Jump Patterns: The Full Story!

I'm am thrilled to announce that my article, Jump Patterns: Percussive Dance and the Path to Math, has just been published in the Teaching Artist Journal, the only peer reviewed publication for my (still very new) profession.

The article focuses on how my approach to teaching percussive dance led me to search for, and find, relevant math connections.  I outline how I developed and formalized 'Jump Patterns,' a teaching tool which illustrates the elements of percussive dance (similar to how creative movement teaches the elements of other formal dance styles like ballet or modern dance).  I also describe how this tool has helped children become creative in my art form and make many meaningful connections to math topics at the same time.

Although I have shared much about my work in this blog over the last five months, the newly-published article is the first time I have provided a comprehensive, detailed description of Jump Patterns and how they are used in the classroom.  The article can be found here. 

I am very interested to hear your thoughts, observations, and questions about my approach as well as any similarities to other approaches out there.

Jumping for Joy!

Oh, I'm excited!  My article, Jump Patterns: Percussive Dance and the Path to Math is on track to be published in April 2011 in the peer reviewed publication the Teaching Artist Journal.  From the journal, "The Teaching Artist Journal is a print quarterly (also available online) that serves as a voice, forum and resource for teaching artists and all those working at the intersection of art and learning."

Not only will it be exciting to be able to share my work with colleagues in a formal way, but I'll be able to share it with you, too!  The article focuses on how my approach to teaching percussive dance led me to search for, and find, relevant math connections.  I outline how I developed and formalized 'Jump Patterns,' a teaching tool which illustrates the elements of percussive dance (similar to how creative movement teaches the elements of other formal dance styles like ballet or modern dance).  I also describe how this tool has helped children become creative in my art form and make many meaningful connections to math topics at the same time.