A Little About Us
During more than 30 years of teaching (general classroom, French, music, computer, library, enrichment), I found that the most memorable and influential methods of reaching and teaching children was through the arts. Many students who had little interest in school or who were very negative about the whole situation, came alive when given the opportunity to develop skills in drama, dance, visual arts and music.
While formal classes aimed specifically at these skills could enhance the school day for many students, I found that the greatest power of the arts was in their informal integration into other subject areas........ 'two birds with one stone' ... so to speak.
Scruffy Plume was created to encourage the arts in education through providing ideas and ready made materials for teachers, parents and Christian educators.
Pat is a veteran of many years of teaching French as a second language as well as all subjects in the general classroom. Her expertise is well recognized and was often put to good use in working with young teachers in training at the university level. The drama workshop available on the site was from one of her course presentations. Pat began writing French plays to motivate her students and to encourage them in the use of oral structures learned in formal lessons. The plays, based on universally known tales such as Snow White and Peter Pan, were also presented at numerous spring and Christmas concerts. Although the parents were not themselves French-speaking, they rarely had any any difficulty understanding the stories and enjoyed seeing what their children were able to accomplish in a second language.
Of course you have probably met Wanda. She has insisted that she should be the spokes puppet for the site. She brings many years of experience in performing in puppet plays and and musicals. She has recently begun to try her hand at script writing. Wanda can be a little over dramatic and verbose at times, but I suppose some advanced vocabulary materials won't hurt!
If you have any questions, comments or feedback about materials you have used from the site, just click the contact link below and send us a message.
