Maggie Fishman, the Director of Action Research; Erin Orr is a Curriculum Specialist and SJ Munford Action Researcher. They are all researchers and artists. Their CAST UDL Symposium session was “Explore and Describe- Building Curiosity About Materials, Skills and Process.” Two of them are puppeteers and all of them described themselves during introductions. They used signs and movement for an ice breaker, and Orr asked, “give us a sign if you are…” I will have to remember this one: this icebreaker was a creative way of engaging the participants over Zoom. Fishman spoke about developing teaching practices for educators to use whether or not they “know about art.” The presenters spoke about the power of the pencil. Mumford set up a camera to view a piece of paper and did some fun stretches. Mumford made me laugh when she spoke about the magic dust and talked to the pencil. There were long lines, short lines, scribble scrabbles, and painting in the air. Mumford asked: “Friends, what kind of lines does your pencil want to draw?” A participant shared how to make broken lines. Participants shared their drawings on camera. This session was dynamic and interactive, with presenters sharing suggestions and commenting on items shared by the audience.
