I think that the book hit on many important aspects of dance. It said that dance is central to learning. I learned that dancing can serve as a warm up to engage the mind so that it's ready to learn. I thought that it was fun to get up and dance with the class. As the book states, dancing uses the students concentration, self-control, etc…that is why it's so useful within the classroom. Dancing is a good way for the students to be able to remember what they have been taught.
I don't remember dancing much in school, when I was younger. There was a time in fifth grade though that we had a luau and our teacher taught us the hula. We had a wonderful time learning about the culture in Hawaii and the way that they express themselves through dancing.
Creative dance is different than studio dance in the aspect that you aren't being taught certain dances or moves, you are the one that is creating the dance on the spot. I believe that the students are able to put more of themselves in the dance when they are creating it. Using creative dance makes the brain think on a whole different level, that's why it's encouraged to be used more. Your brain is working through critical problem solving, because you have to figure out how your body is going to move next.
I want to use dance everyday in my classroom. I believe that creative dancing gets the students to focus and open up their minds to be able to learn. I think that if you were to do creative dance even a couple of times within the day the students would like it. You could have it as a warm-up in the morning, when the students first get to school you could do a little activity on creative dance and this would get them focused and it would also get their wiggles out.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Blog #2 Drama
It's interesting because I wasn't apart of any drama classes or clubs in my early education, but as I'm learning more and more I get excited to bring that emotion into my future classroom. I believe that using drama within the classroom is a great idea. One way for children to learn is by hands on and doing things. Incorporating drama into the classroom would help to satisfy that need. Also, I think that it is a good idea because the students aren't going to do very well just sitting in your classroom listening to you lecture all day, they want to get up and get involved. If I were back in elementary school and I could decide how I wanted to learn, I would definitely include drama into the school day.
To me I feel that having a few little drama activities throughout the day would break it up for the students so that they won't be looking at the clock waiting for school to get out. You could use drama to teach about any lesson. There has got to be some activity that you could find to present with any topic of any lesson. I think at the beginning of the school year if you were to do some drama activities that involved the whole class it would bring some classroom unity and then as the year goes on you could use a little more of the grouping and individual activities.
When you incorporate drama in with your other lesson plans you are teaching two subjects at once. This will also help with the concentration of the students to stay on task. I believe that it also helps the students to remember what they have learned better when they act it by connecting it with emotions. You could use a mini drama activity when you notice that the students aren't paying attention or that they are just aren't listening. We do theses in Dr. Byrd's Education Psychology they are called Brain Boosters, they would get the class back together and focused. Most of their energy would be released so that they could listen to the lesson.
One of the things that I want to do when I begin teaching is to make historical people come to life. I feel that it is a very good idea to get the students to learn about people and then dress up, as we did in Dr. Rameriez Social Studies Class, or just pretend to be them, and present it to the class. I think at the beginning of the school year if you were to do some drama activities that involved the whole class it would bring some classroom unity and then as the year goes on you could use a little more of the grouping and individual activities.
To me I feel that having a few little drama activities throughout the day would break it up for the students so that they won't be looking at the clock waiting for school to get out. You could use drama to teach about any lesson. There has got to be some activity that you could find to present with any topic of any lesson. I think at the beginning of the school year if you were to do some drama activities that involved the whole class it would bring some classroom unity and then as the year goes on you could use a little more of the grouping and individual activities.
When you incorporate drama in with your other lesson plans you are teaching two subjects at once. This will also help with the concentration of the students to stay on task. I believe that it also helps the students to remember what they have learned better when they act it by connecting it with emotions. You could use a mini drama activity when you notice that the students aren't paying attention or that they are just aren't listening. We do theses in Dr. Byrd's Education Psychology they are called Brain Boosters, they would get the class back together and focused. Most of their energy would be released so that they could listen to the lesson.
One of the things that I want to do when I begin teaching is to make historical people come to life. I feel that it is a very good idea to get the students to learn about people and then dress up, as we did in Dr. Rameriez Social Studies Class, or just pretend to be them, and present it to the class. I think at the beginning of the school year if you were to do some drama activities that involved the whole class it would bring some classroom unity and then as the year goes on you could use a little more of the grouping and individual activities.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Blog #1
When I thought of incorporating arts into the classroom I would always think of projects like painting or drawing a picture. Now that I know that there is more to art than that I can have fun with my students. I now know that arts is a big part of getting your brain to think a different way.
You can connect pretty much every lesson with some type of art project that would be appropriate. I like how you can use the arts to help the children remember things easier, for example the color wheel and using the different colors as categories. This way the children can always correlate the colors with a certain topic.
I am so excited to learn more ways to incorporate arts into teaching, because I like making things fun and interesting. Children always want to have fun so teaching through, with, about and in the arts fulfills that need for them. I want to teach this way because that is how I learn best, I can remember information that was presented to me in an interesting way.
I also really liked how games can be a teaching tool. We were learning and having fun at the same time, like the mirror game. I was laughing so hard through it, but I still learned what it felt like to be a leader and take on that role. I remember that experience because I'm emotionally connected to it.
You can connect pretty much every lesson with some type of art project that would be appropriate. I like how you can use the arts to help the children remember things easier, for example the color wheel and using the different colors as categories. This way the children can always correlate the colors with a certain topic.
I am so excited to learn more ways to incorporate arts into teaching, because I like making things fun and interesting. Children always want to have fun so teaching through, with, about and in the arts fulfills that need for them. I want to teach this way because that is how I learn best, I can remember information that was presented to me in an interesting way.
I also really liked how games can be a teaching tool. We were learning and having fun at the same time, like the mirror game. I was laughing so hard through it, but I still learned what it felt like to be a leader and take on that role. I remember that experience because I'm emotionally connected to it.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)