Finding the Fine Arts in the Generalist Teaching World

I would like to advertise the Jr. High Arts Festival in Calgary, but apparently they have already sold out! They are not starting up a waiting list for schools and students still interested. For more info, please click:  http://www.pvacentral.ca/junior-high-arts-festival/

Thank you to everyone who attended the ATA Calgary and Regional Fine Arts Mini-Conference! It was a new experience to have our annual conference at a smaller venue. This year was more intimate and included excellent presenters, leaving our delegates wanting more. The morning was welcomed with HOJA singing their hearts out down the halls of the Foundations for the Fine Arts School in the South. I was able to attend a couple of sessions throughout the day. In the morning I attended Ms. McCleer's session on Art Integration Across the Curriculum . Our presenter wove a tapestry of creative ideas, projects flowing from Spanish class, to Math, to Social Studies, to Science, and all incorporating the beauty and tactile joy of visual arts. We were sent away with a ton of ideas and resources, my favorite being the website The Art Educator's Definitive Guide to OK Go: theartofed.com . I also walked away with jewelry designed from binary code! What awesome ideas! Also in the...

What a day! Thank you to the Fine Arts enthusiasts who organized this amazing day at Central Memorial. The FIRST EVER Fine Arts Ed Camp!! The PD Day was kicked off with a blessing from jingle dress dancer Stephanie . She encouraged connecting with Indigenous fine arts in our province, most importantly by getting to the land: get out to Blackfoot Crossing Museum, go to Okotoks, the Rock, the Nosehill Site. Learn about the history Amanda Foot at the Glenbow Museum and Moonstone Creation in Inglewood are great resources. I have further contacted Stephanie, and when I get more contact info for Indigenous performers and artists, I will share :) Keynote speaker Bruce Barton, discussed with us "Striking an Effective Balance in Interdisciplinary Arts Education". From the School of Creative and Performing Arts at UofC, Bruce passionately talked about the evolution of fine arts integration to defining what is truly interdisciplinary work in our day and age. Their fine arts pro...

Join the ATA Fine Arts Council for Regional Mini Conferences this year! These are to replace our annual conference held annually for all fine arts teachers in Alberta. Only $60 for registration, which includes 3 sessions, morning snack and lunch. Please use this link:  Calgary Registration! Sessions include: Art Sessions Art and Indigenous Culture (Stephan Wiebe) Process Art: Approaching Art as Open Ended Play (Jenna Kerr) Storyteller Dolls (Samia Drisdelle) Dance Sessions Promoting Arts-Centered Learning (Kara Hayley) Also see our Integration Sessions for dance-related sessions.   Drama Sessions Creating / Developing Character (Cynthia Statulat) Directing the School Play (Cynthia Statulat) Integration Sessions Dance Unit for P.E. (Kara Hayley) Puppet-making: Fusing Performance Arts, ELA, and Fine Arts Together (Darrin Wislon) Visual Arts Integration in the Middle School Classroom (Cintia Anselmo) Music Sessions Conque...

Here are some final images from my previous post about Grade 1/2 painting to Music. The song we listened and painted to was "The William Tell Overture". Each painting represents one of four parts of the song. Please email me at jrherman@cbe.ab.ca if you would like more info on doing this project!

Some of the most memorable end-of-the-year events has been our school Talent Show. It's amazing how the exceptional abilities come out in these kids when they are brave enough to step onto the stage. A Talent show is great for getting in your extra-curricular, students demonstrating citizenship, personal development and character and great break from the classroom for all classes at the end of the year. There are steps to a Talent Show! Plan well enough ahead and you'll be golden... Set the date for the Talent Show  - we do ours the same day as Sports Day. Get a committee or fly solo  - the more helping hands the better! Advertise the upcoming Talent Show to the school  - make announcements, show info on your blog, etc. Create an informative letter to go home to parents  - this is to notify parents that preparation for acts must been done on the students' own time (please let me know if you want a copy of this letter) Hold a brief meeting with studen...

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Grade 1/2 classes are painting to Music! It has been a great experience with these students, and it is still on the go. This project has also been an excellent link to the Colour unit in Science and our School Development Plan on Reading Comprehension. I expanded the project to really break down the pieces that put an abstract painting together, but this concept of painting could be done once a month, where students create a collection, choosing their most successful paintings for a gallery. 1. Talk about abstract painting - Discuss with students their definition of "abstract" and why people create abstract images. Note any specific vocabulary they use: expression, emotion. - Google a variety of abstract images, paying attention to lines, shapes, textures and colours - Give students time to free draw to music 2. Choose the music students are going to paint. - Because I wanted variety in the kinds of paintings, I chose the "William Tell Overture", whi...

The Calgary and Regional Fine Arts Council (CARFAC) is currently looking for new members. This organization is dedicated to providing fine arts professional development opportunities in Calgary and the surrounding area. Please email Aisha Ward at  atacarfac@gmail.com  for more information on becoming a member. Additionally, if you know of an artist who would like to get involved in offering sessions to adults in the areas of Art, Drama, Dance, Music and Integration, please email Aisha Ward at  atacarfac@gmail.com .

Join the Calgary and Regional Fine Arts Council (CARFAC) for their professional development opportunities in Calgary! The following sessions are $15 each, from 4:30-6:00pm at David Thompson Middle School and East Lake School in Chestermere. March 23rd - Metaphorical Masks with Jill Winters: create dramatic masks and learn how they can be an excellent start-of-year project to build your classroom community. April 5th - Self Portrait Bean Bag Puppets with Wendy Passmore: create your lucky doppleganger to practice self-reflection and sewing skills! April 5th - Introduction to Watercolour with Shannon Roy: bring painting into your classroom in a functional way. For more information and registration, please visit  CARFAC Arts Opportunities  website.

Thank you to Peter Greendale from our annual Fine Arts Conference for the great ideas... Elbow Park School staff and students in Calgary have been living in modulars for the past 3.5 years. This was all because of the flood of 2013. Life was pretty tight there, working in one long hallway of portables, and a gym that looked more like a beer tent. It was decided that the old school would be restored, and man, is it ever amazing. Now that we are back in, there is so much to celebrate and commemorate. One of the ways students and I decided to commemorate the reopening of the school was with buttons! Also known as badges, every student in our school will receive one in honor of the school reopening. Originally, students were going to make buttons as a way to fundraise for this year's Terry Fox Run. Our button machines were ordered from "People Power Press". We purchased the 3-size kit of 1", 2.25" and 3" buttons. However, the Terry Fox committee did such...