Month: December 2018

25/09/18 – Stimulus for Inspiration

Within the arts there is a lot of room for using what’s around you as inspiration and mixing that inspiration with your own ideas to create something unique and original. Even a simple trip outside the classroom to the playground and letting the child explore what’s around them can allow them to think of ideas and expand their imagination. Showing them a picture or a single word or letting them listen to a piece of music gets their brains thinking about the endless possibilities in their minds.

Starting a lesson with a stimulus changes how the child looks at the rest of the lesson, they see new ideas within the subject and activity, rather than sitting and being uninterested in what’s going on. They are more willing to interact with the activity, happier to collaborate with the other children in the class and even happier to come back to class and continue their learning if the subject has interest to them and made enjoyable.

During a music workshop we got the opportunity to experience this kind of learning for ourselves to experience what the child might see, feel and hear in the classroom during a similar activity. Different pieces of music were played to us and we were to write down how that piece of music made us feel, what it reminded us of. We then discussed as a class our answers and it was interesting to hear the variation of answers given, interesting to see how everyone had different thoughts about the music they heard, had their own feelings and memories.

This made me think about how this could be used in practice and the positive benefits it can have on the children and their experience in the classroom. This experience is child centred and allows the child their freedom to think for themselves and write, draw or perform what the stimulus makes them feel or think. Using the expressive arts to help achieve this means the children have a safe space and comforting environment to express how the stimulus makes them feel without fear of being judged.

“Inspired by a range of stimuli, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through activities within art and design.” EXA 0-05a / EXA 1-05a / EXA 2-05a

“Inspired by a range of stimuli, and working on my own and/or with others, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through musical activities.” EXA 0-18a / EXA 1-18a / EXA 2-18a   (Education Scotland, 2017)

 

Reference List:

Education Scotland (2017) Benchmarks Expressive Arts, Available at: https://education.gov.scot/improvement/documents/expressiveartsbenchmarkspdf.pdf(Accessed: 25th September 2018).

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02/10/18 – The importance of Dance

“Enjoy your body, use it every way you can, don’t be afraid of it…it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own” (Baz Lurhmann, 1997)

The wise words of Baz Lurhmann are some of the best advice that can be given, to sing, dance, enjoy life and what it has to offer. Life isn’t always enjoyable and for some children the only time they can enjoy it is when they come to school. Therefore, it’s important to make sure all the children enjoy their education so that they can take what they learn and the enjoyment on with them when they leave school.

Dance can take many forms, playing music to them allows children to feel the rhythm of the music, a rhythm they can transfer to dance and make the link between what they hear and what moves they can make to go along with it. When it comes to dance there is an endless amount of possibilities and creativity for the children. “One of the most powerful experiences dance educators can offer children is the opportunity to create a dance that reflects their ideas” (Cone, 2009) and all the teacher needs to do is start the ball rolling and the children can take it from there.

This allows them to take charge of their learning and express their own ideas and feelings. A teacher embracing creative dance can do wonders for the them and the children as it not only does the obvious and encourage creativity but is also increases confidence, physical and mental well-being and the ability to communicate and work together. Getting children involved in the arts gives them more than just creativity, they get a chance to explore their own ideas and improve how they look at themselves.

During our first dance workshop we discussed the purpose of dance and the positive effects it can have on the children and their well-being. We also looked at the different bones, muscles and organs in the body and carried out an activity in groups to pin point where we thought these different parts were within the body.

This was interesting for me as the only dance experience I has at school was ceilidh dancing. It wasn’t until secondary school until I was taught the basics about the body’s movements. So by putting the two together it made it more interesting to learn about and this activity could easily be done with children in class while looking at dance or the parts of the body or even in art looking at movement. They “greatest instrument” we’ll ever own helps us make these links between dance and the body.

We also learned the importance of doing warm-ups with the children as their bodies are still growing so it’s necessary to make sure they are ready for the activity so they don’t hurt themselves. It was helpful to be shown some simple stretches and exercises that could be done with the children.

From previous experience in the classroom dance can be used on its own or mixed with other subjects, however it can also be used as a relaxer for children if they have been working hard or concentrating on a topic. Doing a dance with the kids, getting them to do some stretches or even putting on a video they can follow along and allow their brains a chance to relax and keep their creativity flowing.

 

 

Reference List:

Cone (2009), Moodle Resource (2018), Integrated Arts in Education, Available at: http://moodle1819.uws.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/45702/mod_resource/content/2/CreativedancePDF.pdf (Accessed: 2nd October 2018).

Lurhmann, B. (1997) Everybody’s Free (to Wear Sunscreen)

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