Academic Aesthetic Podcast 91

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I'll be in Pennsylvania all next week to visit with friends and family and perhaps spend a day or two at Musikfest in beautiful Bethlehem, PA. This doesn't mean that I'll be taking a break from podcasting, although I probably won't be posting the MP3s in the middle of the day like I normally do.

This will be my last big fling before I head back to school, and I'm really looking forward to this coming year. I may not have a classroom to set up, but after two years in the same buildings (more or less) I'm familiar enough with the curriculum to start planning my lessons.

I'm actually under more restrictions than you might think. As an Interrelated Art Teacher I'm not allowed to just stroll into the classroom and teach whatever I want. I have to develop lessons that don't just match the state standards for art, but also the standards for other subjects.

So my 3rd grade origami lesson must also be a review of fractions and geometry. Or when we use Model Magic to make insects my 6th graders need to identify the body parts by their proper names.

But there's more to my motives than just teaching cross-curricular lessons to students. You see, with four buildings there's no way I can see each class as often as I would like.

I need to find someone who spends more time with the kids than me ... gee, who could that be? Oh yeah, the classroom teacher!

While I teach the students, it's also my job to teach their teacher at the same time. Lucky for me, this can be as easy as making sure my student helpers hand paper out to everyone including the teacher. Everyone seems to love art, and in my experience the better teachers are more than happy to join in.

They might not repeat that lesson the same year, but the following year when they're covering the same part of their curriculum they might just remember how that crayon and watercolor project helped reinforce their lesson on hurricanes.

It means I'll need to plan something different each year, but that's OK - I think it's fun.

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