Dance

During this week’s seminar we were to create a dance with theme of Christmas. As it has been a few weeks since our last dance seminar it was quite challenging to remember all the skills and moves we had previously learned. With the help of my peers I was able to remember the moves. I am confident that I would be able to use the moves we have learnt in a classroom as they are not too difficult to demonstrate to children. As dance is not my strong point these seminars have improved my confidence in this area of the curriculum. By the end of the seminar the class came together to create a dance sequence.

According to the Curriculum for Excellence (2004) a dance sequence is defined as “Routines that may contain the body actions of travel, turn, jump, gesture, pause, and fall within safe practice”. I feel that I now have the skills to be able to teach children how to create a dance sequence.

I understand that dance can build confidence and can act as an escape for children. They can freely express themselves through movement. I think dance is a vital part of the curriculum and as a future teacher I am excited to include it in my teaching practice.

Drama

In our last drama lesson, we were participating in micro-teaching. This week we got the chance to experience other groups becoming the teachers. I enjoyed being the student as I was able to experience how pupils in my class my feel. It is important that we teach children how to take drama seriously and teach them to understand that drama is not always meant to be funny. Being a student for this weeks seminar made me realise how important voice projection is. I understand how important it is that all children in my class can hear me and fully understand what the task is.

These drama seminars have allowed me to enhance my knowledge on drama conventions. According to the Curriculum for Excellence (2004) drama conventions can be defined as “Alternative ways of presenting parts of a drama, for example mime, voice over, freeze frame”. I now feel that I will be able to teach drama to a high quality in the classroom setting.

I understand that drama can build a childs confidence and can allow children to escape from reality for a short period of time.

Cross-curricular

Both these sessions were linked as they both allowed us to enhance our knowledge of both subjects. It is important as future teachers that we teach the curriculum to as high a quality as possible. I feel that both drama and dance are very important in todays society as they can build a childs self-esteem and allow them to freely express themselves. I will be able to use the skills and conventions I have learned to produce high quality drama and dance lessons in the classroom setting.