5/4/09 Interpretive Dance

One of my assignments in EDU 101 is for a team of partners to take one of the Ten Standards for Initial Teacher Certification for the State of Maine and present an overview of the standard in a way that we'll never forget. (The standards tend to overlap and initially, they all look alike until you really get to know them, which our students do in their ensuing Education courses. But to start, I just want them to be aware that the standards exist and that there are 10 distinct points.)

I encourage a lot of creativity and I get some fabulous presentations: rap song, children's story, skits, board games, audience participation activities, weavings, mystery boxes, and more. After 11 sections of this course, you would think I had seen it all, but in fact, I haven't. This group had a balloon popping activity, a self-assessment to determine learning style, an acronym event, and more. In addition to all of that, this was the first time anyone had ever used an interpretive dance. I don't believe I'll ever forget Standard 7 (there's a vii painted on each of their faces) is all about Engaging Your Students.