DrAmA

I always thought that Drama was about plays and Shakespeare. Instead, I've learned a lot of new ways in which drama can be incorporated and improve the overall function of the classroom. For example, we talked in class about having students create skits to help them remember new vocabulary words. I think this helps students see more than just a word on paper, but it helps the word become alive and they are able to connect a word with a visual. I especially think it's great when students themselves act something out because then they remember it even more. I believe exercises and tools like this will be great in the classroom to improve all aspects of school-whether it's vocabulary and English or science or math. Drama may also be helpful in situations such as role-playing and teaching students appropriate behavior. Although you tell a student something over and over, they often won't be able to fully understand until it happens or they see it. I also think that it's a valuable way to get students' feelings out. Sometimes if students have an outlet, they are more likely to use it instead of using others. By acting feelings or problems out, students are able to prevent more problems and solve existing ones.

FiElD!

Overall, Field was a great experience! I loved being in the classroom with the kids. At first, I admit, I struggled because we weren't doing much of anything and were sitting in the back until we got the hang of the class. Then we went ahead and did our lesson plans.

My favorite lesson we did was the arts was a music lesson I was able to do. Fulfilling curriculum requirements, I had SEVERAL different selections of music I played for the students. I played short clips ranging anywhere from 8 seconds to a little over a minute. The songs were all different genres and gave the students all types of emotions. I didn't tell them the titles of the songs and they had no to very limited lyrics. The students filled out a worksheet while they listened that included what genre they thought the song was, and things the song made them feel or reminded them of. After we listened to all 12 clips, we talked about 2 or 3 of them and what the students learned. Then we talked about the elements of music and how they did this (tone, rhythm, volume, etc). I played more short clips that showed them examples of each of these elements and we discussed the impact the elements had on those clips and the emotions of the students. The kids got really into it and learned a lot. I then gave them homework in which they picked any 3 different songs and did the same sort of activity as they did in class, plus wrote down what elements of music contributed to these feelings.

Class as of 11/2

I have learned a lot about visual arts and the principles therein. One of the most fun things I've learned is that art doesn't necessarily have to be painted or drawn. In fact, our illustrator made all of her artwork by cutting pieces of paper and laying them on top of or in conjunction with one another. It's really neat! I also thoroughly enjoyed learning about other artists and how they depict their art. I also loved that we were able to look at their art and try to depict it ourselves. I especially enjoyed the work done by Andy Bean's group. It was fun and neat to create an art project by pushing deep into the cardboard-like things, and then paint them with ink and push paper over the top of it to create a masterpiece! I enjoyed learning about them and their different styles and ways to create them!

MUSiC!

Music!

I love music.

I think that it can be such a powerful tool in the classroom. It has personally affected my life for the better, and I hope to continue that with my students. Although I would prefer to do things with music a majority of the time, I understand that it can't exactly happen due to curriculum requirements.
Whenever we can, I plan to have music around, and playing. I know that music can have an effect on a person's behavior and attitude. When students are rowdy, or have a continuing pattern of coming in from recess rowdy, I plan to have slower classical music playing in the background to create a calming mood. I hope to be able to expose children to different kinds of music, even if it is just playing in the background while they are working on projects. If time permits, I would like to teach them different kinds of dances like the one we learned in class the other day. I would also love to give any sort of music lesson possible.

Dance!!!

Think about the reading and the activities we did in class, as well as your own experience with dance in elementary school. Think about how this approach to childrens' creative dance might be different than studio dance (jazz, ballet, hip hop, etc.) or social dance - why do you think children's dance specialists might focus more on childrens' creative dance for education? How do you think you might use dance in your own teaching?

The dance we participated in during class was definately different than a typical studio dance class-which was not what any of us expected I think. In a social dance class, I'm not sure if we would have thought of different ideas and emotions and encorporated them into dance moves, or freeze frames. Creative dance helps children to relax and show emotions more freely-it isn't quite so scripted, it's all imaginative and no one is "wrong" or off-beat. I did have a LOT of fun doing the large circular group dance at the end of our lesson was a lot of fun, and I would like to encorporate those things into my classroom, but it may be fun to give children express themselves and have a time where they are allowed to pick what they want to do and express themselves, even though it is still in a controlled environment.

Reflection #1

Reflection #1
Think about what you have learned so far through reading, discussion and class activities and reflect on how your ideas might have changed, things you want to learn about teaching (with, in, about, through) the arts, and why they are important in the education of every child.


I love the arts and always have. I especially have a great love for music and what it can do to your heart, mind, body, and soul. I've always believed the arts were critical and are a great influence on everyone-and this class seems to continuously support that notion. It's hard becuase arts aren't necessarily supported and encouraged in schools now, but when the research is shown, it doesn't make sense as to why they aren't. Through our classroom activities, I've gotten more ideas about how to encorporate them more. For instance, when we played the game where everyone sat in a circle and mimiked the leader's hand motions and movements, I realized how relaxed I felt during and after the activity. If I find myself in a situation where there doesn't seem to be a lot of time for arts, and yet my class is a bit rowdy, I may try to incorporate games such as this one to help them relax and re-obtain focus.
This class seems to show that the arts don't necessarily have to include obvious aspects such as painting or acting, but can have more subtle inclusions such as the games we have played in class. I kind of like this concept, even though it's not quite what I expected for the class. However, I wouldn't mind being able to visit these specific kinds of concepts and get ideas of how to teach things I may not be good at or comfortable with-for example, painting and drawing.