LAA+ Fellow and Educator Share Their Expertise

Teacher training is at the heart of Louisiana A+ Schools (LAA+). Since the program began in 2013, over 5,000 Pre-K-12 grade teachers have received LAA+ professional development in arts integration. Training is provided by LAA+ Fellows, a cohort of over 63 master educators with a wide range of expertise. Many Fellows are National Board Certified classroom teachers and arts specialists; others are professional teaching artists including actors, sculptors, dancers, painters, musicians, and choreographers. LAA+ also boasts Fellows who are school principals and district level supervisors and administrators.

Fellow Julia Smith at the LA State Capitol on Annual LAA+ Day sharing the importance of arts integration with legislators.

Fellows are regarded as experts in arts integration and often share their knowledge outside of LAA+. One Fellow, Julia Smith, a 5th grade math teacher, was recently invited to present at the Louisiana Association of Teachers of Mathematics (LATM) conference in Baton Rouge. She and her co-presenter, 3rd grade math teacher Heather Williams, both teach in Shreveport at S. Highlands Elementary Magnet, the first and only LAA+ Arts-Integrated Laboratory School in the state.

Heather Williams and Julia Smith co-facilitating how Mondrian's work can deepen student understanding of fractions.

At the LATM conference, Smith and Williams facilitated a session entitled, "Coloring Outside of the Lines," which highlighted cross-curricular instruction by demonstrating how to integrate visual art and theatre into math lessons based on the Louisiana State Standards.

Heather Williams fields questions from participants on how visual art can be used in other subjects besides math.

Using the National Core Arts Standards as a foundation, participants were led through interactive lessons that modeled how teachers could utilize the work of Piet Mondrian to compare fractions in math and how to use the theatre technique of performing tableau to understand equations. The session culminated with participants collaborating on ways to use visual art and theatre skills in other content areas with all grade levels.

Participants use tableau to understand different types of math equations.

Julia Smith and Heather Williams are both National Board Certified teachers. They collaborate frequently throughout the school year always exploring new ways to incorporate the arts into math.