Classroom Comics

July 12, 2018 by vsainternational

Classroom Comics: Reflecting on Teacher/Student Experience Through Comic Art Sunday, August 5 from 1:30-5:30 p.m. Woodruff Arts Center, Atlanta, GA Presenter: Sunnylee Mowery This VSA Intersections: Arts and Special Education Conference workshop will explore the powerful potential that comic art has to reach and teach students with disabilities. The presentation portion of this session will explore examples of contemporary educators and artists with disabilities using comics as a method of relaying shared experience and pedagogical reflection. Participants will engage in […]

Categories: Special Education, VSA Intersections • Tags: Arts Education, Classrooms, Conferences, Inclusive Arts, Special Education, Students with Disabilities, Teaching Artist, VSA Intersections

5 Reasons to Attend the 2017 VSA Intersections Conference

June 21, 2017 by vsainternational

There are lots of reasons to attend the Kennedy Center’s VSA Intersections: Arts and Special Education Conference. Here are a few of our favorites: 1. Brand New Content We have tons of new sessions that you won’t want to miss! Here is sampling of what we have planned: It Takes a Village: Inclusive Community Music Programming Teaching Students with Disabilities Using Puppets Blackness, Disability, and Higher Education Using Art to Reach Students Who Have Experienced Trauma The Power Of West […]

Categories: Dance, Music, Professional Development, Special Education, Theater, Visual Arts, VSA Intersections • Tags: accessible arts, Arts Education, Conference, Dance, Music, Professional Development, Special Education, Teachers, Teaching, teaching conference, Theater, VSA, VSA Intersections

KC Special Ed: NAEA National Convention 2017

March 22, 2017 by vsainternational

I walk into the Hilton 2nd floor lobby to pick up my NAEA registration materials and one thing is abundantly clear: I am not in Kansas anymore. The largest education conference I’ve ever been to topped out at 400 people and when Patricia Franklin, the President of the National Arts Education Association (NAEA) welcomes 7,000 art educators to the NAEA National Convention, my jaw drops. There are more than 350 sessions each day to prompt noisy, messy, and vital discussions […]

Categories: Special Education, VSA Intersections • Tags: Arts Education, KCspecialed, Kennedy Center, Special Education, SpEd, Teachers

April 2016 VSA Webinar: “Promote Dignity, Retain Integrity: Strategies for the Inclusive Secondary General Music Classroom”

May 5, 2016 by vsainternational

Promote Dignity, Retain Integrity: Strategies for the Inclusive Secondary General Music Classroom, presented on April 26, 2016, shared strategies that have been used successfully in an inclusive secondary general music classroom such as how to adapt music reading in classroom instrumental experiences using bell sets, drums, and small percussion instruments. As the secondary general music classroom is often a melting pot of academic and musical abilities, music educators can be perplexed as to what to do with general music classes. […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: Arts and Disability, Arts Education, Disability, Music, Sarah Burns, Special Education, VSA, VSAInternational, Webinar

March 2016 VSA Webinar: “Poetry in Motion: A Poetry Dance Play for the Middle School Special Education Classroom Confirmation”

March 11, 2016 by vsainternational

Poetry in Motion: A Poetry Dance Play for the Middle School Special Education Classroom, presented on March 8, 2016, explored lessons on how to engage a special education classroom in poetry and dance from thematic conception to culminating performance. As the roles of educators and learners in arts education continue to shift, teachers realize the limitless potential learners can have when provided with the right tools to motivate exploration and self-expression. Poetry and dance, two of the purest forms of […]

Categories: Resources, Uncategorized • Tags: Arts and Disability, Arts Education, Disability, Jenny Seham, Nawwal Muradwij, Special Education, Teaching, VSA, VSAInternational, Webinar

February 2016 VSA Webinar: “Creative Control: Arts, Self-Determination, and Student-led IEPs”

February 17, 2016 by vsainternational

Creative Control: Arts, Self-Determination, and Student-led IEPS, presented February 9, 2016, explored the challenges students face to meet their IEP goals when they’re not at the table to determine what those goals should be, how they can best work towards them, or sometimes even why they have an IEP in the first place. Arts lessons and activities – including role play, creative writing, visual art portfolios, and peer critique – provide educators with a range of possibilities for documenting and […]

Categories: Resources • Tags: Arts and Disability, Arts Education, Creative Control, IEPs, Kennedy Center, Self determination, Special Education, Student led, VSA, Webinar

Early Childhood Arts Education for Students with Disabilities

January 6, 2016 by vsainternational

Lifelong arts engagement is often mentioned with regard to arts and aging, but is equally valuable for the youngest members of society. The U.S. National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) recently released a report entitled The Arts in Early Childhood that examines the many benefits of arts education for the very young. At Artists Creating Together in Grand Rapids, Michigan, they have long known what the NEA study tells us: that arts participation in early childhood is strongly linked to […]

Categories: Resources, Uncategorized • Tags: ACT, Artists Creating Together, Arts and Disability, Arts Education, Early Childhood, National Endowment for the Arts, NEA, Tips, VSA

The Best of Our 2015 Blog Posts

December 31, 2015 by vsainternational

This year has been a big one for the Office of VSA and Accessibility. We ran two incredibly successful conferences, LEAD and VSA Intersections: Arts and Special Education. We also celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the 40th Anniversary of the establishment of VSA. Throughout it all, we’ve posted some spectacular blog posts recognizing special individuals and offered advice and tips for our readers. Here’s a list of our top 5 posts […]

Categories: Resources, Uncategorized • Tags: Arts and Disability, Arts Education, Disability, Kennedy Center, Music, Special Education, Teaching, Tips, VSA, VSA International Young Soloists, VSAInternational

Five Tips on Making Music Literacy Attainable for Students with Disabilities

December 3, 2015 by vsainternational

By Jennifer Nichols These five tips address teaching music literacy to students with special needs using a tactile approach. For more information on this subject, watch the recording of the VSA Webinar entitled “Can You Feel It?: A Tactile Approach to Music Literacy” from December 1, 2015 (you will be prompted to enter your name and email address before watching). Choose one concept. Music notation encompasses many concepts including pitch, rhythm, tempo, articulation, and dynamics. Focus on one concept for […]

Categories: Resources, Tips, Uncategorized • Tags: Arts and Disability, Arts Education, Jennifer Nichols, Music Education, Music Literacy, Students, Students with Disabilities, Tips