Description of Education Internship McClure Prod!-Jctions, Inc.

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Mieko A. Ozeki worked at McClure Productions, Inc. in Geneseo, NY as a curriculum development intern. McClure Productions, Inc. is an alternative education company that designs experiential music progi:ams and curriculum for }?f estern New York sch_ool�. Glenn McClure The objective of this internship was to learn mor�. about the field; of alternative/experiential education, especially the peld of arts integratidn, and curriculum writing. . ,.

During the, ,Fall 2000 se�ester,. Ms. Ozeki researched educatiol)al policjes; New Y, ork State learning standards ¥ well as pedagogy. In the. Spring 2001 semester, she continued as a curriculum

. writer for McClure Productions, Additionally, I observed and assisted Mr. McClure iil facilitating lessons at his art residency sites. ·

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' Foll�wing is a doc\llflentatipn of the ski)�s and.experiences gained at McClure Prpductions, Inc ..

FALL2000 i September ' ' I " ' ' • ' • '

On September 15th� I �ttfvded the Young Audiences �how at Nazareth College with Glenn McClure and Ted Canning. I watched and listened to the performances of various artists who do art ·residencies in public sch9ols. I talked with teachers who were interested in incorporating these programs into their cl.as�rooms and observedjthe artists who entertained as well as taught academic subjects through their performances. . ,

Afterwards, I researched the Project SA VE education law which was passed in July 2000 and focused on character education. I was assigned to write an adventure education curriculum, incorporating character education into the program. The purpose of this assignment was to learn about curriculum writing by creating a program that fit my comfort zone.

October 1 . . On October 2nd, I went to Mt. Morris Central School with Glenn. I observed two science classes and participated in the arts activities which took place in the classroom. The lesson taught that day was the physics of sound. I noticed how the students were more attentive to the lesson when they got to play the steel drums in class. They were excited about learning as they drew connections between playing the instrument and the physics of sound.

I rewrote my adventure curriculum after reviewing the prototype program with Glenn. An addendum was added which detailed activities that would be used for the program. Two sample lesson plans (math and science) were added to practice lesson plan writing and incorporating New York State learning standards with adventure education activities.

On October I 0th, I attended a "town meeting" with Glenn, Paula, and Francesca McClure and Ted Canning for the western New York chapter of Young Audiences. The objective of the meeting was to brainstorm ideas to help in organizing the chapter.

At the end of the month, I wrote a curriculum which incorporated state education learning standards with activities from the Arts Integration Tool Box. Also, developed ideas for extending activities which could be used for the "Tools oflnquiry: Music" activity.

November I attended the Association for Experiential Education International Conference in Tucson,

Arizona from November 2-5. I gathered a lot of information on various adventure programming, such as corporate training, adjudicated youth programs and adventure therapy, and learned more about this field of experiential education. I attended a few workshops in these areas and learned some techniques of teaching academics as well as character development in the outdoor environment.

The final assignment for the semester was to write four lesson plans which were oriented to life sciences, incorporating state standards with act1vities in the "Great Garbage Concert" activity book and tape. This was a fun assignment because I developed skills in lesson plan and curriculum writing. I enjoyed listening to the music that is used in these activities.

'SPRING2001

During the Spring 2001 semester, I continued the work and observations I had done for McClure Productions in Fall 2000. The objective for this semester was to complete lesson plans for Mr. McClure's "Great Garbage Concert" activities book. The other project I was working on was a lesson plan packet for a project that Mr. McClure was proposing to do on a pyramid in Mexico called Teotihuacan.

Mr. McClure was working on a· grant to compose a piece of music that would take advantage of the acoustical structure of the Teotihuacan ·pyramid (also called the Pyramid of the Moon). The'·sound that is produced from this ancient Mesoamerican structure is a unique and multi-layered sound: The purpose of the lesson plans that I wrote for this project was to support the academic aspect of this ��.

Finally, I had the opportunity to observe Mr. McClure teach a middle school class on music !nAmerica. Based on my observations, I developed a lesson plan on social science research methods and learned how to write rubrics for'teachers to use as a guideline for a histdry project. :

This semester allowed me the opportunity to develop my skiJls in curriculum and lesson plan writing. It was an excellent opportunity to create a professional portfolio for job or foternship opportunities at Eagle Rock School and Shackleton School. The advantage of this portfolio was the professional edge I had in the alternative edu�tion field.

Closing Thoughts

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I appreciated working for McClure Productions because it helped me gain more hands on experience in this field of education. It helped me clarify my· career goals in experiential education, especially in adventure education. The internship has been a wonderful opportunity to learn about curriculum design, which I have incorporated into my teaching experiences .

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