About Wiggle Genius
The Heart of Wiggle Genius
Julie has been a teacher, and a teacher of teachers, for almost 25 years, but it wasn’t until she became a mom of two very active and intelligent boys that she came to fully understand the importance of having movement, discovery, play, touch, interaction, creativity, enjoyment, curiosity, and collaboration be a part of learning, and how dance was the perfect partner to facilitate this. At the heart of Wiggle Genius is a desire to bring movement into every K12 classroom in big ways and small, and to equip every teacher, parent, caretaker, studio owner, community arts facilitator, tutor, etc. (YOU!) with the basic skills, knowledge, and resources needed to immediately and effectively accomplish this!
Creator of Wiggle Genius
Julie Hammond (B.F.A, M.F.A) is a Professor, Faculty Lead, Director of Dance Education, and a K12 Licensure Supervisor for the dance program at the University of Southern Mississippi. She is also currently serving as the Associate Director of the School of Performing and Visual Arts. Her areas of
research are arts assessment, curriculum development, outreach and community work, and “teaching teachers how to teach” in K12, higher education, and integrated and dance education classrooms and programs. She has been repeatedly invited to present her work nationally at NDEO Conferences, regionally at ACDA conferences, and statewide as a curriculum track leader in dance at the Mississippi Gifted Child (MGAC), Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC), and Whole Schools Initiative Conferences (WSI). She has worked extensively as an independent artist-in-residence in K12 schools throughout the Gulf South. Hammond is a dedicated advocate for the importance of movement in learning and the essential inclusion of artful instruction in education. In 2016, she was appointed to the esteemed MAC
Teaching Artist Roster, and was selected for a third year as a Mississippi Alliance for Arts Education granted artist-in-residence. Hammond is co-founder and education director for the Mississippi Dance Festival, co-founder and co-director of Camp Create, and the creator of “Wiggle Genius” – a website for
K12 classroom teachers that disseminates the many approaches to teaching academics artfully with dance. In 2013, Hammond was awarded the Southern Miss College of Arts & Letters “Teacher of the Year Award” and the Mississippi Alliance for Arts Education “Excellence in Higher Education Award” for her contributions to, and accomplishments in, dance and education statewide and nationally. In 2018, she become one of 14 full professors in dance nationwide and was also awarded the USM College of
Arts & Letters 2018 – 19 “Creative and Scholarly Research Award” for her work in integrated dance for K12 students and teachers. Finally, Professor Hammond was selected to present her research at the Dance and International Child Conference in Adelaide, Australia and at the National Teaching Artist
Conference in NYC in 2018.
What Is Wiggle Genius?
Wiggle Genius is a comprehensive resource that provides you with everything you need to establish movement as a part of your instruction and curriculum, whatever these might be for you. Including movement in learning is nothing new. It was defined and included in K12 instruction since the 1960’s and 1970’s by dance specialists, and in recent years, has once again been shared well in published articles, books, arts and education organization websites and teaching seminars both nationally and internationally.
So what makes Wiggle Genius unique? First and foremost, it is FREE and widely accessible through this website and the accompanying online video tutorials. The goal is to create a “one stop location” for all things “dance in the academic classroom” so that educators can quickly and easily learn the benefits of dance in instruction and how to integrate it into instruction.
As importantly, the lesson plans and supporting resources offered in Wiggle Genius were also created in response to and in collaboration with a varied and large collective of K12 colleagues in a diversity of learning populations and distinct school districts over an extended period of time. Through a diverse group of collaborators, Wiggle Genius offers the perspectives, expertise, and experiences of hundreds of master teachers. Because of this, these approaches, strategies, and ideas are “tried and true” and serve as a trusted guide as you consider making dance a part of your teaching. Above all, Wiggle Genius is a starting point for becoming a true artist educator in your classroom – a teacher who remains dedicated to learning and who strives to empower as much as educate – a Wiggle Genius!