This week’s learning in Integrated Arts revolved around micro-teaching. As a student I have not been given the opportunity to experience micro-teaching before so I found the experience very exciting.
Drama
My group had the chance to teach a drama lesson to our peers, as though they were children. We told to use a form of children’s literature as a foundation for our lesson, we chose to base it on the story of the ‘Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf”. A widely familiar story within children, we thought this would be useful as by the children already knowing the basic plot of the story it leaves more room for them to comprehend the drama conventions easily and not feel out of their depth. We also made the decision to use the following drama 
conventions: teacher-in-role, flash back, hot-seating and thought tunnel. Using teacher-in-role, one group member got into the character as the mayor of pigs’ town and asked the audience (the pigs) what ideas that had to stop the bad wolf from blowing everyone’s houses down. We chose this convention because it can help deepen the belief and commitment in a young class, the questioning gives direction and shape to the learning activity as well as stimulating their minds in areas they may have not thought about before (Barrs et al., 2000). I was given the responsibility to lead the teaching of flash back within the story. Using questioning again, I asked the class their input on the reasons why the wolf wanted to blow the pigs’ houses down, in other words what experiences of his had turned him into a villain? In groups, I allocated the groups a short time to discuss their ideas that they would later perform as an acting demonstration. Participation is key in drama, making sure everyone got up and performed was essential for me. I feel this is so important when applied to a classroom environment because not every child will be as expressive or in favour of performing as other more confident children will be, therefore all pupils must have the same level of opportunities in drama. After all, as Neelands (1990, page 6) states, “drama is to do with the child experiencing rather than performing”. This session really helped me to reflect as a teacher and gain experience in planning and actually carrying out a real drama lesson. This opportunity further informed me on how to use CfE expressive arts experiences and outcomes in my planning, for example “Inspired by a range of stimuli, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through drama” (EXA 0-13a / EXA 1-13a / EXA 2-13a). I used this experience and outcome all thought out my lesson as I allowed the pupils to have the chance to show their creative ideas through the drama convention.
Music
In our very special music input today, we worked with Primary 6/7 pupils from Greenmill Primary School in East Ayrshire. The pupils were there to teach us how to play their string instrument. I gained a range of new knowledge about the cello such as what note each string was and how to remember them using a rhyme “Aunt Debby Goes Crazy”. As well as this I learned the correct way to hold the cello and where to place my fingers on the string. Later, the children spoke words to help us play different rhythms on the instrument which we brought altogether in a song. I felt the role reversal of the learners becoming the teachers was very interesting to watch and I could see firsthand how it can
build on a child self-esteem and confidence. In reflection, I see how collaborative approaches between children and adults, such as this music lesson today, is beneficial in nurturing a learner’s and teacher’s creativity. By the child sharing their skills their barriers came down and gave them a lot of self-motivation, this is a great way to increase comfort and capacity to creativity (Harris, 2016). I really admire the work of Greenmill Primary School String Project as they go above and beyond for giving children opportunities to learn music. The attitudes of the teachers behind the project were very inspiring to me, they are the role models that young teachers need to recognise the importance of teaching the arts in primary schools. I plan to take this positive experience on as a teacher and apply this concept of helping children find their passion as it will have a valuable impact on my learners.
Link to Greenmill Primary’s String Project video: https://vimeo.com/176221212
References
Barrs, A., Barton, B. and Booth, D. (2012) This Book Is Not about Drama…: It’s about New Ways to Inspire Students. Portland: Stenhouse Publishers.
Greenmill Primary (2016) Greenmill String Project. [Online] Available: https://vimeo.com/176221212 [Accessed 7 November 2017].
Harris, A. (2016) Creativity and Education. [Online] London: Palgrave Macmillan. Available: UWS Library. [Accessed 7 November 2017]
Neelands, J. (1984) Making Sense of Drama: A Guide to Classroom Practice. London: Heinnmann.
