"State Teacher Forum"

As Kershaw County Teacher of the Year, I am invited to attend State Teacher Forum meetings.  I attended my first meeting this past week.  I had the opportunity to hear the new SC Teacher of the year Jenna Hallman speak.  She is very enthusiastic and excited about leading South Carolina’s teachers this year. Also at the meeting were Teachers’ of the Year from school districts surrounding Kershaw County–Lexington, Richland, York, Lancaster, and Chester, to name a few.  I really enjoyed getting to meet with teachers from neighboring districts and discussing current educational issues.

We also discussed Teacher Forums on the district level.  Imagine how pleased and surprised I was to find out that they were using Kershaw County’s Teacher Forum as an example of a model forum.  I don’t think we teachers here in Kershaw County realize that there are some neighboring districts that either don’t have forums or that have forums that don’t really provide a voice for their teachers.  I sat in that meeting realizing all of the work that the Teachers of the Year before me had put into creating a Teacher Forum for Kershaw County.  How fortunate to work in such a forward thinking district!

"Technology in Music"

My music classes focus on a different composer every month in music.  This month’s composer is Edvard Grieg.  I picked Grieg because he has a wonderful piece entitled “In the Hall of the Mountain King” from his Peer Gynt Suite that is perfect for Halloween, spooky without being scary.  I decided to make use of my white board to help engage the students in the music.  First, we just listened to the piece, moving to the steady beat and talking about the tempo.  Then, the next week, we watched a video clip that I downloaded off of TeacherTube of an orchestra playing the actual piece.  On the third week, the students participated in an interactive video that had animation to go with the music.  They got to come up to the whiteboard and participate in an activity that related to the music–interactive listening!  The students had such a good time with the interactive video that when they went to tech lab that week, they begged the teacher to let them visit my web-site to participate in the video again.  I even had some students telling me that they had gone home and listened to the music again on the internet.  I know that this would not have happened if it had not been for the technology that I incorporated into the lesson.    I was so excited to hear that the students were engaging in music-related activities outside of the music class.  What a way to extend the lesson!!!

"Strings for All"

I wanted to share with you a wonderful instrumental program that is new to our district this year.  It is called “Strings for All”  and is an outgrowth of the “Strings in the Afternoon” after-school strings program.  The program is offering instruction in learning how to play orchestral string instruments (violin, viola, cello, string bass) in all Kershaw County School District elementary schools.  Jim Wheeler, a former Kershaw County music teacher, is the instructor.  Classes are meeting once a week, with instruction provided during the school day.  Through funding provided by the Upton Foundation, DAP and ABC Grants, there is no cost to students for instruction (minus instrument rental).  According to Mr. Wheeler, there are currently 172 students enrolled in the “Strings for All” program and 15 students enrolled in his “Strings in the Afternoon” group.  What a great program to have available for our students in Kershaw County!  I’ll be sure to keep you posted on how this group progresses throughout the year.

I would love to hear from anyone who has a child or students involved in our new “Strings for All” program that would like to share on my blog!

Performance at the State Fair

I would like to share a great experience that I had today that reaffirms why I love teaching and why I love teaching in the Arts.

At Pine Tree Hill, I co-teach a group of students with our PE teacher, Mr. Moses Lee, called the Pine Tree Hill Tinikling Team.  Tinikling is a traditional folk dance from the Phillipines that involves dancers moving through bamboo poles that are being moved in steady beat patterns by polers–kind of like jumping rope, but using wooden poles instead of ropes.  We started Tinikling several years ago as part of a Multi-cultural grant that we received through the state.   Well…what started out as an instructional unit has turned into a “Pine Tree Hill Tradition.”  We now have an auditioned group of 5th graders that actually try-out to be a part of this performing group.  We start over with a new group every year as our 5th graders move on to the middle school.

Our first performance of the year happened to be today on the WIS-Live stage at the State Fair.  The students were very nervous at the prospect of their first performance.  They had been practicing very hard, but were still having some tempo problems in one dance.   Once we started the first dance, the students just seemed to settle flawlessly into a groove and moved from one dance to the next like it was their 100th performance.  Their teamwork was amazing as they worked together to perform the dances.  You could see the pride and happiness on their faces as they got a standing ovation from the audience.  I was so proud for them…that they could experience the reward for all of their hard work and practice.  I wish that all of our students could experience the kind of success that we had with the Tinikling Group today.  It was a great day!

If you have had a great experience that you would like to share, either in your class or with your child, please feel free to share it on my blog.  I look forward to hearing from you!

KCSD Teacher of the Year 2008

My name is Angie Lawson and I am very proud to be representing Kershaw County as the 2008 Teacher of the Year.  I teach General Music at Pine Tree Hill Elementary School here in the Camden area.  As Teacher of the Year, I have already had the opportunity to speak to the teachers that are new to Kershaw County, along with speaking at the opening district-wide inservice meeting.  We have an excellent group of teachers here in Kershaw County, all willing to do “whatever it takes” to improve student achievement.  I am excited about all of our district-wide initiatives that are taking place this year, but I am especially excited about the Arts Initiative.  The public support for the Arts in Kershaw County is overwhelming and is something that I hope we can continue to foster in the public schools.

Please feel free to comment on my blog as it continues throughout this school year.  I look forward to hearing from you!