Uncategorized – Megan Baines UWS ITE ePDP

Learning through the concept of STEM to STEAM

This week’s input focused on the concept STEM to STEAM. Prior to this lesson, I lacked a lot of knowledge and understanding regarding this concept. I had not heard of STEM to STEAM before and was very intrigued to develop my understanding of this concept, as I believe that as a student teacher it is vital that I fully understand this concept to create more effective, efficient, fun and enjoyable lessons for the pupils.

The terms STEM and STEAM both stand and mean different things. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics whereas STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM, 2018). When looking at this concept, I considered the question that many people might ask and one I asked myself: How does a teacher combine science and art?. Science and the arts are both experimental subjects and therefore carry an element of risk. This could be a risk of an experiment going wrong or entering the ‘unknown’ with an art piece. It is important to realise that the arts can be used as a positive resource to help carry the more difficult subjects like mathematics, science or technology. This was demonstrated throughout the input today. As part of this session, we looked through leaflets of festivals and exhibitions held at Dynamic Earth. From this, it was apparent how easily art can be integrated with subjects like science and technology.

It is crucial to realise that introducing STEAM does not mean less time is spent on STEM subjects and more time is spent on the arts, but it is about applying creative thinking to STEM projects, and enhancing children’s creativity and imagination through the arts. As an aspiring teacher, I need to ensure I find the most suitable and natural ways for art to fit into the STEM subjects. Using STEAM, allows pupil’s the opportunity “to utilize their artistic talents to generate innovative thinking” (Teach Hub, n.d.). Therefore, as a student teacher, I need to bring ambition, creativity and confidence to the future jobs that I acquire.

It is important for teachers to give the pupils a range of experiences and opportunities in school that they wouldn’t be able to do at home. Educators should think outside the box with their lessons, to spark imagination and innovation within the pupils. It is vital to remember and acknowledge that children relish the opportunity to go to places in their minds and work from their imagination, and they have an innate ability to do this easily. However, this is something that perhaps gets lost or is diminished the older they get. There is a quote by Ken Robinson (2001) that I feel sums this up perfectly “We don’t grow into creativity; we grow out of it. Often we are educated out of it.” I want to ensure to provide opportunities for pupils to experience the concept of STEAM and foster this ability in all of the pupils at a level suitable to them, with consideration to their age and stage of development.

After having discussed STEM to STEAM as a class, we then moved on to continuing our artwork based on our evocative object. We were encouraged to create a piece of writing, no longer than 62 words, and use it as a stimulus to create a piece of art. I was unsure at first how I wanted mine to look, therefore I tried a few different ideas before creating the final product. I knew the different words and emotions that I wanted to include throughout my image but I was not confident in the position, font and style of the words throughout my art piece. I began writing different feelings and emotions on a piece of paper to include into my piece of art. This week I considered my reflections from last week and took them on board. Therefore, I began to change my piece of art by taking a new piece of paper and using gold paint and light brushstrokes for my background. Once the paint was dry, I began to lightly wright some of the feelings and emotions connected with my evocative object. Next week, I will begin to incorporate the symbol and colour throughout my piece of art.

This was the beginning of my new piece of art work. I used light brush strokes to add depth to my painting.

I began incorporating different feelings and emotions connected to my evocative object. I tried to use various styles and fonts throughout my words.

Throughout the past few weeks, I have found that having the opportunity to work on this artwork over a period of time has enabled me to create something more effective and meaningful and I have had a lot of fun and enjoyment whilst creating it. From having more time to work on the artwork, allowed more creative ideas to flow that otherwise would not have occurred or had the chance to come to life. What is making this piece of art so enjoyable is that it is all of my own ideas, imagination and memories that are being incorporated to my creation.

On reflection, I have found this input very helpful, knowledgeable and enjoyable. I believe that STEAM is the correct way to move forward in education and I want to ensure that throughout my placement I engage with STEAM and and provide the pupils with opportunities to become confident individuals, successful learners, responsible citizens, and effective contributors as detailed in the Curriculum for Excellence. Robinson (2001) stated that “If creativity is to become central to our futures, it first has to move to the heart of education”. I fully agree with this statement and believe that creativity needs to become more apparent and central within the Curriculum for Excellence.

References:

STEAM, (2018) Stem to Steam. [Online] Available: http://stemtosteam.org/ [Accessed 4th February 2018]

Teach Hub, (n.d.) STEM vs STEAM: What is Better?. [Online] Available: http://www.teachhub.com/stem-vs-steam-what-is-better [Accessed 4th February 2018]

Robinson, K. (2001) Out of our Minds: Learning to be Creative, Oxford, Capstone.

Education Scotland. (2017) What is Curriculum for Excellence? [Online] Available: https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers/cfe-(building-from-the-statement-appendix-incl-btc1-5)/What%20is%20Curriculum%20for%20Excellence [Accessed: 4th February 2018].

Learning in and through the process of Print Making

This week’s input focused on learning through the process of print. Prior to the input, I decided to research print making in further detail to enhance my knowledge and understanding ahead of the session. I was able to find that print making is “the form and process of applying a work of art to another surface” (Science Leadership, 2017). I was intrigued to discover the various materials that can be used to create your print, ranging from paper, fabric, plastic, polystyrene and card. It is important to remember that in print making, there is more than one version of it’s original made. Reflecting on our ‘Integrated Arts’ module I remember creating our own prints based on the painting ‘Windows in the West’ (1993) by Avril Paton. And from this, I recall using a variety of materials and there being various steps before we had our finished product. I was interested to discover the affect print making had on various artists, it was suggested that print making was revolutionary because it was another way to be creative through art. Through this research, I found that the roots of print making ran far back and since then has collectively grown with more types of printing. This type of art had also made it possible to capture moments of history from centuries ago (Science Leadership, 2017).

Whilst researching, I discovered a lino print of a portrait of a woman by Nancy Bradley. This piece of art really interested and captivated me as I noticed, very quickly, the unique facial expression that the artist managed to capture in the woman’s face. I detected that the expression was one of a bold manner, as if the woman is of a high prestige to others or it could be that she is looking down on others. My interpretation of the woman is that she is strong minded, independent and high achieving. Whilst looking at the piece of art, various thoughts ran through my head such as: I wonder what the woman was thinking in the picture, why did the artist decided to create a woman of this manner, what was the artist thinking when they decided to create the facial expression on the woman’s face. I enjoyed and appreciated the fact that the colors were kept simple, with just black and white, as the value of colors helped me to see where the light was captured on the woman’s face. I think the colors that were used provided a sense of mystery with the painting and provided a good design for the painting. .

Lino Print- Portrait of a Woman by Nancy Bradley.

I felt that with my prior research and experience with print making, I had an adequate amount of knowledge, understanding and skills ahead of this session. During the session, we were all given the opportunity to further develop our knowledge and understanding of printmaking through reading a document by Yorkshire Sculpture Park called ‘Exploring Printmaking’. provides teachers with input on how to use printmaking in the classroom. This document outlines the purposes of printmaking, how it can be used for cross curricular lesson and gives examples of the practical elements of printmaking like how to set up a classroom and keep it tidy. Through reading this document it highlighted to me the significant opportunities that print making can give children, of all ages, as they are able to experiment and explore visual art.

As a student teacher, it is a brilliant opportunity to be introduced to various resources that will help us along our journey of becoming a future educator. A resource like ‘Exploring Printmaking’ allows me to develop my knowledge and understanding of this concept and in turn increase my own confidence and self-esteem in teaching printmaking and using it within the curriculum guidelines. I appreciate the various skills that print making provides for a child such as encouraging them to problem solve, have creative discussions and work effectively with others.

During today’s session we also had the opportunity to begin our artwork for our evocative object. Our evocative objects were to inspire us to create our own concrete poetry. Concrete poetry “creatively operates with space as an additional expressive category by arranging words in non-linear patterns across the page.” (Poetry beyond text, 2018). Therefore, this session gave us the time and assistance to begin our concrete poetry and we were to use this time to express our thoughts and feelings through design. At the start of this session, I didn’t know where to begin or how I wanted to express my evocative object and the feelings attached to it on a piece of paper. As my evocative object was my ‘You Matter Always’ (YMA) card I decided to begin with drawing the YMA symbol. The YMA symbol holds a special place in my heart as I have the symbol tattooed on my ankle to signify the strength of my mum and how she has suffered trauma throughout her life and still has the strength to continue in her life. It also reminds me that I matter always, that my thoughts, feelings and emotions are of value and I should never forget that.

When creating my symbol, I found it very difficult to get the size and scale of the symbol correct. I decided to stick with the same color scheme that my mum went with, I love the colour purple as it signifies ambition, strength, power, peace and independence. It reminds me to continue making goals throughout my life, to be independent and to be strong and not let my worries get me down or stop me from achieving my goals. I began my creation, using oil pastels however I quickly realised that oil pastels can be difficult when trying to merge two colors together. As the symbols colours range from light to dark purple and then some white, to reflect the dark and light within the symbol I wanted to convey this in my drawing. On reflection, it was clear that the oil pastels did not work and therefore I decided to draw the symbol again and this time use chalk. I decided to use chalk as I wanted to feel the colours blend and form together.

Looking at the start of my creative poetry I am not entirely pleased with it and therefore I want to reflect this week on what it is I don’t like about my creation so far and what it is I would like to change. I want to ensure that I make my creative poetry meaningful and convey the message of ‘You Matter Always’ therefore it is vital that I get this correct before this module finishes.

On reflection I feel that this session was of great value. It allowed me to develop my knowledge, understanding and skills of print making. It also gave me the opportunity to use my thoughts and emotions related to my evocative object and express them through visual art which is something I feel should be encouraged in the classroom. When considering using printmaking within the classroom, two things came to my mind and that is that in order to make something more engaging, the work should be more personal or have a connection to something else, a real life connection or purpose. Printmaking can fit into both of these options therefore furthering the chances that I will use it for a future lesson.

References:

Bourn Creative, (2011). Color Meaning: Meaning of the Color Purple. [Online] Available: https://www.bourncreative.com/meaning-of-the-color-purple/ [Accessed: 28th January 2018]

Science Leadership Academy, (2017). Printmaking. [Online] Available: https://scienceleadership.org/blog/printmaking-11 [Accessed: 28th January 2018]

Art Grab, (2016). This is Nancy Brandley’s lino print portrait of a woman. [Online] Available: http://art-grab.tumblr.com/post/140696690555/this-is-nancy-brandleys-lino-print-portrait-of-a [Accessed: 28th January 2018]

Poetry Beyond Text. (2018) Concrete Poetry. [Online] Available: http://www.poetrybeyondtext.org/concrete-poetry.html [Accessed: 28th January 2018]

Yorkshire Sculpture Park, (n.d.) Exploring Printmaking. [Online] Available: file:///C:/Users/Suzanne/Downloads/ignite-teacher-resource-printmaking%20(1).pdf [Accessed 28th January 2018]

Learning through Animation

This week’s input focused on learning through animation. I was able to develop my knowledge, understanding and skills in relation to animation and the various ways it can be used within the arts and within education. Animation can be described in numerous different ways, the main one being “the process of making films in which drawings or puppets appear to move” (Collins Dictionary, 2018).

I was very amazed and interested to find that some of the first discoveries of animation were traced back to the Egyptian times, where there were sequences of images used to decorate the walls of Egyptian tombs. Since then, capturing motion has been a main search and theme for artistic endeavor and with the advancement in technology it has allowed for animation to become diverse. Animation can range from motion pictures and games to medicine and scientific stimulation. As a child, some of my earliest and favorite movies were created through the form of animation, Walt Disney and Dreamworks are some of the twentieth-first century animators that created animated film cartoons such as Mickey Mouse, Shrek, Donald Duck and the Jungle Book. From my own experiences with animation, I enjoyed the fact that it gave life to the characters, it allows you to explore your own imagination and experience a different form of art.

Through my own research and discussion in class, I was interested to discover the ways in which animation can have a positive effect in education. I was able to find that animation gives pupils the opportunity to develop their literacy and visual literacy skills, build problem-solving skills, discriminate and interpret action and images, encourage critical thinking (e.g. which looks better, why does that one look better) and encourage collaboration and co-operation with their peers. As a student teacher, it is vital to appreciate how relevant and important it is to teach children about animation. I believe it should be used across the curriculum as a creative resource for pupils to explore and stimulate a wide range of themes and ideas and create their own animations.

I was fascinated to find the many ways to explore animation in art without the use of technology. During this input we discussed a form of moving image called flick books. It was interesting to discover that from the invention of flick books and other early animated toys, inspiration was found and gave the idea of moving pictures based on real life which in turn created the cinema. I found that flick books are an easy, enjoyable and exciting way to create a series of animations. When creating my own flick book, I decided to start with a simple idea of a stick man waving. For this all I needed was post-it notes and a pen. On reflection, I found that the post-it notes were difficult to flick and therefore in the future I would try to use index cards as they are thicker and therefore would be easier to flick.

This is my first step in my creation of a flick book.

This is my second stage in my creation of a flick book.

This is the third step in my creation of a flick book.

This is the fourth step in the creation of my flick book.

This is the final stage in my creation of a flick book.

Video (4)

From having the opportunity to develop and create my own flick book, it gave me the knowledge and inspiration in creating an activity, similar to this one, throughout my placement. As an aspiring teacher, I can appreciate the difficulty in finding the resources and time to accommodate more advanced, creative activities. However, I do believe that the expressive arts is a vital subject within the curriculum and therefore should be treated with the same respect as literacy and mathematics. For this activity, I only needed some post-it notes and a pen and it took me roughly 10 minutes to create. Therefore, lessons can be created to discuss the progression that technology has had on animation and children can sketch and make their own flick book to see where animation first began, be imaginative, have fun, be creative and work alongside their peers. Through my own research, I discovered that creating an activity with animation not only correlates with the ‘Expressive Arts’ subject within the curriculum but also ‘Technologies’. I found that there are numerous experiences and outcomes that would provide the desired learning for the pupils through an activity like this one.

This input allowed me to further develop my knowledge, understanding and skills of animation through the arts. It highlighted to me the importance of providing children with creative opportunities as they find excitement, enjoyment and wonder through their own creations. I have discovered various ways to demonstrate and teach children about the progression of animation throughout the years and provide learning experiences for them to develop their own knowledge and skills of animation in the arts. I was able to reflect on my areas of strength and areas for development in creating my own flickbook, which in turn showed me that in the future if I was creating a flickbook, with children, index cards would be the most suitable resource to use.

References:

Collins Dictionary. (2018) Definition of animation. [Online] Available: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/animation [Accessed 21st January 2018]

Fractus Learning. (2017) 5 Real Benefits of Using Animation in the Classroom. [Online] Available: https://www.fractuslearning.com/2013/12/06/animation-in-the-classroom/ [Accessed 21st January 2018]

Moving Image Education. (2018) Moving Image Education. [Online] Available: https://movingimageeducation.org/ [Accessed 21st January 2018]

Sustainable Development- Placement Task

For the first part of this task, I have attached a copy of the mapping of the school grounds/area.

Map of school grounds

Following on from this, looking at the evidence of existing engagement with sustainable education within the school such as garden area, recycling bins, litter picking ‘wardens, bird boxes and so on, I found that:

The school have a food recycling rota where the children must ensure that food from the canteen is recycled and collected.
Scotland’s climate change pledge for communities.
They have a green charter that I have attached in the picture below
They school also have Green flag awards [1^st award 2010 & 2012]
They have both a ‘Eco Schools Silver Award 2007’ and an‘Eco Schools Bronze Award 2006’
The school have recycling bins outside and inside the building
They have litter picking teams that go around school once a week

Examples of Sustainable Development in the School

Moreover, I looked into the consideration of actual play space for children and its suitability and found:

“Play is what children and young people do in their own time, for their own reasons. When playing, children choose what to do, how to do it and who to do it with.” (Shackell et al,. 2008 p.g.9).

Play space within the school is primarily made up of two playgrounds. One playground caters for P1 to P3, whilst the other caters for P4 to P7. Both playgrounds are large concrete spaces. Both areas have very little grass available, or trees. I believe this to be primarily due to the school’s geographical location (based on a hillside).

The playgrounds are surrounded by fencing which aids in providing a safe environment for children. Children do not have access to leave the school at any point in the day via the playground due to the layout of the school building. The playground also does not go near a street or road and instead runs adjacent to the back of local houses and gardens.

Inside they playground there is a MUGA (multi-use games area) available for children to use. Children are rewarded extra time in the MUGA through ‘star-line’ technique. After each interval and at the start of the school day a teacher or CSA will decide what class has the best line in the playground. The class with the most points at the end of the week receives extra time in the MUGA. The MUGA allows the children to participate in many activities including football, tennis, netball, basketball, hockey and athletics. The school has described that since having the MUGA installed, it has aided in reducing unacceptable behaviour in the school playground, and promotes increased fitness within early age groups.

I find the playground ideal for this school as children can participate in many sporting activities, including football in the playground. This promotes health and well-being but also social interaction with children. The children in the school are also able to participate in sports as this seems an important part of many of the children’s lives (particularly football).

Shackell, A., Butler, N., Doyle., P. and Ball, D. (2008). Design for Play: A guide to creating successful play spaces. [London]: Dept. for Children, Schools and Families. [Online] Available at: http://www.playengland.org.uk/media/70684/design-for-play.pdf [Accessed 13 Nov. 2017].

The school’s sustainable development achievements so far.

Finally, after discussing these aspects of sustainable education with the children, I found:

When discussing with children, they have described the enjoy many aspects of sustainable education.
Children described that they feel their playground is of adequate space, and that they can play many games during breaks and lunch times. They also thoroughly enjoy the MUGA, so much so that children are reward with extra time in the MUGA through good behaviour and good ‘lines’ when the bell goes at the end of intervals.
Some children expressed that the only problem with their outdoor space was that it often gets very muddy, which affects the areas in which they can play.
Children have described they enjoy helping the local community in a simple way by recycling. Children are encouraged to regularly recycle many materials including paper and food. There is also a food recycling team who have the accountability for recycling food across the school one day per week.
Litter picker wardens are also across the school during break times [break time litter pickers]. Some pupils expressed that they thoroughly enjoy being litter pickers and helping the school to remain tidy and eco-friendly
An eco-schools audit completed in 2017 also confirmed that the level of litter was low due to measures put in place through break time litter pickers.
From this audit, it has encouraged more awareness around food-recycling despite their being teams in place to support this with the children.

Integrated Arts- Drama and Dance

This week we began with our dance class. It has been a good few weeks since we last took part in the dance class, so it was quite challenging to remember the routines we came up with. I tried to visualise the 10 movements that we had placed upon the wall to try and remember the steps that we created. We managed to remember some of them and then just came up with a few new ones. This time round we changed the music to Christmas songs which was a lot of fun and appropriate for the time of the year. As some of my group was off we joined up with another group and we all came up with new moves to fit with this piece of music.

The fun part of this class is being able to join everyone’s moves together to come up with a whole routine. It’s amazing to think that in less than 2 hours we had a whole routine created. I think this just highlights the fact that time is not always an issue when it comes to teaching the expressive arts as most of the time you can have a lesson stated and finished before playtime or lunch time. The most important thing is giving the children this opportunity, in my opinion expressive arts is of just as much value as literacy and mathematics and should be given the same amount of respect.

I believe dance is a way for children to express their thoughts and feelings through movement. It allows children to be imaginative, creative, physical and work with one another to create a movement piece that fits along with music. I used to participate in dance when I was younger and loved the feeling when a routine had been put together through everyone’s inputs, I loved the different shapes I could make with my body and being able to express myself through a piece of music. This class taught me that you don’t need to be a professional dancer to teach it to children as long as you know the 10 basic movements and some activities, that’s where the creativity will begin and the children will be able to use their own imagination to come up with a dance piece. I hope that in my placement this year I get the opportunity to witness a dance lesson and if not hopefully I could teach one to the children to show them how much fun they could have with dance.

We then followed on with a drama session. As mentioned a few weeks ago we were all taking part in a micro teaching experience. My group had presented our teaching experience the previous week and it was our turn to take part in other people’s teaching experience. This was a very fun and enjoyable experience as we got to experience the teaching from a learners view opposed to the teaching view.

This was a very interesting task as every group came up with something different. I think all groups did exceptionally well, everyone was imaginative and provided a exciting learning experience for everyone involved. We got to experiment with different drama techniques alongside a context to work with. These varied from freeze frame, fast forward, voice in the head, mime and many others. I still feel that I lack confidence at times in areas such as performing but I do feel like this module has allowed me to grow in self-esteem and be more open-minded towards drama and the many positive effects it can have on a child’s learning. I was lucky enough to witness some of the drama techniques in action in my placement, it was amazing to watch all the children get involved, come up with their own ideas and most of all have fun!

I think that through this drama class people are starting to respect and understand drama a lot more, everyone is getting involved and understanding the importance of it in the expressive arts. As an aspiring teacher I have been able to see the value and need for drama in the curriculum and it’s important that we give children the opportunity to be expressive through the different art mediums. I have thoroughly enjoyed the drama section of the module and it has greatly increased my confidence and knowledge and understanding in a topic like this one and I know it will be a huge asset in my future career as a primary teacher.

This week I think both sessions fitted perfectly with one another. They both focused on the importance of being creative, using your imagination, team work and allowed some people to step out their comfort zone and get involved. Drama allowed us to create a scene or technique completely from scratch and use our imagination to think of an idea that would be fitting with the story. Similarly with dance we had to create our own dance moves focused around Christmas, allowing and challenging us to try and create moves that were different from those around us. Both of these classes highlighted to me that they could be integrated into other subjects in the curriculum in a fun and creative way.

Sustainable Development- Energy

The past two weeks lectures focused on energy. When i reflect on my time in primary school, I remember learning a little bit about energy but i definitely learned a lot more about it in high school. From studying and learning more about energy in this module it has opened my eyes to the variety of activities and lessons that i could create to teach this topic in the classroom in a fun and enjoyable way. I feel like from the inputs in lectures and workshops on this topic i have developed numerous skills such as communication, team working, research and creativity and now feel more confident about teaching this topic.

For the first input on energy, we got to take part in a debate. The debate was to focus on ‘Alternative Energy’. We worked in small groups to read academic texts focused on wind turbines to find out information to debate about. We then went into larger groups to share our ideas and research with one another in order to work together to come up with 5 key points to debate about. We had two large groups, one for wind turbines and one against, we then had to decide which members of the group would go up to debate. Through this input i learned a lot about the skills i already possess and new ones that i have developed. Through this my team working, communication and research skills came to light. However, i also realized that i do lack confidence skills and this is something i would like to develop throughout my years in university.

The second input on energy focused on an activities we could use in the classroom such as creating a model of a wind turbine. This was an activity that we could to try ourselves and then create a lesson plan based on this activity. When it came to creating the model, we had to ensure that we had the appropriate resources and that we read our instructions correctly in order for our model to work. I was really happy with my end result and it is definitely an activity that I would try in the classroom.

When it came to creating the lesson plan we worked in partners and it was very interesting and fun. I really enjoyed being able to understand how doing an activity like this would be created and written up in a lesson plan. It was a good experience to work cooperatively with someone else and see how they would write up a lesson plan opposed to how I would do it. We managed to finish our lesson plan and we were really happy with the finished result.

From both these inputs my knowledge and skills in energy have definitely increased and improved. It was a topic that I didn’t think I would be interested in but now experiencing it in a different way I would love to teach this in the classroom. There are lots of resrouces and activities out there to help with teaching a topic like this that would be fun and enjoyable for the children. There are activities such as creating energy circuits, making a wind turbine, creating animals that use energy and many more. Energy is such a relevant topic and is important to teach as it is something that surrounds us in everyday life.

Integrated Arts- Micro Teaching

In this weeks music seminar we were given a fantastic opportunity to learn how to play a string instrument. A group of pupils from a school in Ayrshire came to teach us all how to play a string instrument. These pupils were part of a string project, the only school in Scotland, where they are given the chance to learn a string instrument from primary 4 to primary 7. They are given the opportunity to take part in a 45 minute music session in school every week where they learn how to use their string instrument and how to progress with it. A project like this helps children to develop so many skills such as team working, confidence, self-esteem, creativity and many more. This ties in with the Curriculum for Excellence in aiding children to become a successful learner, confident individual, responsible citizen and an effective contributor (Curriculum for Excellence, 2004).

During the lesson, we were shown the correct way to hold a string instrument, how to hold the bow, learning notes and the two different ways of playing: pizzicato and spiccato. We were all told to partner up with a pupil and their instrument and so I was given the violin. I have never played the violin before so i was slightly nervous before the class began. I think the violin looks like such a beautiful instrument and after playing it i realized it also had such an incredible, soft sound to it.

We also got to play a range of games to help with the technique of holding the bow in the correct position. These games were a lot of fun and is a great way of teaching beginners all about the bow and the balance you need whilst holding it.

Overall, this input was so much fun and a great learning experience. It was so interesting and enjoyable having pupils in to teach us instead of the other way about. It was an excellent opportunity to be able to be taught the basics of learning how to play the violin and i thoroughly enjoyed it. I think the string project should be introduced into many more schools around Scotland, as i think its a brilliant initiative that many children would benefit from as they are able learn and develop a range of skills in order for them to flourish into young individuals.

This weeks drama workshop focused on micro teaching. Prior to this lesson, we had to get into groups and create our own lesson plan focusing on a story that involved the drama conventions we had been learning and then teach this to the class. Our lesson should be around 15-20 minutes long and everyone in the class had to get involved. This task was quite challenging especially in the time aspect. It was hard for our team to all work together when we all have different schedules and the time we had to do create the lesson wasn’t very long. However, we managed to make it work by each team member taking a different convention and fitting it into the story in a way in which we can teach and explain to the class. From creating the lesson i developed a range of skills such as: time management, team working, organisational skills, creativity and research skills.

I was very nervous for when it came to teaching the lesson and found the thought of it all quite daunting. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t come across as patronizing as they weren’t a primary class, they were a class of students similar ages to me, if not older. In the end, it wasn’t as bad as i thought it would be it was actually a lot of fun. Each member of the team took a part to say and presented it very well. We got some great feedback mainly about how it was really good that we came up with our own story instead of taking an original storybook. We were all very happy with this feedback as this was something that we were originally worried about as we were unsure about how people would take to a made up story. Although in the end it was very effective and it meant that each group had their own idea of where the story could go and how it could end.

We also had to take part in the other students micro teaching task. I think I am starting to become a little bit more confident in performing, however I still get very shy and nervous but I am trying to overcome this fear as I want to have fun and be able to implement enjoyable lessons like this into the classroom.

I think this micro teaching lesson was so interesting and was a very effective, fun task for us all to take part in. It was a great opportunity to see how we can implement these conventions into a lesson plan and how we would carry them out in the classroom. From doing a task like this, you develop a range of skills and learn a lot from the people around you. This can be an important lesson for children as they can learn a lot from working with other children and can develop a variety of skills that might not always develop when being taught by a teacher.

References:

Education Scotland, (2017). What is Curriculum for Excellence. [Online] [Available: https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy-drivers/cfe-(building-from-the-statement-appendix-incl-btc1-5)/What%20is%20Curriculum%20for%20Excellence?] [Accessed: 13th November 2017]

Integrated Arts- The importance of Voice

This weeks lecture and seminar focused on the importance of your voice in teaching. As a teacher, one of your most effective tools is your voice so it is therefore important to learn exactly how to use it in order for it to be a useful resource in teaching and communicating. Therefore, this weeks seminar focused on tips and tricks that we could use to help protect our voice and ways to use it to the best of our ability. One tip that I found very interesting and useful was that there is no need to shout in a classroom. Sometimes as a teacher, you forget that shouting to get the children’s attention isn’t always the best approach as its not always effective and can hurt our voice in the process. I think some teachers find this a good way of controlling behavior management but in my past experiences of being on placement in schools and nurseries i found that shouting didn’t ever really get anywhere with the pupils. A better technique I think would be to change the tone of your voice, use facial expressions or even sometimes clapping a rhythm to the pupils for them to clap back can be an extremely effective tool to use in the classroom.

I researched the importance of our voice as teachers and how being expressive with our voice by using different facial expressions. true emotion and our tone of voice when speaking can help the children learn to be expressive as well (School of Educators, 2011). I also learned that using the whisper technique can be extremely effective with young children as it seems to “signal intrigue, mystery, secrets and more”. These techniques are definitely going to be ones that i try whilst on placement and in my future career as a teacher.

We were also told that the General Teaching Council have a whole document outlining the importance of our voice and what to do if we feel like our voice has been effected. I think this is an excellent tool as it gives you lots of advice and information on how to use your voice effectively in a classroom but also what to do and different techniques to use if your voice gets damaged. Its a very useful resource to have whilst on placement and in years to come when we have our own class to teach.

Moving on from this, we looked at how we use our voice through music and how important singing is in a classroom setting. We were shown a resource called Choon Baboon that we can use with the children. This website is a brilliant, new and modern way to get children singing. There is a variety of songs available on YouTube with backing tracks and lyrics to help teach the children. It is a fantastic, fun resource to help build not only the children’s self esteem, confidence and expression but also the teachers. This is definetly a resource I would use as I lack a lot of confidence in teaching music and this tool would be a huge help in my development.

We also looked at a technique called Graphic Scores which is a visual tool that makes reading music a lot easier. It is created with boxes, along the side you have that sounds that have to be used and along the bottom is the time frame. We got split into groups, our group of 6 created a graphic score focusing on Christmas using a variety of instruments.

Our Graphic Score for our Christmas Song

Video (2)

Overall, this seminar was very fun, interesting and informative. I learned a lot of different techniques of how to manage my voice in teaching as well as fantastic resources to help teach singing in the classroom. I feel a lot more confident about teaching music after seeing some of the tools out there to help.

After this seminar, we had our drama workshop. We were following on from last week’s class where we were looking at different drama techniques that we can explore and use in the classroom. This week we focused on four particular conventions varying from flash forward, flash back, narration and slow motion. My favorite convention was the flash forward scene as it allows your group to be creative and create your own ending for the story. This week’s story was based on a haunted house which was very relevant as it was coming Halloween. It was a very fun and creative idea as because the story was quite vague it allowed for each group to have their own individual idea. For flash forward scenes, we had to create what was happening after the present situation and flash back was the opposite that involved showing what happened before the present situation. As a group, we decided to make our flash back scene from centuries ago and it was very different and enjoyable to create. For, slow motion we returned to the present where we were entering the haunted house to see what it was all about. We also got to create a scene were we used narration which was when someone in the group would describe what was happening in the scene.

From taking part in a seminar like this, it highlighted for me the importance of using a story that children don’ know what happens so that when they are creating the scene the children are able to be creative and use their imagination to create a different story from another group.

References:

School of Educators, (2011). How to use your voice as an effective teaching tool. [Online] [Available: http://schoolofeducators.com/2011/07/teacher-tips-how-to-use-your-voice-as-an-effective-teaching-tool/] [Accessed: 3rd November 2017]

Choon Baboon, (2017) Choon Baboon. [Online] [Available: http://choonbaboon.com/] [Accessed: 3rd November 2017]

Sustainable Development- Natural Disasters

This week was our time to present our natural disaster presentations to the rest of the class. Previous to this, we were split into groups and each group were given a natural disaster to research and then present to the class.

Our group was given earthquakes. We wanted to make our presentation classroom friendly and one that supplied enough information and facts for our peers but could be used as a lesson plan. From taking part in a task like this I feel like I have developed numerous skills such as: communication, team working, time management, organisation, research as well as listening and computer skills.

Some parts of this task I did find challenging as I feel like time played a major problem for the group. This was because it was a struggle trying to find a time where every member in the group was free to rehearse, especially as we were only given a week to carry out the task. However, we did manage to pull it all together and deliver a good, well researched presentation to the rest of the class. I particularly liked that from watching everyone’s presentations we were able to get different information on the natural disasters as well as different ideas on how we can present and teach these disasters to children.

Additionally, from the previous weeks workshop on natural disasters, I gained some knowledge on the type of activities we could carry out in the classroom e.g. fossil making, tornado in a jar and a baking soda and vinegar volcano. I found this lesson fun and interesting as it gave me some ideas in implementing natural disasters in the classroom.

The skills and information that I have been able to gain from this lesson and topic can and will be a crucial role into my development as a teacher.

Below I have attached a copy of the presentation we created.

Earthquakes-update

Integrated Arts- Dance and Drama

“Song, music and dance can help children become more imaginative, self-aware and collaborative global citizens” (British Council, 2017). This statement for me, sums up the importance of the creative arts and this week I got to develop my knowledge and skills in dance. I used to do dancing when I was younger and thoroughly enjoyed it and found it was an exciting and fun way of keeping fit. However, I haven’t done it in a long time and so I was very anxious and apprehensive of this class. We began the class by taking part in a warm up and playing a few games. Some of these games were a lot of fun and would be great resource to use in the classroom. One of my favorites was called Splat. Splat is a game that involves following instructions therefore if the teacher shouts splat the children would lie on the floor or if they shout up they have to lift someone up. This was a very enjoyable and interactive game and one that i would definitely used throughout my placement experience.

We then looked at the 10 movements that as educators we should all know to make a fun and creative dance lesson: balance, hop, jump, kick, roll, slide, gesture, twist, turn and reach. These were discussed in the first dance input however i was off that day but i quickly caught up and was surprised to learn that as long as we know these movements we could create a dance lesson. Knowing this information put my mind at ease as it showed me that as an inspiring teacher, I don’t need to be the best dancer to teach and involve the pupils in a fun dance lesson.

Following on from the games, we then had to get into groups and create our own dance using the 10 movements. Once we had created that piece of dance we had to perform it to the rest of the class. I was very nervous and anxious to begin with, but after doing it I realized it wasn’t as bad as i thought it would be. We then as a class, came up with a move for each number from 0-9. Once we had done this, we went back to our groups and using one persons phone number and the moves we just came up with we created another piece of dance. I found this very interesting as it showed me that you can create a piece of dance as easy and simple as that and it would be a great tool for children. We then added the two pieces of dance that we created together. Then, as a class we were all given a piece of paper which displayed a Halloween move and we had to interpret a dance move from the image we were given. Once, each group had their move ready we showed every other group and put it all together as the beginning of our group dance.

This was the Halloween Dance Move my group were given.

I thoroughly enjoyed this workshop and I am looking forward to the next dance input. It opened my eyes to how simple strategies and games can help create a dance lesson. It showed me that even as young adults we are all individuals and even though a simple movement like ‘jump’ can be interpreted in so many different ways from each individual and therefore it is the same with children. Children are so creative and therefore will be able to use simple movements in a range of creative and fun ways to form a dance piece.

The rest of the afternoon focused on drama. We focused on a book called ‘The Tunnel’ by Anthony Browne. I found this lecture, in particular, very informative and interesting. We learned about various drama concepts such as voice in the head, mime, role on the wall, vox pop and thought tracking. The one i found to be the most fun and creative was voice in the head. I loved the idea of stepping out the story and explaining and demonstrating the thoughts and feelings on their side of the story. I think this would be a great lesson to teach with children as it gives them a chance to be creative and dive deeper into a character, instead of just looking at what appears to be on the outside they get to take their own interpretation of how that character may feel in the inside. Being given the chance in the workshop to look deeper into these concepts and put them into practice was very enjoyable and interesting. I felt out my comfort zone at first because I do tend to get quite shy when it comes to acting and drama, however by doing it in a group made it a lot easier and more fun.

A mind map I created of some of the drama concepts we learned.

Through participating in drama and dance lessons it has highlighted to me just how important teaching the expressive arts to children is. Expressive arts gives children the chance to “find out about and express their feelings and emotions and those of others” (ParentZone, 2016). In my opinion, it also allows children to be creative, expressive, develop their communication and social skills and encourages team building.

References:

Education Scotland, (2016). Parent Zone Scotland. [Available: https://education.gov.scot/parentzone/learning-in-scotland/curriculum-areas/Expressive%20arts] [Accessed: 29th October 2017].

British Council, (2015). Why song and dance are essential for a child’s development. [Available: https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/why-song-and-dance-are-essential-childrens-development] [Accessed: 30th October 2017]