Reflection #14

I am definitely headed in the right direction for Arts Integration for my future classroom. it all comes down to me for my future students to experience the arts. I hope when I teach, my students will enjoy being involved with the arts as much as I have in this class. I have enjoyed presenting each art and getting other ideas from my classmates. I hope that I can go to Art Conferences to get more ideas of how to incorporate them. Also I can get ideas from colleagues and see what they like to use. There are many tools that can help me integrate the arts into my future classroom. One tool being our textbook, it is filled with several ideas and even better its all in one book. I hope that I can start preparing by gathering ideas, books, websites and more to start an Art folder that I can refer to when I teach.

With each art I plan on teaching it effectively to my students and hope that they will have a great experience. With visual art, I will prepare to effectively teach my students that there are multiple ways to show your creativity in visual art. I want to let my students know that there is not one specific way to do visual art. There are endless possibilities when integrating drama with the curricular areas. Children will enjoy what they experience and never forget how you used drama into the classroom! Children need creative drama for several reasons one it can let children out of their comfort zone and be theirselves. Creative drama can build their self-esteem. Drama can attract all types of students and their learning styles from pretend interviews to pantomimes children will find what they like best.

In dance, I plan on actively interpreting books into dance movements and practicing new ideas for creative dance and using them in my classroom. I hope to be aware of the different steps I could use and also finding the right music to go with my dance numbers. In music, I want to be more comfortable with singing and learn more about the elements of music and demonstrate them effectively. My next steps are working on my own voice and practicing to become better for my future students. Also I think to start putting together a folder of songs that I can use and ideas of how to teach the song, what instruments to use, etc.

The arts truly add a variety to the core subjects and have proven higher test scores, building self-esteem, includes all students from different backgrounds, children take more risks and more. The arts mean a great deal to me and I cannot wait for the day when I have my very own classroom and share with my students the great benefits the arts has to offer.

Reflection #13

So What- As I look back on my experience with the creative arts class I am indeed grateful for having the opportunity to have this class. I have learned a lot about my self in many ways. One being that I do not have to be completely experienced with using the arts into my classroom. I do not have a background in music, but I think as time goes by I will get better and have more confidence in myself to read notes and more. Also I have been exposed to process drama and I am absolutely found of it. I loved learning about the 21 Hot Process Drama tools. There is a variety that I can use and it will be fun to experience them all in the future.

Now what- I hope when I teach my students will enjoy being involved with the arts as much as I have in this class. I have enjoyed presenting each art and getting other ideas from my classmates. I have also benefitted from using our textbook. It is filled with great ideas and they all are accessible. The arts mean a great deal to me and I cannot wait for the day when I have my very own classroom and share with my students the great benefits the arts has to offer.

Reflection #12

What It is hard to believe that field ended this week! It went by so fast! As I look back at our integrated art lesson plans I am glad we did them! Way worth it!

So What Overall, I am disappointed that our cooperating teacher does not integrate art whatsoever into her classroom. She has been teaching for 17 years now and from observing I don’t think she has ever integrated the arts. As weeks have gone by and we have learned about art, drama, music, and dance I was so excited for field to begin. As we have learned about the forms of art I have enjoyed every minute of it. I can see how beneficial it is to incorporate them into your classroom. I was hoping I would have a cooperating teacher who would integrate the arts in some way, but that didn’t happen. My partner and I had to take charge regardless of the situation. If my partner and I didn’t teach any lesson plans we wouldn’t have seen how integrating the arts works. I am grateful that we were able to have the students experience and interact with the arts. It was a great experience and I look forward to the future with my own classroom.

Now What From having this class and teaching the arts in field it all comes down to me for my future students to experience the arts. I hope that I can go to Art Conferences to get more ideas of how to incorporate them. Also I can get ideas from colleagues and see what they like to use. There are many tools that can help me integrate the arts into my future classroom. One tool being our textbook, it is filled with several ideas and even better its all in one book. I hope that I can start preparing by gathering ideas, books, websites and more to start a Art folder that I can refer to when I teach.

Reflection #11

What? Field is about to finish up and it has been a great experience working with the 5^th graders. This week my partner and I integrated the arts with one of our lesson plans.

So What? As we continue teaching about Colonial America this week we taught about life in the colonies which are: life in towns and cities, life on plantations, and life on the frontier. To integrate one of the arts into this lesson plan we decided to integrate process drama as an intro to life in the colonies. We took parts from their textbook and used one of the 21 Red Hot Process Drama Tools called “Speaking Objects”. For each life we picked an object and spoke in its point of view of its surroundings. For example, for life in towns and cities we told the students that they were the church steeple in the town. We talked about how we could see the children running to school, farmers at the market selling their goods, men and women going to the tailor, and more. With life on the frontier we were a candle flickering in the windowsill. We told the students that we could see papa chopping the wood, mama mending the clothes, deer grazing by, etc. The children really enjoyed participating with process drama it let them make a visual of what life was like for the colonists. I am excited to use more of the 21 Red Hot Process Tools in the future.

Now What? I plan on integrating arts as much as I can into my future classroom. All students enjoy the arts and can benefit from them. I would love to be able to be more familiar with the 21 Red Hot Process Tools and practice them. They are easy for everyone to participate in and are so worthwhile! I am excited to teach my future students and to share with them the impact arts can have on their lives!

Reflection #10

What? We have been in field for over a week now and I am enjoying every minute of it! When it comes to integrating the arts into the classroom my cooperating teacher does not incorporate the arts. This week my partner and I were able to teach our second lesson plan and integrate the arts into it. We incorporated music into our lesson plan.

So What? We are teaching 5^th graders about Colonial America. We were teaching the students about the 13 Colonies. We made up a song about the 13 Colonies and put it to the tune of Yankee Doodle. The students loved singing the song! What we did was sang the song first then the students sang the words that were in bold. We then taught half of room the beat and the other half the rhythm. They practiced the rhythm and then switched sides to practice the beat. We finished up the song with singing it in rounds. Our song was catchy and easy to follow along with. One little boy said, “This is way fun.” It made me appreciate the arts even more and how important it is to have them in your classroom.

Now What? I hope that I can encourage my cooperating teacher to integrate the arts into her classroom. Whether you sing a song or use processed drama there are so many options that you can use. In our text, it shows how beneficial it is for students to be apart of the arts. Also with my future classroom and students I want to try my best and incorporate arts as much as possible. The arts do great things and have such a strong impact on children. They make learning fun and engaging for everyone!

Reflection #9

What-I learned that it was somewhat difficult to find a tune that worked with the lyrics we made up. It took us a few tries to find a tune that fit. I thought “This Old Man” was perfect for our song. Also it is not as easy as it looks to come up with lyrics for a song. We had to think about what to include in our song to connect with the book and also the core. I learned from presenting that it is important to know the beat and rhythm to teach students a song. Having a warm-up is beneficial for everyone as well. There are several ways to do warm-ups such as singing Bumblebee… bumblebee… Prior to teaching your lesson you should find out if you can use your song in a round. We didn’t know that you usually don’t sing “This Old Man” in a round, but when we did sang it in a round it didn’t turn out so bad. Incorporating instruments into your music lesson is also great.

So What It is important to know if your song will work in a round. I think it is important to know if you will be using instruments or not. In addition to using instruments, find ways that you can teach the song for example, use the Brain Compatible Rules or the Seven Habits of Highly Effective Singing. Get everyone engaged and involved to have a fun experience. If you cannot create your own lyrics, use other sources that will work for your lesson. The Internet has endless possibilities for lyrics and tunes of songs that you can use.

Now What -My next steps are working on my own voice and practicing to become better for my future students. Also I think to start putting together a folder of songs that I can use and ideas of how to teach the song, what instruments to use, etc. I hope that I can incorporate music as much as possible into my classroom. Music is great for all ages of children!

Reflection #8

What- Music is- a sound must be organized in time and space to make music. Music can be listened to, composed, viewed and so much more. In music you have 5 elements which are: pitch, duration, dynamics, form, and timbre. It is important to include all the elements if possible. Also as teachers you can follow the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teaching and include the habits in your classroom. Music should be included into the classroom for a number of reasons such as it makes us happy, provides a learning foundation, promotes physical and mental health, expresses cultural and personal identity and so much more. In our text I liked what it said about the cultural and personal identity. You can find out what people value and fear when studying the music of a culture. I think this key to include it will allow children to get to know each other if they are of a different culture, race, etc. By playing this music your students will be able to makes bonds and connect with one another.

So what- My goals are to find fun instruments and music that I can incorporate into my classroom and also learn more in depth about the elements in music. I am not very talented with this art form and struggle a bit. I hope that I can practice and feel confident about myself to sing and teach songs to my students in the future. I would love to use music as much as possible into my classroom. I think it that it is important to teach children that music is not just for fun it is something that you can benefit from in many different areas. For example, promoting physical and mental health. There are endless possibilities with teaching music to children you can sing about holidays, historical figures, historical events, water cycle, nouns, verbs, rocks and so much more. By teaching music your students will enjoy the experience and learn at the same time!

Now what- To prepare for my future classroom this goes along with my goals that I said above. I hope to find fun instruments and music. I want to be more comfortable with singing and learn more about the elements of music and demonstrate them effectively.