Teacher Training
Integrated Dance & School Curriculum Workshop with Karen Kaufmann
This day-long workshop for dance educators addresses strategies and techniques for integrating dance in the K-5 curriculum. We will begin with simple, warm-up and body-mind centering activities, followed by techniques to embody interdisciplinary learning centered in 21st Century skills—boosting collaboration, critical thinking and problem-solving – through creative dance. Participants will learn a basic structure and template to design an integrated lesson plan, enabling dance teachers to develop, teach and assess learning activities in dance and another content area. Participants will develop strategies to use dance to contribute to academic achievement, and practice classroom management skills for active learners. The Workshop concludes with a discussion on the role of the visiting teaching artist in relation to unmotivated students, managing a variety of behaviors and navigating diverse classroom environments.
Friday, July 15 from 10am-4pm ($75)
Karen Kaufmann recently retired as director of The University of Montana’s (UM) Creative Pulse Graduate Program for Teachers and professor of dance. She currently serve as the UM partner for the SPARK! Arts Ignite Learning initiative in Missoula. Karen was recently awarded Professor Emeritus and in 2014-15 received the MT Arts Council’s Artist Innovation Award. Karen has been nationally recognized for her work in dance integration. She published Dance Integration: Science & Mathematics and authored Inclusive Creative Movement and Dance, along with numerous articles about dance education. Karen’s choreography was commissioned for its innovative style of integration, bringing together dance and diverse content.
Teacher Training and Professional Development
Sharing skills to integrate, adapt and move, Cohesion provides training and professional development opportunities across the state to dance instructors wanting to make their dance classes more inclusive and to school teachers, paraeducators and administrators wanting to integrate creative movement into their classroom. Whether hosting national leaders in the field of adaptive dance, like AXIS Dance Company, or sharing their own extensive experience working with students with disabilities and special education classrooms, Cohesion’s trainings support dance and school educators striving to meet the diverse needs of their student population.
