Music

Today’s workshop was not of the ordinary as we had a primary 6/7 class from Greenmill Primary School in to teach us how to play instruments such as the cello, violin, double bass and viola. I was paired with a pupil who was learning to play the cello. This took me back to my primary school days as I used to play the cello in school. I did enjoy learning to play the instrument however I didn’t continue to play as I started to learn the piano and still play the piano and go to lessons today. We started off by playing simple games to get us used to holding the instrument and then continued on with activities to learn the notes. I was surprised  how I had forgotten the notes however once  we were playing the games  it quickly came back to me and it refreshed my mind of what the notes were. The pupil also showed me how to hold the bow correctly and used his technique of our fingers looking like a rabbit when holding the bow to make it easier.

At Greenmill Primary the whole of the Primary 6/7 class get a weekly lesson on string instruments. This allows every child to be included and not feel left out, even if they have no experience of playing any instrument. I thought this was very impressive as when I was at school there was a handful of children allowed to learn an instrument and it wasn’t available for everyone. The importance of a child learning a musical instrument benefits other areas of their learning as Bloomfield (2000, p.77) states ‘providing children with access to a broad spectrum of instruments will extent their aural vocabulary and foster the thrill of sound, especially through sound combinations.’ From the music workshop I now see the significance of learning from music for the learner. We leaned that music  can develop literacy, numeracy, intellectual development, creativity,social and personal skills,and health and well being. Furthermore learning to play an instrument obviously develops a child’s confident and self-esteem as this was evident today as the P6/7 class were extremely happy and confident to show us their skills. The children therefore will develop the main outcomes from Curriculum for Excellence of being successful learners, confident individuals and effective contributors through learning an instrument,( Scottish Executive, 2004).

Drama

Today’s drama workshop reinforced the point that the teacher needs to be able to show her own creative side and show that they are willing to take risks and step out to the unknown. A teacher needs to be confident when it comes to drama and show her willingness to participate and lead by example. As QCA (2004, p.56) states that  ‘Creative risk taking means putting your money where your educational mouth is.’ Furthermore drama participation is key as Baldwin (2009) points out it is always good for the teacher to join in with the drama and experience it first hand as this will provide a better understanding for both the students and the teacher. Children need to be encouraged to take risks and know that it is acceptable to make mistakes therefore hopefully making drama a subject that all children are willing to participate in as the fear of failure is put aside as there is not one correct answer. As teachers we need to reinforce the idea that we are not looking for drama experts that make no mistakes rather children who are willing to participate and take risks.

This week in drama we looked at micro teaching. We had  groups of  about 4 or 5 and  had to create our own lesson plans that involved a story of our choosing. Our lesson was to be around 2o minuets and had to include several drama conventions. Each team member had to be involved and participate.

This emphasised to me the importance of working as a team player. We developed skills of team work, organisation, research, listening to others, accepting that your own ideas aren’t the only viable ones. Furthermore we had a set time to prepare and therefore we were working under a time constraint. We chose the book  ‘The 3 Little Pigs,’  and we will present our micro teaching in two weeks time. It was good to work as a team and bounce ideas off of each other. Hopefully our micro teaching input will go well.

This week several other groups presented to us. I found it very enlightening to see the variety and scope of ideas that the other groups came up with in a short period of time. It has made me very aware of the amount of drama that can be used throughout different areas of the curriculum and in particular literacy as each group used a different book. Drama is one way of exploring imagination and entering into the story of a book. The class novel or a book that the children have been reading for fun or as a class would be an excellent way of including this in an arts lesson within the classroom. I think the children would find it very engaging and a fun way to develop their creative, drama and literacy skills.

I can’t say I’m looking forward to presenting in two weeks, however my confidence is gradually growing and presenting in front of my peers isn’t such a daunting task. I have learned a lot from my peers this week and this proves  that children can learn from each other and it doesn’t always have to be from the teacher.

References

Baldwin, P. (2009) School Improvement Through Drama A Creative whole class, whole school approach Network Continuum

Bloomfield, A. (2000) Teaching Integrated Arts in the Primary School. Oxon: David Fulton

QCA. (2004) Creativity: Find it, Promote it. London: QCA Publications.

Scottish Executive (2004) Curriculum for Excellence. Edinburgh