Selected to Speak @ Arts Education Conference!

I’m excited and honored to be one of the professionals selected to present at the annual Arts Education Conference. Sponsored by Ingenuity and CPS Arts this conference is highlighting the importance of offering consistent and relevant professional development and to stimulate and nurture more collaborative work between teachers and arts education partners, Ingenuity and the CPS Department of Arts Education are excited to present this year’s Arts Education Conference: Collaborating for Quality.

More Info &  Full Schedule : https://www.ingenuity-inc.org/partnerships-professional-learning-conference

 The theme of the conference this year is “Collaborating for Quality.” As an educator it’s important to understand the power of critical and effective feedback. There is so much research that confirms its benefit on the learning process (1)(2)(3) but it is perhaps more important in the arts that any other field. The arts can be powerful and liberating, but they can also be inaccessible and discouraging. Rachel Branham illustrates (literally!) this point perfectly in her AMAZING graphic novel, “What’s so Great about Art, Anyways?” Without great feedback and encouragement students are liable to become easily frustrated or quit outright. The problem is, the only art most of us see, or the music most of us listen to, is done by professionals, and that’s where we set our benchmark as fledgling artists, which obviously sets us up for failure. 

   I plan on discussing a lot of the techniques I use in my 21st Century Music course. Feedback and critique are a huge component of this 10 – week elective. With a slow building of skills and a gradual release of responsibility the students eventually provide each  other with peer critique. This has two main benefits: 1) they learn how to be critical of both their work and the work of others (which takes some of the fear out of getting feedback) and 2) they also have peer work to listen to! No more comparing your work to that of a professional! I’ve taught it for 9 quarters now, and even I get feedback from my students in the form of exit surveys. Each iteration of the course is better than the last, just like each version of my students’ work is better than the last. Feedback, critique, and collaboration are essential life skills that benefit everyone involved, so it’s about time we start seeing them in the classroom! 

• Registration for the Arts Education Conference is FREE and can be done here
• I will be speaking Friday November 3, 2017 @10:00am and 1:30pm
• The event is at Benito Juarez Community Academy  View Map

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