Art

Today we had a guest speaker, Isobel Laird, who works for South Lanarkshire council, who discussed with us integrating arts within the classroom. We looked at many different pieces of art work from all ages. Isobel stated that an art project could last up to 8 weeks and we should not just rush a piece to be finished by the end of the session.

Within the workshop, Isobel gave us brief directions, step by step, which allowed us freedom to create. Isobel explained many ways in which art could be taught and changed to suit all learners within the class. This was interesting and gave me ideas of how I could implement art successfully within the class.

  

 

Looking around the class, each piece of art work was unique and beautiful in its own way. I liked how there was no correct result and every art work was different. I believe if this was implemented within the classroom children would be proud to show others their artwork and would take much more time and effort into completing the exercise.

 

Drama

Today in drama, we further explored drama techniques. Andrew explained and gave examples of each of these techniques however my favourites includes: teacher in role; hot seating and still image.

We carried on from the last session with the story of the dragon. The drama technique that we began with was ‘hot setting’ which allows someone to sit in the ‘hot seat’ and become the character and the rest of the class ask questions to the person in character. During this task the person in the ‘hot seat’ (in this case the lecturer) had to also use the drama technique of improvisation as there was unplanned acting. The improvisation aspect of drama gives students opportunities for developing their communicative skills in authentic and dynamic situations. (Boudreault, no date). Children are very imaginative and will come out with great questions that will cause them to analyse what is happening in the story and think for themselves instead of just listening and waiting for the story to be told.

Next, we worked in our groups to create a ‘still image’ to convey barriers we have come across on the way to the dragon’s cave. My group demonstrated a walk through a haunted forest. This task could be implemented during reading to ensure the children are all engaged in the story and to allow them to consider the character’s thoughts and feelings. Student engagement in learning and teaching refers to students’ active participation in the academic environment resulting in an enhanced learning experience (The University of Sheffield, 2016).

I felt inspired from the drama session today and have gained many ideas on how to deliver a beneficial drama lesson.

 

References:

Boudreault. The benefits of using drama in the ESL/EFL classroom (no date) [Online] Available: http://iteslj.org/Articles/Boudreault-Drama.html [Accessed: 7 January 2017].

The University of Sheffield. Academic and learning services (2016) [Online] Available: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/als/students/engagement [Accessed: 7 January 2017].