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Meet the Teaching Artist: Emily Isaacson

Posted Thursday December 19 2013 at 9:59 pm.
Used tags: artist, cool, education, teacher, vsa, writers

I teach creativity and self-confidence.

In the twentieth century, we need innovators, entrepreneurs and inventors and there is no better place than the arts to practice creative thinking and intellectual risk-taking.  In my work I set up many different entrance and exit points so students of all abilities and interests can feel challenged but successful.  Through music composition students learn how to analyze, organize, edit and critique their own ideas, as well as express their emotions.

My aim is for our project to support and enrich your curriculum goals.  I am a collaborative and organized teacher.  I like to develop a joint plan, so all students and teachers have a clear sense of purpose and direction, but meet often so that we can be flexible in addressing student and teacher needs.

My work centers around two kinds of audio projects that can be modified to fit your curriculum.  Both projects use the software GarageBand but no previous knowledge of music or GarageBand is needed to participate.

Memoir Project
Students compose a piece of music about an important event in their own lives or from the point of view of a literary or historical figure.

Audio Opinion
After studying the Civil Rights movement or other examples of community activism, students research an issue affecting their neighborhood, develop interview questions, and record the answers of their peers and members of the community.  These interviews, a personal statement, and a recording of a famous speech become the audio material for the sound collage.

The Memoir Project and Audio Opinions have been effective in grades six through twelve.  I have adapted the project for use in English, History, Humanity and Science classes.  Because of the multiple entrance points and the ability to modify the projects for individuals students, these projects have been successful with students with different learning, behavioral and emotional needs.

Through my artwork students learn to synthesize various ideas and information, organize diverse content, and communicate in multiple formats including written, verbal and audio.  They practice active listening skills and learn to give supportive critique using new vocabulary.  They also learn how to use sound recording and editing software.

Students are invested in this project because it is about their experiences, opinions, and ideas.  I explain that I am teaching the introductory skills to music production, and the students love to think of themselves as the next Jay-Z or Justin Timberlake.

Teachers will learn how to lead active listening and reflection exercises, alternative methods for assessing understanding, basic music analysis skills, and how to use new technology.

Teacher Feedback on "Memoir Project":
"I loved seeing one student come alive in this project when she struggled throughout most of the year.  She regularly participated and volunteered and felt confident and even though she was absent a lot, she wanted to finish the project."

"One student chose a minor character from Othello that she made a connection with to do her soundtrack.  I don't believe she would have made such a deep connection without the project and work with VSA.  Her soundtrack really showed the character's confusion and anger.  I was grateful that my students had an opportunity to have a deeper understanding of the characters through the project."

I am a conductor, singer and music educator.  Currently I am the music director of the Oratorio Chorale, an amateur choir and professional orchestra in Maine, and the high school division of Boston City Singers, a youth choir organization that serves over 500 urban youth.  Previously I started the music department for the Cesar Chavez Public Charter Schools in Washington, D.C. and taught community activism through the arts for "Learn and Earn," a collaboration between the Chicago Public Housing Authority and the Community Colleges of the City of Chicago.  I hold a BA in English from Williams College, a master’s in musicology from Edinburgh University in Scotland, a master’s in chorale conducting from the University of Oregon, and am doctoral candidate in choral conducting at the University of Illinois.  I have been a teaching artist with the VSA Massachusetts COOL Schools program for two years.

The following are student work samples of an audio opinion

and memoir project, both regarding teen pregnancy.

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