Sigma Alpha Iota

Summer 2020 8 P A N P I P E S EDUCATION C heryl Graff, a member of the SAI Chicago Alumnae Chapter, and Andrew Van Herik are 9th grade teachers at an arts high school in Chicago, Illinois. Ms. Graff is a Diverse Learner Teacher and a classically trained Mezzo-Soprano opera singe; Mr. Van Herik is an English Language Arts Teacher. ey co-teach one section of Freshman English I. When the current pandemic forced schools to close their doors and switch to remote learning, they noticed a major shi in student attitudes about learning. Ms. Graff noticed attendance rates were low and students shared that they missed attending art classes in person. Graff and Van Herik quickly responded to their students' needs. inking outside the box, they developed a plan to increase student engagement in a remote learning setting. Graff connected with professional artists on Twitter to share advice and provide writing prompts for students. She received nine videos and many tweets from artists such as: Grammy Award-Winning Singer/ Songwriter Lisa Loeb; Screenwriter Krista Vernoff (head screenwriter for ABC's hit medical drama Grey's Anatomy); Actress/Producer/Screenwriter Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding 1 & 2); Singer/Songwriter Lori Lieberman (writer of the song Killing Me Soly); BMX Pro Rider Matt Wilhelm; Broadway Director Jerry Mitchell; Lyric Soprano Amanda Majeski; and TikToker/YouTube personality Zach King. Graff and Van Herik are integrating these videos and tweets from professional artists with students as part of their curriculum, so students continue to practice their reading, writing, and speaking skills in an online setting. Ms Graff and Mr. Van Herik have shared some highlights below. Cheryl Graff, an initiate of Alpha Lambda Chapter, holds a B.A. and M.A. in Special Education and Educational Technology from Michigan State University. She has been teaching Special Education for four years and performs in choirs and theater productions throughout the Chicago area. A tweet Graff and Van Herik received from Krista Vernoff, head screenwriter for ABC 's hit medical drama Grey 's Anatomy. Vernoff encouraged students to write about a time when they felt lost. Twitter Inspiration Graff continued to connect with her students by sharing her love of the arts via a "Song A Day " challenge. For 100 days, she recorded a video of herself singing a song with a positive message. Christopher Holmes @HolmesWasHere Replying to @MsGraffsroom @billycorrigan and 19 others A poem about: 1) What you miss about how life was. 2) Re- connecting with a friend you haven't heard from. 3) Missing your favorite to-go food. 4) What's songs you're listening to that will remind you of this time. 5) Opportunity and hope. A tweet received from Chris Holmes, music producer for Nine Inch Nails, Blink-182, The Cure, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. He suggested different topics for students to write poems about. Krista Vernoff @KristaVernoff Replying to @MsGraffsroom My writing prompt would be to ask them to remember/visual- ize a time when they felt lost. And the first words of the piece are "i remember" and they return to those words any time they feel stuck. And they commit to only telling the truth.

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