Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Redemption Song
In 1862, there was the largest mass hanging in United States history. In December of 2008, Lakota Jim Miller and friends organized a "reconciliation ride" on horseback. The ride was documented by a group of young filmmakers working for positive social change.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
News On Purpose
Twitter is a free social networking service that lets people communicate through the exchange of short messages. You register in 15 seconds and adjust the privacy controls to your liking. You can use it on the web or on your phone.
It's whacky and, as I mentioned way back, possibly useful for something related to what we do but I'm not sure yet. In the meantime, I'm posting ephemera related to the field.
I read in the NYTIMES paper online that actual journalism is dead anyway.
Come see!
Plus: Nina Simone
It's whacky and, as I mentioned way back, possibly useful for something related to what we do but I'm not sure yet. In the meantime, I'm posting ephemera related to the field.
I read in the NYTIMES paper online that actual journalism is dead anyway.
Come see!
Plus: Nina Simone
Born Free?
Maybe it's time for you to think about settling down?
On Idealist today, two interesting job announcements.
I'm just saying...
On Idealist today, two interesting job announcements.
I'm just saying...
Program Coordinator, The Academy
New York, New York United StatesLast updated on: December 18, 2008Description: Title: Program Coordinator, The Academy Department: Program Planning & Operations Reports to: Program Manager Job Code: PCTA We seek an ProgramCoordinator for The Academy – a program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School and The Weill Music Ins...
-
Program Coordinator
Englewood, New Jersey United StatesLast updated on: December 17, 2008Description: Arts Horizons is one of the largest full service arts-in-education agencies serving the entire New York City tri-state area and has presented programs to over seven million students, teachers and community members. Professional teaching artists offer a wi...
Monday, December 29, 2008
A Little Help
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Snow Days
I'll be taking some snow days here and there.
Posting may be erratic.
Don't panic.
So Long and Thanks for All the Fish (youtube)
America, the Beautiful
"America": Centre of equal daughters, equal sons,
All, all alike endear'd , grown, un grown, young or old,
Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich,
Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love.
At the Walt Whitman Archives there is a 36-second wax cylinder recording of what might be Walt Whitman reading four lines from his poem "America."
For more information about this recording read this New York Times article.
Listen: "America" (in MP3 format)
Project Zero
Wow.
Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education
July 27–August 1, 2009
The institute"addresses fundamental education questions, such as:
• What are the components of an effective education for the world that students live in now and will live in 10, 20, or 50 years from now?
• What is understanding, and how does it develop?
• What are the roles of reflection and assessment in student and teacher learning?
• How can participants continue to share and pursue their understanding of Project Zero’s ideas with others after the institute?"
It looks really amazing. Howard Gardner, David Perkins and Steve Seidel are the faculty.
Tuition is $2100, which could maybe be enough for a one-bedroom in Manhattan.
Wow.
Plus: Project Zero Update on Current Work, July 2007 (pdf)
Monday, December 22, 2008
Wonderland
The Community Arts Network promotes information exchange, research and critical dialogue within the field of community-based art. Their website is so useful it beggars all description, but I will try:
I am over there now, skimming this mostly terrific essay by doctor Stephani Etheridge Woodson phd called Models for Working with Youth in Community Arts. She discusses the importance of using "educative models" in our work with young people and also proposes a list of basic areas of competency for professional Teaching Artists:
• Ability to parse information, build progressive skill sets and establish learning goals;
• Understanding the audience/learner/student both as an individual and as a member of diverse cultures;
• Basic familiarity with the strengths and weaknesses of different teaching modalities;
• Classroom management, leadership behavioral strategies;
• Assessment and evaluation of learning outcomes.
If I hold any of these skills and understandings, and I better, then I learned much of it from master Teaching Artists in professional development workshops provided by my employer. I also learned it by working on the job, reading in the public library, surfing online and sitting in the aisles of the Barnes and Noble on Court Street in Brooklyn because they have a pretty good selection and there's a Trader Joes down the block now. Did you know?
I think on the job peer-to-peer training and paid professional development are the models for getting emerging TAs to meet high standards. I know I couldn't have afforded tuition and expenses to learn how to evaluate learning outcomes or to learn how to plan with a classroom teacher. My employer pays me to show up for training and that is swell, because otherwise I would probably be tempted to just stay at home and watch Battlestar Galactica on Hulu.
I can't help wondering why basic TA training isn't included as a part of conservatory training when the reality is that it is rather difficult for most artists to make a living solely on their art.
I wonder.
Then, I start to get sleepy.
Plus: Alice in Wonderland
Cecil M. Hepworth & Percy Stow, 1903
This 1903 short is the first version ever put on celluloid of the Lewis Carroll classic.
Let's Make a Deal
People are talking about the incoming Obama Administration's plans for WPA style job programs including some kind of national Arts Corps. Amidst the chatter, there's a sharp article by Arlene Goldbard posted at CAN:
The New New Deal 2009: Public Service Jobs for Artists? By Arlene Goldbard
The idea of a WPA job is exciting because I associate it with Dorothea Lange and Zora Neale Hurston. Still, I think that anyone who is over the moon about the idea of joining a government workforce program has never depended on the arrival of a government-issued check, visited the DMV or read Kafka.
First, I want to know how much it will pay?
Second, I'd like to know if that sounds selfish?
Thirdly, I want to know what I will have to give up in order to join a government sponsored jobs program?
Will it be my right to privacy?
Will it be my right to demand a minimum wage?
Will it be my right to unionize?
Will it be my right to produce content that is objectionable to the government?
Then, of course, I'd like to know where do I sign?
Brother, can you spare a dime?
Dance like there's no one watching...
Creativity Guru Ken Robinson will appear at the Barnes and Noble/Lincoln Triangle, 1972 Broadway at 66th St. on Tuesday, January 13 at 7:30 PM to push his new self-help book, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything.
I have put it in my calendar because he gives a really inspiring speech (youtube).
Now for something completely different:
Friday, December 19, 2008
Caroline in the City
Hillary is leaving and the oligarchy has announced her replacement. She's a mother, a lawyer and sensible advocate for education reform.
Caroline Kennedy had lunch in my hood with Al Sharpton and it was pandemonium on the sidewalk.
In the video and accompanying report at the New York Times, she pretends to eat chicken and in answering a reporters' question about why she wants to be senator she says she hopes she "has something to offer."
Gosh, I hope so too.
She says some other things that mean nothing and then she just kind of stops abruptly and vanishes in a puff of noblesse oblige.
Kind of like this...
I'm outa here! Have a good weekend.
To Sir, with Love
Creativity guru Ken Robinson has a new website and a new tome called "The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything."
I also think maybe finding a job that pays a living wage changes everything, but I'm old fashioned.
Buy one and share it with friends.
Fight the Future
New Jersey has announced that now is the time for students to start developing 21st Century Skills.
Better late than never.
From the press release:
New Jersey Joins National Coalition to Bring 21st Century Skills to Education 
“Our membership in the Partnership signals that New Jersey is continuing to take decisive steps toward providing all students with a rigorous, world-class education,” said Lucille E. Davy, New Jersey Commissioner of Education. “It is imperative that New Jersey schools graduate students capable of thinking creatively and critically. New Jersey recognizes that the key to economic success is ensuring that our students are educated and trained for jobs in the diverse 21st century workplace.”Trenton, NJ – Dec. 17, 2008 – New Jersey has joined the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, the nation’s leading advocacy organization focused on infusing 21st century skills into education.
This all sounds great until you realize that the "21st century workplace" looks a lot like a Walmart or, in our case, an under-funded after school program in a dilapidated classroom.
An actual physical pain in my body.
Art is the antidote.
Take this.
The Origin of Love (This is a scene from Hedwig and the Angry Inch on youtube. If that's NSFW where you work, don't click it. It has a person wearing a wig singing a beautiful song about love and a cartoon drawing of the human body. Things that might offend others. Otherwise, it's just a song about love. I hope it is safe where you work.)
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Drive My Car
The Kennedy Center, in partnership with Daimler Financial Services, chose ten schools across the country for On Location: Spotlight On Your Community. The program gives schools the opportunity to tell the story of the arts in their community through videos that will be shared on the Internet. Each of the ten schools selected gets a media equipment package, and both students and teachers will be trained in storytelling, filmmaking, editing, and producing video stories. Daimler is providing the funding along with a tour bus, so the project can head cross country.
It's too late to apply for the Patridge Family video bus to come to your school, but the On Location curriculum is posted online at ArtsEdge. It will take you through all the steps to help students make a documentary that will feature an artist or arts group in your community.
Quickly, before Germany runs out of money.
Free Associate with me:
Daimler.
Chrysler.
Cars.
Bankruptcy?
No.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Happy Days Are Here Again
If you are an independent TA in NY State or a fearless leader trying to find money to pay Teaching Artists, you may have noticed that there is no more extra money in the budget for art.
None.
We wonder just how bad it will get.
Sure, it may be cathartic and accurate to blame the rich people for bringing back the depression, but, since we desperately need their leftover money to continue our work, it would not be politic to offend them.
According to a report by Giving USA, recessions do not seem to be a strong determining factor in arts giving and regular non-rich people also like to give money to worthy causes.
That's good news. That raises the possibility that there is still some money somewhere in your neighborhood community. It is probably hidden in people's wallets and the job is to get them to take it out and hand it to you before the end of the year.
The Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training (GIFT) is a multiracial organization that promotes the connection between fundraising, social justice and movement-building. They sound like hippies, but they are so smart about getting the money...it's thrilling.
According to the experts at GIFT, here are three key things to know about fundraising:
1. People give when they are asked, and rarely give when they are not. Even when people are asked, they don't always give. So, you need to ask for more gifts than the number you need to bring in, and you need to be comfortable with people saying "No."
2. Donors are not ATMs. You need to thank them and keep them posted on what your organization is doing with their money if you want them to give more than once.3. You can't raise all the money your group needs by yourself. Spend some time building a team of people to help you.
Help!
Barack Obama kinda sorta promises the biggest initiative for young children since Head Start began in 1965.
Also in 1965: The Dow closed at 969, the average annual income was $6,450 and the Beatles did Shea.
The Great Society, indeed.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
I Want the World
Hurrah! He finally settled on a safe bet that no one seems to hate.
Arne Duncan, the Chicago schools superintendent known for taking tough steps to improve schools while maintaining respectful relations with teachers and their unions, is President-elect Barack Obama’s choice as secretary of education, Democratic officials said Monday.
Demand "Change!"
Get "Compromise."
I'll take it.
You may find this unacceptable.
I'm sure she would. Veruca Salt (youtube)
The Lessons of the Marketplace
The National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts is the national service organization for a diverse constituency of non-profit organizations providing arts education.
On their useful site, in an otherwise excellent article written before the current ECONOMIC APOCALYPSE, we get introduced to the facts of life regarding Program Evaluation. It's tough love for us, buddy, and we should all take our cues from Wall Street:
"Our culture is increasingly interested in outcomes and accountability. From Wall Street to the school board, leaders demand information about the effectiveness and efficiency of all aspects of work. "Funders, in particular, now require assurance that their investment in a venture is yielding results and that the parties involved have responsibly deployed financial and human resources. In response, nonprofit organization and school administrators have scrambled to learn how to develop, design, and implement program evaluations, or to find the funds to engage an outside evaluator."
I am laughing so hard right now through my tears.
Plus: Edith Piaf never submitted a reflection sheet and I bet she could teach you a thing or two. (youtube)
Monday, December 15, 2008
The Answers, My Friend
What are the qualities of quality?
What are the markers of excellence?
How do a programs' decisions impact the pursuit and achievement of quality?
On December 17th, Steve Seidel of Project Zero will present the results of a Wallace Foundation study that promises to clear this up once and for all.
December 17, 2008
The Qualities of Quality: Excellence in Arts Education and How to Achieve It
Presenter: Steve Seidel, Director, Harvard Project Zero, and Director, Arts in Education Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
The Qualities of Quality: Excellence in Arts Education and How to Achieve It
Presenter: Steve Seidel, Director, Harvard Project Zero, and Director, Arts in Education Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
If you want the answers, it's $85.00 for Americans for the Arts Members and $125.00 for Non-members.
I told you to join.
Friday, December 12, 2008
De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté
Yesterday, in conversation with a bunch of TAs, I asked if anyone had ever taken a job without getting any information from the employer about the salary or pay scale? Everybody in the room said yes.
Why do we take jobs without knowing if our financial needs will be met?
Sometimes, prospective employers will say nothing about money.
Sometimes, I am afraid to ask.
Sometimes a crumb falls
From the tables of joy
Sometimes a bone
Is flung
To some people
Love is given
To others
Only heaven.
- "Luck" by Langston Hughes
Then I discovered that some of us are sitting at the table with the United Federation of Teachers? My heart.
Lincoln Center Institute Teaching Artist
Plus: Glenn Gould.
That's for Dale.
I'm gone. Have a nice weekend!
Sometimes, prospective employers will say nothing about money.
Sometimes, I am afraid to ask.
Sometimes a crumb falls
From the tables of joy
Sometimes a bone
Is flung
To some people
Love is given
To others
Only heaven.
- "Luck" by Langston Hughes
Then I discovered that some of us are sitting at the table with the United Federation of Teachers? My heart.
Lincoln Center Institute Teaching Artist
Plus: Glenn Gould.
That's for Dale.
I'm gone. Have a nice weekend!
RSVP
CommonGround is the annual New York State arts-in-education conference that brings over 250 administrators, teachers, teaching artists, and community members together for three days of policy setting, planning, exchange of skills and inspirational speakers. This gathering contributes to fresh curriculum design, school reform and new models for classroom learning.
I am pretty sure you are invited, so RSVP today. Sure, March seems far away now. But these things always sneak up on me.
Or, you may decide to stay online. Have you been to TWITTER?
It's a place where you can post brief messages and updates in real time.
Micro-blogging, we communicate in short bursts--like song birds.
TWITTER AS A COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE FOR EDUCATORS?
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Your Own Gift
In his classic essay Self Reliance, which used to be required reading, Emerson writes:
"Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life's cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another you have only an extemporaneous half possession...Where is the master who could have taught Shakespeare? Where is the master who could have instructed Franklin, or Washington, or Bacon, or Newton?"
I have never agreed with everything Emerson spouts, but it's always inspiring to me nonetheless. You can read the rest here.
OMG, I got distracted by a classic video of Madeline Kahn singing with Elmo. The link is below. It promises a moment of joy:
The Powerful Ones
Barry Hessenius is the former Director of the California Arts Council. He writes a blog for WESTAF, the Western States Arts Federation. The blog is geared toward arts administrators, so don't go there expecting too much in the way of frivolity, but it's kind of quirky. Mr. Hessenius, he prefers that we call him Barry, asks "Who (besides himself?) sets our agendas, who controls the purse strings, who frames the dialogues? Which leaders are the most respected and highly-regarded? Who are our trend-setters, our taste-makers, our best thinkers, and established power brokers?"
Anyway, Barry drops a list of the TOP 25 MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE IN THE NONPROFIT ARTS.
Behold, the holders of the purse strings! How many of these names do you recognize? Are any of them Teaching Artists?
1.
BOB LYNCH - PRESIDENT & CEO OF AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS
2.
MARION GODFREY – PEW FOUNDATION
3.
BEN CAMERON - DORIS DUKE FOUNDATION
4.
DICK DEASEY – EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ARTS EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP
5.
ALAN BROWN – PRINCIPAL WOLF BROWN CONSULTING
6.
SAM MILLER – EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR LINC (LEVERAGING INVESTMENT IN CREATIVITY)
7.
CLAIRE PEEPS – DURFEE FOUNDATION
8.
DANIEL WINDHAM - WALLACE FOUNDATION
MOY ENG - HEWLETT FOUNDATION
TIM MCCLIMMON – AMERICAN EXPRESS FOUNDATION
SUE COLITON – PAUL ALLEN FOUNDATION
9.
DANA GIOIA – CHAIR NEA
10.
JONATHAN KATZ EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NASAA
11.
ANDREW TAYLOR – BOLZ CENTER FOR ARTS ADMINISTRATION / UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN – MADISON SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
12.
CONGRESSWOMAN LOUISE SLAUGHTER
CONGRESSMAN NORM DICKS
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG
13.
ELI BROAD
AGNUS GUND
14.
ANNE KATZ - EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ARTS WISCONSIN / CHAIR STATE ARTS ACTION NETWORK
15.
LAURA ZUCKER - LOS ANGELES ARTS COMMISSION
MICHAEL SPRING - MIAMI DADE CULTURAL COUNCIL
PEGGY AMSTERDAM – GREATER PHILADELPHIA ARTS & CULTURE ALLIANCE
LEE KESSLER –ARTS & SCIENCE COUNCIL - CHARLOTTE MECKLENBURG
16.
ARNIE FISHBAUGH – MONTANA ARTS COUNCIL
KRIS TUCKER – WASHINGTON STATE ARTS COMMISSION
PHILIP HORN – PENNSYLVANIA COUNCIL ON THE ARTS
17.
MARIALAURA LESLIE - MIAMI DADE COUNTY DEPT. OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS
SHANNON DAUT - WESTAF
DAVID DOMBROSKY - Director of Center for Arts Management and Technology at Carnegie Mellon
18.
KEVIN MCCARTHY - RAND CORPORATION
MARGARET WYSZMIRSKI – OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY.
19.
RICHARD FLORIDA – PROFESSOR CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY / AUTHOR
20.
NINA OZLU, RANDY COHEN, GARY STEUER - AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS
21.
CORA MIRIKITANI DIRECTOR CENTER FOR CULTURAL INNOVATION
DONNA WALKER KUHNE - INDEPENDENT CONSULTANT
BARBARA SCHAFFER-BACON - INDEPENDENT CONSULTANT
22.
PATRICE WALKER POWELL – DEPUTY DIRECTOR NEA
BILL IVEY – DIRECTOR CURB CENTER OF ART, ENTERPRISE & PUBLIC POLICY
23.
LOIS WEISBERG - COMMISSIONER OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS – CITY OF CHICAGO?
24.
ANNE IMELDA RADICE – INSTITUTE OF MUSEUM & LIBRARY SCIENCES
MARC SCORCA - OPERA AMERICA
25.
YOU (?!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)