My PLN

It's important to always expand your learning experiences, even when you're already in school!  This October I participated in two day an Arts Matter Workshop at Brock University, where myself and other attendees had the chance to participate in workshops about all four strands of the arts: Dance, Music, Drama and Visual Arts.

This a photo of myself and Cheri C. with Peter Viakin, 
an Arts faculty member and MC at the conference.
(Photo courtesy of Cheri Chettle)

The most useful workshop I found was the Dance workshop, which I was a little nervous about attending initially. The facilitator Hannah Beach however quickly put us at ease with her inclusive and positive space, where we experienced her dance and creative movement program that embraces all abilities and supports youth in exploring their experiences through movement.  I feel this would be a great program to use in the classroom to help build a safe and inclusive team atmosphere in the classroom. The various topics she presented could be incorporated across the curriculum, with topics ranging from foods, to nature, to wildlife.

The reason I chose to participate in the Arts Matters Conference, is that as a graduate from a Humanities program, I feel that arts do not get the attention and respect they deserve in schools. As a classroom teacher I will do my best to adapt all strands of the arts across the curriculum, and I feel this workshop has given me a great deal of resources, ideas, and motivation to do so.