This week’s inputs were the last for this module. During this week’s dance session, we brought together everything that we have learnt. This week the whole class dance that we created was being recorded.
Through our 5 weeks of dance I have learnt many valuable skills and knowledge that will help me to teach dance in the future. Through our dance sessions I have picked up many different warm up and stretching activities that can be done with my future classes. I have also learnt the ten basic dance skills which will allow me to teach children these skills so they can be creative when choreographing their own routines. This week’s session in particular help to show me ways in which we can appreciate and improve our dancing. We used the 3 stars and a wish method to evaluate and appreciate the dance that we created to allow us to see what we did well and ways in which we could improve. This is an important part of the dance curriculum as the benchmarks states that children “can respond to the work of artists and designers by discussing my thoughts and feelings. I can give and accept constructive comment on my own and others’ work. EXA 1-07a” (Scottish Government, 2017). This exercise I found very helpful as it allowed me to see my strengths and weakness in dance and gave me something to improve and work on for next time. This is a valuable lesson and is one that I think children would find helpful as it gives them a chance to appreciate and be proud of the dance that they have created while also giving them the opportunity to improve it for future performances. It is clear that Smith-Autard (2002) also believes that children should be able to appreciate, compose and perform dance. Using the stars and a wish method helps us to analyse different aspects of our dance that we otherwise may not have noticed. I can also see as a teacher how this can be adapted and used with different dances to help the children analyse different styles that they can use to help them improve and upgrade their own dances.
While in music we looked at another musical instruments that can be taught in school, the ukulele. Learning to play a musical instrument can help children play different music styles and songs which is a huge part of teaching music as the curriculum states children should be able to “sing and play music from a range of styles and cultures, showing skill and using performance directions, and/or musical notation. EXA 2-16a” (Scottish Government, 2017). I had never played a ukulele before today. However, after a shot one hour thirty-minute session I was able to play 5 different chords and play along to different music pieces such as Last Christmas.
To begin with, I found this really challenging as I was finding it hard to position my fingers and change chords in time with the music. However, towards the end of the session I was beginning to find it much easier. This highlighted the progress a child could make when learning the ukulele. I personally found this session to be very rewarding and can understand that this is the same way that children would feel. There are many resources available to help teachers to teach children how to play the ukulele. I think that children would love learning the ukulele because it easy to pick up with a little practice and the children would be able to see the improvements that they are making week by week which would help to increase their self-esteem and sense of identity (Hallam, 2010). Throughout all our music sessions we have been provided with many different music resources that can be used to help teachers to teach their classes music. Overall, from these inputs I feel that I have not only developed my confidence and skills within music but I have also develop confidence surrounding my ability to teach music. I feel that I now have a range of resource to help me if I ever feel unsure of what I am doing when teaching music in the future.
References
Hallam, S. (2010) The power of music: Its impact on the intellectual, social and personal development of children and young people. International journal of music education. [Online] Vol.28(3) pp.269-289 Available: file:///C:/Users/Molly/Downloads/International%20Journal%20of%20Music%20Education-2010-Hallam-269-89.pdf [Accessed: 20 November 2019].
Scottish Government (2017) Benchmarks Expressive Arts. [Online] Available: https://education.gov.scot/improvement/Documents/ExpressiveArtsBenchmar ksPDF.pdf [Accessed: 26 November 2019].
Smith-Autard, J. (2002) The Art of Dance in Education. 2nd ed. London: A & C Black Publishers Limited.
