Cleveland (December 3, 2009) Professional storyteller, musician and teaching artist Susan Weber has continued to update her skills through regional professional development workshops this fall.
In September, Weber trained for the National Young Audiences’ Literacy project, Arts for Learning (AFL). The national organization’s Director of Interactive Media, Larry Stein, lead the all day workshop on the basics of Between the Lions® (BTL) residencies for K-2. BTL residencies are linked to the award-winning PBS series produced by WGBH, Sirius Thinking and Mississippi Public Broadcasting and presented by professional teaching artists. Each BTL Residency brings the curriculum of phonics and phonemic awareness to life while building vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency.
The second part of AFL training included an introduction to Cleveland’s Idea Stream Distant Learning program provided in conjunction with the North Ohio Technology Association (NOTA). The program enhances educational experiences for K-12 through broadband distance connectivity. Member sites access programs and activities in the state of Ohio, across the country and around the world.
Also in September, Weber explored the process of evaluation and revision in creative work in a session lead by Jay Albert, Director of Education for Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio.
Weber participated in The Cleveland Orchestra school and community partnership’s Learning Through Music workshop in early December. Mitchell Korn, Vice President of Education and Community Engagement with the Nashville Symphony, explored creative expression and communication, phonemic awareness, word recognition and fluency standards in his hands-on session, ‘Mysterious Scores.’ Teaching artist Marisela Sager demonstrated a Grade 1 session integrating music with Language Arts and Science titled ‘The Varied World of Music.’
Wrapping up a productive season of enrichment opportunities, Weber says, ‘These experiences provide invaluable opportunities to network, share best practices and be in the role of learner, all of which enhance my repertoire of teaching tools and my skills relating to students.’
Photo credit Walt Campbell
