Reflection #3

What?
I have learned a lot about drama. I have never actually been involved in any sort of drama activities. It was really fun and not as scary as I thought it was going to be. I always thought it was just acting and that was something you had to have a talent for, but I learned that is not true. I feel more now that drama is something that is important to include in a classroom.
So what?
I think I will use more of the small class activities. I liked how we did it with a children book. That is something that is not hard to incorporate into a classroom and into curriculum.
Now what?
I think children need creative drama to be able to get out of themselves and feel what it is like to move and interact with others. I also thinks it helps them see other perspectives, which can be a hard thing for many children. Integrating drama is useful with other subjects because I feel that it brings those subjects to life.

And...
I did activities for about 10 pages in the childrens book. I came up with about 5 activities. I was not able to make it to the presentation, because I was very sick, but I still feel that I contributed a lot to the project. I also helped with picking out the book we used. Our group worked well together. We were able to learn from each other and work with each other.

Reflection # 2- visual art

What?

In the last 2 weeks, we have been talking about visual art. Since I have taken many classes in art, especially the Art for Elementary Teachers a few semesters ago, I didn't feel like I learned a lot. But I did learn and get some ideas for lessons through the activities we did and well as the presentations on the illustrators. I think that is a great idea as a teacher, to introduce the students to illustrators.

So what?

I feel that art is very important to include in the classroom. There are students who have a creative brain and are never able to use their abilities because they are stuck doing science and math. With having art in the classroom, those students are able to shine. As I person, I love studying art and enjoying it as well. I am going to continue doing that, as I think that makes a person more intelligent.

Now what?

I truly believe students learn better and more effectively if they study and engage in different arts. I will use this in my classroom. I will integrate the arts into other subjects and let the students learn that way.

Our group project went well. I put together the hand out and came up with the project, with help and ideas from the other girls. I feel like we all did well and our parts. We had a hard time contacting the girl who is not in our cohort, but she worked it out and did what she needed to.

Post 1

Art
I have had many experiences with art in my life. I have always been more of a creative, right-brained person. I was the child who took my moms camera and took millions of pictures. (and in those days it was film, not digital.) I also made many many art projects as a child/young adult. I was always creating something. I took photo in high school, and another art class. When I got to college I took several Humanities classes as well as the art for elementary teachers class. I loved it! It was so much fun to learn about how children learn about art and also how to teach them. I was also a musical child, talking piano for 8 years. I am no longer very musical, but I did take the music for teachers class last semester. It was a struggle for me, because I am not a singer AT ALL, but I made it and I learned a lot about myself.
I am very excited for this class, to learn more about art and children.