I’m trying to stick to this one, because I actually enjoy practicing. Hopefully my roommates and neighbors can say the same for my practice sessions- thankfully the ukulele is a fairly quiet instrument.

Here’s the latest installment:

A music teacher and friend, Anne Sheridan, created this unit as part of her master’s thesis, and I love the intersections of dance, music, art and history. While her unit is geared towards middle school or high school aged students, the themes transfer easily to any age level.

This is a great example of how teachers can use voicethread to make a beautiful presentation, collaborate with colleagues, and organize lessons.

This project is one of uncountable scores of “instructables” on Instructables.com which proclaims that it is “The World’s Biggest Show and Tell.”

When I feel that I am lacking inspiration, I snoop around on this site and get excited about all the wonderful and strange things I can learn to create. This is a great resource for teachers in all subjects- instructables are all sorted by categories such as art, technology, science and music.

And in the spirit of Earth Day today, there’s also a set of instructables that are green.

(While this site is great for adults to browse, it is not always kid-safe, so make sure you check the content before you share it with students.)

I am ecstatic with the range of ideas being expressed, and the thought process students are using! There will be exciting surprises once students bring in their additional materials from home to add texture and meaning.

Check out all of the masks here!

I’ve also set up a new ArtEdDigested wiki to collaborate on lesson planning with my colleagues here at Kingsley Montessori School, and hopefully my new educator friends that I am meeting here on Edublogs and in the Twitterverse. Ah, technology, I love you.

Since I sing, I’d never been too sad about my lack of instrument but I am now seeing hilarious possibilities for the classroom as well as entertaining my roommates. I am particularly interested in playing metal/rock on the uke. It’s fun to share my new skills with students here at school, and show them that I have to start at the beginning just like they do.

Perhaps I’ll share a little uke with you soon…

^{© David Shrigley}

I love this guy.
Simple, clever, funny. There should be more artists like him.

^{© David Shrigley}

One of my favorite shows of all time is Sifl and Olly, a short-lived sock puppet show on MTV made by Liam Lynch. Sifl and Olly, though socks, have distinct personalities, mannerisms and even singing styles. There are also a cavalcade of peripheral characters that make appearances such as Chester the intern, and Precious Roy, home shopping network host.

I’d love to make music videos using sock puppets with the music teacher at my school, who also happens to be a fan of Sifl and Olly. For those uninitiated into the world of sock puppet, here are a couple example videos:

Meme: Passion Quilt
The rules are simple.
1. Think about what you are passionate about teaching your students.
2. Post a picture from a source like FlickrCC or Flickr Creative Commons or make/take your own that captures what YOU are most passionate about for kids to learn about…and give your picture a short title.
3. Title your blog post “Meme: Passion Quilt” and link back to this blog entry.
4. Include links to 5 folks in your professional learning network or whom you follow on Twitter/Pownce.

I was tagged a week or so ago by Joyce Valenza to do this meme, and I’ve been thinking about what I’d most like kids to learn, boiled down into one little photographic blurb.

This SCUL member (Subversive Choppers’ Urban Legion) in my neighborhood illustrates the benefits of taking risks, especially frightening ones. Dare to expose yourself to criticism, to look different, to ask dangerous questions that may not have easy answers. Art is all about taking risks and pushing boundaries. As elementary students, taking risks and deviating from the plan can have varied results for those brave enough to try. Being their teacher, I need to always encourage and reward the students who choose to ride that quadruple-decker bicycle down a main street at rush hour. Wahoo!

I tag anyone reading this blog to post their Passion Quilt as well.

Our One-Drawing-A-Day exhibition was even more successful than I could have hoped. Jazz music filled the air, students and their parents mingled with teachers and sipped sparkling grape juice. Each participant had a comment sheet next to their work, and our guests were specific and generous with their compliments and comments. I am so proud of everyone who took the challenge!