Art

In today’s seminar we had the opportunity to let our creative minds flow and put ourself in the shoes of the children we will soon be teaching. We were given a bunch of different materials and asked to make a paintbrush. At first, I began to wonder why we were creating paintbrushes, but the whole task underpinned a very valuable lesson.

As children start to appreciate others works around them, they begin to realise that everyones skill level is different. They then start to compare each others work and some chidlren’s confidence begins to drop as they may not think their art and design is as good as the person next to them (McAuliffe, 2007). When a children is given a standard paintbrush, it is as if they are all expected to produce the same art work. Before the children even begin their work, we are giving them the means to compare and how can we possibly expect anything unique. As an educator it is very important that we make sure children are given equal oppertunity’s and that they feel as valued as one another.

Our task in the seminar was to create our own paintbrush. We were given a wooden broomstick, and many materials such as wool, string, tape and feathers. Everyone at my table ended up creating a very unique piece of art.

After creating our paintbrushes, we then had the chance to then paint a picture. Our lecturer described a scene and then we began to paint with our own creations. I felt confident when doing this excerise as it felt fun when using the paintbrush that could create different marks and lines. Again, not being restricted to materials also let me explore with different colours of paints and helped me paint freely.

The Ciricculum for Excellence (2004) ensures that all children should have equal oppertunitys. Providing a lesson such as creating your own paintbrush will not make the children feel as if they are all the same.

Music

In today’s music lesson, we had the chance to explore music within the expressive arts. As i had not taken part in any music lessons since standard grade in fourth year i felt nervous, however when being introucded to Figurenotes (2017) I felt confident and I was able to follow and read the music using this fantastic strategy.

Figurenotes allows you to play the instrument by looking at colourful symbols. This would be appropriate in a primary classroom as it is a step by step easy way to read music. When trying a few songs i began to build my confidence, and i was able to improvise infront of the class.

This lesson proved to me that anyone can play music. The Curriculum for Excellence provides many oppertunities for music to be played in the classroom, and figure notes would give children the confidence to do so.

References :

Figurenotes (2017). How it works. [Online] Available : http://www.figurenotes.com/how-it-works/#.WgI-Y4XXLmI. [ Accessed : 28th September 2017]