October 13, 2023

Happy Friday the 13th, Arts FAM!

In the Blog This Week:

NBSO visits FRPS!
Eval Docs
Identity Pursuits in Arts Classes

NBSO in Fall River:

So, the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra was in the HOUSE this week in some of our elementary schools, and it was awesome! The program Adaptations in Motion dives into adaptation in the field of biology as a change in the structure of an organism where it becomes better suited for survival in its environment. As environments change, so do organisms. This gradual, dynamic process can be traced back through time, as the 2023-2024 Learning in Concert program follows the transformation from ancient fish to modern day tetrapod (four-limbed vertebrates),from life in the sea to life on land. Over the course of this three-phase program, our kids will investigate the specific adaptation of locomotion by investigating the anatomy of various organisms to uncover the ways in which they moved, swam, crawled, jumped and walked. We will begin with early aquatic creatures and move to transitional species like Tiktaalik, the revolutionary new scientific discovery marking the fish that first emerged from water to begin life on land. SO COOL!

Evaluation Docs:

Next Friday, October 20th, all self assessments, student learning goals and professional practice goals will be due in TeachPoint. If you need ANY help with this, please seek me out- call, text, email.. I am here for you. Don't forget to use the Goals DOC that was shared with you. It's there for you to copy/paste/modify to fit your goals.

Identity Pursuits in Arts Classes:

In middle and high school PLC time, we have done some reading and discussing specific to student identity and sense of self as it relates to the tasks we plan for our kids. Ghouldy Muhammad's text, Cultivating Genius, An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy is really giving us a look into the impact of how we plan to cultivate identity.

The question she asks is: "How will my instruction help students to learn something about themselves and/or about others?" Let's think about this as we plan!

Check out these great pics of the Durfee Band and Orchestra at Yo Yo Ma's rehearsal in Boston!