Table of Contents for Art of Learning Notes After Conference
link to Initial Announcement
link to DOs and link to DON'Ts for Artists
and Teachers
link to Table Discussion - Grant Writing
link to Report AFTER Conference
link to Sample Participant Comments
Accessible Arts has joined forces with Kansas Alliance for Arts Education, Kansas State Department of Education and Storytellers, Inc. to create and provide professional development workshop entitled The Art of Learning for artists and educators. This interactive three-day workshop will give artists the tools to work in the schools and schools the tools to work with artists. The Art of Learning workshop is scheduled for June 26-28 at Wichita State University, Wichita, KS.
The workshop is designed to benefit classroom teachers, artists, school arts specialists, students and community youth program providers. All workshop participants will work together to develop strategies for planning, implementing, and sustaining programs that teach about the arts and their relationship to other areas of knowledge and skill. Specific workshop topics include: In the Beginning—the Artist’s Perspective, In the Beginning—the Educator’s Perspective, Making Curriculum Connections, Proactive Marketing, Resources for Learning, Funding Partnerships, Learning Styles, Youth at Risk, Children with Disabilities, and Practical Concerns; Nuts & Bolts Planning.
The cost to attend The Art of Learning 3-day workshop is $50 per person for individual registration or $25 per person for local teams of two or more. The workshop fee includes three days of training, breakfasts, lunches and all training materials. Graduate credit is available to participants for an additional fee. This project was funded by the Kansas Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. This project was also made possible in part through funding provided by the central office of VSA arts, under an award from the U.S. Department of Education. Please contact Accessible Arts by phone at (913) 281-1133 or by e-mail to receive a flyer or additional information. The May 31 deadline has been extended to June 20.
DOs and DON'Ts for Artists and TeachersDOs
for
Artists
Any time you are
going to be doing a series of workshops or a residency in a class, have a planning
meeting with the teacher in advance. Be specific about what you see as the role
of the teacher during your visit (responsible for classroom management, etc.)
Be assertive about the needs of your program (adequate planning time/classroom time)
Ask the teacher to actively participate during the workshop.
Agree with the teacher how discipline issues will be handled.
Do keep a sense of humor.
Make sure you have a written agreement detailing the date, time, place, duration, program, grade level, class size, and costs. Include what you will provide and what the school will provide.
If you have specific needs (multipurpose room, sound system, world map, CD player) check with the teacher well in advance to be sure they can be provided.
Emphasize the process, not the product.
Do make contact the day prior to confirm details.
For multiple-day performances, DO ask about the need to check in daily.
Do provide self-addressed stamped envelope for return of evaluations.
Carry an introductory letter outlining who you are and what the teacher's responsibilities are during your visit to share with the substitute if the teacher is absent.
Do allow for 'comment' feedback on the evaluation form.
Leave gum at home.
Allow extra time before your school visit to make allowances for a lack of parking, time to sign in at the office, etc.
Watch your language. It's discouraging for a teacher who has spent a lot of time teaching kids not to say "ain't," etc. to have a visiting artist do it.
Always address students by name or simple description ("the boy in the blue shirt") when calling on or responding to them. Don't call students "honey, dear, sweetie," or any other term of endearment. Don't make value judgments in your descriptions ("the beautiful girl with the fabulous red shirt").
Do ask for specific vocabulary.
For programs you do regularly, develop a study guide for the teacher that includes a vocabulary list, a bibliography, the standards and indicators the program reinforces, and some suggested pre- and post-visit activities.
Do 'calm-down' things toward the end.
Learn how to manage different student personalities/learning styles.
DOs for Teachers
Any time you are going to have a series of workshops or a residency in your class, have a planning meeting with the artist in advance. Discuss your role during the visit (responsibility for classroom management, etc.).
Before confirming a date with an artist, be sure and check for any conflicts due to testing, in-services, and conferences.
Have a written agreement detailing the date, time, place, duration, program, grade level, class size, and costs for any artists' programs. Include what you will provide and what the artist will provide.
Do have class/setup prepared in advance of the performance.
Make sure you are aware of, and prepared for, any special equipment or space needs the artist may have.
Do find out if artist is paid for planning time as well as for performing.
Do talk to the artist the day before.
Do remind artist to rendezvous at the office.
If the artist has provided you with a study guide, review it and incorporate the pre- and post-visit activities and other suggestions into your lesson plans.
Do have student escort set up.
Do give 'time's up' sign.
Determine how you will know the artists' program was a success and use an appropriate assessment tool to confirm it.
If the artist is working with your students for more than one session and you have suggestions for improvement, share them as soon as possible but away from your students.
When you fill out
a written evaluation of the artist after the program is completed, take time
to add any suggestions you have for improvement.
DON'Ts for Artists
Don't go over time allotted.
Don't make evaluation form long.
Don't be late for your performance.
Never go outside for a smoke between sessions. The odor lingers.
Don't assume you can use any school rest-rooms. Always ask first. Some schools do not want adults to use the boys' or girls' rest-rooms and instead, have designated adult restrooms.
Don't leave the room a disaster area
Don't tell students to "shut up"
Don't ASSUME…anything
Don't expect miracles without adequate planning time
DON'Ts for Teachers
Don't interrupt w/o prior permission.
Don't assume artist will have an evaluation. Ask.
Dollars are given
to solve problems
Don't be afraid to ask - [the worst] they can do is say is "no"
How to proceed
toward success
Determine a need
Research sources
Be precise and
to the point
Follow guidelines
Match the funder's agenda/purpose (Know what/who the foundation funds)
Write in a 'reader-friendly'manner
Be persistent
Research multi-sources
Define the community education purpose
Avoid jargon-buzz
words
Justify expenditures, but concisely
Facts and statistics - ensure they are correct and current
Sources
Government
Businesses - have to give a certain % away
Foundations (There are 50,000 foundations)
Grant Items (Ingredients)
Budget sheet very clear
Make it clear
'in kind' - volunteering (put a dollar amount even though no dollaris actually
exchanged), looks good on a grant
Include a narrative proposal
Statistics and references are good
What you plan to do with the dollar
Long range plans about what you plan to do after the $ is gone
Grant writing tips
Learn about good 'clearing house' resources of grant sources
Letters of reference within the community need to be cultivated: community leaders, past participants,
your Board of Directors, etc.
Follow provided outline and forms with greatest possible care and have your work proofread by
another writer.
Be able to carefully substantiate budget details with specific details
Funding Partnerships
Library - English As a Second Language (EASL)
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) (federal money)
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) (federal money)
U.S. Department
of Education (USDOE)
Kansas Arts Commission (KAC)
Corporate Money
Foundations
Community Organizations
Helpful Tips
If grant is denied, call to find out why you didn't get it. (some funders say
not to call them)
Resources (Where to find out whom to apply to)
Research the 'why'
- Justify the project
Collaborate with others (art, librarian, etc.)Keep a file on contacts with agencies
Be sure to balance this left brain work with right brain activities
Read other people's grants whenever possible--especially successful ones
Add pictures, photos, drawings, pamphlets, community idea requests… as
allowed by guideline instructions
One,
two, three, four;
We all want to come
back for more!
For those who did not attend 'The Art of Learning' Professional Development Workshop, this headline needs a bit of explanation. One of the most memorable presentations was by Dee Hansen, Kansas State Department of Education. Following her talk with power-point presentation about learning styles/personality characteristics, she asked us to use what we had learned to group ourselves according to our strongest traits.
Ones: Imaginative Learners. Seek meaning, learn by listening/sharing ideas.
They absorb reality. Interested in people and culture, look at things from many angles, idea people, (innovative, involved in issues, bring unity, ask why/why not).
Twos: Analytic Learners. Seek authoritative facts. Learn by thinking through ideas. They form reality, less interested in people than ideas, like traditional classrooms, (create concepts and models, seek self-satisfaction and intellectual recognition, ask what).
Threes: Common Sense Learners. Seek usability, want to know how things work. Learn by testing theories. They edit reality, want hands-on experiences that lead to personal discovery, want relevance between action and real life, depend on sensory experiences, (practical application of ideas, view of present is influenced by future security, ask how).
Fours: Dynamic Learners. Seek hidden possibilities. Need to know what can be done with things. Learn by trial and error. They enrich reality, perceive information concretely and process it actively, like change, at ease with people but sometimes seem pushy, often reach accurate conclusions without logical justification, test experience (action oriented, visionaries who work toward goal, ask what can this become?).
As we all divided, there were so many type ones, they made up four subgroups! Each group was asked to create a slogan, a logo, and a song, and we had as much fun as children, showing off our creativity. Revitalizing and enriching our lives and our teaching (to be more childlike) was a separate message related during the conference.
As I reflect back on the experience, the power of hands-on learning really made an impact on me. I remember vividly the concepts related through small dramatizations. Second place impact goes to the table discussions. The 'lectures' were invaluable, but to use them I need to refer to my personal notes and the outstanding learning materials that were provided by all trainers. We sang songs, laughed, cried with empathy, frolicked, and LEARNED.
Mini-dramas included a wrong-way meeting of principal and artist; collaborative planning by wacky science teacher and artist; a right-way meeting of principal, artist and teacher; an experience doing simple art projects with simulated disabilities; and an excellent demonstration of easy-to-make adaptations to facilitate arts participation by children with physical disabilities.
The 60 participants asked for ways to keep in touch and continue their learning process. They will meet again February 8, 2003 in Wichita, and we anticipate having video clips by then. The next Art of Learning Workshop is tentatively scheduled for June 25-27, 2003, in Kansas City, Kansas and repeated July 16-18 in Salina. Accessible Arts will gradually add to our website (www.accessiblearts.org) other information gleaned from the workshop. The Fall 2002 newsletter includes a new column, 'Tips and Tops', which will relate tips for facilitation, and topics of special interest related to the arts and children with disabilities.
Representative Artist Comments
Why you enjoyed and did not enjoy the workshop.
How will experience change the way you teach?
Best part
What would you change
Additional comments
Why you enjoyed and did not enjoy the workshop.
How will experience change the way you teach?
Best part
What would you change
Additional comments