Well done, team TIOS DC/MD/VA! Thank you for a truly successful conference! Read the testimonial below:

"It rocked - can't wait for next year!"
- Teaching Artist

"I left with tips that I could use in my classes on Monday. They were also dynamic, engaging speakers and involved the audience in theater games and allowed us to experience what our students would experience. Great conference!"
- Classroom Teacher

"I loved the workshops I attended. I learned creative ways to include drama in my therapy to help students have fun while learning."
- Speech-Language Pathologist

Theatre In Our Schools Mini-Conference 2010 - Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland

Lenore Blank Kellner and Rosalind Flynn's Workshop	Tom Mallan teaches "The Creative Classroom"
Michele Vicino, Steven Barker, and Lynne Kingsley - members of Team TIOS DC/MD/VA

More about the conference held at Gallaudet University
Theme: NOW MORE THAN EVER: VITAL ARTS IN TRYING TIMES

The Arts aren’t a luxury, they are a necessity. They are, in fact, vital to our classrooms and our lives. These may be trying times, but when times get tough, the tough get creative. Confernce attendees spent a day integrating arts into their classroom through hands-on workshops, presentations and a performance. Teachers were able to walk away with ready to go art-infused strategies to use in their classrooms. Click here for conference highlights.

Theatre In Our Schools DC Mini-Conference 2010
Hosted by Gallaudet University
800 Florida Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20002
Saturday, March 13, 2010 10am - 4pm
 
Conference Highlights included:

Lenore Blank Kelner, Nationally Recognized Teaching Artist, Kennedy Center and Dr. Rosalind Flynn (Nationally Recognized Teaching Artist, Kennedy Center)
Title: A Dramatic Approach To Reading Comprehension
 Lenore Blank Kelner and Rosalind Flynn led a fun hands-on workshop session focusing on integrating drama and reading comprehension skills. Participants dramatized a story and in the process they simultaneously explored the reading comprehension skills of:
-inference
-distinguishing main ideas from details
-articulating author’s intent and the theme/message of the text
-paraphrasing of a text
-synthesis of a text.
The techniques were presented in a step-by-step process so that teachers can easily replicate the strategy in their classrooms. The strategy is effective for all students but is particularly effective with English Language Learners and students not able to work on grade level.

Tom Mallan, Educational Theatre Company
Title: The Creative Classroom
Make more use of problem solving, creativity & performance as teaching tools

Ermyn King & Leanne O'Neill, ArtStream
Title: Creating inclusive and accessible theater
A participatory workshop showcasing inclusive theater-making techniques (such as those used by ArtStream) AND an introduction (via PowerPoint + a hands-on demonstration) to exemplary universal practices that make such theater accessible to the broadest possible audiences (including those with sensory and other disabilities).

Jessica Carleton, VSA Arts, New Jersey
Title: Story Drama for the Special Needs Classroom
Description: This workshop demystifies how the elementary teacher can incorporate story drama into her special needs classroom. The information presented serves classrooms that are either exclusively special needs or classrooms designed by inclusion. The formula for the story drama can be adapted to either a class period or extended over a year for an interdisciplinary learning experience. The workshop will cover the story drama formula, drama in education techniques, and adaptation of the materials presented for individualized classrooms.


Registration included:

- Two 75 minute workshops
- Networking sessions and roundtable discussions
- A performance at QuestFest on the Gallaudet campus
- A catered lunch
- Automatic entry to win iPod touch, memberships in AATE, and other prizes.