Reflection #15

I feel like I am headed in the right direction when it comes to integrating arts. I feel like I have learned so much and truly learned what art is. After this class, I feel like we have learned so many ways to integrate arts into our future classrooms. There truly is no excuse for not using artsin the classroom. I am also thankful for all of the resources that I now have. I didn't realize all of the good websites and material that are out there. I also want to continue to have an even better attitude about using arts and taking the time to do them even though sometimes I will probably feel like I don't have time. I also am now interested in learning even more about the arts and how to integrate them into the classroom. I think it will be fun to actually have something that I am going to teach in the future and being able to use arts in the lesson. Looking back at the beginning of the semester I feel like I have truly changed when it comes to my attitude about the arts. I have never considered myself an artsy person, but after this class I realized that everybody can and should integrate arts.

Reflection #14

Arts Integration in Teaching.
I believe that I have really changed over the semester. Before this class I thought of art as coloring or drawing pictures. Maybe a little art project before a holiday or something. Now my views have really changed when it comes to art. I feel like art is important! I now see art as visual arts, music, drama, and dance. I think that these things are so much fun and so different from what I viewed art as. Seeing the projects we did in class and also seeing example in class, really made my brain start working differently and seeing what could be done in the class. I also really enjoyed the videos, it was fun to see all of these things we had been taught in action. It was also neat to do these things in the classroom and to really see that they do work. Integrating art in to teaching is important and does help the students learn more. I really feel like this course will make all of use better future teachers.

Reflection #13

This week we had two lessons and then we were finished. The rest of the time we just observed our mentor teacher and helped out whne needed. On our last day of teaching we did a review of everything that we had taught in our 5 previous lessons. It was lots of fun to see what they remembered, and I was quite surprised at some of the things they did remember. At the end of the lesson we had them sing our Utah song that I talked about in Reflection #12. It was realy fun to see that they remembered the two verses we taught them and it was a perfect ending to our review lesson. Watching our mentor teacher and also reflecting on the things we taught, it was really a great thing the see the effect that art can have. It was also nice tosee that kids really do enjoy doing the different things we had them do. I can now see that it is very important to do this in my future classroom becuse it makes learning fun and the kids are more likely to remember the things that were tuaght. I'm excited to have my own classroom and be able to try out even more ways to integrate art.

Reflection #12

This week in field we taught every day except Monday. We also did our song this week. Our song is:

Utah has a history
and some of it may be new
learning can be lots of fun
It's time to review!

Utah has specific things
that help set it apart,
Bees, elk and copper too
plus Kolff designed a heart!

The Wasatch Mountains
cross the state
oldest rocks in the west
They bring water for us to drink
Our mountains are the best!

We have the great salt lake
full of brine and salt
when the pioneers arrived
their journey they did halt

Utah you are beautiful
sucha great sight to see
Utah how we love you so
and your geography!

We made the song go to the tune of Yankee Doodle. We made copies for each student and also put it on the smart board so they could look up at the board if they wanted to do that. We sang it for them first without the music. Then they sang it with us. Then we tried it with the music. It was quite fast in the beginning, but we did it a few more times and then picked our two favorite verses for them to learn. The kids really enjoyed singing the song and now I know why we were taught about music and the kind of effect it can have onchildren. It was really fun and they wanted to keep singing it.

Reflection #11

Field has been pretty interesting. We had a sub for the first 3 days and it was interesting and almost comical to see how they do things. They didn't really have control of the class at all and they also didn't get much done. Now that the teacher is back, it is really fun to see him and how he teaches. He is a very great teacher. The whole school is lucky enough to have smartboards in every classroom. We have used the smartboard the 3 times we have taught so far. In our first lesson we talked about maps. We read a story about a girl that ended with her special place on the map and a picture of it. The students then drew their own picture of their special place on the map and colored them. We used it as visual arts. We then had some of the kids share their special place. It was really fun to see what they came up with. Some picked their bedroom and house. Some picked a soccer field, the beach, a swimming pool. It was neat to see how creative they are. One girl was not doing the activity and looked pretty sad. I went and talked to her and she said she was not a good drawer. I talked to her about her special place and then told her how we could draw it very simply. It ended up working out good!

Reflection #10

This week was our first week of field. Yay! It is really fun to be around all of the kids and just see what the future holds. I have been really impressed so far with using the arts. Up and down the hallways there is art on display from each of the classes. It really makes the school not so broing. It is fun to look at all of the art projects and see what kinds of things they are doing. Some are just pictures that they colored, but others are really neat and actually teach art skills. The teacher has also used quite a bit of music. In the afternoon, half of the class goes home and the other half stays. At this point they have a schedule that they follow pretty closely. When they are done with something on the schedule there is a ding and then follows about 15 seconds of music that lets them know they are done and supposed to move on to the next thing. It makes it really fun and the kids absolutely love it. It is really fun to be with a teacher that it seems so far uses the arts in his classroom.

Reflection #9

This week we did our music presentations. It was really fun to put it all together. It was also fun to see what all of the other groups did and the different ideas they had. I think as a group we learned that we should do more preparation before we actually present it because then we would know if it is to wordy and if it goes to the music well. Overall I think we did a pretty good job. I've learned that you must prepare and do things before you actually teach them and it makes it flow so much more. It is so vital to be prepared. My next steps will be to remember how important is to prepare and also to be aware of the many great resources available!

Reflection #8

This week we learned about music. Music is also different then what I thought it really is. Music is important to learn in the classroom because kids really enjoy it and find it fun. It is also a good way to teach different things and make learning more interesting.
My goals for teaching music in my future classroom is to not be afraid to branch out and teach things I'm not always comfortable with because they are so beneficial.
In order to prepare to teach music and integrate it into my classroom I think it is very important to use all of the many resources we have available and just to practice getting out of my comfort zone so that when I do get to teach I will be more comfortable doing a range of different things. I think using so many different ways of teaching is very important to make sure you reach all the different kinds of learners in a typical classroom setting.

Reflection #7

The dance section was so different than what I invisioned. I really learned that dancing can be a great think to incorporate into so many different lessons. I also learned that there are so many different types that can be incorporated. It was fun to see all of the different presentations in class because it gave me some good ideas. Also it was fun to have groups come up with presentations and to see the creativity. I really believe now that dance can make a difference in the classroom and that students will be eager to do dance in the classroom, especially once they understand what is considered dance.
I will be more eager to try and learn different dance techniques for my future classroom. I also think it would be a good idea to get one of the book's shown in class because there are so many ideas in there and they will help you see where dance can be integrated.
In the future I will teach concepts and lessons using dance in many different areas. I think as a whole the students will be closer and learn better when dance is integrated into the curriculum and I am really excited to try all of these different things.

Reflection #6

This week we learned about dance. It was actually different than I thought it would be but I still really enjoyed it. I thought the different kinds of dance were lots of fun and there are actually a lot of things you could do with dance in the classroom. I think children would learn really well if dance was integrated into some topic. I also really enjoyed the video. It helped me see dance in action and made me think maybe dance really would be something good to do in the classroom. I am excited to use it in my future classroom and hope that it will be a great thing.

Reflection #5

I learned a lot about developing Process Drama. I learned that it is easier than you think it would be. I also learned that there are so many different ways to integrate drama into the classroom. I couldn't believe all of the different ideas in chapter 8. It was fun to watch the other presentations and see other drama presentations. There were some activities done that I could see myself using in my future classroom.
I think that I will implement a lot of drama ideas in my classroom. I really liked the warm-up activities and I think it is a good idea to do that at the beginning to get the kids thinking and also so they will be more attentive. I also really liked the role plays and interviews. I think they are fun ways to learn things and then really show what you know as a student. It is a fun way to learn.
I found that there are many great resources when implementing drama in the classroom. I think it would be a good idea to keep the resources handy so that you can use ideas all the time. I think keeping an open mind is always a good idea when preparing to use the ideas in the class. I think it is also a good idea to have a good attitude about the activity and to show the children how fun it can be.

Reflection #4

I actually was not looking forward to this section, but once I did the reading I feel drama is different then what I thought it was or what I thought it had to be. I learned that drama can actually be a really easy thing to integrate into the classroom. I learned that doing drama activities are really fun. I can honestly say that I would like to use drama in the classroom after class on Thursday. I think the activities I will use the most are role plays, interviews, thought-tracking, hot-seating, meetings, speaking objects, & forum theater.
Children need creative drama to help them understand concepts, and to understand what it was like to live in a certain time, to understand what people went through. I think using drama helps take them back to that place in time or the situation so they can really understand what they are learning. I also think it is important to integrate drama because research shows that children learn better when they use drama. I am excited to use drama in my future classroom.

Reflection #3

This week in class was really interesting for me. I have always really liked looking at art and once we went over the six principles I realized that I do use some of them when looking at art and deciding if I like it. I use proportion, balance, variety, and emphasis when looking at art pieces but I don't think I've ever used rhythm and unity. It was fun to learn about the different principles in art and I think I will really enjoy looking at art more.

Using children's picture book illustrators is a great way to introduce art for anyone. I think it will be especially helpful to introduce art to children because they will find it fun and interesting. I really enjoyed doing the art projects in class and looking at the picture books that were brought in and I think all of the projects are great ideas for my future classroom.

Using some of the projects from class will teach kids how to do different art and how to make different things. There are so many resources out there that will show teachers how to integrate art into the classroom and then from that point children's picture books are a great idea to start teaching students about different techniques and styles that are used. I think it is also a good idea to put art around the classroom. I loved looking at the art we had in the classroom last class period and I think doing something like that would be very helpful to show the student different techniques and styles.

Teaching my future students about art is very important to me and I think it will really help my students in all aspects of learning. It is proven that they learn better when art is integrated into their education and I plan on doing that. It is important for them to also learn more about art and what makes art appealing which I think they will learn once the principles are taught.

Reflection #1

Art was never a subject that I felt I excelled in. I always wanted to be able to draw or paint but it was obvious I wasn't talented in that area. I remember doing little art projects in elementary school or coloring things. One of the only times I got excited about art in elementary school was when my fourth grade teacher had all of us go outside and sit on the grass and draw a tree. He was so encouraging and had us look at the little details. That is when I really enjoyed art. I remember also at about the same age that I liked to draw people just for fun. I also took an art class in high school but I never really enjoyed the class. Just from learning about chapters 1-3 I wish that I had enjoyed art more or had the opportunity to do different kinds of art.

When thinking about art I usually think drawing, painting, sculptures, things like that, but I think it is important to remember that other things are considered art. I took a dance class in high school that I loved and I consider that art. I also found out during high school that I was really good at scrapbooking. I really only had one specific art teacher and she wasn't very friendly or very helpful. In elementary though, I loved my teachers and they were very encouraging. As a future teacher, I hope that I can be encouraging and let my students be able to express themselves through art. I also hope that I instill a love of art in them.

I think I need to be able to become more comfortable myself when it comes to art. I hope to be able to learn how to integrate the arts in my classroom in an effective way.