Reflection #8

What? I think that it's very important that music is used in the classroom to help teach. I know that many of the things I've remembered over the years, including things I learned in class, were things that we're put to a song and easy to remember. Putting something difficult to learn into a song helps your brain to be able to memorize and remember something better and for a longer time period. I think it's important to help children and coach them in singing and make it so it's not a competition. If they feel like they have to sing the best then those who can't sing well won't sing.

So What? I'm worried about incorporating music into the classroom and teaching my students to sing because, even though I know it's important, I cannot sing well at all. But, I will do my best to incorporate music because I know how important it is and how much it can help kids learn and remember a concept.

Now What? I plan to get a lot of CD's with songs on them so I can practice singing myself and also to play in the background while I'm teaching a song so I don't teach them wrong if I can't sing in tune. I also think that using some of the games we learned in class are something that I can use to help me practice and become more confident in my own singing and to help me be able to sing better. I really like the idea of singing the whole song for the students and not just putting up a poster with the words or singing one line over and over then the next and so on. It was very easy to learn the song when it was sung all the way through many times and then we started singing parts of it.

Reflection #7

What? As I was working with my group to come up with ideas for creative dance and as I was watching the other groups perform I really started to understand better what would and would not work. I really started to look at books differently and realize where there is potential movement when I didn't see it before. As other groups were performing, sometimes they would give directions and it wouldn't be very clear or seem to go along with the book very well. Other things worked really well. I am starting to realize what kinds of things actually work and what doesn't work with creative dance.

So What? I think creative dance will be very important to use in the schools and I think students will enjoy doing it. I think it is a good way to get the students thinking creatively and at the same time get them out of their comfort zones, doing new things in an environment where they don't feel self conscious about it. I really like the idea of giving them direction but letting them interpret it on their own and not just always teaching exact steps for them to memorize and follow. I liked the video we watched in class that showed real students participating in creative dance and how much they enjoyed it and participated and gave it their best shot.

Now What? When I am teaching I will definitely use the brain dance to help get my students warmed up and to help them with their thinking skills. I will use some of the ideas that groups presented in class, but others I will change some to be more effective for my students. I will find books that apply to what I will be teaching and use ideas from class and the text book to create creative dance lessons. I will also teach my students dances that have some set steps to help them with rhythm, timing, and memorization.

Reflection #6

What? I really liked the creative dance we did in class and I think that kids would really enjoy it. I always thought of dance as just memorizing specific steps and performing them with the right timing, in the right order, etc. But I really liked the idea of giving them some direction so they start moving and then letting them interpret how to do it in their own way. It gets kids moving without worrying so much if they are messing up or doing it wrong.

So What? The stuff we learned in class on Friday will be really helpful for next week and for field. I liked that she let us help come up with movements from another book so that we got ideas from just more than one book of how we can integrate dance and movement into it. I think the class management tips were also helpful. It's important to make sure the kids understand the rules and that they can't just go crazy when they get into the gym.

Now What? When I'm a teacher, I'd definitely like to use creative dance with my students. I think they will enjoy it and it gets them moving as well. It might give a student who doesn't necessarily like PE and sports the opportunity to be active and find something that they like to do that doesn't involve competition and skill. I will use the ideas that my classmates present in class as well as websites and the text book to get ideas of creative ways to get my students involved and to have fun with creative dance. I think it's definitely something that would be important to let students have the opportunity to try.

Reflection #5

What? I learned a lot while coming up with drama activities for the book we used. There are so many activities that I never would have thought of on my own to incorporate drama into other areas of learning. I really enjoyed hearing about the ideas from the other groups. One thing that I really liked about the group that did the book Barefoot was how they turned off the lights and read by flashlight with music playing and their idea of giving everyone a glow stick. I also liked when one of the groups that did the story of Ruby Bridges had someone be Ruby Bridges and walk through the "mob" to feel like it would actually be like to be her.

So What? Some of the techniques that I'll use in my teaching, in addition to the ones I mentioned above, are some of the ones that my group came up with. I will use the scavenger hunt idea that came from the text book and I will also use the interview activity where one person acts as the interviewer, and the other as a character in the story. I will definitely use activities we learned in class to incorporate them into literature to make learning about things like history more fun, hands on, and real for the students.

Now What? I will prepare to integrate drama into my teaching by researching more drama activities that could work well with books and other areas of teaching. I think the drama activities are important because it gives each child a chance to participate in a safe environment. If you have them do a play right at first, some of the more shy kids will be too scared to actually let go and participate and perform as well as they might be able to if you started them off with some of the drama activities like interviewing. By using the drama activities with literature, it helps them learn the topic of the book better and helps prepare them for drama.