Unfortunately I was on holiday during Week 9 and 10 so i have missed blog posts for these two weeks. I was also sick during Week 12 so there are not any blogs for that week either.

During the drama workshop, we were contenting to watch groups present their lessons. My group had already presented while I was on holiday so I participated in other groups activities.

This input was pretty interesting as it allowed us to watch our peers teaching methods and the ways in which things such as body language and voice control can have such an impact on the engagement of the lesson. It also gave us the chance to be critical with each other in order to determine what parts of the activity could be changed for the lesson to be responded to in the most effective way possible.

In dance we were focusing on creating a dance to perform and video in next week’s workshop.

Cone (2009) p.81 made a statement that I feel really relates to the learning of this week’s dance workshop :

“One of the most powerful experiences dance educators can offer children is the opportunity to create a dance that reflects their ideas. Empowering children to create dances about what is personally meaningful presents them with the responsibility and commitment to bring their vision alive.”

By creating our own dance by scratch as separate groups and coming together as a full class unit I found to be a really empowering experience. If children get the chance to feel this with the facilitation and carrying out of dance lessons where they can express what is meaningful to them would be a great opportunity. This would also allow them to really feel that their individuality is being respected and nurtured.

The difference between the start of the module and now are immense. I feel that I have really improved my confidence and become more comfortable when inputting every area of the integrated arts topic. I have also developed a new found appreciation for the arts and how powerful and encouraging they can be for children. I hope that I can contribute to the raising of children’s self-esteem and self-expression through the integrated arts subjects that we have been studying for the past semester.

References: Cone, T (2009). Following Their Lead: Supporting Children’s Ideas for Creating Dances. Journal of Dance Education Vol 9(3) p.81

During this weeks drama lesson we were to find out about the story of Holmwood House. The technique of Teacher in Role was used in order to inform us of the story and then in groups we had to come up with an idea of what happens next in the sequence. We then had to perform our predictions in front of the class. Before doing this Andrew told us that one group was going to have to perform once, then receive feedback from peers and perform again. Through the middle of my groups performance, I automatically knew that he was going to choose us. while preforming I find it really hard to keep a straight face and end up laughing throughout my piece, therefore diminishing the effect of the drama. I know that this is something I will have to improve on and is also something that will have to be disapproved while teaching drama to children throughout placements and in my later career.

During our music workshop we were focusing on the voice and everything it has to offer. The voice is our main form of communication and expression. This extract from Sounds Right conveys the importance of voice :

“As soon as we open our mouths to speak we are judged – assumptions can be made about us, our intelligence, determination, confidence and power. We are ‘placed’ by our listeners and sometimes we do this to others too.” 

This shows that the voice is extremely attached to our self worth and value and is something in which people can also judge us for. It also highlights that the way we speak and make use of our voice can have an effect on what people think and expect from us.

In the primary school years, singing is something that is used to its full potential. During our music workshop this week we got introduced to many beneficial resources that we could make use of when delivering singing activities such as ‘Charanga’ and ‘Choon Baboon’. In class, we used Choon Baboon in order to warm up our voices, and I thought that this was a resource that I would make use of in my own classroom to the enthusiastic nature of the presenter and the upbeat songs used.

We then created ‘Graphic Stories’ which is a simplified version of musical notation. Due it being very visual, I feel that children would really engage with it. They are created by using as many boxes as needed and along the bottom is the timescale and along the side is the desired noise to be created. We were then split up into groups and had to create our own ‘Graphic Story’.

This was a very enjoyable and engaging workshop and I feel that children would really respond to all the resources and techniques that we made use of. Due to being quite musically minded I feel that will the help of resources such as ‘Choon Baboon’ and ‘Charanga’ would make me feel very confident in teaching a musical lesson.

References: Sounds-right.com. (2017). The Importance of the Voice.[online] Available at: http://www.sounds-right.com/voice-tips.pdf [Accessed 2 Nov. 2017]