Why & How AIM Works

HOW DOES A.I.M. “WORK”?
 
Teachers who choose to participate in A.I.M.’s program engage in arts integration practices by collaborating with professional teaching artists in year-long residencies to deliver parts of their curriculum. Professional development on arts integration, co-teaching, and mindfulness is provided.
 
WHY COLLABORATIVE ARTS INTEGRATION?
 
To better reach and teach students, teachers will integrate the arts into their teaching practices and develop collaborative and sustainable arts teaching/learning partnerships and experiences.
 
The Menomonie School District expresses value for deepened arts teaching and learning opportunities for teachers and students.
 
The Menomonie School District expresses value in lifelong learning of teachers, particularly through induction and on-going professional development.
 
The Menomonie School District supports innovative practices of collaborative teaching and networking among teaching staff and within the professional field.

The Menomonie School District expresses willingness to support student teachers from UW-Stout through mentorship in student teaching and practicum experiences.
 
The Menomonie School District expresses a desire for a deeper relationship with UW-Stout, clarifying expectations, definitions, and goals, and working towards collaborative ways of supporting professional growth.
 
DEFINED
Arts Integration is:
“An approach to teaching in which students construct and demonstrate understanding through an art form. Students engage in a creative process, which connects an art form and another subject area and meets evolving objectives in both.
- The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
 
A Teaching Artist is:
An accomplished artist in his/her field experienced in teaching practices that include planning, communicating, instructing, collaborating, and engaging young people in learning.
 
Co-Teaching is:
Two or more teachers (in CITA, these teachers include the classroom teacher(s) and teaching artist) working together with groups of students; sharing the planning, organization, delivery, and assessment of instruction, as well as the physical space (Bacharach, Heck & Dank, 2004).
 
The Potential Impact of Arts Integration on the Menomonie School District 
(So Says the Research):
·Arts integration schools are outperforming conventional arts or traditional “academic” schools as supporting evidence of the impact of arts integration on academic achievement
·Students in arts integration environments experience artistic development, self-expression, creativity, imagination, problem solving, self-confidence, and motivation, providing them with the skills and habits of mind that will be needed in future careers
·Using an arts integration approach fosters engagement and interest in learning by students, increasing attendance and reducing behavioral problems in the classroom, thus making the teaching and learning experience more positive, as supported in current PBIS practices
·Teachers who engage in arts integration will have more tools to use to deliver their curriculum and engage students actively in learning, thus making teachers more confident in their teaching abilities
·Early career teachers who have access to more opportunities to practice teaching in different ways, to observe others teaching, to reflect on their experiences, and to receive feedback on their teaching will have a smoother induction to the teaching profession
·Teachers who work collaboratively and have regular supportive communication with colleagues and administrators are more likely to stay in the profession
·Teachers will stay in the school district (SDMA) for longer periods of time 

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