Reflection # 14 -- Arts Integration in the Future.....

Where am I heading with the Arts and Arts Integration? The future holds so many possibilities and I think it will be a fun time to be out in the schools and teaching the up and coming generation.

Each student is unique and an individual, and they each have different needs and learning styles. I do believe that the arts belong in the schools and that it is an important part for students' learning. A lot of students are visual learners and so if I can incorporate that into the curriculum through drama or visual art then the kids will be better off.

I have learned so much this semester and I know that I have never been a real big drama person, but after those two weeks and seeing the activities and games that we learned about, I think it would be fun and at times can be a de-stresser for students.

So my plan of action is to start watching out for activities that I feel would benefit students, and I plan to get a wide variety because one class is never the same from another. I already have many lesson plans in the dance section that I can use, but I would love to find more for drama and music. Music will be a fun one because if I can incorporate a learning topic into a song for my students to learn then I believe they will retain the information better, plus it definitely works out the creativity of my brain.

Reflection #13 -- Arts Integration In Teaching

Throughout this semester I have seen and learned a lot about arts integration. Even though I feel like I am greater in some elements of arts than others I have felt their importance of their presence in the classroom. Children love to be able to move and express themselves through various forms be it theater, dance or visual arts.

I have learned the importance of integrating the curriculum with the arts. Some teachers feel like they don't have time for the arts, but if a teacher can integrate it through social studies or science, it seems like children tend to remember the information better.

While I was at Sunset View Elementary, I saw that this school did believe in integrating the arts and had several forms. My partner and I noticed that they definitely had a lot of visual art with the other forms we covered in class some of the time. Each class in the school had its own bulletin boards and the children were able to display their work for units they had learned.

It will be fun to be collecting ideas to use in my future classroom and to show students the importance of learning and how fun it can be.

Reflection # 12 -- Field Experience

So the field experience is finally over. And what a moving experience it was all around. The class made us a booklet with letters and pictures giving Morgan and I advice. Some of their pictures were creative and interesting.

In our last lesson we had planned to have them draw pictures depicting important parts of WWI, but with the class and how talkative they were and how we had to keep motivating them to work and our limited time, we weren't able to fit it in.

Over the course of the past week I have been finishing up my Fine Arts Journal and getting it all compiled. I really have learned a lot this course and will be interested to integrate the arts into my future classroom. I know when I did art and such things like that in school I found it relaxing and fun to be able to create such things. I want to be able to share that with my students and integrate learning with art. Some students are visual learners, so they will remember more by creating or being able to visualize it.

I know that by doing this art experience that I am even more excited to do the younger grades next semester.....because more time with kids, brings more knowledge and exciting moments and stories.

Reflection # 11 -- Field Experience

This past week there hasn't really been a lot of art done in the classroom. There seems to be more of a focus on writing and math.

During the student's independent work time I have noticed several of them working and practicing on memorizing a few Christmas songs that they will be performing in a few weeks. The music is a modern song with new words added to it, to help add flair for the kids. They seem to enjoy that better than an old song or one that people have heard year after year.

During one of our social studies lessons this past week we focused on Propoganda and what it was. After explaining that we showed them various examples of Propoganda used during the WWI time period. Then for our activity and to get the students more involved we had them choose one of the following categories to illustrate: 1) Favorite candy/food 2) Favorite book 3) Favorite tv show. The students were trying to make the product look enticing, which resulted in several wonderful pictures.

Next week will be our last two days of teaching, we hopefully will be able to complete one more art project to the students we teach for social studies and teach a Thanksgiving song to the students in our cooperating teacher's classroom.

Reflection # 10 -- Field Experience

This past week in field has been so much fun!! The teacher has integrated writing with art. Each time a student finished a final draft of a writing project she has them do a "publish" which is a visual/art project to go along with the topic of the piece. It is a lot of fun to see the creativity of all the students and so many ideas. It definitely makes me miss being in Elementary School.

We were also able to teach our first lesson this past week and included an art element. My partner and I were teaching on WWI and the 4 main causes of it. After the discussion we had the class split up into 4 groups and each person in that group had to draw a picture depicting their assigned cause. We didn't quite have enough time for the students to finish all the pictures, but they were turning out really well as we had them clean up. I believe we have another art project included in our lesson plans, so we'll have to see how the students respond to them.

Reflection # 9 -- Music Seed Strategies

I have always loved music and it has been influential in my life. I know that I never really appreciated music time in Elementary, but as I grew older and realized what an impact it can have on learning, I wish I had payed more attention. I liked the quote in chapter 12 that stated, "Musical sounds charge the brain, stimulating whole brain involvement. Through songs and music, students increase general vocablulary, fluency, and understanding. Music develops listening skills, and listening is a main pillar of learning" (pg 309). I believe that this is so true, music helps people learn better and increases learning activity.

From the process in class I understood better the different elements of music and learned how to integrate them together. I learned about the steps a teacher should go about in teaching music to children; 1 - Whole To part 2 - Sing Not Say 3 - Listen In Many Ways 4 - Be Actively Involved. At first I thought it sounded a bit complicated and a lot of steps to do, but as we were going through the lesson it went by faster and really flowed. It was a lot of fun.

During the presentation I had a harder time, there were a couple of members of the group who it seemed like wanted to do things only their way. For example; we had activities all planned out and written up and then they got on and completly changed it. And then during the presentation it felt like they were the ones who wanted to do all the talking. I know that the presentations were short, but I still could have had more to say/do then just leading a round a couple of times through. But overall I think it went relatively smooth and I'm glad I got that done. I think part of it was due to the stress of starting field that same week.

As I prepare to become a teacher and if I want to integrate music then I should prepare myself by learning about music and finding activities and create lesson plans that use music to help teach concepts. Like certain math equations have songs that go with them to help students remember....I still remember a few, so I feel like it would be good to find and prepare things like that. I have read the text book and I liked a lot of the ideas it had.

Reflection # 8 -- Integrating Music In Curriculum

There were 2 quotes from Chapter 12 that I really liked that I felt went really well in defining what music is.

"Music elements are so embedded in language that it would be hard t even talk" (pg 306).

"Music is used to grapple with powerful feelings and attempts to understand relationships with thers. A vast range of music pieces and songs are available to reflect our deepest emotions from love to despair" (pg 307).

Music is a big element that is all around us. And it is important to have it in elementary schools because it can be used as a great teaching tool. As a teacher we can use music to integrate curriculum and as the children sing the song it tends to stick with them more. Like in the text is states, "...using music as a teaching tool can cause students to get deep into difficult subject matter" (pg 303).

My goal as a teacher to help children appreciate music and have them realize the importance it can play in their lives. I know that I liked music in elementary school, but I didn't appreciate it to the fullest. I just viewed it as a way to get out of the teacher lecturing and more of a fun activity. But if I can have my students realize what a role it can play in future learning then the better off they could be in remembering the information. I know that I don't want to force it on them and say they have to do it, because from experience, no child likes to be forced into things. For example, I played the piano for 8 years, but didn't really enjoy it because I was forced to practice and started to rebel a bit....but now I enjoy playing and can sit down and just play for fun. So I want to be able to make music fun for students.

To help integrate it I hope to collect songs that kids will find fun to learn. I know there are several books out there that are written for these types of projects. I can increase my knowledge about music and ways to teach it effectively (i.e. teaching students things like the different types of notes; whole, quarter, half, eighths).