We mainly focused on the art pieces that Room 13 have produced today. Room 13 began as an empty space in Fort William which was then used as an art space for children and young people. Looking at the pieces produced from that room where there is absolutely no dictated direction or expected outcome it is incredibly interesting and thought provoking to see what the children create. It really highlights Robinson’s (2007) statement that we are all born artists and we all have the capacity to create and express. A lot of the pieces featured serious themes and real life issues. It’s clear the children are asking questions and are critical thinkers of the world around them. It made me realise that children observe a lot more than what we think they do and we should not brush off a lot of their questions telling them that they are too young to understand.
Music
I really enjoyed today’s input. I feel like I understand and learn concepts better visually so learning about Figure Notes was pretty exciting for me. I found using Figure Notes is a much easier way to digest and translate standard music notation to play, it will set the perfect foundations for young people and musical beginners to begin to read music. Not only this, it will make playing music more accessible to those who require additional learning support such as dyslexia and autism which makes reading complex marks even more difficult. An example of this can be seen in the video here.
FigureNotes are definitely something which I will use in the classroom as it made playing the xylophone a lot easier for me and can make it easier for children who work better with visuals.
The workshop was focused on micro-teaching again where we watched how other groups had incorporated drama into teaching about a book. The group chose Harry Potter which I thought was absolutely fantastic as it is a book that the vast majority of young people and adults know and love. Using a medium like this shows how effective drama can be with enhancing teaching as, although we were all 18+ there was a buzz of excitement around taking part and imagining we were in Harry Potter ourselves. Every group was engaged when it came to the activities set and the creativity from the mini performances we did were acknowledged, appreciated and enjoyed by all. I thought it was a brilliant input and it perfectly showcased how using drama can increase learning and enjoyment in learning.
Music
Today we had the opportunity to learn to play ukulele. It was a fun hands on workshop which highlighted how there are some instruments that you can pick up with absolutely no prior experience and learn the basics in a short space of time. Ukuleles are being introduced into more and more school replacing the recorder as it was found that the recorder took a little more effort to provide a produce something impressive. Ukuleles however, after learning the basic chords, can be used to play a large range of songs which will keep the learner engaged and encourage them to learn more and more songs. They are great for the younger pupils as well as they are easy to hold because of their size and the fret boards are small which an accommodate for smaller hands.
This week was mainly focused on taking care of our voices because as teachers we will need to use them a lot and proves extremely difficult if we lose them! As professional “voice users” the care of the voice is essential to the teacher’s career, as they are particularly at risk of developing voice problems. (General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS), 2010). We began with practicing a number of vocal warm ups and methods to help control breathing to highlight where in the diaphragm the voice comes from and how to prevent straining it.
We were also made aware that singing a line and having the class sing the next one back is an extremely effective way to bring the attention back to yourself as a teacher and stop the learners from talking. This method saves the strain on your voice from shouting and it also saves time on behaviour management. Learning more singing lines that can be used in the classroom is helpful as I have already seen a few in action on my serial days and how great they are in settling the class. We were then shown the video below to demonstrate that singing is not the only way to use the voice in the classroom, beat boxing and rapping are becoming ever more popular and can definitely be used with the learners to capture their interest and engagement.
Following on from using GarageBand last week we were introduced to Charanga building up a bank of methods to make music multi-modal. Charanga is an incredible bank of learning aids which helps teachers form lesson plans for topics and provide a vast range of activities and exercises for the pupils. It is a great resource for teachers who feel like they do not have enough experience to teach music off their own knowledge which makes music accessible for all pupils. As a student teacher who has very minimal musical knowledge it is comforting to know there are resources available to assist teaching so that the children do not miss out.
Art
Today brought in aspects of teaching pupils about artists and incorporating their work into lessons. Avril Paton’s “Window in the West” was the inspiration to the workshop which shows the intimate lives of those living in the tenement housing across from her flat in Glasgow. I thought this was a great piece to work on because it can easily be adapted to the children’s personal surrounding such as the houses across from their own and their own neighbours.
Using the artwork as inspiration as opposed to a model for the lesson removes the barriers of creativity that recreation establishes. Ink printing allowed the children to learn a new method of creating as well as exploring other artists’ inspiration. I really enjoyed this workshop because it allowed us to observe how to teach pupils about famous artists alongside nurturing their own personal creative abilities as well as showing how to show pupils the different kinds of materials that can be used in art and creating.
Learning how to use the basics of GarageBand is really effective to enhancing the child’s experience. It opens up opportunities for children to still make music even if they cannot play an instrument as the software comes loaded an audio library that the user can manipulate and put together. This is especially relevant when a lot of mainstream music includes DJs and producers. Although it does make it more accessible to some children there are restrictions to the software however, as it is only available on Apple Mac products which are incredibly costly for schools and children’s parents.
Drama
Today’s drama lesson was about micro-teaching where we put what we had learned into practice. I really like these lessons as we are able to take inspiration from our peers and shows how these techniques compliment and enhance learning. Using well-known media such as Harry Potter and The Gruffalo shows that it does demonstrate the knowledge of the media and can be really engaging and fun.
“Working together, supporting each other and mastering new techniques and ideas, teaches young people to embrace teamwork and understand that we all respond to challenges differently and it’s more powerful in a peer to peer setting.” Councillor Stephanie Primrose, East Ayrshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Skills and Learning (2016)
Today’s music session was brilliant. Greenmill Primary School came into the university and told us about the Strings Project and taught us how to play an instrument. This allowed us to see the benefits these children have gained from learning a musical instrument and being part of a school orchestra; as well as this we were able to experience being taught by a child which shows how much knowledge and understanding they have gained from the experience. Studying music increases multiple skills that extend to other academic areas which will lead to overall academic success (Arts Education Partnership, 2011).
It was extremely inspiring to hear from the pupils’ points of view and how being involved in music has benefited them academically and personally – helping concentration and social relationships within the class. It emphasised the need to teach music and involve it in a child’s education.
Drama
We practiced making drama cross-curricular today putting the techniques we had learned into practice. Using Anthony Browne’s The Tunnel as a stimulus we adapted each technique to the book to show how they can all be utilized. One of the techniques I really liked and felt would be incredibly beneficial to the children was drawing around one of us and writing how the character would have felt on the inside and how others would have perceived them from the outside. This would get the children thinking about not judging people before getting to know them. This activity can be done privately as an individual or as a group which can spur discussion as a class.
It was the last session of dance and we put all the parts together to make a whole class routine which lasted around 5 minutes. Even though it did not feel like we had done a lot in terms of putting together a routine which would last 5 minutes it worked really well. I think it was really effective having a number of groups as it lightened the pressure on the individual to remember a multitude of steps for the routine to be executed. Putting all the groups together and adding a couple of transitions a collective routine was formed which created a sense of achievement and pride as they will have been working on it for a number of weeks. Even though there was not a huge sense of working as a whole class since we were separated in groups there was a big social aspect when the whole class was moving in sync. Dance is an effective platform that allows the child to take the lead in learning as they can engage their imagination and creativity when it comes to coming up with moves; as well as this it challenges the children to think of solutions due to space restriction, costumes and props which will develop their confidence as creators and performers (Cone, 2011).
From a teacher’s point of view there is so flexibility to teaching dance and almost every classroom topic can be integrated into and enhanced through dance. It allows the children to demonstrate the depth and range of their knowledge on the topic as well as providing the freedom to be creative and explore their imagination. Because of this there can be very minimal teacher input, guiding the children only in supervising timing, positioning, providing transitional moves and any other minor fillers. Taking part in this aspect of the module has really changed my opinion on dance, beforehand I never realised the benefits to the child from teaching dance.
Music
The music input was fun and informative. We were taught methods of how to make reading music simpler making it easier for younger stages to digest and be introduced to musical theory. Using shapes to represent music notes not only makes it easier to differentiate the timings each note represents but makes it cross-curricular.
Practicing using the pentatonic scale was another great technique to reduce any anxieties anyone may have around playing music. Playing in front of the whole class was initially daunting if you did not have any previous experience however the magic of the pentatonic scale was that no matter what note you played they still went along to the backing track of “Hit the Road Jack”. From this little success it relaxes the class’ approach to playing music.
It’s been well known for some time now that the arts is positively linked to academic achievement, social and emotional development among other things (Smith, 2009). It is acknowledged in the education system as it stimulates the brain in ways textbooks cannot and was a massive step forward to integrate it into formal education. However, after being in practice for a number of years the delivery is being revised so that children get the most out of the arts through varying mediums such as dance, drama, music and can bring out a child’s artistic potential.
Art can be taken in so many different ways. What one person might see another person will see something completely different with neither being right or wrong. This is the main point I gained from today’s input when we were going round looking at artwork ranging across the whole of the primary school. I wouldn’t describe myself as being incredibly art-inclined, I’ve always leaned closer to the facts and figures so when I saw this image the first thought that came to my head was that the child was practicing drawing the number 4 and had made it into a circular pattern. However, when brought to the wider class discussion someone else said it looked more like a child drawing chairs around a table – the possible classroom layout where the child was. It could have been either of the ideas or none at all and that is the great thing about art; there is no right or wrong answer.
Another concept brought to attention was the involvement of the class teacher in the production of the art piece. Was the child told to use a specific technique to produce the piece of art? Was the child given an image to reproduce or was it an original idea? Was the child incorporating a number of techniques they have seen from famous artists or were they just copying a painting? Did the child have a choice of resources? How long would the piece taken to create? Was it done in one sitting or multiple?
Children’s reproductions of Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’
All these questions were considered and it highlighted the importance of the teacher’s role in cultivating a child’s creativity. Although learning about the different styles and techniques of famous artists is important and practicing them to see the effect they have in producing an image, getting a whole class to reproduce a version of a famous painting can be counterproductive. Instead of an exercise which allows the child to explore a style of art it becomes an exercise of who can reproduce the painting closest to the original or who can follow instructions correctly; this puts up barriers to creativity if the child’s work can be compared to the rest of the class’s in a way where one can be ‘the best’ and one ‘the worst’. Dictating what the child produces does not allow them to exercise their potential and develop their own style. A teacher’s role in the creative process should be focused on providing the resources and platforms for the child to take what they will and create as opposed to the teacher leading the process and putting up boundaries – supporting the creativity, not imposing (Bruce, 2004:12 as cited in Craft, 2007). There needs to be a balance between providing too much structure which can demotivate a child and providing too much freedom where the child can get confused and lost (Craft, 2007) to allow for the child’s creativity to develop and flourish.
This has made me think of my impact as a student teacher and how I need to be mindful of teaching methods so not to restrict children and their learning. This different way of thinking and seeing things from multiple perspectives has made me reflect on my personal experience of expressive art in primary school and how it has influenced my views of my own ability of creativity. It has opened my eyes to how important it is that children are not put off acknowledging they are creative and how creativity should not be measured and compared to those around them. It has made me really excited to get into this module and practicing not seeing everything as clear cut as black and white.
Music
I have always thought I was never musically gifted but it is as I have gotten older it has occurred to me that my inability to play an instrument does not make me ‘bad’ at music; it does not mean that my creative capacity cannot gain from music. I have always enjoyed listening to music from a young age and it makes me feel a range of emotions, it is the perfect partner to every aspect of life, the best days and the worst days. It can take you back to certain periods or time and help release stress, anger, joy and elation.
The activity we did in the music workshop today was stimulating, it showed how even just listening to music can exercise one’s imagination, creativity and portray emotions in ways that words cannot. Discussing how short audio clips made us feel showed how music affects us in all different ways – where a clip may make one person feel incredibly happy it can strongly anger someone else with many others in between. Creating a comic strip of what scenario came to mind whilst listening to the music was a brilliant way to provide a structure to showcase one’s imagination, it gave us the foundations to work off of with the only restrictions being our own thoughts, not capability. Presenting the scenario to the rest of the class what your group came up with perfectly illustrated how different people’s responses can be without being ‘wrong’ responses. It shows how little boundaries there are within the arts and how music can work the mind.
