In its 6th year, “Manie Musicale” has spread nationally and internationally with 950 schools from 47 states and six countries (and counting) participating to select the best French song and music video of the year.

“Manie Musicale” is a yearly competition of songs modeled after the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament in the U.S. Students fill out brackets to try to predict which of sixteen songs will win the “championship.” Once the tournament starts, students vote for their favorite songs in daily matchups to see who wins. Songs include a variety of contemporary Francophone artists from around the world. “Manie Musicale” was inspired by a Spanish version that came first – Señor Ashby’s “Locura de Marzo.”

Stephanie Carbonneau, a middle school French teacher in York and Michelle Fournier, a middle school teacher in Falmouth, started with just their two schools in 2017. Once they realized there was not a national-level competition like this for French, they collaborated to bring one to life, at least on the state level. Carbonneau and Fournier presented at FLAME the following year and opened it up to other schools.

“Manie Musicale” has really exploded in the last 2-3 years especially with the help of Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. A website was also created by Carbonneau and Fournier to assist the voting process as well as to house resources to bring “Manie Musicale” to life in their classrooms. Teachers from around the country now collaborate in the Facebook group with over 1000 members and online to create activities to support using the songs in class as a linguistic and cultural teaching tool.

Students in Carbonneau and Fournier’s classes are encouraged to submit song nominations, but they also consult colleagues in the American Association for Teachers of French (AATF) and social media groups for input. Carbonneau and Fournier carefully screen song lyrics and videos for age- and school-appropriateness, with a focus on promote diversity, inclusion, and tolerance. Last year they partnered with FluentKey, an educational media company out of California, who created interactive quizzes and games based on the “Manie Musicale” video playlist to add even more fun and competition to the event. This year they added a logo designed by a fan and fellow French teacher who uses “Manie Musicale” in her own classes.

There are many teachers who do “Manie Musicale” on their own, but the impact made by this duo and the collaborative following is music to many students’ and teachers’ ears.

 

 

 

With only a year of teaching experience under his belt, Hall-Dale music educator David Morris has been adapting his music education program to ensure that students can learn, practice, and perform music all year long, despite COVID-19 restrictions this year.

“David Morris is an old soul; I sometimes forget that he is only a 2nd year teacher,” said Dr. Andrea Freed, a colleague and fellow educator at Hall-Dale Middle/High School. “Last spring and over the summer, he went to students’ homes and stood on their lawns, teaching them music lessons while they were safely distanced on their porches.”

More recently, David arranged an outdoor concert so that his students could safely perform, both vocally and with instruments, all the while David conducted and recorded the concert so that the entire community could hear and enjoy their hard work from the first semester.

In addition to COVID-19 restrictions on schools this year, and tackling the early part of a career in education during a global pandemic, Morris also took on both the middle school and the high school music education program until a replacement arrived in December to fill the position of a long-time music educator who recently retired.

“He is a gift to the Hall-Dale Middle/High School community,” added Dr. Freed.

Information for this story was provided by Hall-Dale Middle/High School as part of the Maine Schools Sharing Success Campaign. To submit a story or an idea, email it to Rachel at rachel.paling@maine.gov.

With the looming restrictions of school reopening in a pandemic this summer, Georgetown Central School created an outdoor education team and invited teachers, staff, community members and parents, to help brainstorm how Georgetown could adjust teaching practices to bring learning outdoors. A school already rich in the tradition of community, outdoor, and project-based learning, we knew that we had to make adjustments to a normal year (when students would participate in hands-on field trips such as digging for clams or studying the migration habits of crabs). In August, two teachers spent four days learning at Juniper Hill School ’s Summer Institute for Educators: Teaching with Nature. Juniper Hill School, a community school for PK-5th grade students, was founded 10 years ago on the foundation of outdoor, nature-based teaching and learning. Anne Stires, the School’s founder, offers year long coaching, professional development workshops, and summer institutes for educators.

Georgetown School began to pivot. With a lot of help from community members, parents and staff, and the guidance and vision of the teachers who attended the summer training at Juniper Hill, we were able to set up roughly twelve outdoor classroom spaces on school property and conservation land beyond the property. A musical garden was formed across from our school’s garden. Swinging reading nooks were created for younger classrooms, and rocks and roots were pulled from land to create a pathway to multiple classroom spaces.

Using CARES money and writing our title four federal funds application for outdoor education, we were able to supply classrooms with the instructional supplies and tools they needed. We purchased individual swings for students in kindergarten and grades one and two – a quiet space for students to take a break from the mandates of a pandemic education – and an opportunity to escape into the world of literature. We set up outdoor seating areas, using stumps and camp chairs, and purchased chalkboards to bring teaching outside.

As we asked ourselves the question, “How do we do this?” we knew it would be best to reach out to the experts. Anne Stires, from Juniper Hill School, brought outdoor learning professional development workshops to Georgetown Central School such as, “Stepping Outside for the First Time,” “Teaching with Nature: Curriculum,” “Teaching in Winter,” and lastly, “Safety and Risk Management.” From there, teachers have been bringing in more ideas around using the elements of nature to support learning. We have purchased a library collection of professional learning resources directly connected to outdoor education, and built classroom libraries with books that focus primarily on learning in nature and with nature.

In one class, morning meeting takes place outside; calendar and the days of the week are sung as children sit on donated tree stump seats arranged underneath a canopy of trees. An old playground slide is positioned neatly on the hillside leading to the classroom, a welcome experience for students as they make their way to a chalkboard and mud kitchen supplied with pots and pans. Imagination for students in these spaces runs wild and play-based learning has become more evident for the early childhood students. Instead of worksheets with math equations, students jump from sliced tree stump to tree stump adorned with numbers in order.

An experimental year, teachers have been learning first hand how to balance indoor and outdoor learning, especially as we approach the winter months. Simple things have allowed us to take students outside even on colder days. Each student in Georgetown has a warm pair of wool socks, a thermos to bring hot water or tea outside, a winter hat and a fleece neck gaiter (all items gathered by the community or purchased with CRF funds). Outdoor learning in the winter is all about movement. Students study tracks in the snow or other signs of animals that have quietly come and gone without notice on a walk through the playground fields or surrounding woods. An outdoor math class (counting by ones or tens), has students jumping in the snow–making tracks as they jump as far as they can to represent tens and as short as they can to represent ones.

Teachers bring out materials on their individual classroom carts or, in colder months, they will use the jet sleds purchased with CARES money to travel to outdoor classrooms. Outdoor education supplies are kept organized in a shed that is designated specifically for the outdoor classrooms. A walk further into the woods on conservation land, leads students and teachers to a beautiful open pavilion structure we are hoping to enclose, that acts as a shelter in the woods for learning. The timber frame structure was a collaborative effort between the school and school families.

Georgetown School will be continuing ongoing coaching with Anne Stires for the remainder of the year, beginning with our PK-2nd grade teachers. With model lessons, project-based integrated curriculum planning, and feedback sessions, teachers will gain even more confidence and creativity in working with their students outdoors. The ongoing pivot is exciting and rewarding and students and teachers are healthier and happier as a result!

This story as provided by Juniper Hill School and Georgetown Central School as part of the Maine Schools Sharing Success Campaign. To submit a story or an idea, please email it to Rachel at rachel.paling@maine.gov.