mayoral candidates on the arts

Following up on my previous post, I found that that Chicago Tribune interviewed the mayoral candidates on their position about the arts.

The link to each page are listed bellow:

Miguel del Valle
Carol Moseley Braun
Rahm Emanuel
Gery Chico

arts agenda

i just read the article Devan posted for discussion for next week's class:

Next mayor needs arts agenda by Laura Washington 

while i agree that the mayoral candidates should be discussing their plans to continue to support and enhance the arts in chicago, i took issue with the way the article was written. maybe i'm not giving this article a fair chance because i was immediately put off from the beginning, maybe i'm not looking at the overall message, and maybe i'm just not following her train of thought. but i'm not digging laura washington right now.

i think what i found so off putting was the language of "blue collar colloquialism," "high-culture" and other ways of making class distinctions. it appears that for laura this so called chicago arts renaissance is based in opera, ballet, symphony and theater, all "high" art, "high-culture." she is placing value on a very specific type of work and a very specific population of artists and art appreciators.

to be fair, she makes the case that the arts are an important part of life and culture in a city, and she made a plug for free events, which i appreciate. but, that's about it.
 and while she did check herself by including the part about Ronnee Hartfield reminding her that high-culture" institutions take a paternalistic approach when attempting to make connections to neighborhoods, this article still falls short.

if we want to really push the mayoral candidates to make the arts a key part of their campaign agenda, we have to make a more convincing argument.

rocket science

"Teaching is not rocket science. It is, in fact, far more complex and demanding work than rocket science." Richard Elmore

A mentor posted this quote today on facebook and I have to say that I agree. I am not a rocket scientist and don't presume to know anything about anything having to do with science stuff, but I can definitely say that teaching is and has been one of the most challenging things I have done. Challenging in the best way. 

I have had to teach two lessons the past two weeks at different schools for my Curriculum & Instruction class. I have been reflecting on my teaching experience, mostly because I have to turn in reflections, but teaching is hard stuff. Both experiences have been very different and its hard to really compare the two without going into full detail about the context and specifics of each school. But as challenging as both experiences have been, they have also been super informative and they have been opportunities for growth. At both schools I worked with small groups and found myself doing more than a handful of things all at the same time, while trying to facilitate a critical, meaningful and transformative experience for myself and the kids I was working with. 

So, I'm hungry and the pizza Susan pimped out is ready and I really want to eat and I've completely lost my train of thought. Point is, teaching is awesome and super complex and demanding but really rewarding and besides, Elmore is a professor at Harvard, and if a Harvard guy said it, it must be true.

Thoughts on Arts Education and 21st Century Skills

Thank you Emily for suggesting this reading for this week.

The Skills Connection Between the Arts and 21st-Century Learning: Arts Education and 21st-Century Skills by Bruce D. Taylor

I was sitting and reflecting on my own educational experience and realized that the activities or assignments that are most vivid in my memory were ones that incorporated some sort of art project or creative component. These were assignments beyond art class. I'm talking about creating a pedulum swing painting device in fourth grade and dripping paint all over the butcher paper covered floor, or learning biology by tracing my body and drawing in the different biological systems, or being given the option to make visual responses to books I read in English class. These opportunities were few and far between, but I remember these being the moments when I was most engaged and learned the most. I think the opportunity to make stuff and create and explore definitely pushed me beyond the level of just knowing to understanding.

RSA

I forgot to post a link to the RSA web site, here it is:

http://www.thersa.org/about-us

RSA Animate: Changing Education Paradigms

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine, a first year 3rd grade teacher introduced me to this video and to the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). I really enjoyed the format of the lecture given by Sir Ken Robinson paired with illustrations and reminded me of an live action prezi. Enjoy.

one of my most visited sites

http://www.sporcle.com//