Teachers trade winter break for training in bringing the arts to class | 89.3 KPCC

Teachers trade winter break for training in bringing the arts to class | 89.3 KPCC:

Teachers trade winter break for training in bringing the arts to class

LAUSD music adviser Chris Rodriguez leads teachers through a conducting lesson during an arts integration workshop over winter break. PRISKA NEELY

Teachers at arts integration workshop this week sounded pretty strange as they engaged in dialogue using only different combinations of "blah" and "blah." 

But it wasn't an expression of disgust at the workshop. They were participating in a gibberish exercise where tone, intonation and expression conveyed the message.

Matthew Kennedy, a theatre adviser for the Los Angeles Unified School District, explained that exercises like this can help students master presentation skills. 

"If you give them gibberish ...  they can practice their volume and expression," without being nervous about the content, he told the group.

That was just one of the concepts dozens of LAUSD teachers learned during the final days of winter break at a four-day workshop on arts integration. Groups spent each day learning techniques of four disciplines — visual art, theatre, dance and music.Teachers trade winter break for training in bringing the arts to class | 89.3 KPCC: