rlaunder

HOT Schools – Internship positions available

Connecticut Office of the Arts Higher Order Thinking (HOT) Schools™ in partnership with Wesleyan’s Green Street Center for Teaching and Learning is offering two internships to Wesleyan University or Middlesex Community College Students.

This is a unique opportunity for organized, tech savvy individuals interested in the elements of planning, developing, implementing and coordinating particular aspects of the HOT Schools program including the HOT Schools Summer Institute (SI). The SI is an intensive interactive arts education experience for 200 plus artists, teachers, administrators and parents engaged in school culture change through strong arts, arts integration, and democratic practice. For more information about the HOT Schools Program visit www.higherorderthinkingschools.org

To apply: Please send a resume and letter of interest to hotschools@wesleyan.edu by April 15th, 2016.

Arts in Education (AE) Conference Planning Interns

Duration: The AE Conference Planning Interns will work from May 31 – July 21, 2016

Description: Participating in event design, planning and implementation
• Research and compile relevant resources
• Assisting in creation of promotional materials
• Managing multiple data systems (school reports and plans, on-line registrations and surveys, etc.)
• Organizing materials and supplies for presenters
• Networking with educators, artists and presenters
• General clerical duties (copying, filing, assembling materials, etc.)

Qualifications: The candidate for this position should be a self-starter with strong writing skills, be proficient in using excel and Google docs and have general clerical skills. The position requires flexibility, strong interpersonal skills and an interest in working collaboratively. Drivers license and access to a vehicle preferred.

Payment: $10.00 per hour
May 31 – June 17 at 20 hours a week
June 20 – July 21 at 40 hours a week

In conjunction with the Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts’ second annual Feet to the Fire: Riverfront Encounter, an environmental-arts festival to be held on May 7th on Middletown’s riverfront, Dr. Deborah A. Simmons, Ed. D. will show her latest mixed media work in A River Runs at Green Street Teaching and Learning Center.  The exhibit will open with a reception on Thursday, April 28th from 5:30-7:30p.m.  Simmons, an accomplished visual artist and a professor in Manchester Community College’s music studies program demonstrates her profound appreciation and reverence for the river’s beauty, history and environmental impact via intriguing mixed media works wherein she manipulates enlarged Xeroxed sections of navigational charts of the Connecticut River.  While the river, itself has inspired Simmons’ own curiosity about its history and aboriginal inhabitants, the resulting artworks provoke a sense of enchantment and wonder in the viewer— for these mysterious waterway locations of long ago.  A River Runs will be on view through June 1st.

The gallery at the Green Street Teaching and Learning Center is open to the public Mondays through Fridays from 9a.m. to 3p.m.

Our Discovery AfterSchool Instructors share stories from their classes in this guest blog series Discovery AfterSchool Stories. For more information on our AfterSchool Program, please visit – http://wesleyan.edu/greenstreet/youth/afterschool.html.

By: Danielle Schmitt

Children’s Literature Edition produced these colorful and vibrant chalk pastel drawings. These works were produced in tandem with the book Snowmen at Night by Caralyn and Mark Buehner.  Students listened to the story and afterwards were asked to create what their snowman would do at night. Students used chalk pastels on black and blue construction paper to create vivid depictions of snowmen drinking ice cold cocoa and sledding down a hill.  Some students also attempted to show a definitive light and shadow source in their work. All students also learned how to preserve their chalk pastel drawings with hair spray to prevent the chalk from coming off their work.

These works are currently on display on the first floor hallway at the Green Street Teaching and Learning Center.

Believe it or not, it’s that time of year when we begin the process of creating the Fall 2016 schedule of classes for the Green Street AfterSchool program.  We are asking that everyone—even our current staff of teaching artists, send in proposals for consideration.  This means that if you are currently teaching any class during the AfterSchool program (even long-established classes), you must make your interest known via our online survey in order to potentially continue teaching your current class (or, in order to propose any new ideas for classes).

Please submit your class proposal(s) in our on-line survey.

Please note that the Fall 2016 AfterSchool session runs from Sept. 12- Dec. 9, 2016.  Teachers will also be expected to attend a 2.5 hour-long staff orientation with a pizza lunch prior to the program’s start.   That training program will likely run from that training program will likely run from 11:30am- 2:00pm. on Sat., Sept. 10th.   Teachers are also required to attend the semester’s culminating evening Solstice performance on Friday, Dec.9, 2016, as well as to participate in any needed rehearsals earlier that week.

Green Street serves about 80 students per year through our AfterSchool Program. We are looking for class proposals in music, visual art, culture, languages, movement, nutrition, media, other arts disciplines, environment, science, and math. We would be particularly pleased to hear your ideas for classes that integrate art, math, and science in a fun, enriching, hands-on way that children may not be exposed to during their traditional school day experience.

AfterSchool classes are primarily offered for children in grades 1-5.   As of fall 2015, the only AfterSchool class that is offered for 6th-8th graders is our Wesleyan Bound class which occurs on Fridays from 3:15-5:15pm). The classes for elementary-age children meet once per week and are one hour-long (4:15-5:15p.m., Monday-Friday). We also offer a homework help time from 5:15-5:45p.m. on Monday through Thursday for children in grades 1-5 only.  Teaching one of these elementary level classes involves 1.5 hours of commitment per class including prep time.   Leading the WesleyanBound class for middle school students involves 2.5 hours of commitment per class including prep time.  Teaching any of our classes requires conversations with teaching assistants, staff meetings, at least one blog submission per semester, and also requires attendance at the evening Solstice performance (Dec. 9th) and at the Solstice rehearsals (during the week prior to the December 9th performance).

Community artists, educators, and Wesleyan students are eligible to submit a class proposal. Please understand that classes are contingent on student enrollment.  Compensation is in-line with experience. Work study students are encouraged to apply.  However, unlike working as a teaching assistant or as a homework tutor during the AfterSchool program, Wesleyan students should know that you are not required be a work-study student in order to receive payment for teaching an AfterSchool class.   The deadline for submitting class proposals is Wednesday, March 16, 2016.  Individuals are welcome to submit proposals for more than one class, although we would ask you to complete a separate on-line survey for each class proposal that you wish to submit.  We will notify applicants of chosen class proposals and have a finalized schedule of classes ready approximately sometime in late May.

Our Discovery AfterSchool Instructors share stories from their classes in this guest blog series Discovery AfterSchool Stories. For more information on our AfterSchool Program, please visit – http://wesleyan.edu/greenstreet/youth/afterschool.html. Spring registration is open!

By: Emily Furnival

After a semester of being astronomers, designing spaceships, learning about planets, and looking for extraterrestrial (alien) life, Science Club ended the year with a project a little closer to home. We built two chairs out of nothing but newspaper and tape!

First, we had to learn about the shapes that would allow us to build stable chairs. We tested different ways of folding paper by seeing how many books each shape could hold up. We found out that the best shapes were circular columns and, surprisingly, triangles, because the weight was distributed better in those two shapes. We learned that “trusses,” triangles stuck together to make rectangles, could hold up many books.

And then we were off! Two teams made chairs, each using rolled up newspapers as “columns.” One engineering team focused on columns, while the other focused on triangles.

While making the chairs, the engineers often stopped to test their structures, first with books and then with bodies. They learned how to reinforce weak points and evenly distribute weight. It took two classes, but both chairs were finished, able to hold even the teaching artist and assistant! The chairs were then decorated, and will be available for viewing (and possibly even sitting!) during Solstice.

For more science fun, check out the Science of Food Class this spring for Grades 3-5 on Thursdays. There’s also our Art and Science Classes which will focus on rivers this spring.

Our Discovery AfterSchool Instructors share stories from their classes in this guest blog series Discovery AfterSchool Stories. For more information on our AfterSchool Program, please visit – http://wesleyan.edu/greenstreet/youth/afterschool.html. Spring registration is open!

By: Anna Flurry

Taught by Ben Goldberg and Anna Flurry, teaching assistant, Clare Zad

How many 8-year-olds do you know who are published authors? We created this class to encourage kids to love writing by helping them bring their stories into print.

From left to right: Rayan, Mr. Ben, Lily, Ms. Clare, and Amelia working together on their stories

We started off the semester by introducing the basic elements of a story (plot, character, conflict, theme, and setting), using Little Red Riding Hood as a test case. The kids acted out the story and then told us what the elements of the story were.

From left to right: Amelia as the Hunter, Lily as the Grandma, Genesis as Red Riding Hood, and Rayan as the Wolf

After the students learned about these basic elements, we spent the next couple class periods brainstorming and having the kids plan out their stories. Then they got to work writing their masterpieces.

Lily writing about the adventures of Ann, the mouse-sized girl

Finally, it was time to edit the stories, come up with titles, and put together the artwork. We formatted the books and had them published for the students to take home after showing all their friends and family at the Student Showcase.

Amelia and Rayan put the finishing touches on their stories

If you think the Make Your Own Book Class sounded cool, you might be interested in checking out our new Story Art Class on Mondays for Grades 1-3 or the Poetry Players class on Fridays for Grades 3-5 this spring.

Our Discovery AfterSchool Instructors share stories from their classes in this guest blog series Discovery AfterSchool Stories. For more information on our AfterSchool Program, please visit – http://wesleyan.edu/greenstreet/youth/afterschool.html. Spring registration is open!

by Kamilah O’Connor

This semester at Green Street, I taught a class called “Beginning Step Dance” for 3-5th graders. My interest in teaching this class stemmed from my desire to share what I had learned from being on the step team at Wesleyan with the kids at Green Street. On the first day of class, I learned that none of the kids knew what step dance was so I spent part of the class explaining it to them using key words such as rhythm, synchronization, and beat. Each class I taught the kids one step, a combination of different stomps and claps to a specific rhythm, and reviewed the step from the previous class.

A highlight from the semester was the day I challenged the kids to work in groups and create their own step. This turned out to be a great experience because the kids were excited to explore their creativity and share with the rest of the class. I was impressed with the variety of steps that emerged from the groups as some kids reworked rhythms they had heard before while others made up something completely original.

Over the course of the semester the kids would come up to me and show me different steps that they practiced outside of class at home which revealed to me they were learning and understanding what I was trying to teach them. I really enjoyed teaching this class!

If Step Dance Class sounds fun, we have lots of dance classes this spring. Hip Hop, Ballet, African Dance, and Tap!

Our Discovery AfterSchool Instructors share stories from their classes in this guest blog series Discovery AfterSchool Stories. For more information on our AfterSchool Program, please visit – http://wesleyan.edu/greenstreet/youth/afterschool.html. Spring registration is open!

By: Lindsay Behrens

Art & Science students had a great time creating Dale Chihuly glass sculpture-inspired hanging art!

Nothing breakable here. Just some recycled water bottles we painted, cut, and hung to create a beautiful visual color-play…reminiscent of Chihuly’s intricate glass work.

This spring Art and Science Class will be on Mondays for Grades 3-5 and Tuesdays for Grades 1-3. This time, we’ll have an exploring the river theme!

Our Discovery AfterSchool Instructors share stories from their classes in this guest blog series Discovery AfterSchool Stories. For more information on our AfterSchool Program, please visit – http://www.wesleyan.edu/greenstreet/youth/afterschoolclasses_Spring2016.html Spring registration is open!

By: Peter Van Siclen

In the Green Street African Drumming class we worked on a variety of songs including: Gahu – a social song from Ghana, Fanga – a welcome song from Liberia, and KuKu – a fishing song from Guinea. We played a variety of drums, bells and rattles and played challenging polyrhythms. We learned to create a variety of sounds with a djembe drum, and had a fantastic time performing our music at the Winter Solstice student showcase event.

This spring African Drumming class will be on Mondays for Grades 3-5 with Mr. Peter.