Reflection #6 Field Experience

In my field experience, I observed Mrs. O'neill's 4th grade class at Geneva Elementary School. It was an awesome experience and really taught me a lot about how I want to teach and what things I want to incorporate into my teaching. Mrs. O'neill told us that she doesn't like art, she is not good at any type of art and doesn't think it is important to teach it. So when we did teach our art lessons, the students didn't know what to do. The first art lesson we taught was the Dinosaur dance. I could tell that they didn't feel comfortable at first and acted like they were to cool for it. Jennifer and I had to really try hard to get them to dance, and we had to dance with them. By the last 3 groups, the students started to get more into it and dance and make dinosaur noises. When we were done they were asking to do it again. When we taught the song, they were more comfortable with this than the dance, but we still had to work really hard to get them to do the hand movements and sing. By the end they really liked it and after, I could hear some students singing the song.

This class has taught me show much about the importance of incorporating art into teaching, and my field experience solidified it. Students need to have art in their lives. It is so beneficial for students to learn and grow through the arts. I have learned about a lot of great ideas to incorporate dance, music, drama, and art and that you can basically incorporate art in every lesson plan if you wanted to.

I want to make sure that I stay current and learn more about the arts so I want to attend some sort of art performance every month and I would like to continue to add more ideas in my Arts Journal. So when I start to teach, I will have a lot of ideas and lesson plans to refer to.

Reflection #5 Music

What: In the last 2 class periods we learned about music and how to incorporate it into teaching.We were taught how to teach children the basic principles of singing and why it's important for students to sing in class. For our  assignment, we did group presentations, select a picture book that works with the core content and create a song that goes with the book. It was a very fun, but difficult assignment because it was difficult creating lyrics.


So What: This is such an important thing for students to learn about in school so I really appreciated learning about it. I will definitely incorporate music into my future classroom.

Now What: Now I can use music in my field experience and future lesson plans. It's a great way to help teach children information.

Reflection #4 Creative Dance

What: In the last 2 classes, we learned about ways to incorporate dancing in our lessons. We also watched a great clip that showed the importance dance and how it helps children's grades and self confidence. We learned that there are many ways to incorporate dance in our teaching. For our homework, we had to find a book and create a dance for the students to do.

So what: I think this is so important to learn now so I can make sure that when I become a teacher, I can have my students dance. A lot of children have low self-esteems and this is a great way to help them. Also, I have ADD so it was hard for me to focus in school. Every time my class did something active, I would love it and it would help me focus better. I know that there will be students just like me and it will help them as well.

Now What: Now I can incorporate dance into the lesson plans that we will be doing for our student experience. Also, when I have children I can do it with them as well.

Reflection #2

I have learned that it is very important to incorporate visual arts into teaching other curricular areas. I learned that a fun way to incorporate art is by using picture book illustrators because children may have seen their artwork in books and they can relate to it. There are also a lot of different art styles in children books like impressionism, realism, expressionism, cartoon, surrealism, and folk art. I also learned about the different principles and elements in artwork and how I can analyze a art piece.

This means that when I become a teacher I need to incorporate the visual arts into my teaching because children will learn quicker and easier. I am also planning on saving the children's illustrator assignment and use that in my class as well. I will also be able to teach them about the principles and elements in art so they will grow a deeper appreciation for art.

I want to learn more about specific ways to incorporate visual arts into my class so I can make sure I do it. I also want to go to more shows and activities that involve the arts so I can grow a deeper appreciation and excitement for it.

I thought our group worked really well together. I helped with coming up with the activity and I created the paper with the instructions on how to do that activity. I learned that it is really nice being able to bounce off ideas with other soon to be teachers to come up with a really great activity and idea. I also learned about some of the popular illustrators that I never heard of before. 

Reflection #1

What: As an elementary student I remember the teachers that integrated a lot of art in the classrooms. I always loved the projects that we did some sort of art project instead of writing a paper.
 
So What; I have tried a lot of different types of art forms in my life. Some of the examples are drawing, sewing, painting, singing, dancing, piano, guitar, and more. Art is a fun way to be creative and relax in my life. I loved when teachers would let us try different forms of art in their classroom. Some of the characteristics that were my favorite in a teacher was that they were positive, they showed that they cared about their students, they would respect their students and treat them as equals, and they would do fun and creative activities in the classroom. Some of my least favorite characteristics was that you could tell they didn't show that they cared for the students, they would make fun or belittle students in front of the class, they would be boring and make us do busy work, and wasn't enthusiastic about what they were teaching. I want to be the positive, creative teacher that makes the children want to come to school everyday because they don't know what crazy thing I will come up with next!
 
Now What: I want to be able to learn all of the ways I can incorporate arts in my classroom. I want to make sure I have fun, creative ideas that will excite the children and I feel like this class will be able to help me accomplish this.