Where am I heading with arts and arts education?

What? I really enjoyed this class. It really helped me see that there are so many was to teach something and include the arts. They really enhance a lesson, the students really enjoy them, and because of that they remember what was learned longer.

So What? Learning through the arts is so important. Some students learn better this way. Students can also express themselves better. The retain the information they learned longer because it was such an enjoyable experience. I also liked teaching with arts better. I feel like there is always room to include the arts in your lesson plan.

Now what? I am going to be sure and teach using all the stuff I learned in this class in my future class. I really like all of the helpful tools I received in this class and I can not wait to try them all out. I just need to remember how important teaching the arts are even if my school and others do not.

Spring Break April 4-10

I am going to Vegas and Six Flags yay!!

Reflection #12

What? This week we got to help the whole 4th grade practice a dance they will be performing for their parents. This was exciting because I remember doing this when I was in the 4th grade.

So what? I felt this was really important for the students to listen to directions and learn the steps. They also got to learn a bit of culture that the song gave them. This gave the students as chance to loosen up and have some fun. Students really had to consintrate to know what to do and I think this really improved their listening skills.

Now what? The students also had to learn a song they are going to perform. The teacher that was teaching the song added gestures to certain words and moved through the song one verse at a time. In that short amount of time all of the students including myself had it memorized and it was not exactly an easy song. He was also adding the beat and throughout the song the students were claping their knees. I think the students learned it so quickly is because the teacher was really into it and it made it fun for the students.

Reflection #11

What? So this week of field experience, my partner and I taught Monday thru Thursday. Two of those days we integrated a creative arts lesson. We are teaching a unit on the Mormon Pioneers.

So what? This field experience has taught me that students love the creative arts. They had so much fun with our lessons. We used Decision Alley to have a students decide whether they wanted to go be a Pioneer and face miles of walking and hardship or to stay homes and be persecuted. I had one student walk the alley and had one side tell her to go and one to stay. Students really got into it and they used convincing statement we had learned about to get them to stay or go.

The other creative arts lesson we used was the "Machine". We had the students act out something the pioneer would have used. For example a hand cart. The students really got into it and they learned the importance of working together.

Now what? I am very excited to start teaching full time where I can use creative arts in most of my lessons. I think that they students really got the most out of it. It was very exciting trying them out and seeing how the students responded to them. I think the students will remember the ideas they learned using creative arts for years to come.

Reflection #10

What? I started my field experience this week. I am working with the 4th grade. My field partner and I decided that we wanted to observe our first week so we could get a feel of the classroom before teaching.

So what? I know that this experience will be very beneficial to me as a teacher. I know that it already is as a student. My class is very quiet. I think this is because my teacher has excellent classroom management. I don't really know any major behavior problems within her classroom. My teacher speaks with a very quiet voice and all of her students respect her.

Although the class is very well put together, I feel like there is too much quiet time. There is not a lot of group collaboration going on within the classroom, where the kids can let loose a bit and have some fun. I think that creative arts could be just the key for something like this. The students can work together as a team through a process drama and probably remember it for years to come. Plus I think creative arts will definitely let the class have a bit more fun.

Now what? One thing I have noticed is that they don't include creative arts very much at all in the classroom. The whole 4th grade rotates everyday. One of the rotations in music. Then on Fridays they have a art activity. Also once a week parents come in the class and tell them about an artist and copy a piece of art work of theirs.

This class could include a lot more drama into the classroom. That was my favorite part about learning about the creative art so I know that my students would enjoy it as well. Next week my partner are going to start teaching and I am excited to see what they class will think about how we include creative arts in the classroom.

Reflection #9

What? I learned that creating a music lesson is hard. My group had a hard time teaching the song. Maybe if you had practice or you had a song given to you but teaching one from scratch is hard work. Personally I think it is easier if you have the words written down so you can read them which a lot of groups did, which I thought our teacher said wasn't the best way to teach a song. Sing not say.

So What? One thing I learned that I will have to do better is to enunciate the words slowly and clearly. Maybe sure they are able to hear each syllable. They also have to have a clear idea of the rhythm.

Now What? If I am going to teach music in my classroom I am going to have to find some great song and music in which they can sing to. I want to make sure they are learning something from the songs because that is a great way to remember things.

Reflection #8

What? Music is the way we can express ourselves through song. It can be very helpful in the classroom. We you are learning something I think that you can remember it better if you put it to song. Students can learn to listen better through song and focus more.

So what? I want to try using music in my classroom to help my students remember things. I still remember songs today that I learned in elementary school. I think that music can also bring your class together. I need to remember when I am teaching a song that they student learn better hearing it and through repetition. Students can work on the beat and rhythm using instruments.

Now what? To prepare to teach music effectively I need to build up my music collection. I don't know very many teaching songs that would be great for the classroom. I will need to learn how to sing a lot of songs before I can teach them effectively. I will need to gather lots of music. I am going to practice by teaching a lesson on Tuesday. If my class does not pick up the song and learn something from it I am going to have to reevaluate my teaching method.

Reflection #7

What? Dance is important to use in the classroom because it allows your students to express their thoughts and feelings by using all of their senses. Furthermore, creative movement expands your student's understanding of their environment. It also broadens their creative self expression. It is important to get our students moving and be thinking about the descriptive words we use to accomplish that.

So What? I would like to try and use dance in my lessons when I start teaching. We we did our dance assignment I thought that it was a little repetitive using dance the whole time. I think that if we use it for a segment here and there to really express something the students will really understand. One thing I really liked was using dance to teach language arts. When you read a book to them and then ask them to express certain parts through dance, use lots of verbs and adjectives so they can understand their meaning.

Now What? Yes, I would like to include dance in some of my lessons when it is appropriate. Like I said before I would really like to try using it when teaching language arts. I would try to find a really good book. Then I would read the book further my students understand by using dance to express that book. I think you can teach students a lot through dance explaining certain movements and adding new words to their vocabulary. Plus it is a lot of fun for your students.

Reflection #6

What? This week we learned about the kinesthetics of dance. I never knew that you can tell from the movement of a child that they lack in certain mental capassities. You can improve those by working on their movement. Dance also leaves a lasting impression and they are sure to pay attention the whole time and learn a great deal.

So What? We for class we are going to prepare a lesson that we can teach from a story book through dance. I will remember to really get them moving and get them think about why they are moving and how they are moving. This can also teach them lots of great verbs and adjectives. When I go to field I will remember how important movement is. It is also a great way to get those wiggles out.

Now What? I need to remember the key components of teaching through dance. Body, Energy, Space, and Time. Dance is the BEST way to teach. This way the students are really using all of their energy into what they are learning and that is very important.

Reflection #5

What? I loved making a processed drama because it gives your students a hands on approach to learning. They acting things out, getting physically involved so they remember better what they are learning.

I learned from the other team presentation that they are a lot of ways you can present a lesson. Also the more enthusiasm you use and the more involved you get they class the better the activity goes.

So What? I think I would like to try "Hot seating" as a teacher because students can become experts on a certain person and then the rest of the class can question them so that the whole class is learning. I would also like to try "Decision alley" because that really gets your students thinking.

Now What? To prepare for creative drama teaching by reading a lot of books I could include and turn into a process drama. I would practice many different ways of teaching that one topic.

Reflection #4

What? This week we started learning about drama in the classroom. I never thought about how much drama can enrich your lesson and really get your students involved.

So What? I think I would like to try drama activity, "Hot Seating", for my first year of teaching. This where the students put themselves in other people's roles. I think this will really get them think about how others in history faced the challenges they did. I think along with that I would like to try out "Decision Alley", where they are asked to think about what they would do if they were in another person's place.

Now What? I think students need creative drama in the school because it really gets them involved in the lesson and they remember what they have learned later on. I think it would be a really good idea to try to integrate drama in other curricular areas because it really does give them another view and way of learning. Drama is all hands and some students learn best that way.

Reflection #3

What? I think it is a great idea to use a children book illustrators to entrance the learning of art. Children books are something they can relate too. When they look at a picture from Picasso some students might be a little overwhelmed, maybe not really get what is going on. With a children's book they know right off the bat the picture is telling a story. The can use those pictures to imagine they are somewhere else.

So What? When teaching about art I can use the activities we learned in class. We can explain how an illustrator did their work. We can have them write their own children's book and make the pictures for them. I can also compare and contrast from several different illustrators. I can ask them what they like better.

Now What? I think learning about illustrators is important. They can use their imagination to play out a story in their mind. It is a great outlet for creativity. I think it important for me to research about different illustrators so that I can teach my kids how they are able to complete works of art through story books.

Reflection #2

What? In class we explored visual arts. We learn about terms like line, shape, color, value, texture, and space. We also learned about principles like proportion, balance, variety, rhythm, emphasis, and unity. These are important things to think about when looking or creating art. Art is up to your imagination but you will find you will have at least one of these terms or principles in every piece of art.

So What? As a teacher I understand that I need to be aware of these terms and principles and their definitions. I want my students to understand them as well. The best way to learn something is through example. So I would show them a piece of art and have them point of the terms in the work. Then they can go about creating their own work with those terms in mind. Art is every where you look and it creates harmony and a soothing atmosphere.

Now What? I think a great idea to make sure all my students understand these concepts is to show a piece of artwork for each term. This way they can also see how they can apply them to their art. I never really considered all of these term when looking at art but now when I look they stick out like a sore thumb. I really want my student to be able to produce great works of art and I think that these terms are the first stepping stones to achieve that.

Reflection #1

What? I have taken a couple of class in high school in the arts. I took a calligraphy class and a photography class. I also taught preschool in high school and that was full of the arts. We had to make a bulletin board each week describing the theme for that week. We constantly had to use arts to make these more interesting. In my regular classes I can not think of anytime where the teacher integrated art into the class except maybe humanities. We had to make our painting that describe something using colors and figures.

So What? When I was a little girl I remember I wanted to be an artist. I use to draw in my sketch book every night before I went to sleep. I loved to draw people. I loved to fantasize about the kind of person I would be or one I wish I was and then draw them. I also have a scrapbook I have made of my early childhood. I think it is important to make a diary of sorts of our memories. My calligraphy teacher was crazy and he loved to play music as loud as it could go. He encouraged us to use our imagination to make art work and incorporate calligraphy. My photography teacher wasn't very sociable but I learned a lot of about the mechanics of how to develop film. The creativity of taking a picture came from within. I need to figure out ways to make my classroom feel safe so that they can express themselves through art. I think art is a good way to reinforce something and I think they would remember an art project more than anything else they did in school if it meant something to them.

Now What? I need to gather lots of ideas to integrate art into my class. There could be some form of art included into every lesson of every topic. We could set aside time in the day to express art. We could go on a field trip to expose their senses and give them ideas to express their creativity.