Field Reflection

Field was absolutely wonderful. That's all I can really say (but I will say more for the sake of making this blog more than 2 sentences :)). I think everyone was pretty apprehensive about entering their field experiences. No one quite knew what to expect and I think there was self doubting all around. But I was surprised to find how easily I got into it. Once the teacher introduced me and the students began asking questions about me I was completely at ease and eager to answer their questions and get to know them better. I think that's a great lesson to learn because it can be a lifelong habit I can do as a teacher. Spending the time getting to know the students and visa versa could be crucial in how effective the class is. If I know them I can design lessons that are specific to their needs. And if they know me they can feel comfortable asking questions and sharing answers. I hope I can do that regularly.

Integrating the arts into the class wasn't hard at all. In fact it was the most memorable part of our lessons. I think everyone in our cohort taught 5 lessons but our teacher decided we should teach the whole unit so we ended up teaching 10 full lessons! We needed the use of the arts to get kids involved and their minds activated. Their first major lesson with the arts was when they had to make their weather instruments. While they didn't have a whole lot of room for creativity they still got to have a hands on activity involving coloring, cutting and pasting. One of the coolest activities we did involved the class creating the sounds and movements of weather. We asked them what sorts of things happen when it gets stormy and they answered with rain, wind, lightning. So I asked them further as to what sorts of sounds those things made and if they could recreate them. So part of the class got to be the wind and others the rain and the more active kids got to jump around and be the lightning while making crashing sounds. I told them to start out quiet at first with a little wind and a little rain. Then it could get louder and louder until finally the lightning comes in with loud noises and the rain and wind got noisy too! Then I told them the storm was ending to to get gradually softer and softer until we were back to a peaceful classroom. VERY cool activity and the loved it!

Another of our activities let them get creative. The class was divided into groups and each group had an assigned severe weather topic (tornadoes, hurricanes, etc.). They got to spend time researching their topics and finding out all the information they could find. Once they had finished that they were given a poster and told to draw pictures and add the information they had been learning about. They were given markers, crayons, colored pencils, glue, glitter, and all sorts of things to make their posters as fun as as possible. I was amazed at how creative the kids got! Some kids made their posters look like newspapers, other kids looked like the cover of a book. They also had a lot of fun drawing the pictures of what they thought their severe weather looked like. They then got the opportunity to share in front of the class what they had learned. Each member of the group had to participate so everyone was actively involved. The posters were hung in the hallways of the school for all the other students to see and they got really excited about that. It was fun and the students really got into it!

What I learned from this field experience is that you can teach students a lot from a book and they can usually spit it back to you but if you involve the arts they will talk about it excitedly for days afterwards and it will be stored in their memories for much longer! I got requests all the time do the rain activity again and again. So I'm so glad I was able to see the arts in action because it showed me how much it makes learning stick!

Music!!

These couple of weeks were pretty fun working with music in our classroom. I learned that music can be integrated in a myriad of ways. I think I always assumed that music is just singing Old MacDonald and things like that. But there are instruments, books, motions, and many other different things that can be used. It's such a great way to get students involved with your teaching. It not only encourages participation but it also helps students remember the things that are being taught. I still remember all of the states because of the song I learned in the 5th grade! :) In creating our lesson I learned that the song still echoes in my head and I can imagine the same thing happens to the students to it becomes ingrained in their brains. After presenting it in class I have learned that some ideas look good on paper but when you try to teach it things don't go exactly as planned. But it was great to have the experience of trying to teach something I've never taught before. I definitely plan on using this in the classroom because it makes things not only fun to learn but also helps the teacher and students remember the things they've learned. I can picture students requesting to sings songs in class and doing it on the bus...etc...all the while learning without knowing it. :D

Dance Week!

This was a really fun couple of weeks in class! I will admit that when I saw that there was dance on the syllabus I was apprehensive about how much fun I would have doing it. I'm not a dancer and I'm not sure I felt qualified to lead students in some sort of dance activity. It was great to find out that it can be pretty simple and a lot of fun! I never would have thought that you could take a simple book like Where the Wild Things Are and turn it into an activity that everyone is participating in and thoroughly enjoying!

These movements and activities were so great not only to get out of a desk but to also have to think on our feet. You really have to internalize what you are doing because you have to think for yourself and create movements that reflect what the teacher is talking about. Especially if you are teaching something directly from a lesson plan (types of dinosaurs, water cycle,etc.) students will be able to remember almost everything from that day because they acted it out and watched others act it out.

For our group we chose dinosaurs and a cool dinosaur book. It was a lot of fun to collaborate with my group and talk about how we could really make our subject come alive. It was fun to see our lesson plan come to life when the whole class participated. It made teaching really fun and I've gained a whole new perspective on dance in the classroom!

Presentation Week

This week was actually really fun. Not only presenting our ideas with our group but also being able to see the ideas of others. It's amazing that with one simple instruction a million ideas can come from it. Some of the groups did fairy tales and some did biographies. I was surprised to find that the activities that went along with the biographies were just as fun and interactive as the activities for the other fictional (fun) stories. That was a good lesson for me because I assumed that the fun activities go with the fun books but they proved to me that fun can be had with any sort of topic/book that you have!

I really love the idea of making story time interactive. So often teachers make the students sit on the floor and just read an entire story to them. This can be fun but I think a lot of the students might disengage and not pay attention. With dramatic activities the students can all feel involved and really process all that they are hearing about. This can make more "boring" topics like history or math more exciting because the students will know that they will be able to get and and move around instead of being lectured to all day. Great week!

Drama Week

This week was so great! I love being able to get out of the desk and DO something! Especially when it involves moving around and being creative! And I think that students feel pretty much the same way (being that I don't consider myself THAT much more mature or restless... :) ). I loved how much interaction and group participation these activities promoted! It was a little uncomfortable at first to do the mirror activity because neither person really knew what to expect but after a few minutes it began to be fun and challenging. The machine was by far the best activity because it was fun and made us think of new and fun ways to work together. This would be so great for students to learn to come out of their shells and work together for the greater good.

The story dramas were equally as fun because it let us interact with each other in a new and creative way. It made us all re think about a story that we have heard a million times. It was fun and made us all think deeper which is what students need to do with stories and reading that they do. It was so much fun and was genuinely the only class that week that I wish wouldn't end. :) Thanks!

What a great couple of weeks this has been in this class! It really has brought back so many different memories of my school growing up. The visual arts program really has stimulated my way of thinking and definitely how to integrate these methods into my own future classroom. Where some classes get a little boring with lectures and black and white words on the printed page I always look forward to this class because I know there will be something interactive for me to do. That's the way I learn best is by seeing something visual and then being able to express myself similarly.

The week we went from station to station learning and practicing the basic principles of visual art was great because there were explanations on what was required but then there was a whole table full of resources and materials available for me to get in there and do it myself. And if I ever had any questions I had 5 or 6 other people that were there to help me along.

The artist presentations were fabulous because they showed me new things I had never seen before as well as fun memories of things that I had forgotten. The greatest part was after all of these wonderful visual presentations we were able to get in and explore how each of these artists really did their work and I could try to mimic their style and have fun creating.

For a visual learner like myself I was very grateful for these week's lessons!

The Arts & Me

I think that the arts was really what got me into school and learning growing up. The only vivid memories that I have of my early education are of art projects, songs I've learned, and anything that had to do with visuals or hands on making things! I remember that most of my teachers would give us big projects that had several options with them. You could write a paper, make a timeline, etc...but the ones I ALWAYS chose were the artsy ones. I'm sure my parents LOVED getting to help me with those every month! I made paintings, sculptures, dioramas, stories, and anything else you could trust to an elementary school student! This was the case throughout my entire life through high school. I never really learned something until I got to get in and create something for myself. It enabled me to go and learn things on my own because I wanted to and because I wouldn't be able to finish my projects without doing so. And even better, those are the projects that I remember to this day so that knowledge has remained with me all this time. It wasn't until my junior year though that I had a teacher in humanities that made me appreciate art on a worldwide and more specific level. Before I knew things that I liked in art but I never really sought them out or learned to appreciate them on a deeper level. Through her class I was able to take journeys through time and really appreciate music and art and culture. That has been one of the greatest influences in my life. Now, I seek out museums and plays on my own in my own town and whenever I travel. Art is how I learn and I hope to be able to integrate that into most things that I can teach!