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Fine Arts Road Trip 2020: Bridging Curricula
CALL FOR PRESENTERS
Thursday, October 22-24, 2020
Lethbridge, Alberta (CASA and other locations)
Teachers, artists, and other fine arts community members throughout Alberta are invited to share their skills, experiences, and ideas with Fine Arts Council teachers at our 2020 conference. Our 2020 conference theme is Fine Arts Road Trip: Bridging Curricula, and will take place in Lethbridge, Alberta. We anticipate an attendance of in between 50 and 100 kindergarten to Grade 12 teachers who teach as specialists or integrate the fine arts.
SUBMIT A SESSION PROPOSAL HERE
Our fantastic logo was created by FAC Visual Art Rep Laura Mulvey! We invite you to save the date and look into the professional growth subsidy opportunities available to you through your local, so you're ready to apply in the fall!
For more information about the conference, please contact Andreas Berko (conference chair).
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Dear Drama Teachers,
I have been in discussion in numerous contexts recently about how we go about drama residencies in our schools. No doubt many of you could weigh in, however, I’d like to briefly mention a few considerations. Apologies in advance, I might be stating the obvious to some.
Bigger schools who employ artists regularly usually have insurance in place or have streamlined procedures to have appropriate liability coverage – which is important and in our students’ interest! I mention this because there are wonderful opportunities for enrichment by bringing in artists, but if you’re initiating something new to your school, allow plenty of time to communicate your board’s requirements. It can be prohibitive for artists to meet board protocols to hold their own individual third-party liability policies and great opportunities can be stymied by these regulations.
Does your board offer a checklist for planning onsite activities with guest artists? Please enquire and let me know! Questions which arise from the CBE regulations are a start. How does the presenter enhance or enrich the program of studies? What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the presenter? We need to go way further though by unpacking all the phases of a residency for maximum benefit to both the artist, school community AND betterment of teaching practice.
On artist residency, a student recently expressed “When mom asks me to clean my room, it has a different effect than a guest asking me to do so. Likewise, we love our teachers and they’re wonderfully trained BUT resident artists just affect us in a deeper and different way” [paraphrased]
A few companies offering residencies who I spoke to at our Calgary City Teacher’s Convention were Quest who are offering an exciting “Hijack an artist-teacher for a day” to bring that excitement for theatre into your classrooms. Trickster Theatre continue to offer their popular week-long, large scale school productions model and Rosebud also offers numerous workshops and performance opportunities in schools. Check your board’s artist roster for more ideas!
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Every year I am shocked when it gets to the end of January and I am start to panic about what kind of Artist in Residence program I want to bring into my school next year. With the April 1 deadline for applying for the AFA grant, I want to make sure I have something in place well in time.
What do Artist in Residence programs offer for schools?
I think this is a very important question that we as teachers need to be able to address. As funding for school boards is tightened, it is very easy to eliminate the "extras." How can we ensure that our arts programs and the special residencies we bring in to our schools are not considered as extras but as essentials?
Last night I was at a meeting at my sons Junior High school. The principal reminded us that options are part of the curriculum and need to be included. How that looks may change, but those programs will be there going forward. This was such a huge relief to hear. This also reminded me that all Artist in Residence programs are directly tied to the curriculum. Artist in Residence programs offer a unique opportunity to work on cross-curricular connections in ways that regular programming cannot afford. As well, Artist in Residence programs address parts of the curriculum that we may be less comfortable teaching, ensuring that students are getting the best education possible.
It is amazing to hear the vast array of residencies out there - from dance, to drama, drumming, to Indigenous celebrations, mask making, and commissioning an artist to work with a school to create a school song. There are so many possibilities to bring in an artist that will create a unique program for your school. If you need help reaching out to artists, feel free to contact me!
Kim
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As specialist reps, this month we decided that our topic of focus would be artist in residence ideas. Since we are province-wide, it's challenging to curate a list of great local artists, as my life and work are very Calgary based. This month, I'd love to hear from YOU dance teachers. We seem to be a very quiet group, is that because there aren't many of us in Alberta? Is that because we are such a busy bunch? Is that because you already have a great support network of fellow dance educators?
I want to hear what you are doing in your dance classroom! Who do you have coming in as guest instructors? What AMAZING local shows are you seeing? What are you looking for from this mail out each month? Send in your thoughts, frustrations, dreams, inspirations, stories, for me to read.
Let me know if I can share, so that we can celebrate what is happening in dance education around Alberta. Submit to faccdance@gmail.com.
Stacy Kelba
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I am looking forward to March, some warmer weather and Saint Patrick’s Day. Those sneaky little leprechauns create so much mischief and fun in the classroom. Here are some Irish inspired activities to use in your classrooms.
The song “ Frosty Weather” is a great tie in to the science curriculum. I did this one with my Grade 2 students before Christmas. We brainstormed other types of weather. As a class we came up with more verses (i.e., “Sunny weather, warm weather”) and they even came up with their movements to go with those verses. The students loved it. You could even have them write their own verses down on paper.
My students love to get up and move and there are so many great ways to get them moving with Irish Music. From playing Irish lullabies during mindfulness while they relax on the ground to doing an Irish “freeze dance” (when the music is on you can dance and when it stops you freeze). There are also several different tutorials for Irish Dancing on the YouTube Channel “Easy Irish Dance”. You can use these videos to learn some moves on your own or try them with the students.
Finally, here are some great books to sing to your students (or have them sing with you) during the Month of March.
“The Itsy Bitsy Leprechaun” by: Jeffrey Burton
“The Night Before St. Patrick’s Day” by: Natasha Wing
“There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Clover” by: Lucille Colandro
Meagan De Jong
Music Teacher, Annie Foote School
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Tips from Visual Art Reprsentative, Laura Mulvey
Alberta Student Art Festival - October 2020 - Lethbridge!
The FAC will be hosting a juried Student Art Festival during our Fine Arts Conference in October 2020. Students from grades 7-12 will be able to enter their art work in a variety of categories which have been designed with curricular outcomes in mind. Each category will be critiqued by working artists, allowing students to be exposed to and benefit from their experience in order help these young creatives better their practice.
We are also opening a new category for teachers. This will allow our talented educators to exhibit and share their best practices with their peers.
More details to come.
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Help Develop PD in the Calgary Area
New members needed for Calgary Regional Fine Arts Council (CARFAC). Develop professional development and social opportunities for Fine Arts Council members in and around your city.
Please contact Dawn Marshall if interested.
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Events in Alberta
The following events may be of interest to Alberta fine arts teachers, but are not organized by the Fine Arts Council of the Alberta Teachers' Association.
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Carl Orff Canada Vision 2020 Conference
The early bird deadline for the Carl Orff Canada's Vision 2020 conference in Edmonton April 16-19, 2020 March 1. Visit their website to apply.
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EPSB Arts Education Update
The Arts Education Update is a monthly document created to share news, events and opportunities with District arts education teachers. This document has been created to help keep you up-to-date with events and opportunities. Items are often added throughout the month, so feel free to re-visit the Update, as it is kept up-to-date.
February 2020 Arts Education Update
Please note that the table of contents is hyperlinked - feel free to click on the area(s) that is pertinent to you in order to help you navigate the document.
Stay warm,
Jorgianne and Tracy Tracy Stener
Consultants, Curriculum and Resource Support
Edmonton Public Schools
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UNESCO International Arts Education Week
The CSEA/SCÉA (Canadian Society for Education through Art) is are calling for student and teacher artworks in Celebrating 2020 UNESCO International Arts Education Week. This event is endorsed by the International Society for Education through Art (InSEA); therefore, artworks submitted to CSEA/SCÉA will also be exhibited at InSEA social media platforms!
All the participating teachers and artists will receive a PDF participation certificate via email after the event.
For more information, please see this link or contact Dr. Hsiao-Cheng (Sandrine) Han.
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