Lessons From High School Musicals
My appreciation of musicals started with The Sound of Music soundtrack. As a child, I listened to the entire album. I branched out to other musicals discovering they comprised ...
Arts Education
It Takes Two To Tango
Imagine a gymnasium filled with a grade seven students. They’re scattered around the room in mixed pairs of girls and boys. They’re holding hands. They’re looking each other ...
Jazzing Up History Class
Educators teaching history may find guidance in the genius of Miles Davis’ advice to musicians, “Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there.” In 2011, while I was working ...
Ukulele in the Classroom
Making music with a ukulele is a great group learning experience. Classes as young as grade three can learn the elements of music. Ukuleles are a good size and price, and they ...
Drama: Circle Name Game
A simple way to start creating a sense of community among students is through icebreakers, such as variations of the ‘name game.’
A Case for the Arts in the Future of Education
If you believe, as I do, that the techniques we use in education should be teaching students things that are most important to them and society, then arts have to be at or ...
Teachers Learn the Two-Step
For students who can’t communicate very well in traditional ways—through written tests, essays, and exercises—dance is one way for them to share feelings.
Teaching the Arts in the Far East
Seeking a new experience teaching music, I decided to cross an ocean and arrived in Hong Kong in August 2004. In the process, I discovered that teaching the arts is really ...