Visual Arts

I really enjoy learning about visual arts because two of my siblings are artists. I love looking at art and trying to figure out what the artist is trying to convey. (I am not very good at it, but it is always fun to guess.) Up at BYU-Idaho I took an Arts Methods class where we had to do an assignment for each principle and element and I believe I learned what they were a lot better actually by doing all of them.

I really enjoyed the day that we all brought on childrens artists and did an activity with those artists according to how they actually illustrated. I learned a lot about them by trying to draw or make a picture in the same way that they did.

Field Experience

I enjoyed every single day of my field experience. The first week was a lot of fun because Melanie and I got to know our class. We were able to help our students with math, writing, reading, and even social studies.
Our first full week is when we began teaching. Our cooperating teacher set aside the entire time of social studies for us to teach our unit. If we ever didn't finish a lesson, she would let us just finish it the next day. She was a lot of fun to work with. We taught the students about the Revolutionary War. It took us a little bit to find a way to integrate the arts but we came up with a brilliant plan. For one of our assessments we wanted them to perform skits. Before we had them act out the skits, we talked to them about voice elements. During their skits they had to use at least one voice element (which made the skits so funny.) One boy in our class was a British soldier and he did the entire skit with a British accent. Just by integrating that piece of theater, they were able to remember three of the reasons why the Revolutionary War began.
Our second full week is when we integrated our second arts. We decided to integrate visual arts. We taught them about shape. I don't think they realized that there are two different categories of shape. They really enjoyed the lesson. We integrated it with teaching about the Continental Congress. Their assessment was to create a picture of Carpenters Hall, where the Continental Congress met. In the picture they could only use scissors, construction paper, and glue. They had to use at least one geometric shape and at least one free-form shape. Then they had to write a paragraph about Carpenters Hall. They really enjoyed making the pictures.
Overall field was a lot of fun. As much as we thought that integrating arts would be hard, it was fun to fit it in.

Music

I love the idea of using music in the classroom. In our classroom management class we learn a new song every week. I love learning the fun new songs because there are endless possibilities of how to use them. The way I would use them is for transitioning. It is hard to get everyone on the same page and by using a song, at the end of a song, you ensure that everyone is right with you.

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?

When I was in Elementary School I can't recall any dancing. I remember learning about different cultures of music, and we would dance to the music, but it was never any more than that. Creative dance is different than studio dance because it isn't very disciplined. There isn't a right or a wrong to creative dance. There isn't technique, it is just what the child feels they need to express.

A dance specialist would focus on creative dance because if a child isn't comfortable with dance, they won't want to jump into technique. They would be a lot more comfortable with just moving with the music, or just goofing around with their friends. Integrating dance isn't about teaching technique's or even teaching dance. It is about enhancing the student's learning experience through dance.

I really don't know how I will integrate dance in my classroom because I have never been an actual dancer. But one thing I loved growing up was going to dances. So I might integrate dance by using it as a "break" tool. If the kids are working really hard than we can have a "dance party" break. I might also include dance by having them make dances for projects. I think it will be easier to integrate dance in younger grades rather than older grades.

Teaching In, Through, With and About the Arts

I have learned a lot about the arts while reading, discussing and doing the class activities. My idea about the difficulty of teaching in, through, with and about the arts has changed quite a bit. At first I believed that people with no art training couldn't possibly use the arts in their classroom, and now I know that to be false.

I would like to learn more about the simple ways to use the arts to help my students learn. I love the activity of interviewing after reading a story. This helps the students want to explore the book more without stopping what we are learning.

Using arts in the classroom is important for every child because it fosters risk taking and creativity. If they do not learn these attributes, they will probably struggle a lot more in life. Allowing them to take risks and feel silly will help them want to learn more about the content, which will further their education.

Drama Integration

This past week in class we have talked a lot about ways that we can integrate drama in our future classrooms. I am not very good at acting but what I have found is that you don't have to be good at it. All you need to do is have a little confidence and a lot of fun.

I want to use some of the drama techniques in my classroom because it will make my class more fun and my students will remember more of what I teach them. I will incorporate them into my lesson. For example, If I were teaching about a story or about a book I would have them set up an interview situation where they become the characters. This way they see more and learn more about the characters.

When I begin teaching I will probably use easier drama games to integrate just because I am getting the hang of teaching. I love the name games that we have learned during class, like the alliteration names. I am "Creative Caitlyn." Another game that I enjoyed reading about was "count-freeze." In this game the teacher counts to 10, during the count, pairs are acting out a certain category but when the teacher gets to 10, they have to freeze. This is fun, but they have to listen and be creative at the same time.

I love the idea about integrating drama into other subjects because it allows students to learn while being silly.