FAAE Leadership Summit-

The FAAE, Florida Arts Alliance, leadership Summit was SUCH an awesome way to kick off the summer for SO many reasons!  The theme this year was ABC- Achievement, Business, Community.
This was the first year I have gotten to attend.
  At first, because I was asked to present along with a music teacher cohort who also took part in the year long FAAE Art/Technology/ESE project, I was a little stressed trying to finish up my art room while ALSO preparing presentation materials for our session, titled Using Technology to Differentiate Arts Instruction for ESE students.  Honestly, it really was not too bad, since I had prepared materials that were similar for the FAEA conference.  I basically just took that Powerpoint and adjusted it to go along with the programs and info that we were going to introduce.
See the Presentation here

When we first arrived, my cohort Michelle, and I went to check out the room we were presenting in- which was, to my relief, small and intimate.  I have yet to present to a large conference room type setting and the thought of being in front of such a large crowd is a little intimidating.  We got our computers hooked up and checked the sound.  We were both going to discuss our experience with the ESE/Arts program and then present the tech tools we liked and used the most along with our projects that would be submitted to CPALMS- the Florida Curriculum site.

After we got everything hooked up- we went for lunch and then attended the Keynote Speaker/Welcome session.  There we got to make a lot of great connections and enjoy several performances from Satellite High School in Brevard County which is one of the Florida Arts Models schools for arts integration.

I also got to meet the FAAE president Enrique Puig, who is also the Director of the Morgridge Internnational Reading Center in UCF.  The teachers involved in the Arts/ESE program had one of our face to face sessions there and it is a BEAUTIFUL facility- designed as a model 21st century learning space with movable furniture and the latest high tech educational equipment. 

I also found out and got to meet the Florida Teacher of the year who just so happens to be an ELEMENTARY ART TEACHER!!! How cool is that!?  Her name is Christie Bassett from Highland Grove Elementary School in Polk county.  Apparently she is in the running for National teacher of the Year and I really hope she gets it.

The whole day was such a great experience and here are some of the ideas/things that have me excited to incorporate next year:

-ARTS integration- I got to meet some great Magnet Arts school teachers who shared so many ideas and resources that I am excited to use next year to truly incorporate art into the regular curriculum.

-REMIND app- I have used this app for a long time but I got to see how an awesome teacher, Nancy Brilliant, uses it with her students to pass along info through text messages.  I plan on using it A LOT more next year!

- Business partners-  I really plan on trying to build relationships with the businesses/companies in my community.  I saw and heard so many great stories on how big the impact can be when the arts are integrated with the community- it not only helps build your arts program but also helps the businesses connect with its customer base/families.