October 2017 – Page 2

Integrated Arts 6

DANCE “When children create dances using their ideas, they are empowered to explore their thoughts, feelings, and perspectives” (Cone, 2009, pg 81). It is crucial that children have the opportunity to dance freely to express themselves. As a child I … Continue reading →

Natural Disasters

I was unable to attend the lecture and workshops from the first week of looking at natural disasters. However, I have caught up with all the information I have missed out on and will discuss what I have learned. A natural disaster is only classified when human society is impacted by social disruption, loss of … Continue reading Natural Disasters →

A natural disaster is only classified when human society is impacted by social disruption, loss of lives and material damage. A disaster is an abrupt event which causes a community or society from being unable to function. There are a numerous number of natural diasters including: Earthquakes, Floods, Volcanic eruptions, Cyclones and Disease epidemic.

Humans have a massive impact on natural disasters. The constant growth of the urban environment has led to mass over consumption causing global warming, which leads to natural disasters.

I then made mind maps of how to prepare for a natural disaster, what to do during a natural disaster is occurring and how to recover as a community after a natural disaster has occurred.

Then we learned how to effectively teach about disasters. Teaching disasters at primary school level allows for children to get a better grasp and appreciation of the wider world. As a teacher I could practically introduce natural disasters into the classroom by showing media reports, encouraging fundraising in schools for charities and talking about what’s happening in the world and allowing children to lead with what they know already. There are also many curriculum links which relate to natural disasters. There are some listed below:

I can describe the physical processes of a natural disaster and discuss its impact on people and the landscape. SOC 2-07b
By exploring a natural environment different from my own, I can discover how the physical features influence the variety of living things. SOC 1-13b
I can explain how the physical environment influences the ways in which people use land by comparing my local area with a contrasting area. SOC 2-13a

The next input focused on science investigative skills related to disasters. Investigative skills include: ask questions, carry out experiments, observe, collect measure and record experiments and present and report findings. All of these skills are important because they allow pupils to use practical experience to find out information and develop scientific literacy. Science skills will allow children to be open to new ideas and linking and applying learning. It allows pupils to think creatively and critically, make predictions, develop skills of reasoning and draw conclusions based on reliable scientific evidence.

There were then numerous examples of scientific investigative experiments which will be suitable to use in a teaching environment. For example, the baking soda and vinegar volcano experiment. The use of baking soda and vinegar creates a chemical reaction which looks similar to a volcanic eruption. This practical example allows children to get hands on with the experiment as well as expanding their knowledge on volcanos.

Sustainable development

Farm Visits learning log This week was very different to a normal Friday class. This week we were off campus visiting two local farms, Strandhead and Mossgiel. Mossgiel Farm was a family business which had been passed through generations. When compared to Strandhead farm, Mossgiel was a hands on, manual labor farm. Where the workers worked long, hard days, seven days a week. The way the cows were treated in this farm was a vast difference to the way the cows were treated in Strandhead. Cows at this farm are outside for the most part of the year and only brought inside when the weather becomes horrendous in the latter months of the year. The cows are well treated and produce nature food.

Strandhead Farm is seen as a more up to date, modern farm as equipment for running the farm is very much technology based and not as much manual labor is required than Mossgiel farm. The farmer explained that these cows are always kept inside. However the barn where they are kept have no walls and so the cows were still getting to enjoy the fresh air and natural weather showing that the cows were getting as much good treatment as any other types of cows who are outdoors most of the time. As this is a very technology based farm the cows were given fresh hay daily using a machine that would go round setting down a fresh batch every so often so the cows wouldn’t go without. The cows were also milked using a machine. The farmer also explained that this machine was one where the cows were not forced to milk and that they could choose whenever they wanted to go and use the machine.

This weeks session was very engaging and enjoyable. This trip showed me that it would be useful and beneficial to take children on a school trip to a farm like these to show how different farms can be and the different aspects to each one. It would also be a good learning point to show the how dairy products are made naturally.

Integrated Arts Week 7

Drama Looking at another children’s story this time, using the book The Tunnel. Based around a single event involving a brother and sister who didn’t get on, we were introduced to a further five drama conventions: Role on the wall, VoxPop, Mime, Thought tracking and Voice in head. This topic felt much more prescribed, and …

Continue reading “Integrated Arts Week 7”

Sustainable Development- Interdependence Blog/ Learning Log

This week’s sustainable development learning log is derived on interdependence, we acquired knowledge of this topic in a diverse method than what we normally do, firstly by participating in farm visits and secondly, we worked in groups to produce an infographic in relation to maintaining a sustainable ocean.
I found the farm visits to be rather fascinating and insightful. We visited two very divergent farms, both of which were dairy farms. The first farm that we went to was a high tech, this farm had technology for every aspect of cow farming. All of the cows had electronic tagging, that would enable the farmers to check for any problems or illnesses that an individual cow have. The cows could freely milk when they wished due to their electronic tracking how much there are milking. Likewise, the technology would pick and concrete the diet correctly for the cows depending of the time of year. The second farm was a traditional dairy farm, the cows would get milk weekly, but the difference was this farm was organic implying that in the cow’s diet there are no chemicals in the food they eat. I was intrigue by how both farm looked after the baby calves, at the high tech farm the baby calves were separated from their mother and others in an individual pen, whereas at the organic farm the baby calves were in individual pens but beside the adults’ cows, when these calves got to about 5 months they would be moved into a large pen with other calf’s and to allow interacted. This was the first time that I have ever visited a farm, but in fact I enjoyed the visits and think it would be a great idea to take future primary classes on these visits. It would allow a different dynamic of learning, making it engaging and enjoyable, likewise the children would be able to contextual were a lot of the food they eat comes from and the efforts of the farmers to ensure we have access to farm based foods and produced.

Once we can back from the farm visit I engaged with the online lecture that looked more in depth in regards to what we saw at the farms and the term interdependency. Interdependency can be defined as ‘when two or more things depend on each other in order to grow and maintain health’ (Oxford). This term has been circulating for centuries and from early culture individuals understood the importance of counting on their environment for resources, food/ water and other needs, however what they gathered was we should respect our environment in order to maintain our resources for centuries. In today’s society there are three sectors being;
• Economic interdependence
• Social interdependence
• Environmental interdependence

The follow up workshop of interdependency was rather different from usually, we worked in groups, researched sustainable oceans and created an infographic. This was a great activity as we were able to explore a range of academic reading as well as government or well establish websites, this enabled us to extract appropriate information. Initially I found creating the infographic to be challenging and rather complex, but after trailing with infographic I seen realised it was not too hard and is a great way to display information along with images. This could be an application that could be use in the upper primary, perhaps primary 7, this could be used along with ICT and another curricular area. Relating to CFE outcomes and experiences;
“I can create, develop and evaluate computing solutions in response to a design challenge”
TCH 2-15a
Overall, I enjoyed the interdependency inputs, the farm visits where great and allowed me to see how a farm worked and enabled me to consider the fantastic opportunities that farm visits would have for children. I felt I have been able to develop and consolidate my understanding of the term interdependcy and the underpinning factors this can have on the world. Likewise exploring sustainable oceans, I was able to understand the different issues our oceans are encountering, in particularly in regards to climate change.

Week 7 – Drama and Dance 24/10/17

DANCE In the dance workshop, we used the theme of Halloween throughout. We began with a warmup to the Michael Jackson song, “Thriller”. We then separated into our groups from […]

DANCE

In the dance workshop, we used the theme of Halloween throughout. We began with a warmup to the Michael Jackson song, “Thriller”. We then separated into our groups from last week and rehearsed our dance routine. We were encouraged to do so ourselves, taking responsibility for our own learning.

Next, we gathered as one group and created a dance move – relevant to the theme of Halloween – for each number from 0 to 9. We were then given a series of maths questions and had to create a dance using the previously created moves. Clearly, this demonstrates cross-curricular links which we have been exploring throughout the module. Before this module I was unaware that cross-curricular learning is one of the underpinning principles of Curriculum for Excellence (Learning Curve Education, 2009). However, this module has highlighted the importance of cross-curricular learning as well as ways in which I can link the expressive arts to other curriculum areas.

Then, we were given ‘spooky’ pictures relating to the theme (ghost, zombie, haunted house etcetera). Back in our groups, we made up a dance move for this picture. Finally, we joined as a class one last time to blend together each group’s ‘spooky’ dance move as well as our group dances we have worked on for the last two weeks.

Last week I felt nervous to perform a dance – even in my small group. However, this week I realised that attitudes like this are easily recognised by pupils and so let go of my inhibitions. This class was enjoyable and could easily be replicated in the primary school.

DRAMA

In our drama workshop, we explored a further 5 drama conventions: vox pop, role on the wall, thought tracking, voice in head and mime. We used these techniques to act out the story called “The Tunnel” by Anthony Browne.

Vox pop: Is the teacher acting as as reporter and interviewing characters.

Role on the wall: Drawing a silhouette of a character and writing what you think of them on the outside and what they think of themselves on the inside.

Thought tracking: Allows children to express their thoughts on a character.

Voice in head: A character pausing during a drama to discuss their thoughts on themselves or another character at that particular moment, allowing the audience to further understand the characters.

Mime: Working in silence whilst acting out a scene to create more drama.

An example of “Role on the wall” we created in class.

We also discussed the importance of giving children time to answer a question and not answer the question for them immediately. “The most difficult role for me, as the teacher, was to step back and not interfere with their creative process” (Cone, 2009). I think I will also find this to be a difficulty of mine in schools. In order to overcome this, I will develop strategies to prevent me from impacting children’s creativity.

Overall, from today’s inputs I feel my confidence is developing in teaching the arts – particularly dance – as this is the expressive art I have been most apprehensive about teaching.

Reference List

Learning Curve Education (2009) Interdisciplinary Learning: Primary Schools. [Online] Available: http://www.curriculum-for-excellence.co.uk/_pt/images/stories/CPDMaterials/Guide%20Interdisciplinary%20Learning%20Primary.pdf [Accessed 24 October 2017].

Purcell Cone, T. (2009) ‘Following Their Lead: Supporting Children’s Ideas for Creating Dances’. Journal of Dance Education. Vol. 9:3, pp. 81-89.

Integrated Arts – Entry 6

When children create dances using their ideas, they are empowered to explore their thoughts, feelings, and perspectives (Cone, 2011). It is crucial that children have the opportunity to dance freely to express themselves. As I was a dancer my whole childhood, I think that it is very important that we incorpate dance into every day […]

When children create dances using their ideas, they are empowered to explore their thoughts, feelings, and perspectives (Cone, 2011).

It is crucial that children have the opportunity to dance freely to express themselves. As I was a dancer my whole childhood, I think that it is very important that we incorpate dance into every day life and through out the children’s school life. As a student teacher, I think it is important that we let children feel empowered by creativity letting them know that there is no right or wrong answer through dance which may be the case in numeracy or literacy.

During today’s dance session, again we had the opportunity to be the learner however, we also had the chance to create our own moves. We were split up into groups to create a move to fit in with this weeks theme Halloween. The move we were to create was inspired by a printed out picture of a mummy. This gave us inspiration to create the dance move.

After creating a move, the whole class came together and we put all moves together creating a mini dance routine. I really enjoyed this workshop as it showed me how I can use easy stratigies in the classroom to create a dance. It also helped me to understand that not everyone is very confident with dance, so giving them a visual can really help to get the creative mind flowing and a visual can act as a stimulus to create a simple dance move.

Drama

This weeks drama session was based around a book named “The Tunnel” by Anthony Brown. The book allowed us to explore drama and learn new conventions such as voice in the head, mime, role on the wall, vox pop and thought tracking. I found the convention voice in the head a great tool as the children will be able to step out of the drama, while still in character and discuss how they are feeling through someone elses shoes. It allows the children to think deeper into how others are feeling and not just themselves. As the weeks go on, I feel like I am getting more confident at acting infront of my peers. The class seems like they are enjoying it more and more each week as we are starting to feel comfortable with acting infront of one another as it becomes more enjoyable.

Overall I think it is very important that we allow children to experience experessive arts.

Interdependence- Learning Log

Interdependence is “the dependence of two or more people or things on each other” (Oxford Dictionary, 2017). This weeks class and workshop focused on the theme and understanding of interdependence and how it can relate to sustainability. There are 3 components which are all interconnected: economic, social and environmental interdependence. This input was presented in … Continue reading “Interdependence- Learning Log”

This input was presented in a different way to the previous ones. This theme was first delivered when we went and visited the two contrasting farms last week and we continued this theme this week. This week we were asked to make a Piktochart highlighting the main facts of the sustainability of fishing. “Sustainable fishing means leaving enough fish in the ocean, respecting habitats and ensuring people who depend on fishing can maintain their livelihoods” (Marine Stewardship Council, 2017).

We carried out this task in small groups, of around 4 people. I enjoy working in groups as I feel that my social, team working and communication skills are continually being developed. Each member of the group took a different topic to research and then towards the end we would combine all the information together. This was an excellent idea as it allowed for better time management, our own personal research skills and that the workload was shared. The topic itself was very interesting and I discovered various facts and information such as “Around 70-80% of the seafood consumed in the UK comes from overseas” (Seafish, 2017).

I found that from carrying out this task I developed a lot of new skills. These varied from team working, organisational skills, technology skills and research skills. These skills I believe are important and are skills that I will need to possess and develop as a student teacher.

References:

Oxford Dictionary, (2017). Interdependence. [Available: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/interdependence] [Accessed: 23rd October 2017]

Marine Stewardship Council, (2017). What is sustainable fishing? [Available: https://20.msc.org/what-we-are-doing/our-approach/what-is-sustainable-fishing] [Accessed 22nd October 2017]

Seafish, (2017). Seafish. [Available: http://www.seafish.org/] [Accessed: 24th October 2017]

Interdependence Learning Log

The interdependence theme was delivered in a completely different way than any of the previous themes. It was interesting to compare the two farms the struggles the farmers have […]

The interdependence theme was delivered in a completely different way than any of the previous themes. It was interesting to compare the two farms the struggles the farmers have gone throughout their lives to get to where they are today. Even though the final product was the same the way in which the two farms work varied significantly. The first farm relied heavily on technology – using machines to gather the feed, deliver the feed to the cows and milk the cows. This farm kept the cows inside all year using shutters to shelter them from the weather outside. At first, I felt this to be cruel on the cows however after being told of the harsh winters and the impact they have on the farmland I realised that it is in the best interest of the farmer’s income that the cows are kept healthy inside. At this farm, the cows were not subject to being milked by a farmer at certain points of the day, instead they could go to the milking area whenever they liked. This was done at a time and robotically and screened for nutrients the cow may be lacking, if that is the case these nutrients will then be incorporated into their diet.

The second farm was an organic farm and portrayed what I expected a farm to look like. At this farm, the cows were kept outside for a lot of the year and only spend the harshest winter months indoors. The milking process was manual and involved the farmer connected the cows to the machines himself. This process meant that multiple cows could be milked at the same time.

Below shows pictures of the two different milking parlours

However, the two farms also had some similarities. For example, they both kept the calves in individual pens away from their mother. This was to give them the best possible start as one of the farmers explained that when they had left the calves with their mother, they had a higher chance of dying within a matter of weeks after birth.

I personally preferred the second farm as it was, in my opinion, a traditional farm. Although it was impressive to see the more modern farm and be able to compare the two. Taking pupils to a farm on a school trip would be insightful for the pupils as they could develop a better understanding of how products – like milk – get from the cow to the shelves. Arranging a trip to a farm through RHET is something I would like to do as a teacher, we were informed that they do the risk assessment for the teacher which takes some of the pressure off the teacher/school.

The Sustainable Seas study task allowed us to look at interdependence in the sea. We worked in groups and each member of the group utilized different materials to gain a better understanding of the topic. We then used the knowledge taken from the readings and made a Piktochart. I learned a great deal from this task such as the existence of the MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) an organisation aiming to protect the species our seas and safeguard the seafood supplies for the future. I also became familiar with some policies involved with the sustainability of the seas. For instance, the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) which is the guidelines used to regulate the number of fish in EU waters (COM (2015) 812). It was also interesting to hear story of a family who run their own fishing business and discover how it has changed over the years – similar to the farmers last week.

Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about interdependence. I feel this is due to hearing from people who make a living from interdependence and hearing how their lives are impacted through policies and communities. Although I do also think this would be a challenging topic to address with school pupils and would perhaps best be taught through practical lessons like what we experienced.

Reference List

European Commission. The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). COM (2015) 812.

Interdependence Learning Log

Interdependence is the way in which two or more living things depend on each other to grow and remain healthy (Palhelke, 2009). There are 3 components of interdependence. Economic […]