Learning Community: you & you & you…
December 21st, 2011 · 3 Comments · Uncategorized
Tags:PD·PLC·reflection
Translating Writers Workshop
August 31st, 2009 · Comments Off · Uncategorized
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, […]
Tags:choreography·curriculum integration·getting started·obstacles·PD·teaching·thinking skills
Doing a conference: strategies
July 27th, 2009 · Comments Off · Uncategorized
I’ve been to four conferences in the past 8 or 9 years: NDEO in Providence, Rhode Island (was that 2001?); NDEO 2003 in Albequerque, New Mexico; daCi 2006 in The Hague, The Netherlands; and NDEO 2009 in New York City. That’s not often enough that I know many people when I get there, but enough […]
Tags:PD
Doing a conference
July 27th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Uncategorized
On the occasion of having recently been to New York City for the NDEO 2009 Conference Focus on Dance Education: Take a Bite of the Apple/Exploring Resources to Promote Best Practices, I recommend it — doing a professional conference — although it does take a fair amount of energy, time, trouble & money. Here are […]
Tags:curriculum·PD·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 […]
Summer thoughts
July 21st, 2009 · 3 Comments · Uncategorized
My mind’s been neither as empty as my summer classroom nor as stagnant as this blog since June 19th. Fact is, the content of my posts reflect the intersection of dance & my life, while the rhythm of my posts is equally expressive [as in, a single post in May was all that could happen […]
Tags:PD·recuperation
Gathering fresh ideas
March 24th, 2009 · Comments Off · Uncategorized
The ArtsTime Conference usurped all of last weekend, but it was worth it. I need all the new ideas I can get, cause I get tired of talking to myself! I’m in at least my 12th year of teaching kindergarten through 5th graders, five days a week, 8-9 months per year. Figuring conservatively, at 6 […]
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
Blue eyes, brown eyes
August 19th, 2008 · Comments Off · Uncategorized
Yesterday was the first day back. Not students, but professional development. Professional development has become problematic for me. As a dance educator, it’s rarely for me. If kernels of wisdom and ideas for new approaches were fish, then I drag my net through a lot of water in order to catch a few I can […]