Teaching Artists Organized (TAO)

Welcome to Teaching Artists Organized (TAO)             

               a fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives


Read about TAO......................................   ..
 ................................................................. Check out the Integrated Learning Specialist Program
........................................................................and upcoming qualified electives...



Check it out....

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Save the date -- SUNDAY June 3rd  12 PM - 4PM

"A Day for Us: Teaching Artists Shape the Future"

A TAO Community Working and Networking Conversation

As always, we'll be hands-on experiential, fun and collaborative.  Make your voice heard and contribute to the shape of the future.  Get an overview of the rapidly occurring changes in the field, brainstorm about how these things affect you and us, what TAO can do to support YOU and what you can do to shape TAO.

FREE to all TAO members and potential members.  More details coming.

          Featured TAHO:    Performing Arts Workshop                          

We call them TAHOs - Teaching Artist Hiring Organizations

They are the employment and community engagement engines of our field.   

This month's TAHO, and founding member of TAO, is San Francisco's Performing Arts Workshop, established in 1965 by teaching artist Gloria Unti (pictured left), who developed a teaching method on the conviction that the creative process of art-making drive learning, problem-solving and communication.

Executive Director:  Jessica Mele (also serves on TAO's Executive Committee)

Artistic Director:  Gary Draper

Program Director: Karena Salmond

Program and Communications Manager: Anne Trickey

Cool fact:  Each year PAW partners with over 100 different community and school sites throughout the Bay Area.  Currently, the Workshop also partners with Global Writes, a 3-year project that allows local middle schoolers to share original poetry with their peers in NY City via video technology.

Hiring:  The Workshop hires artists with teaching experience in Dance (Creative Movement, Modern); Theater Arts; World Dance; Creative Writing; and Music (Drumming, Choral, Rap/Hip-hop, etc.)  More details here.

Performing Arts Workshop (PAW) in San Francisco’s Bay View Hunters Point neighborhood has its eyes wide open for teaching artists who possess skills in creating community in the classroom, school or community site, the kind of teaching artist who can make relevant connections between students’ lives, their experiences, and the art form. 

Anne Trickey, Program & Communications Manager
 at PAW, shares the following anecdote to illustrate those peak moments when such a teacher knows he/she is doing it right.

Devin, a 4th grader, had not spoken a word in school since beginning kindergarten. A selective mute, he spoke at home, but not at school. Theater gave Devin new ways to communicate and succeed in class. Through pantomime, he was able to participate alongside his peers. Midway through the semester, something changed. His teacher asked what he did for Thanksgiving. Unexpectedly, he whispered his response. Afterward, he began to whisper a few times a day. By the end of the semester, in a class in which students were improvising scenes on a real stage, it was Devin’s turn. And he spoke!  Out loud! His teacher was in tears. And Devin was smiling proudly.

Performing Arts Workshop looks for teaching artists like the one in this anecdote. Right now, PAW seeks artists to teach during summer, artists who can bring Theatre to another level in the classroom by engaging students in critical thinking and creative expression while learning the basic tenets of the art form. They also seek highly skilled hip hop dance artists who feel comfortable teaching to a wide range of populations.  Read more on PAW.

Click on the "Featured TAHO" page under "What's Going On" for previously featured TAHOs including Youth in Arts, Galileo Camps, Cal Shakes

                                                                             
  Integrated Learning Specialist Program (ILSP)                        

Integrated Learning Specialist Program Summer Intensive!  
(formerly the Arts Integrated Specialist Program)

June 25 - 29, 2012  at Mills College, Oakland

Early bird registration $255 now until midnight Thursday, May 17, 2012 PST.   Click to register.

Regular registration at $299 per person begins Friday, May 18, 2012. 

Taught by faculty using analytical frameworks developed by Harvard's Project Zero.  (Last summer's ILSP teacher/artist cohort pictured above right)


1.  Build instructional leadership at your district or school site to respond to the ever-changing learning needs of all students

2.  Gain skills and knowledge to support school site and district professional learning communities in ongoing improvement and teaching to the multiple learning styles of children   

3.  Learn how to engage all students and to assess their knowledge through ongoing and summative performance-based assessments  

Continuing education units from Mills College and graduate level units from Lesley University available. 

If you have questions, please contact Sierra Falcon at arts@acoe.org.

  Renew your Teaching Artists Organized membership now!!!   

TAO MEMBERSHIP Drive Continues... Renew or Join today

Renew your TAO membership or Join Today!  Joining Teaching Artists Organized is still just $25 a year. 

And here's what that TAO membership gets you:

* Discounts on all TAO workshops and events
* The monthly TAO newsletter filled with timely updates and a preview of what's new on our website.
* Plus timely e-updates and critical news 
* Up to date listings of job openings delivered directly to your e-mail in-box.
* Timely info on upcoming workshops and professional development opportunities
* News on what's happening in the field regionally, statewide and nationally
* Discounts  on tickets to plays, musical events, educator discounts to museums, etc.
* Discounts from local businesses who honor a TAO membership card as proof of your work as an educator
* Opportunities to come together to as a community, to share ideas, and identify needs in the field 
* Being part of a growing field, and the chance to advocate for it

WHEN YOU JOIN TAO, you demonstrate that teaching artists are a visible and growing community, and that TAO exists to unite and advocate for our growing profession.  Our very name describes our growing clout: teaching artists organized to play an important role in education reform. 

To join TAO or renew your membership, click here.
By the way, as a TAO member you are in our searchable database which is THE place to find quality teaching artists in a range of disciplines. 
 

The TAO database can become the source for organizations looking to hire teaching artists. Help us make this a reality. Just a few more names in our database, and we can promote it to schools as a resource for teaching artists, professional development in arts learning and partnerships with arts organizations.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
Teacher Action Research Summer Institute 2012: 
Inventing Our Future

@ the Chabot Space and Science Center, OaklandAugust 7-9, 2012

The Alameda County Office of Education’s Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership is launching an annual regional Teacher Action Research Summer Institute, August 7-9, 2012. This Summer Institute will establish a platform for Bay Area educators to demonstrate lessons and student work from their professional practice in arts-integrated, interdisciplinary and STEAM instruction and performance-based assessment. 

Teaching artists are invited to submit proposals for mini-courses they would like to present at the Institute. 
Summer Institute 2012 registration now open. 

TAO is a co-sponsor of this event, and TAO members receive a $25 discount on the early bird fee.  That means TAO members  will pay only $95 for the entire 3-day conference. After June 1, the fee goes up to $150 general, $125 for TAO members.

To register, click here.

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The above $25 discount for TAO members is another reminder that TAO membership pays off in many ways. Plus your TAO card gets you discounts as an educator at Blick Art Stores, East Bay Depot for CreativeReuse, East Bay Symphony, The Container Store, The Crucible, Michael's art supply stores and more, including discounts on all of TAO's Teaching Artist Institute. 

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This month's Spotlight:

PCAH Launches the Turnaround: Arts Initiative to Help Improve Low-Performing Schools

The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) announced the launch of a new arts education initiative to help turn around low-performing schools. Developed in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Education and the White House Domestic Policy Council, the Turnaround Arts initiative is a new public-private partnership designed to narrow the achievement gap and increase student engagement through the arts. Working in some of the nation’s lowest-performing elementary and middle schools, this program will test the hypothesis that high-quality and integrated arts education boosts academic achievement, motivates student learning and improves school culture in the context of overall school reform, announced the committee’s co-chairs, George Stevens Jr. and Margo Lion.   Read more....

Says actor Alfre Woodard (pictured here with President Barak Obama): I am one of a number of presidentially-appointed artists who will be involved with this new program for one simple reason: We know firsthand the power of the arts and we believe that effective arts education should be a part of our larger toolkit for turning around high-poverty, underperforming schools.  More from Woodard.

 Great Resources for Teaching Artists    

  TED TALKS

TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader with a  presence on the Web. Go to the TED site and search for nearly any topic to find fascinating talks on video. Here are some we found when we did a search for arts education.

        Mae Jemison on teaching arts and sciences together | Video on TED.com

                                                                                                                          

Worth Noting...The Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI) has redesigned its website to make it more exciting, functional and user friendly for the artists who visit it. The site will be live as a beta-test version until March 31, 2012 , so check it out and let CCI know what you think. You can access it at http://www.cciarts.org

Also Worth Noting....The Teaching Artist Research Project (TARP) 3-year report is available.  Drawing on surveys from over 3,500 artists and organizations and 200 in-depth interviews with leaders in the field, the report is the most complete picture of Teaching Artists and their critical role in bringing arts education back into schools, as well as in improving the quality of education.  Read   more.

And...President Obama issued White House proclamation in October 2011 that recognizes the value of the arts and humanities. Within the proclamation, President Obama states:

"Millions of Americans earn a living in the arts and humanities, and the non-profit and for-profit arts industries are important parts of both our cultural heritage and our economy...We must recognize the contributions of the arts and humanities not only by supporting the artists of today, but also by giving opportunities to the creative thinkers of tomorrow. Educators across our country are opening young minds, fostering innovation, and developing imaginations through arts education."

Take Action

Summer is the time for professional development in our field. Check out the quality workshops, institutes and programs listed on this site. These opportunities are an investment in yourself.




  

            


 

        Why art matters. . .one story


 
 
@ Teaching Artists Organized (TAO)   Contact us:  510.493.7533    tao@teachingartistsorganized.org   
   Studio Space: 5951 College Ave (downstairs at College Ave Presbyterian Church), Oakland, 94618

TAO is grateful to the support of:
The Walter and Elise Haas Foundation The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation California Arts Council