After many trains and subways, we finally reached Tokyo. My Hilton Ambassador, Chikoto, did a wonderful job showing us the cultural aspects of Japan but we really valued her showing us the train/subway systems! Valuable information I tell you. Valuable. Going through the Tokyo station was like going through a...
Last minute packing and moved our house sitters in. Then the alert email came in from the US Embassy: Alert typhoon headed toward Japan! Great. But even with that news, our flight wasn't delayed and we both usually reside on the optimistic side of it all. After a decent 10 hour flight...
DING! I turned my head to see the email pop up. Heart quickened, eyes focused. My first response letter from the NEH Summer Fellowship is in. I quickly scanned it just to see, ‘We regret to inform you that we cannot offer you a place for this year’s program.’ As my...
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! Mr. Steven Miller was my 6th grade general studies teacher and he made me realize that it was ok to be me. It’s ok to be crazy and think out of the box. It’s ok to go above and beyond other people’s expectations of you (though they...
Levar Burton just walked on stage as the main keynote of the conference. At that moment, I looked to my right and there’s Scott Bedley and his group of amazing colleagues. I glanced to my left to see Jason Seliskar, Jen Roberts and Bill Selak, who’s showing me his...
In college I was repeatedly asked the question, “Genein, how did you become so creative?” This question was often prompted from my elaborate project submissions throughout the years, which always went above and beyond the minimum requirements. It wasn’t until I won various awards for my creative interdisciplinary lessons, that I...
First it was the Ice Bucket Challenge and now it's this. I was challenged by one of my education mentors, Scott Bedley, to list 5 things we need to stop pretending in education. So here goes: 5 Things We Need To Stop Pretending That the arts are important...
I was excited to be featured on the Bedley Bros (@bedleybros) talk show to share some ideas on arts integration. From book tracks to classifying the instruments of the orchestra, there are many fun lesson activities in this video that can be implemented right away for your students. Enjoy!
