Search Results

Michael Shain: Visual Art Representative In the spirit of the Season (Convention Season that is) I thought it might be fun to share province-wide the five Art Project Ideas that I am presenting at this year’s Palliser District Teachers Convention. This is my home convention and I always love to do something for teachers who find themselves (perhaps reluctantly) teaching Art (I'm looking at you, Junior High teachers). For this Convention I am hosting a Drop-in Maker-space spread over two session periods. I’ll have five stations populated with Art project ideas for teachers at all levels. I like to think of the projects as ideas because, while I give teachers copies of the lesson outline, it’s up to each of us to tailor the lessons to fit our students’ ages and abilities so that we provide enough challenge for growth without frustrating students with difficult techniques and, as professionals, we all have different styles of teaching.  The five project ideas are: Gesture Drawing (I’m using water-soluble graphite for an added technical twist). Formalist Sculpture maquettes (a scaled-down exploration of large formalist public Art). Beginning Caligraphy (with felt-nibbed calligraphy pens because I don’t need that mess). Eight Watercolour Techniques (a pretty standard introduction to using different watercolour methods). Plastic Plate Intaglio printmaking (geared more to High School and very process-oriented). These files can be found in a shared Google Drive folder here: https://shorturl.at/g3S0P The files are in a Google Doc format but anybody can download a copy of the files and convert them to a useful format. I am making these five project ideas available to any Art Teacher in Alberta for use in their classrooms (for other uses, please email me). If you have any questions or need any help with an Art Project I’ve been teaching Art for a few (ahem - 32) years now and I’ve built a pretty good repertoire of techniques, strategies and ideas. I’m here for you, seriously, just send me an email, we can chat : michael.shain@fineartsata.ca . Have fun, make more Art! Mike

Hello everyone! As a new member of the Fine Arts Council, I’d like to take a moment to introduce myself and share a bit about my program. My name is Aimee Alger, and I am a junior high Fine Arts teacher. I teach both visual arts and drama as part of a required course for all students in grades 7-9. In addition to teaching 18 homeroom classes, I also run our extracurricular drama program and the school's Dungeons & Dragons (DND) club, so I keep quite busy! Our extracurricular drama program is one of my greatest accomplishments in my time at my school. When I first started at the school in 2022, we struggled to put on a winter play due to a lack of student commitment and interest. The school had gone several years without a theatre program, and it was difficult to garner the enthusiasm we needed. However, I didn’t give up, and in January 2023, I successfully managed to put on a show with a cast of 16 students and 5 backstage crew members. That production felt like a turning point—suddenly, students were excited and asking how they could get involved. By the following fall, we performed a play with 24 cast members and 9 backstage crew, and we even managed to put on two shows that year, thanks to the dedication of our students. This school year has been an especially exciting one for our extracurricular drama program. The first play we staged in December was ambitious both in terms of content and technical elements, and it involved the most students ever—31 cast members and 18 backstage crew. I learned to step back and trust my students, and they exceeded all expectations. I am incredibly proud of them. Our spring production is a month in, and we’ve grown even further, with 46 actors and 17 backstage crew members. Many backstage students have transitioned into acting, while new students have joined our crew, expanding our reach even more. I believe this growth is a direct result of the supportive, welcoming environment my co-director and I have cultivated. Drama has become a safe space for many students at our school—it's fun, inclusive, and a place where students can take pride in their work. This shift in the school’s culture toward a greater acceptance of theatre has always been my goal. As the program continues to expand, I may need to reevaluate how I run it, but for now, I feel that the systems we’ve developed are working well for both the students and me, allowing us to produce high-quality productions. In addition to the extracurricular drama program, I start every year with a drama unit as part of my Fine Arts curriculum. In grade 7, we dive into improvisational theatre, which helps students get to know one another and work together in new and unfamiliar ways. In grade 8, we build on the foundation of improv, focusing more on idea development and long-form improvisation. By grade 9, students are introduced to script work and performance. While teaching drama as a mandatory course can be a unique challenge, I’ve seen firsthand how beneficial it is for students. Theatre and improv teach invaluable life skills such as creativity, adaptability, collaboration, and confidence. I’ve watched shy students transform—one of my first lessons involved students making eye contact with one another, and the nervousness was palpable. By the end of the unit, however, they were engaging confidently with each other and me. It’s truly remarkable to witness this growth. From my perspective, the benefits of drama cannot be overstated. Students become more social, improve their public speaking skills, and express themselves more clearly after participating in drama. After our drama unit in Fine Arts, we switched gears into visual arts. I’ve spent the past two years developing a visual arts curriculum for grades 7 and 8 that students enjoy and feel proud of. I focus on projects that have a low skill requirement but high payoff, which I’ve found keeps students engaged and motivated. Since I only see my students for one or two 40-minute blocks in a five-day cycle, I avoid projects that are overly skill-intensive. Instead, I focus on making sure that students can complete their work with a sense of accomplishment. This approach has resulted in excellent student engagement, project completion, and overall satisfaction with their finished work. This year, my grade 9 students, who were the first group I taught when I started at the school, are getting to experience my new visual arts curriculum. They’ve been fantastic as my test group, offering valuable feedback as I fine-tune my lessons. Based on the successes and challenges of the previous years, I’ve developed five new projects for them, and the first one is off to a fantastic start! While I’m always taking risks when trying out new ideas, that’s part of the excitement and joy of teaching—I get to see what works and what doesn’t, and adapt for the next year. I’m excited to continue to grow the arts in my school, and I’m very proud of the Fine Arts program I have been able to build. The growth I’ve seen in both our drama and visual arts offerings is a testament to the desire and passion the students have for the arts, and I’m grateful I can help offer that outlet. I look forward to continuing to build on this momentum and create even more opportunities for our students to thrive creatively and personally

It's that time of year when you might be midway through the year and feeling a dip in motivation, or you're gearing up for the second term and seeking new, innovative ways to start your class to energize your students! Here are five fresh ways to start your class and warm up your students. These methods shift from traditional teacher-led warmups to more holistic, student-centered activities. They change the class formation and encourage students to move in new ways, energizing both body and mind. These warmups are also great for theatre rehearsals, drama classes, or even dance lessons in physical education. Feel free to adapt, change, and share these ideas with colleagues! Each warmup can be tailored to your specific group, discipline, and age group. I've also included some fresh playlists from my Spotify, ready for use in class. Since I teach high school, the music is generally aligned with what my students enjoy and is appropriate for that age group.   1. Circle Warm Up Circle Warm Up ( Image Source ) Standing in a circle, facing into the center of the circle. Each student one by one leads one warm-up movement. An example could be the first student goes into a pigeon position on the floor, holding for 20 seconds on each side, and the next student goes into a butterfly position with a flat back for 20 seconds. I encourage students to speak through and “teach” their stretch the group, explaining the movements, adding in commentary about safety and alignment, where we should feel the stretch etc. I love this warm up, because it takes the ownness off the teacher to lead and gives an opportunity for each student to be a leader for one short moment. Over time students really come to enjoy this warm up, they are excited about sharing a new stretch or movement they love from their studio classes or from other extra curriculars they do. This is also a great opportunity for commentary on safety, alignment and proper order of exercises, eg: not going right into the splits, but instead what are some ways we can warm up the body first before dropping into the splits.    Extension: Could add more directions or rules to the Circle Warm Up when students are more familiar with it. Some examples of this are: Let's start with movements that stretch or warm up our bodies from the top of our heads through to our feet as we go around the circle. Every alternating student has to lead either a stretch or a cardio focused movement, like one student does a lunging stretch and the next student does 20 jumping backs etc. Music: I suggest this playlist for this warmup - Fresh Starts: Slow & Steady If it is more of a stretch, I would choose something that isn't too fast and on the more chill side of music, acoustic, singer-songwriter works well here. If you want to energize, choose something that has a good vibe, but again not too loud or fast, so everyone can hear the leader.   2. Paired Warm Up Students love warming up with a partner, so my students always love this one! Pair everyone off, I always encourage students to find someone they haven't worked with this week. Assign students either “A” or “B”. “A” students are the cardio partner and B students are the stretching partner. I like to start with increasing the heart rate, so partner A starts, they lead an on the spot 1-song in length cardio workout for their partner, usually something including jumping jacks, squats, lunges, plank, crunches etc. Their partner mimics and follow their cardio workout for the duration of one song. Partner B follows by leading a one-song stretch, can extend to 2 songs or more if needed. I often find students love to chat and catch up during stretching, and I usually don't let them during full class warm ups, but when they are partnered up, I allow them to chat and share while warming up, it gives a great opportunity for students to connect and get to know someone new better. Music: For this I usually choose something upbeat for Partner A, and something slower for Partner B. Partner A Playlist: Fresh Starts: Cardio Energizer   Partner B Playlist: Fresh Starts: Slow & Steady   3. Student Warm Up This one takes a bit more planning, but I assign every student to plan and lead a 15-minute warm-up. I do this as a solo project, where students present and lead a warmup individually, but this could be done in pairs or small groups as well. I assess this as well using a rubric, as a summative assessment, assessing the following outcomes: the use of specific warm up components safe dance practices relationship between music and movement correct alignment and posture. Attached is my assignment for you to adapt or use if this is something you want to integrate into your classroom! Student Warm-Up Assignment   4. Mirroring & Flocking Mirroring Traditional mirroring exercise, in groups of 2, usually partners who are the same height. Students face one another and make eye contact, one leads the other in basic and slow movements, beginning with hands and arms. As they become more comfortable, encourage movements with legs, using the floor and travelling around the space. Encourage focus, commitment and eye contact. I do this a lot in drama and musical theatre classes as well to get students to move their bodies more freely. In these classes, I choose Broadway tracks or movie soundtracks to introduce more characterization into the movement too. Usually, with movie soundtracks by Hans Zimmer, or movies like Star Wars, Harry Potter, Finding Nemo etc., students start to take on physicality and movement that matches the characters' movements in the films. Students don't even notice they are doing improvised creative dance movement; that's a win! Extension: Could be adapted to be across the floor mirroring. Option to join another group and continue mirroring, based on dancer’s impulse. Flocking An extension of mirroring, but generally in groups of 4. Groups of 4, make a diamond shape, facing downstage. Most downstage people lead movements to begin and the group behind the leader follows. When they want someone else to take over and lead, they transition their body to stage right or left and the new most front leader takes over. I encourage students to reduce the break between leaders and instead transition through to the new leader. Continue to encourage students to copy exactly, adding in movements inspired by legs and floor movement. Here is a video  of how flocking works in action. Extension:  It could extend to a whole class flock, making a large filled in diamond shape and encouraging other students to step in and take the lead. Could be adapted to be across the floor, more focus on travelling movement Option to join another group and continue flocking in larger group, based on dancer impulse.       Music: Film Scores Mirroring Fresh Starts: Fresh & Funky New Sounds  - A playlist of sounds from Indigenous Artists This is a great opportunity to play music students are not used to or familiar with. Music that pushes them to move and groove in new and different ways.   5. Walking and Greeting Warm Up Students walk around the space, placing whatever directions you want on this, speeding up, slowing down, neutralizing the body etc. When students walk up to another person, make eye contact and stop, students face one another and each individually lead a greeting gesture with their body – some sort of “hello” with their body in movement. Continue this exercise as students meet someone new, they do a new improvised greeting. Do this until every student has greeted every member of the class. Extension: Have students use impulse to stay longer with each greeting and turn it into an opportunity for improvised dance between students, either mirroring or just improvising across from each other, students conclude the improvisation and move on walking to greet another person. Music: Fresh Starts: Fresh & Funky I hope these five fresh starts for your classes provide you and your students with exciting new ways to warm up and energize. If you have any questions or successfully use these or other methods to extend these exercises, share with me at victoria.reid@fineartsata.ca . Keep shining! Victoria Reid

Google Slides Link Music Teachers - here is a sneak preview of a resource that will be featured in an upcoming Fine Arts Council publication. Enjoy!

Welcome to 2025! I wanted to give you a little review of how changing my concerts and not doing a Christmas/Winter concert went. As you may remember from last month’s newsletter, I decided to do 3 smaller concerts throughout the year to showcase 2 grades at each instead of doing a winter concert. So far so good. Only a few parents complained (that I know of). Thanks to another couple of teachers who organized a family Christmas evening with crafts and activities I don’t think the families felt like they were missing the spirit of the season. My grade 5 and 6 concert was in November and that went well too. Now I’m preparing for grade 1, 2 and kindergarten concert that will be in February.  It is nice to be able to choose songs from any theme. I’ve chosen some classics like “Skinnamarink” and "If You're Happy and You Know It". I’ve created French verses for each song, too. I also have some new songs from music K-8: “Bright Happy Days” and “Forever Learning”. These will also feature some French verses. My grade 3 and 4 concert will be at the end of March. The trick as I move forward is to not always be in concert planning mode. Wish me luck. As I’m working on the concert with the div 1s I will be doing other units with the upper grades as we finish the term and get report cards finished. ·      Grade 3s  are going to be starting to prepare for the Leduc music festival (I take the grade 3’s every year). This year I chose 3 songs from the music that was presented at the Long and McQuade choir reading session in August. It was my first time going this year and I’m so glad I did. Getting to hear the music with its harmonies and singing along was great fun and insightful. ·      Grade 4s  are going to review the instruments and families with the book “The composer is dead” by Lemony Snicket. ·      Grade 5s  are going to start an intensive unit learning the recorders- We will be doing a condensed version of my normal recorder karate as we bought a class set of alto recorders this year and I’m excited to try some duets following the recorder karate.   ·      Grade 6s  are doing “The History of Rock and Roll”. This is a unit that came with my classroom resources when I started many moons ago. Over the years I’ve changed and added activities to the original information to include composing in 12 bar blues, dancing and creating a “family tree” of sorts to show how Rock and Roll came to be. If any of these units sound intriguing or if you have any questions feel free to email me at amanda.clark@fineartsata.ca . Look forward to hearing from you! I’m always happy to talk resources and concert planning among all the other aspects of teaching music. Don’t forget to check out our virtual events coming up in January and February!

One of the things I love most about teaching Drama is the opportunity it gives students to connect and understand the different perspectives and experiences that shape each person. However, this does not innately come with the class, and often we must work hard at fostering the relationships and support a Drama class can bring. In a world where kids are so connected to their devices and social media and struggle to build authentic connections with others, we must support the students and give them the tools to be able to do so.  As teachers, it often feels like we don’t have the time to build this into our lessons, but Drama uniquely lends itself to building empathy, conflict resolution skills, and emotional awareness through our program of studies. If you’re looking for a reset with your students or want to start the new year off on the right foot, I’ve gathered some Social-Emotional Learning activities that can be used in the Drama classroom and beyond. These activities come from my experience as a teacher, as well as insights I’ve gathered from other educators and online resources. 1. Character Walk Objective: Develop empathy by exploring how characters react to challenges. Instructions: Introduction: Start by discussing empathy —being able to understand and share the feelings of others. This is a key skill in both life and Drama, which allows us to step into someone else's shoes. Character Creation: Provide students with a brief character description (A 14-year-old student who just moved to a new city and doesn’t know anyone, or A young athlete who just got cut from their sports team). You can also let students create their own character with an emotional challenge (e.g., they did poorly on an assignment they worked so hard on, or feeling excluded from their friend group). Character Journey: Have students walk around the room while embodying their character. Ask them to focus on how their character would move, speak, and express emotions based on their backstory. Offer prompts like: “Your character just had a difficult conversation with a friend. How do they feel?” or “Your character is facing a big decision. What emotions are they experiencing?” Reflection: After a few minutes of walking, gather the students and ask them to reflect on their experiences. Prompt them with questions like: ·      How did it feel to "be" your character? ·      What new perspectives did you gain from stepping into someone else’s shoes? ·      Can you relate to your character’s feelings or experiences in any way? Debrief: Discuss how empathy helps us understand others in real life and leads to improved communication and relationships. Reflect on the importance of considering other people’s perspectives in their everyday lives. 2. Emotional Entrances & Exits Objective: Recognize and express emotions through body language and movement, improving emotional awareness and nonverbal communication skills. Materials: ·      A list of emotions (e.g., joy, frustration, nervousness, pride, sadness, hope, etc.) o   There are many emotion generators online to help prep for this activity. Instructions: Introduction: Discuss how emotions are often communicated through body language—posture, facial expressions, and movement can indicate how or what we’re feeling-often better than words can. Emotional Entrance/Exit:  Students will take turns selecting an emotion and performing it physically, without using words. They should "enter the space," take a moment to embody the emotion, and then "exit" the space. Encourage them to use facial expressions, gestures, posture, and movement to convey the emotion. After each performance, the class will guess what emotion was displayed. Afterward, ask the performer questions like: How did you choose to express that emotion? Why did you use certain movements or expressions? How does body language change how we understand emotions? Group Reflection: After a few rounds hold a group discussion about the different emotions that were performed. Explore how different people might interpret the same emotion based on their own experiences, cultural backgrounds, or body language. Extension: As a follow-up, students can work in pairs or small groups to create short scenes based on a specific emotion. These scenes can then be performed for the class, emphasizing how emotion shapes both verbal and physical actions. 3. The Empathy Web Objective: Strengthen empathy by connecting students’ personal experiences and emotions to those of others. Materials: ·      A ball of yarn or string ·      A list of scenarios or questions related to emotions (optional) Instructions: Introduction: Explain the concept of empathy—feeling with someone, not just for them. Empathy helps us understand each other better and build supportive relationships. Starting the Web: Have students sit in a circle. One student will begin by holding the ball of yarn and sharing something that makes them feel a particular emotion (e.g., "I feel nervous before a big test" or "I feel happy when I spend time with my friends"). They will then hold the end of the yarn and toss the ball to another student who shares a similar experience or emotion. This process will continue until the yarn has passed through the whole group, creating a "web" of emotional connections. Building Connections: As the yarn is passed around, students must make connections between their emotions and those shared by others. For example, if a student shares that they feel anxious about speaking in front of the class, others who feel similarly can respond, "I’ve felt that too," and pass the yarn on. This helps build a sense of community. Discussion: Once the web is complete, step back and observe how interconnected everyone is. Ask questions like: How does it feel to realize others share similar emotions? What does this web tell us about how we are all connected through our feelings? How can we use empathy to support each other when we feel a certain way? Wrap-Up: End by discussing how understanding and validating each other’s emotions helps create a more compassionate, connected community. 4. The Apology Game Objective: Practice conflict resolution, accountability, and reconciliation through role-playing apologies. Instructions: Introduction: Discuss the power of a sincere apology. Explain that an apology is more than just saying “sorry”; it’s about understanding the impact of your actions, taking responsibility, and working to repair relationships. Scenario Setup: Have students create their own scenarios that might require an apology (made-up or real-life) or have a list of scenarios for the class (e.g., "You hurt a friend’s feelings by making a joke about them," "You missed an important group project deadline," "You broke something that wasn’t yours"). Role Play: In pairs or small groups, students will role-play the scenario. One student will play the person who needs to apologize, while the other plays the person who was hurt or affected. The student apologizing should include key components of a meaningful apology, such as: Acknowledging the behavior ("I realize I hurt your feelings when I said that...") Taking responsibility ("I shouldn’t have said that. It was wrong of me...") Offering a way to make it right ("Next time, I’ll be more mindful of how I speak to you...") Reflection: After each round, have students reflect on the experience with questions like: What made the apology feel sincere? What was it like to both give and receive an apology? How did it feel to offer a solution or promise to change your behavior? Class Discussion: Discuss how apologies can help rebuild trust and mend relationships. Emphasize that a sincere apology isn’t just about words—it’s about demonstrating that you understand the other person’s feelings and are committed to making amends. Extension: You can use this as a scene extension from a play you’re studying or as a character development exercise. Students can create a conflict for their character and write a scene that includes an apology. Closing Reflection for All Activities: At the end of each activity, gather the students for a brief reflection circle. Ask them to share: One thing they learned about themselves through the activity. One new way they can apply what they’ve learned in their personal lives. This helps deepen the connection between Drama and social-emotional learning (SEL), reinforcing the idea that the skills learned in class can be transferred to real-life situations. It also validates students’ emotional experiences and helps them see how their peers process similar situations.

Read the latest news from your Fine Arts Council Executive - November 2024. In this issue: Meet your Executive THANK YOU to our Outgoing Executive Members! Music Representative Update Dance Representative Update A Fine FACTA - New Issue Online! Drama Survey - Thank You to our Participants! Celebrate a Fine Arts Teacher (with a treat for you!) Community Connections

On Monday, October 28, dance educators from across Alberta gathered virtually for an enriching Professional Development Session: Dance Discourse: Perspectives & Practice. The event featured engaging discussions and valuable insights aimed at elevating dance education in Alberta, with guest speaker, Carrie Robins. For those who missed the live session, a recording is available on Soundcloud and can be listened to as a podcast - embedded above! This ensures everyone has the opportunity to benefit from the wealth of knowledge shared during the event. This session was a testament to the vibrant and supportive dance education community in Alberta. We look forward to more such enriching events in the future! As shared in the session, music is such an amazing way to bring joy and energy into the classroom, and as dance teachers we are always on the hunt for new music. So below are a few of my favourite artists right now. I hope you enjoy! -              Leon Bridges -              Stephen Day -              Wild Rivers -              James Vincent McMorrow Sincerely, Victoria Reid (Dance Rep)

Featuring: Winter Concert Talk, Drum Circle Event Review, AI Song Generator Resource Hello Friends,  Welcome to the winter concert season! I hope that all your planning and practices are going well! If there is anything I can do to support you in this please send me an email. I’m happy to help!  Winter Concert Talk This year I'm trying out a new concert schedule and I’m NOT doing a big winter concert. I'm down from seeing the students 3 times a week to 2 times a week. I don’t feel that is enough time to prepare a big concert and to be ready we would have been singing winter songs in October. So, this was my compromise:   A Christmas Caroling sing along and family event with hot chocolate and craft (This will include 2 songs featuring the Choir club and 2or 3 songs by the band club)  Smaller, more casual and classroom music based (sharing what we are learning in class) concerts for a couple grades at a time (k,1 & 2.  3 & 4.  5 & 6.) I’m spreading these out throughout the year too to give me more time to prepare for each. One in November, February, and end of March.   I’m hoping this will also help to solve the following problems we were having:  A whole school concert was giving us “fire code” problems with all the people who wanted to come watch. This way we have smaller groups of people for each concert.   Parents complaining that they couldn’t see their child on stage and/or only doing a couple songs.  All of the teachers need to be present for the concert to supervise the students in their class during the concert when they are not singing. With a smaller more casual concert everyone will stay on stage the whole time and I don’t need supervision.   I’ll let you know how this new adventure turns out. So far, I have only had good feedback from parents and staff.     Drum Circle Event Review We had an amazing time at our Drum Circle! Thank you to everyone who came out and participated- you made my time there so enjoyable! I felt so inspired and revived afterwards. For those who missed it, Lucas Coffey with “Rhythm, Rhythm, Rhythm”  offers drum circle events for your school.    Stay tuned for more networking events!   AI Song Generator Resource   While presenting at the Beginning teachers conference a fun new resource came up! Thank you to the teacher who shared it! Check it out:  https://suno.com/   This is an AI song generator and will create a fun song for you on the topic of your choice.  I was working with the grade 4 class teaching them about conjunctions so I used that as inspiration for trying out this tool. It came up with lyrics and a melody that an AI generated voice sings for you. A couple of other things to note:  Its downfall is that you can’t see a score to play along. You would have to learn it by rote.    The pictures on the site are not kid friendly so don’t share your screen with your students.   I had to add” make it kid friendly” to the prompt because it was giving me themes in the lyrics that were not appropriate.   It took me about 3 tries before I finally got something that I really liked but those 3 tries only took me about 5 min.   It auto-generates your display name so double check it... I found mine not to be appropriate.   There seems to be a lot of appropriateness issues but once I changed them it seems alright. Just be vigilant when you are using this site. That being said, the song output was worth the trouble to me because the kids loved it and started singing along immediately.     I gave it the following prompt:   a melodic song to sing about conjunctions: so, and, or, but, yet  include the definition of a conjunction  use appropriate words and themes for children  use pop style of music  include the score   And got the following output:   [Verse]  Conjunctions are the words we use to link  They glue our phrases strong like magic ink  They're short but mighty pieces of the chain  Helping sentences to clearly explain     [Verse]  Words like so  And  Or  But  And yet  They help create the best stories you've met  Tiny but they're key in what you say  Linking ideas in a smart way     [Chorus]  So let's sing about conjunctions now  And you'll see just how they wow  Or choose your words and join the fun  But don't forget  The job's just begun     [Verse]  So's for showing reasons oh so neat  And joins together words like friends on the street  Or gives you choices left or right  But says however  Not so bright     [Chorus]  So let's sing about conjunctions now  And you'll see just how they wow  Or choose your words and join the fun  But don't forget  The job's just begun     [Bridge]  Yet is like a twist in tales we tell  Shows contrast  Spinning stories well  Together they make language cool and tight  With conjunctions  Everything feels right

Date & Location: Saturday, November 02 2024 02:30 pm - 03:00 pm GMT-6 Click HERE for Zoom Link Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2024 The Fine Arts Council of the Alberta Teachers’ Association announces its Annual General Meeting to take place on Saturday, November 2, 2024 from 2:30pm-3:00pm virtually, to take place on Zoom ( AGM Zoom Link ). Positions up for election include: Secretary Web Manager Art Representative Dance Representative Generalist Representative If you would like to be nominated, or nominate someone, for one of these positions, you can do so by filling out the Fine Arts Council Nomination form . Nominations will also be accepted from the floor at the AGM. We are also looking to appoint a Social Media Manager. This is not an elected position and is an Annual term (1 year). If you are interested in this appointed position, please email president@fineartsata.ca . Come to our AGM and stay for some learning and prizes ! “The Art of Inclusive Communication”, starting at 3:00pm will focus on sharing creative and inclusive communication tools. These tools can be used to increase connection, communication and understanding of creative engagement tools, rooted in leadership theories and concepts. Click here for more information about this FREE VIRTUAL SESSION as well as the link to register. See you there!

What comes to mind when you hear the words Orff and school music? If you want to learn more about the Orff process and how it can be used in different settings, join us for a Taste of Orff. This session, "What's on Your Plate," will explore rhythm, melody, reading and writing, playing instruments, movement, and creativity using popular music, Chinese nursery songs, and children's literature. Come prepared to fill your plate with music, materials, and connections with other music colleagues! This session is geared toward music teachers and pre-service teachers and is being presented by Orff teacher educator, Kim Friesen Wiens. Cost: ATA Fine Arts Council Members: $5.00 University of Alberta Students: $5.00 Non-Members: $15.00 To register for this event, click here: A TASTE OF ORFF REGISTRATION LINK Venue: Collins Recital Hall, Northwestern Polytechnic, Grande Prairie Organizer: Kim Friesen Wiens editor@fineartsata.ca

October 2024 Drama Update by FAC Drama Rep, Molly Danko In early September I had the joy and privilege of hosting the Fine Arts Council’s first social event of the school year- a teacher's night out at Rapid Fire Theatre. We were so warmly welcomed in by Rapid Fire Theatre and got to chat with the cast and Executive Director, Matt Schurmann (after a hilarious double feature improv show) to learn about all the opportunities Rapid Fire has to offer us teachers and our students. See information below and look out for our next Teacher Night with Rapid Fire in the New Year!     Improv Leagues & Tournaments:    Northern Alberta Improv League (NAIL):     NAIL  occurs on Wednesday nights throughout the school year and features various Improv teams from high schools around Northern Alberta. It is a playfully competitive improv league where students get to show off their skills and learn from the other schools and students. Buy your tickets online through Rapid Fire Theatre, or inquire within to sign up your school Improv Team!   Wildfire Festival:     The Wildfire festival runs in February each year and is comprised of three different events: Wildfire Jr., CIG, and the Nosebowl:  Nosebowl  TheatreSports Tournament    February 3-9, 2025: High School Students get to compete in a Theatresports competition to win over the judges!    Wildfire Jr.   February 3-13, 2025:   Wildfire Jr. Is an introduction to the world of Improv for junior high students. A fun and friendly competition between schools that runs for two weeks in early February   Canadian Improv Games (C.I.G.)   February 10-16, 2025: Rapid Fire hosts the Alberta Regional competition of the Nation-wide Canadian Improv Games. The winning team from this high school improv event gets to represent Alberta at the C.I.G. in Ottawa!     Workshops, Performances, & Residencies:    Improv School Residencies     Residencies are available for your classes to help build strong improvising (and life) skills, while covering various outcomes from the Alberta Programs of Study. The Residencies take place at least four hours a day for 1-2 weeks, but Rapid Fire can be flexible with their time- just reach out and see what they can offer!    Performances   You can hire Rapid Fire Theatre to come perform at your school. This may be a whole school event, or a performance after a week-long residency with one of your classes. An innovative, engaging and easy way to get your whole school involved!   Abbynormal   An engaging and interactive improvised science performance and demonstration for grades 1-9    Teacher Opportunities:    Bring in Rapid Fire to play with your  staff  for your next PD Day!   Take a class  with Rapid Fire! Improve your own improv skills so you can confidently teach it to your students. Have some fun and take time to feed the artist inside the teacher.     Joleen Ballendine ( joleen@rapidfiretheatre.com ) and Dill Prusko ( dill@rapidfiretheatre.com ), two of the cast members we had the pleasure of talking with after the show, so happen to be the Director of Education and Youth Director with Rapid Fire Theatre respectively.  You may contact them with questions about programming or use the general inquiry form on the Rapid Fire Website.     I have a quick survey for you to complete to get some more information on what our members would like to see for Drama PD:  https://forms.office.com/r/BKvSX6wZq4