I teach at a wonderfully diverse New Jersey high school that has a history of openness, inclusion, and creativity. When given the opportunity, my students love to actively contribute to their own learning. My class is a place of vocal engagement and inquiry, critical thinking, humor, hard work, and fun. On any given day, you can find my students engaged in close readings of challenging texts, singing blues songs of their own creation, creating a template for a new epic hero, or using a popular song to learn iambic pentameter. On extra special days, though, you will find them all on their feet, putting together unique performance pieces which ultimately enrich both their learning and their self-confidence.
My Project
Tambor Y Danza is a cultural arts immersion program that is a journey to the heart of Afro-Cuban music and dance, including hands-on classes with internationally acclaimed artists. The program includes many unique opportunities to learn about Cuba’s rich history and culture from leading experts across the island.
Since music is intrinsic to the literary traditions of Latin America, as well as the broader African Diaspora, I hope to develop and refine skills that I learned there last summer in this more intensive program.
I have already begun to utilize and have seen the results of the basic performance skills I acquired last year, by incorporating them into my literature lessons in the English Department’s World Literature and Literature of the African Diaspora courses, and by facilitating a highly-regarded peer-to-peer professional development workshop for the 200+ teachers at my school.
Additionally, one of my district's goals is to "infuse cultural competency in every aspect of our learning community." Including this type of music and movement into my lessons and workshop has not only been meaningful and fun, it has allowed previously marginalized groups in our school community to see themselves as relevant in literature, and has helped to celebrate the diversity that is our hallmark. My hope is to continue learning and growing so I can inspire more student engagement and achievement, even across disciplines.
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