This past school year, with so many different inquiries going on at the same time, one of our biggest challenges was finding time for all of the students to share their learning. The solution was simple; we decided to hold a festival. We called the festival… “The Arts of March” We wanted to combine Visual […]
I’m not your typical performing arts teacher. In fact, I’m a bit of an introvert. I believe this helps me as a PA teacher because I remember how it felt when I was at school to be pushed from a proverbial plane… without a parachute… crash landing onto a stage to perform a song or […]
Straight to it; to help stay on track, we’ve implemented check-ins at the beginning of a lesson where we share successes & challenges, news, and resolving issues as a group. For example, someone may need music for a movie, a drummer for their band, they may be ready to share a song, or need a […]
This is a common question people ask when I explain the concept of individual inquiries in PA, especially across multiple grades. It’s a fair question. Firstly, we provide the time and space that’s needed. This year, in PA, we conducted a year-long inquiry into: “Who we are as performing artists.” (Also, we did away with […]
In Performing Arts this year @VISLaos we’ve been running “Dream Goals” (personal inquiries) across multiple grades. Here’s where it begins… The SET-UP! Why?? Because, with individual inquiries across multiple classes, the learning space has to be ready to provide options and for all of the different choices that are being made. It has to be […]
I’ve previously discussed why I feel that performing arts needs to be rethought in order to align itself with the concept of student agency. Now I’d like to explain what it is we’ve been doing to work towards achieving this goal. Important to note: I’m not saying that we have a definitive model which all others […]
First of all, I would like to establish why we should change in order to ‘align our wheels’ with the concept of student agency. Indeed, why should we change the ways things work traditionally in Performing Arts? Let’s start at the end… the end of semester ‘show’ I should point out that I’m not against […]
My name is Graham Baines, aka The PYP Chef, and I’d like to share my new mission! After 16 years as a classroom teacher, it’s time for me to blend some dance and drama with a generous serving of music… in Performing Arts! So far at Vientiane International School, Laos, I’ve spent 4 years in […]
Calling all educators. What’s happening next door? How about in the classroom upstairs, or downstairs? What strategies are being used in the classrooms? What’s on the walls? How is it organised? What’s the lighting like? How is the physical space organised? What’s the vibe? Every time I visit another classroom, I’m full of questions about what I […]
Just finished another reporting session… PHEW! Know the feeling? For me, it’s usually bittersweet at best; the sense of freedom combined with feeling quite drained and a bit numb. Yay, I have my life back! Now, where was I? In reference to PYP reports it was once said… “Never has so much been written by […]
pypchef 