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Exploring the Possibilities!

The purpose of the blog is to provide additional support to educators as well as parents and community members who wish to create schools which will provide children with the experiences needed to flourish!

​Anne Shaw, Director, 21st Century Schools

Teaching with Graphic Novels & Beyond!

8/27/2016

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​Intersections among the disciplines, the arts and tech!

​You may have seen my post, Serendipity in Curriculum Design.  You never know what kind of fantastic ideas or possibilities will reveal themselves to you!  This past week, starting with two reminders of upcoming holidays, National Arts in Education Week and International Dot Day, found me with my mind tuned to the arts.  
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In my usual way of thinking in interdisciplinary and integrated curriculum design, I immediately thought of connections to reading, writing, media literacy, visual literacy,aural literacy, social/emotional literacy, and a project could be easily extended to include financial literacy, ecoliteracy, creativity & the arts as literacies, physical fitness and health as literacies, global competencies . . . You can find articles with learning activities for many of these literacies on this page at  21st Century Schools.
 
The various activities below also include opportunities to ensure that students develop the 21st century skills (7 Survival Skills of the 21st Century by Tony Wagner) illustrated in my 3 compasses.  

It seems serendipitous to me that today I happened upon other excellent resources connected to the arts.

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National Arts in Education Week, Sep. 11-17, 2016

8/25/2016

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National Arts in Education Week is a national celebration recognizing the tranformative power of the arts in education. Designated by Congress in 2010 through House Resolution 275, the celebration is designated to bring attention to this cause for elected officials and educational decision makers across the country and to support equitable access to the arts for all students.
National Arts in Education Week takes place annually during the week beginning with the second Sunday of September. This year it falls on September 11 – 17, 2016. Save the date for future celebrations:
  • September 17 – 23, 2017
  • September 16 – 22, 2018
  • September 8 – 14, 2019
  • September 13 – 19, 2020
For inspiration and resources click the Read More link!

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Filmmaking - the ultimate project-based learning

8/7/2016

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We need filmmaking in our classrooms, not to graduate filmmakers, but to graduate problem -solvers, critical thinkers and passionate people who can work with others to make that which does not yet exist, real.        Nikos Theodosadis, The Director in the Classroom

There are almost - seemingly - an infinite number of ways to design and implement amazing learning experiences for your students via project-based learning.  Our model of project-based learning at 21st Century Schools is PBL21 - "the next step in the evolution of project-based learning!"
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While the climate in education for the past 15 years or so has been steeped in standardized testing, there have been, thankfully, some schools who forge ahead with meaningful, real world, exciting learning experiences for their students.  They know that if students have these opportunities they will actually learn more and perform better on their standardized tests.
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One of the most powerful forms of PBL21 is videography, or filmmaking.  This experience provides students with an opportunity to engage with the curriculum at very high levels, enables students to develop critical 21st century skills and multiple literacies for the 21st century.

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Constitution Day is September 17

7/29/2016

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Scene at the Signing of the Constitution, a famous oil painting.
You have probably seen the videos of random surveys out in public and particularly on college campuses which reflect a near total lack of knowledge about history or our country. For this reason, a senator created a bill which made it law to teach about the Constitution at least one day per year!

Federal law passed in 2004 requires that all schools that receive federal funding provide a course to all students on the Constitution on Constitution Day, September 17. The law is known as H.R. 4818, and the text is found at section 111(b):

​“Each educational institution that receives Federal funds for a fiscal year shall hold an educational program on the United States Constitution on September 17 of such year for the students served by the educational institution.”

As a fourth grade teacher I covered the chalk board in my classroom with life-size copies of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution which I had purchased at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. (I laminated them first.) It was amazing to me how often students would walk up there and start reading it - they were fascinated. They made a very impressive and beautiful display. The links in this paragraph are to the National Archives in Washington, D.C. where you may order beautiful, life-sized copies very inexpensively!

(Yes, the students can also view the documents on their computer screens.  But sometimes a tangible, life-size visual is much better.)

Find many resources for Constitution Day at our Curriculum Resources site.  Make Constitution Day a powerful experience for you and your students!
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Who was Yankee Doodle?  Why did he put a feather in his cap and call it macaroni?

7/29/2016

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These questions, and many more, can be explored using these resources.  From the arts to history . . . these are wonderful ways to engage students in many courses.  These are great resources for Constitution Day as well as the upcoming Presidential Election 2016! 

​What are the connections between the American Revolution and what is happening in America today?
 
Integrate technology through videography and filmmaking – students can create . . .
  • Mini-documentaries like those seen on the History Channel, Biography Channel, Science Channel, Discovery Channel . . .
  • A cooking show (I recommend using the format of Good Eats with Alton Brown).   
  • Talk shows interviewing characters from the past such as Yankee Doodle or John Adams
  • Create live or recorded commentary and analysis on the current presidential election.  This could include analyzing speeches, advertisements and distributed materials.
View the Yankee Doodle resources here, and find more technology integration tools here.
 
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A Wealth of Curriculum Resources - from Mexico City to Your Own Back Yard

5/22/2016

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Schools are struggling to find ways to transform themselves into centers of 21st century learning.  They ask themselves how they can make school - education - more relevant for their students.  
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Last summer my husband and I intentionally chose to drive, rather than fly, from central Texas to northern Arizona to work with a middle school.  I wanted to take in the incredible scenery of the farms, plains, desert and the pine-forested, snow-capped mountains.  It was an incredible experience, and the result was a plethora of possibilities and ideas for projects - just based upon our experiences on that drive.  From environmental studies to science fiction and history, the ideas were fantastic. You may read about those in From Science Fiction to Science Fact and in STEM/STEAM Curriculum Ideas are All Around Us.  
While I consider myself an explorer and lifelong learner, fully committed to education that is relevant, rigorous and real word, and I always look for creative and exciting possibilities for project-based learning, I too, had an incredible experience recently in a visit to Mexico City.

What the media show us about Mexico certainly had not conveyed to me the astounding wealth of resources in Mexico City and the United Mexican States. For one thing, it seemed to me that the people were very much more polite than the people here in the USA.  Sorry about that, Americans!  The media paint a picture of Mexico as being backward, dangerous, barren and poverty-stricken.  While they certainly do have plenty of poverty, there is more to Mexico than squalor and uneducated heathens. 

In my first two days in Mexico several experiences jolted me into a new understanding of the immense possibilities there for educators - not only in Mexico, but worldwide.  First was a trip to the Teotihuacan Pyramids, followed by lunch in a spectacular underground restaurant in a cave.  



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Global Competencies through the Arts and Creativity

1/23/2015

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1.  Investigating the world beyond their immediate environment.
2.  Using the arts to recognize their own and other's perspectives.
3.  Communicating their ideas effectively with diverse audiences using the arts.
4.  Using the arts to translate their ideas into appropriate actions to improve conditions.

Click on Read More to access Resources and Curriculum Ideas.

Students develop global competence through the arts by:

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The image above is one taken at the Navratri Festival at The Galaxy Education System (TGES) in Rajkot, Gujarat, India in 2011.  Enjoy the audio file which is also from that festival.  Click the image to enjoy a brief glimpse of this fabulous celebration, 9 nights of dancing, to honor their favorite goddess, Durga.  a Hindu deity.  She is the goddess of the Victory of Good over Evil.  The dances are performed by the students at TGES, from the very little ones (PK) through high school,  and the festival is broadcast live, online to the world.  The arts and creativity are abundant, from the music, singing and dancing to the costumes, which are spectacular.

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Arts and Creativity - new 21st century literacies!

1/20/2015

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After School program for ballet.
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Video Game design.
In recent decades the push for higher standardized tests scores has resulted in the virtual elimination of art, music, drama, dance and even recess in the majority of schools.  Social studies were also relegated to the sidelines as teachers focused on higher test scores in reading and math.

In a recent survey, 85% of people agreed that creative thinking is critical for problem solving in their career.  And with the challenges the world is facing today in our global economy, in our environment, and in social issues, the need for creative ideas has never been greater.[i]

As Sir Ken Robinson stated, “Creativity is not an option, it’s an absolute necessity.”  Therefore, we must find ways to bring creativity into learning.  But first, we have to understand what conditions foster true creativity, which Robinson defines as “the process of having original ideas that have value.”

Creativity is now the number one skill in demand by employers.  It is interesting to note that current employers keep asking us to graduate students with the skills of creativity, collaboration, entrepreneurship, innovation, problem solving and critical thinking, but that the schools themselves continue to deliver a narrow curriculum devoid of the arts and creativity.  Why is that?


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Student Empowerment Through Art 

1/20/2015

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Guest post contributed by
Adam Johnson - Social Justice Educator

I am a middle school ELL/math teacher in the South Bronx. I am currently in my 5th year of teaching. I wanted all of you to know about a project that has empowered my students. I hope that you consider implementing a similar project in your school community.


25 students (all ELLs) and I started an after-school art club two years ago called South Bronx Youth Art. We meet every Thursday and Friday from 2:30-5:00 pm to paint and create works of art inspired by the students' experiences and their community. 

While I can recount many instances of how this program has helped my students' confidence I am most proud of their collective gains on the 2013-2014 Common Core state math and ELA exam. I believe this achievement was possible because of the strong relationships formed through this club and their ability to trust their teacher. 

This year the students have even started earning money due to interest in their art. The students have set up and administer an Etsy site where people all over the world can buy their art. All profits go to buying more art supplies and directly to the artists. 

This program is not only building confidence in our students, but preparing them for the 21st century because they are using their creativity to capture the attention of people around the world and using social media to market and actually make money. I highly encourage you to implement a similar type of program. 

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Please take a look at this link to get a better idea of the creativity that happens in our program.

Click here to purchase one of these beautiful works of art!

Adam Johnson <adamcristjohnson@gmail.com>

Click Read More to find out how this project is 21st century . . .

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