Precious Moments

This post is from Ali Bill, pictured here as Emily in Open Dream Ensemble's Big Shoes. 

Hello ODE followers!
These last couple of weeks have been overwhelming in the best sense of the word. We have traveled up and down this beautiful state and I've seen beauty that can only come from the southeast. It's just making it harder and HARDER to have the desire to leave here and go back to the Big Apple...

Our last residency in Charlotte was one that I will never forget. Just so everyone knows, we perform “informances” on the last day of five-day residencies, however we only had a four day residency at this particular school, so we didn't have time for one. However, the imagination and artistic ability that these children had was mind blowing!

On our last day, right before we hand out our book-marks, magnets, and flyers, the students and supportive teacher told us they had something for us, too. They formed in to three groups, thanked us for all that we had taught them, and proceeded to perform their own informances!!! I was blown away that not only did they learn the correct curriculum, they rose to the occasion and in their very own time, put together these skits with dialogue and movement. Our job had surely been done :) This is by far the most rewarding job I have ever had. And I will never forget those precious moments.

XO
Ali

Kind of Moment

This post is from Chesley Polk, pictured here in his role as an Open Dream Teaching Artist. 

I know my previous blogs have been on a super positive note and so I thought I would and should use this one to discuss one of the more painful parts of this job.  You get great kids and you get troubled kids.  The thing with the "bad kids" is they aren't bad. In fact, they are usually so eager to participate that it becomes distracting from the over all lesson and so they have to be disciplined or put out.  It is heartbreaking because you know all they want is to get the answer right or be involved, they just haven't yet mastered the art of "quiet focus". (Which is truly an art).

I hate being the one to tell them to calm down or sit out because I'm always afraid it'll make them scared to participate in the future or that they'll feel their efforts to participate are unappreciated.  I struggled with how to handle this, if only for my peace of mind, and with one student I left feeling I did what I could do.  This student was so active, always raising his hand, jumping with excitement to be able to do what we were doing - but he was so active that it became distracting and he began to shout out answers, jump into the circle, etc. This, as you may imagine, makes teaching the remaining 24 students pretty difficult.  On top of that, it became clear to me that he was a ring leader of sorts. Whatever he did three or four other boys would do as well; including turning their backs from the circle. 

We had to punish him and show him that behavior would get him no where - but I couldn't get that uneasy feeling out of my gut.  A feeling that I have to say something. I pulled him aside on our last day of residency and looked him in his tear filled eyes and said, "hey buddy, you have some great ideas.  You are really truly smart and we saw you knew so much - BUT one of the tricky things you have to learn is patience and how to also be an active listener.  You are clearly a leader in this classroom.  What you do - others do. They look to you as an example. That is a big responsibility". I asked him if he could handle that.  I asked him if he could try to lead the class responsibly and set an example for the other kids.  He looked up at me, tears still flowing down his cheeks, and shook his head yes while flashing a small smile then hugged me all the way to the door.  It's such a scary thing sometimes, teaching children.  I can't help but feel pressure and a responsibility to not only teach the curriculum but help mold them into good people and at times it seems hopeless, but that little teary smile sticks with me and I know, if only for that day, he understood something and that's the kind of moments that make this job a treasure.

Fearless Firebirds

This blog post is from Julianne Harper picture here as the pink Triplet Ish, Sheepish, in the center.

Wowee! Just finished up another residency at First Ward Elementary in Charlotte, NC.  What a blast and what an incredible school! Each school we travel to is totally different, and you really don't know what to expect. From the first day we were welcomed with open arms and could really feel how important the arts are to this school.  The classrooms were filled with enthusiastic and creative minds, open to anything we threw at them.  Mr. Chesley and I were able to to have a room full of actors, dancers, and musicians at any given time. And of course we weren't just singing and dancing about just anything; we created songs with movement about aquatic ecosystems, made sound wave soul train lines, and composed an orchestral movement representing the flow of a stream into a river into the ocean...all in a day's work! And absolutely without a doubt, none of that would have been possible without the amazing teachers at First Ward. Every teacher we worked with fully supported our non-traditional way of teaching, and joined our lessons side by side with the kids. It makes such a difference when the teachers participate with the children. They adore their teachers and when Ms. Lewis is dancing down the soul train sound wave line, the kids don't hesitate to follow. It's hard to believe that we only have one more residency to teach this season, and the First Ward Firebirds are going to be a tough act to follow!

Energizing Science

This post is from Chesley Polk! He is pictured here at the Robber of Soles in Open Dream Ensemble's production of Big Shoes. Having just finished our second residency I can say this experience has been more than I had thought or hoped for. Not only am I getting to perform a show, which I love, but then I'm getting to be with kids and discuss the artistic process and see them become more and more interested in at least one of the art forms as the week progresses. Today we had a student, in a discussion of what we've learned this week, say "I learned we can do science in a way that is fun and energizing." That made the week worth it right there. To have children respond to a lesson plan in a positive way, to build what we call and 'informance' (informal/informative performance, and then perform for their peers is such a great feeling. To see there faces light up and see them step out of their shells and become a Nile Crocodile, or even a bacteria is so fulfilling. This process is reminding me of when I first caught the acting bug in third grade. You can see certain students who have already caught it or catch it right in front of your eyes. It's truly an amazing thing.

Making the Leap

This post is from Wiley Basho Gorn, pictured here as Gordy in Big Shoes!

We are a few days out from our first school residency and I'm nervous and excited for it to begin! The past few weeks have been spent planning for this and talking a lot about the teaching process but once Monday starts we make the dive and hit the ground running. This next week is the first of a cycle, a system of management that will only grown stronger and more creative as we find our stride. I'm anticipating making some mistakes, it's bound to happen, but I'm looking forward to what each one has to teach me about myself and my work. We have been given the great responsibility and joy of passing knowledge on to these kids and I'm sure that by the end I'll have learned just as much from them as they will have from us.

Residency Work(s)

This post is from Open Dream Ensemble General Manager and Artistic Producer, Rebecca Nussbaum. Today marks the final day of Open Dream Ensemble residency work this season. At first glance it seems like an impossible mission: artists, Essential Standards, 20+ children in a classroom, arts activities. Each year we take artists, give them a week of training, a teaching artist partner, and a charge to bring the performing arts into the classroom through science standards. Artists are used to being diligent, patient, and creative. They are used to using their brains, bodies and reflexes to create and interpret art. They are generally NOT used to ingesting elementary science standards, teaching classrooms full of children, and writing out lesson plans. But year after year I have found that most artists are intrinsically good teachers. They enjoy the challenge of creating something that combines seemingly disparate fields. They enjoy getting children on their feet and bringing them into the wonderful realm when science, music, drama, dance, and imagination live. This has been a wonderful year to watch the Open Dream Ensemble artists develop in the classroom. From the opening day of teaching artist training to the tentative first moments running a class to where they currently are, 234 classes completed – capable, gifted, creative teaching artists. The returning cast has deepened their practice; the new cast has developed some impressive chops. Kudos to all of them and my thanks to each of them for being such curious, creative, and compassionate people!

Between Confucius and Cotton Stands the Land of the Teaching Artist

This post is from Open Dream Ensemble's Artistic Producer and General Manager, Rebecca Nussbaum.

As Open Dream Ensemble heads out to its third residency of the season, I am reminded of this quote attributed to Confucius: “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” In the past weeks the Open Dream artists have made the transition from performers to teaching artists. They have entered classrooms and coaxed the students into caves, caverns, and canyons. They have hiked up mountains to experience volcanoes, earthquakes, and landslides. They have explored valleys, ecosystems, and food chains. They have dived into oceans, rivers, lakes, ponds, and more – all through the performing arts. The purpose of integrating the arts into the science standards is to have the students experience what the standards mean through being on, in, at, under, around, between and betwixt the many aspects of natural science they are mandated to learn. Drama and music are used to tell the story of a volcanic eruption preceded by an earthquake and landslide. Vocal techniques are used to examine how various landforms toss sound around. Dancing is used as a tool to better understand how the producer, consumer, and decomposer flow together. And the hope for the learner is, “I do and I understand.” One can read through the blog posts of the Open Dream cast to see that the experience of teaching artistry is one that requires a great deal of thought, preparation, and learning. One of the wonderful attributes of being an Open Dream artist is the desire to continue to improve, learn, experience, and take on challenges. This season’s deeply talented cast of eight are exceptional artists with an incredible array of talents and skills. They are blessed with alacritous minds and generous spirits. But mostly, they have the drive to keep learning, and thus teaching. After all…. "Who dares to teach must never cease to learn." ~John Cotton Dana

Residency Assesment Report

This post is from Open Dream Ensemble's General Manager, Rebecca Nussbaum.

It’s January in North Carolina so rather than snow, we are getting grey, drippy days. These are good days for thinking and reflecting as Open Dream Ensemble gears up for an eighth season. And, as if on cue this drippy day, the final report on our residency work arrived!

One new element to Season Seven was having an outside evaluator assess our residency work. Why? Because we wanted to better understand what happens over the course of a residency and some of the whys and hows of it. In order to improve, it becomes, at some point, necessary to see what is happening through neutral eyes trained to look at and understand the goings-on.

Open Dream Ensemble Residencies include integration that connects to the essential standards in science and the performing arts. Activities are created that incorporate arts and science concepts. Each day of the residency the Open Dream artists (teamed in pairs of two, mixed by gender and primary art form where possible) go into classrooms and work with elementary students on understanding science through active arts participation.

We undertook an evaluation that would look at three prongs of the residency. The first was looking at student learning and perceived knowledge as well as their attitudes about science and theater arts. The second was looking at classroom teacher reaction to the residency work. The third, was trying to understand the impact of working in a residency situation on the artist of Open Dream Ensemble.

Having a better understanding of all these elements allows for improved residency work on all three fronts. I m learning a great deal from the report and appreciate having more information as plans for teaching artist training and residency structure are considered for the upcoming season.

Included below are the preface and Executive Summary from the report. I do want to thank Debbie Randolph for her great, through, thoughtful and thought-provoking work on this assessment! I will be spending many of my quite January hours in reflection on how to improve the important work Open Dream Ensemble does in the schools of North Carolina.


PREFACE
This evaluation of the Open Dream Ensemble is an important contribution to our understanding of the roles of the arts in learning content in other disciplines. There are simply too few studies of arts integration efforts for us to know what works best and how. This evaluation shows the success of the program in achieving its goals for student learning and in having positive effects on both the artists and the teachers. It also does so for an art form that has not had systemic study as a form of arts integration. The fact that an ensemble art form generated these effects is a testimony to the promise of this approach to arts integration. It is also notable that Open Dream Ensemble built an evaluation into its efforts. Open Dream now knows more about its work but as importantly Open Dream Ensemble also has something to say more broadly because it sought a rigorous evaluation. Open Dream Ensemble has proven itself and challenges other arts integration efforts to do likewise. This challenge needs to be met. We can thank the UNC School for the Arts and the Open Dream Ensemble for issuing it.

George W. Noblit. Joseph R. Neikirk Distinguished Professor of Sociology of Education, School of Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Students: To reach students through the arts and enliven science learning. MET IN ALL SCHOOLS
Artists: To help professional artists build skills as teaching artists and impart an enthusiasm for the arts and learning on the schools where they work. MET IN ALL SCHOOLS
Teachers: To help teachers recognize that there are ways to integrate the arts into curriculum in order to make learning deeper and more active. MET IN MOST SCHOOLS


Students
1200 Students served by residencies
+35 Average point increase in 3rd grade science vocab quiz mean score
77% Teachers who agreed that students increased their interest in science because of the residency

Artists
Working across art forms increased knowledge, confidence and risk taking
Demanding pace, intellectual rigor prepared artists for careers
Collaboration provided opportunities to negotiate relationships

Teachers
92% Teachers who agreed the residencies were successful
Teachers learned strategies for integrating the arts and science
81% Teachers who plan to extend ideas generated through residencies into the classroom

Dirty Dishes and the Science Curriculum

This post is from the talented Haydee Thompson. When not studying science or doing dishes, Haydee is an actress with the Open Dream Ensemble. We are fortunate to have her as a member for the fifth year. This season she also takes up the post of Residency Manager.

So our first residency has ended and I am enjoying my first real weekend at home catching up on laundry and many other household chores.
We spent the last two weeks at Shuford Elementary in Conover NC. This year we are teaching the new science curriculum that will be in effect next school year.
Everyday, four different grades and four different science subjects, amounting to close to 40 separate lesson plans. PHEW! The troupe and I have a joke that if its not in the curriculum we just don't know. We had the pleasure of teaching everything from as far out as the universe to tiny seeds, and that was just the third grade. Add the water-cycle,
life-cycle, ecosystems, genetics, volcanoes, fossils, (the list does go on and on), and I find myself actually relearning a thing or two! The challenges were creating fun and effective experiential activities for each days focus. The reward was certainly the enthusiasm of the kids and the obvious learning and understanding that was apparent. It takes a lot of work to have fun, and although the dirty dishes in my sink might not think so, all this hard work is well worth it.