Tag Archives: Music

Voice management

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As teachers our voice is our main teaching tool. It’s how we communicate with children throughout the day. It’s how we set rules and manage behave. Our tone and volume can tell children a lot about the message we are trying to portray (GRAD, 2017).

It is therefore important that we understand how to take care of our voice and other ways of communicating our message to children.

We should ease our voices into the day ahead this could be done by singing your favourite songs on the way to work.

Growing up I remember lots of teachers talking about having a sore throat and bot being able to talk. Being a student teacher I can now understand why this happens.

Classroom management and behaviour create a picture in my mind of an unruly class and a teacher shouting. Personally through experience of working in nurseries and after school groups I think there are better ways of managing behaviour than shouting.

One way of classroom management that helps our voice is:

Clap and clap back – this is were the teacher would clap a rythem to the class and they would have to clap back to show they are listening. This gets repeated until everyone is paying attention and listening.

Our voice is also important when teaching music as it is the one instrument that we all have.

Our breath acts as fuel for when we are singing and communicating.

Singing is something that I am not completely comfortable with but will give it a go with children. Resources such as ‘Choon Baboon’ and ‘Charanga’ are great for teachers. They help with lessons plans and act as a safety blanket for areas out with your comfort zone.

Using ‘Choon Baboon’ in our seminar showed me how to practice our breathing, warm up vocal chords and our facial muscles. All which are important for singing.

One song on ‘Choon Baboon’ was about dogs. It was catchy and taught the children exactly how to sing it.

Above is a shot clip of the song from ‘Choon Baboon’ about the dog.

We also learned a song about a penguin coming to tea. This song had actions and was a good game for a lesson starter.

A penguin came to tea.

Another part of music is learning to read a score sheet. This can be challenging for some children. Graphic scores is away of making it simpler. They are also visually stimulating.

A score is created with boxes, along the side is the sounds that have to be used and along the bottom is the time frame.

Graphic score with the theme of fireworks.

As a group of 6, during our seminar we created and performer our own graphic score using a variety of instruments.

Graphic score with the theme of Christmas.

My instrument was used to create Rudolfs foot steps.

Above is a shot clip of the sound created to symbolise Rudolfs foot steps.

As the sessions on music continue I find myself stepping out my comfort zone more and becoming more confident with various aspects of music.

References:

Charanga. (2017) Charanga musical school. [Online] Available: https://charanga.com/site/ [Accessed: 31 October 2017]

Choon Baboon. (2017) Choon Baboon. [Online] Available: http://choonbaboon.com/ [Accessed: 31 October 2017]

GTSC. (2017) Voice Management. [Online] Available: http://www.in2teaching.org.uk/hints-and-tips/View/952.aspx [Accessed: 31 October 2017]

 

 

 

Perfection

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My memories of painting in my primary setting is sitting beside a friend and wishing my painting looked as good as theirs. As children grow they become more self-consious and concerned that their creation is accurate enough (McAuliffe, 2007) or that it’s not “perfect”. This word “perfect” is a word that I hate to hear in a classroom setting as no-one is perfect. We all have a different view point and imagination which means all our creations will be different in some way although this does not mean that any art creation is worse than another.

During a seminar on the 26.09.2017 we were given the opportunity to use various resources to create our own paintbrush. This was an example of paintbrushes that had been previously made.

Children throughout their lives compare constantly with their peers be this outside the school or in the classroom. As an educator it is our responsibility to help children achieve the best they can and to always motivate them to succeed. Enthusiasm is a must for teaching art in a classroom (Lancaster, 1990). Painting in the classroom setting usually starts by handing out paintbrushes however children can make their own paintbrushes. This not only adds a personal touch but means that all the marks that child makes will be different from their peers.

The Curriculum for Excellence (2004) provides a framework so every child can have equal educational opportunities. Using the CfE outcomes a lesson on children making their own paintbrushes can be devised. Giving children a variety of tools and resources allows them to let their creativity flow.

This was the first stage in creating my paintbrush. I tied wool onto the top of a stick.

 

This was my end result. My inspiration came from a memory of visiting an enchanted forest experience. If I was creating a lesson I would use this outcome from the CfE (2004):
I have the opportunity to choose and explore a range of media and technologies to create images and objects, discovering their effects and suitability for specific tasks. EXA 1-02a

We need to as educators teach children that its okay to not know what the outcome will be and it’s okay to be different (Talllis, 2017).

After we made our paintbrushes we were given the opportunity to use them to create a painting. I did not know how mine was going to turn out.
From top left to right; Painting stage 1, Painting end result.
From bottom left to right; Resource palette, My colour palette.

Another part of the arts is music. My experience of creating and discovering music throughout my primary and secondary education is neither positive or negative. I was given various opportunities to play many different instruments but never filled with confidence that I was playing them correctly. My favourite instrument to play is the keyboard, when I have time I enjoy trying to learn new songs and styles of music.

During our seminar we had the chance to play 3 different songs on the glockenspiel however we did not use conventional notation. We used Figurenotes (2017). Figurenotes (2017) are a type of musical notation that use colour and shape to show all the information that conventional notation would.

Top: Glockenspeil.
Bottom: Twinkle Twinkle written in Figurenotes (2017).

I found Figurenotes (2017) a really easy and enjoyable way of reading and playing music. I could understand how it could motivate and encourage children to want to participate in music lessons. I loved how it helps children progress to reading conventional notation and it restores my confidence that I would be able to teach music in an educational environment.

In relation to the CfE (2004) a lesson could be made to encourage children to attempt to play various instruments and create various rhythms using Figurenotes (2017).

This was my first attempt at playing Frere Jacques using Figurenotes (2017).

References:

Figurenotes. (2017) An intuitive way of reading music. [Online] Available: https://www.figurenotes.org/ [Accessed: 28 September 2017].

Lancaster, J. (1990) Art in the Primary School. London: Routledge.

McAuliffe, D. (2007) Fondation and Primary Settings. In Teaching Art and Design 3-11. (Edited by Sue Cox, Robert Watts, Judy Grahame, Steve Herne and Diarmuid McAuliffe) London: Continuum.

Scottish Government. (2004) Curriculum for Excellence: Expressive Arts. [Online] Available: https://www.education.gov.scot/Documents/expressive-arts-eo.pdf [Accessed: 28 September 2017].

Thomas Tallis School. (2017) The TALLIS Habits Pedagogy Wheel. [Online] Available: http://www.thomastallisschool.com/tallis-pedagogy-wheel-guide.html [Accessed: 28 September 2017].