Where am I heading with the Arts and Arts Education?

Where am I heading with the Arts and Arts Education?

What? I am glad to say I really enjoyed the class this semester. I had a different view of the arts before we actually got into the class. After the first class I was interested in what was being taught. As the semester continued, I could see myself in the classroom doing what I was learning. I think the students will love doing some of the things that we learned. I do not think I can do it as much as I would like however, I will use it much more than the cooperating teacher in my field. I could see so many opportunity to use the arts in his classroom, but he had no desire to do it. I do understand that it is more that the teacher has to do for preparation, but I do not see why a teacher would not take the time to do what is necessary to aid in the learning of their students.

So what? I have answered a little bit of this question, but I will expand some more about it. If a teacher wants students to learn more and retain more information that teacher needs to create some activity to incorporate the arts in the lesson. I think the students will remember some of the things we did in our field more than what the teacher taught in the whole year. We used so many things to help the students learn with art. We did art for warm ups, we did art for assessments, and we did art for the discussion time. We did experience great learning in some of the things we were able to do. I liked teaching that way much more than without. I am not into lecturing and giving worksheets. The time seems to be wasted that way. I do enjoy implementing process drama and music in the future classroom. I don't know how I could implement dance yet, but I will try to do it somehow.

Now what? I really do not want to forget some of the things we have learned this semester. We have a lot of school left to do before I actually become a teacher. I do not want to stop learning ways to incorporate the arts into my curriculum. It is something I will keep on my mind.

Field Experience 3

I had a great time in Mr. Jennings' classroom. He had the perfect amount of students and the perfect classroom setup. I was amazed about what the students knew. I loved being there and seeing how to interact with the students in the classroom. It is different to get up in front of adult classmates. I would say the elementary students are a lot easier to be in front of if their attention is yours. I was disappointed i n the arts integration in the class. Mr. Jennings would tell us what he had done in the past but I never saw an example of what he was saying. I think it took too much effort to plan something that involved art so he did not do it. I hope this was the case because I would hate to see classrooms not using the arts. I will summarize what we did in the classroom during our instruction time. We had the students perform a singing syllables, we had the students do a process drama about Rome and the battles of Rome with the walls, we had the students do a process drama using a ball and a cup and no hands, we also had the students be reporters about ancient Rome. I say it disappoints me that the teacher did nothing with arts in the classroom because I was able to see how involved the students became and that they were engaged in learning what we were wanting them to learn. I will not sway from using the arts in my classroom like Mr. Jennings apparently has, but I will do all I can to help my students enjoy learning. I see no other greater way of doing so than by using the arts in my future classrooms.

spring break

It is my spring break this week.

Field Experience 2

I am sad to say that the situation has not changed with the use, or should I say the lack of use of the arts, in my fieldwork. I really enjoy seeing the students interact with the arts while teaching other core standards. In the classroom there is a great deal of technology being used, but the other is lacking throughout. The students did have a group art project showing in the hallway, but it seemed like something that took awhile to accomplish. I really wanted to see the use of the arts in the classroom in the form of a process drama, or maybe even having the students sing a song. I don't mean to be too critical of my teacher, he does have some strengths, but he seems to want to take the easy road all the time. By this I mean he wants to pull up a quiz or a test on the Internet and send the students searching for the answers while he does something else in the back of the room. Again, I am disappointed in the process of integrating the arts in this school.

The teacher was impressed with what we did in one of our lessons. We had the students perform singing syllables with some of the contributions of Ancient Rome. It was fun, one could see the students really enjoyed it. I think it is something that is lacking in the schools today. I hope that the schools do not think it is not important in the classroom because I would think to fight the difference in opinion. I will use it in my classroom when I become a full time teacher. I did use art during a geography lesson during my field. I had the students look at a map of the Roman Empire, then they were asked to create an original map of an Empire or a city based on the Roman Empire. It was fun to see what ideas the students came up with. Teaching can be fun, it can take a little more effort in the classroom. How can a person retain the use of creative arts in the classroom? I think it can be done with little effort, there needs to be a desire to do it though!

Fieldwork 1

What? I am very disappointed about the use o f the arts in the classroom so far. I have not been able to see how the arts are used in the classroom. I am in the Provo School District and the classroom I am observing has macs for the students to use. The teacher seems a little old school even though he has only taught for 15 years. He seems to take the easy road. The students do give him the respect that he wants in the classroom. I would like to use the information I am seeing to better my education of the arts. I don't know if I will be able to see any in Mr. Jennings classroom.

So what? It makes me feel badly, because I can see the use of the arts in schools as nothing but great. I can see why the schools are not having the arts in their classrooms much. The students need to learn how the world works and I think the integration of art is the way of doing it.

Now what? I will integrate the arts into my classroom; just b doing the little we have done in class, I can see that it makes learning fun and much more engaging. I will hope to see something that will benefit me in tis observation, but I will definitely do what I need to to learn how to use the arts in my classroom.

Relection #9

What did you learn from the process you engaged in to create this music lesson?

I learned that it is difficult for a person who has little music skills to write a song. It was fun coming up with the lyrics and trying to put them to the music of some song. I also figured out as we were working in our group that it is easier to use songs that are easy to place words with. We tried using Yankee Doodle at first, but the form of the song sounded different in my head than when someone else tried to say it. It would be OK if I were then only one trying to teach it, but only if the students knew the tune of the song.

What did you learn from the actual presentation experience?

I learned that it is hard to teach music when inexperience is a factor. I learned that because of inexperience I would need to be extra prepared for what might happen in the classroom. We may not have been quite as prepared as we thought we were. I found myself thinking it would be easy to do, but when we got right down to it we did badly.

So What is important for you to remember and learn?

I need to remember that music is a great way of preparing student's minds for learning. I remember songs much better than I do words that are read or spoken. If it can be placed to a tune the students will retain the information much easier than the alternative.

Now What are your next steps?

My next steps will be to use music in the classroom. I will try and incorporate it into many lessons I will teach. Not only will my students learn, but they will have fun with music. I still remember learning music in grade school. It can seem like it may be hard to do, but with the project we just did I had fun doing it.

Music Integration in the Classroom

What is music and why should it be included in the elementary classroom?

Music is a mix of many different things; it can be a rhythm, it can be a lyric with a beat, it can be words put to a tune. There are many different types of music integrations.

So what are your goals for using music with your future students, and what is important in teaching music to children?

I would like to teach my students with music because it is fun. A child is never going to dislike music, some may not want to sing but those students will learn what is being taught. I was once asked, "why is music so important?" I said, " when a person is singing they are not thinking about anything else while they are doing it. If a student is integrating music into class learning just think about how muh more that child is taking in because he or she is thinking about what is being taught.

Now what do you plan to do to prepare to effectively teach and integrate music in your future classroom?

I liked when we did singing syllables in class as a warm up. I have always enjoyed music in some way and I think it is a great way of teaching students. it is probably used in warm up activity more than integration into the lessons, but I want to learn to use it as a learning method. I want to incorporate it into the classroom somehow.