Arts and Arts Education

What?

Arts and Arts education is an important subject that needs to be taught in schools all around. During this I have really come to appreciate art and it being taught in schools. I am not much of an art person but taking this class has taught me that art isn't always what you think it means. Art and art education can range from drama, to dancing, to music, to visual arts. I have learned that you can teach any book and integrate it with an art method. I have really enjoyed opening my perspective and really seeing how important and influential it is in schools. I have gained a love for arts and have had fun while learning about the different forms. Art is not a simple subject. There are many forms, techniques, ways of teaching, and activities that are combined when you integrate art. Art can make a subject never get boring. It is a very interactive tool to keep the students attention and keep them involved.

During my field experience I really got to see how art is integrated into schools and how helpful and liked it is or can be. My teacher didn't really use any special type of art, but she did have her students draw the image or the diagram she wanted them to know in their books. These books were highlighted with key terms and pictures that will help them when they test. They not only had to draw the pictures in their books but they had to color it and make it look nice. When we were in the classroom, we used process drama with displaying the water cycle. This was a really useful way to help our students see the cycle work in person. They were able to get a visual connection to the subject matter and they were using their kinesthetic, which allows them to hopefully remember the actions they did or saw. The students really picked up on the arts and really made a connection to what something means or how it works. They also got excited when we integrated art into our lessons. They seemed to learn and remember best when they had this option of learning the material. They would also ask if they could add to it and make it more detailed. This was good because they were using their creativity and they were able to learn in their own ways.

Arts are so important in school settings. I am sad that people believe that it is not as important as it is and they believe they can take it out of schools. Art is the essence of creativity and is the way many young children's mind thinks. I think if teachers incorporated arts more into their lessons or if the school incorporated an art class then the students test scores would be higher. Just because art is not a subject believed to be used in the real world, does not mean that it is not important. However, I think art is used everyday. There are so many forms and styles and that is what this class has taught me.

So What?

So what I believe this means to me is a change in the way I teach and a change in the way I plan my lessons. I also think in order for me to integrate arts in my future classroom, I need to integrate arts into my life now as I continue my schooling to get my degree. When I have the opportunity to teach a lesson or present information to my class, I could easily integrate a key concept, term, or activity I learned while taking this class. I think something that would also help motivate the integration of arts in elementary schools is the idea to integrate art into our college classes more. I don't believe you just have to take art classes to experience art in school, it can come in any form or in any class. That goes for both my education now as I am in college as well as elementary classes and all education in general.

Something else that I believe will help me to become a better teacher as well as a better example is practicing what I believe by actually participating in art activities. There are several seminars I can take to help me with this. I can also become acquainted with the art museums in my area as well as plays, musicals, etc. I believe I need to grow a love in this area in order to passionately get my love and point across to my future students. Also, the more I show interest, the more and the easier it will be to teach in classes.

Now What?

Now, I know that this is a lot to do and a lot to say but I believe people can develop and find an interest in arts over time. It is not something that has to be done overnight but it is something that can come over time. I have a year and a half left and so if I do what I say I want to do then I should not have any struggles bringing and integrating arts into my future classroom.

I think that you (Dr. Escalante) has been a great role model and example for the way I want to be and the way I want to integrate art. You made it fun and exciting and I also learned a lot. I really enjoyed how you were not afraid as you acted out something or you started singing or you even began to read a story or do story telling. That is something that I need to work on as well. With doing all of this by researching and becoming familiar with art and the different forms as well as finding ways to integrate it into my lessons plans, I believe my students will have a strong foundation of art and may even learn the material better. It also gives me a new teaching style and it makes my career and my education more fun. Art is the key to engaging students into lessons and I learned this first hand in my fourth grade class during field.

Reflection #13

What?

My partner and I have had a lot of opportunities to teach during our field experience. This past week, we had the opportunity to teach math to our students. Teaching math showed me how much art is integrated.

So What?

We taught on reflection and lines of symmetry. I saw how much art we used and all the different projects we found for our students to do. They had to use a transparent mirror and draw one side of an object and then have their partner look through the mirror and draw the other half of it. We then had them color them and hung them out on their bulletin in the hall. We did a lot of activities like this and it really opened my eyes to see the impact art has on students and the enjoyment they get when playing and using it. I also think it helps all students but most importantly those that are visual learners. I was able to point out those learners and saw the amazing ending result of their learning as well as their projects.

Now What?

Seeing how frequent art is integrated into lessons without realizing it makes me happy and makes me feel accomplished. I still plan to plan lessons that integrate art into it and plan to do this often. I think it is important for my students to see what they have done and it is also a very valuable tool for me to use to check understanding of a subject. I was never one that was good with art but I have changed the way and the frequency I will use it in my classroom. I think art is just as important as the other subjects and I feel the students excitement when it is used.

Reflection # 12

3/31-4/6 SPRING BREAK!!!

Reflection # 11

What?

This was my second week of field. We taught the cloud and wind unit this week and incorporated a form of art into our cloud lesson. The students were to make clouds out of cotton balls. We had what type of clouds they needed to make and they used their creativity and made a page full of 5-6 clouds. As for my cooperating teacher, I didn't see any use of creative arts in her lessons.

So What?

So what does this mean, this means since we haven't seen a lot of arts used in our teachers lessons, we should try to incorporate more. Something I have discovered while teaching is that the arts takes more time so if you are short on time, don't use it. Another art we used was having our students draw the valley and mountain winds as well as the sea breeze in their books. I have noticed our students are very talented with the arts and they like to put a lot of work and time into their project. I also noted I think they are better artists then myself. :)

Now What?

For me this means we should use more art in the classroom. I noticed again that the students really enjoy doing art. I still believe this is a perfect way to assess the students understanding of a subject. Something in the future my partner and I have said we need to focus on is how long something is going to take. The clouds project took longer than we thought and the winds we were afraid we would have a lot o f time left over. However, after coloring the timing was perfect. This was a great check to help us with the amount of time we spend on projects. I like the various forms of art and realize even when you don't think you will use art into your lesson, somehow it always becomes incorporated.

Reflection #10

What?

This week I started my first field experience at Vista Elementary. I am working with a fourth grade class and I love it. So far during field, the only form of art I have seen is the books they are writing and getting published. They have to draw pictures to go with their stories. This is all I have seen from my cooperating teacher.

So What?

So what does this mean, this means a lot. My partner and I have already had the opportunity of teaching a few lessons. We are teaching the water cycle and so we have incorporated process drama into the lesson. We assigned the students in groups and they were to act out the water cycle. Each student was assigned a different part but they were to come up and use their creativity on how they were going to present the water cycle. One group did really well at combining everything whereas other groups left a process out. Each presentation however showed creativity and showed art.

Now What?

For me this means we should use more art in the classroom. I noticed during this weeks field that the students really enjoy it. It is also a great way to assess the students and really see if they understood what was being taught during the unit. For my future classroom I plan to incorporate it more into my lessons. I think it is fun and very student friendly. I also noticed while planning our lessons that using art is very simple and we got ideas to use it in more than one way. We also used a song that could help our students understand the cycle better. The students really liked the song and caught on quickly because the music and lyric were catchy and easy to remember. It used a lot of repetition and vocab that they were working with during the unit.

Reflection #9

What did you learn from the process you engaged in to create this music lesson?

I have learned a lot during the music presentation. I learned that finding a tune of the song to match the lyrics was one of the most difficult tasks to do. I learned that this was probably one of the funnest lessons we have done because we really got to show our creativity by coming up with lyrics to match the books subject we were trying to teach.

What did you learn from the actual presentation experience?

I learned that teaching music is a lot more difficult then it looks. I also learned that when writing your lyrics don't place so many syllables in a song. It makes it much more difficult to teach and say when presenting it. I also learned it is best if you know your lyrics word for word when you teach the lesson. That way you can focus on helping those you are trying to teach.

So What is important for you to remember and learn?

I would say one of the most important things I should remember and learn are the seven habits of highly effective singing. This is a master key to being successful in teaching music. Another thing I find important to learn is the difference between beat and rhythm. I find that I often get those confused and if I want my students to follow along by doing one of those it is best if I know the difference.

Now What are your next steps?

My next steps are to research more songs that go well and are catchy with writing lyrics to books. There are a lot of resources out there for me to use and I need to utilize them and make it easier for myself. I also want to become more familiar with music and the elements and keys so another step for me would be to learn them.

Reflection #8

What:

Music creates feelings and emotion. Music also kindles emotional responses and fires up cognition, often in the form of mental images. Music can make it seem like time goes faster. Music affects the development of children and the way their brain works. Music affects the entire brain, mechanisms for emotion, memory, and language. Music affects each person differently but we are all hardwired to it since the day we were born.

We should integrate music into elementary schools because it is natural and a big part of children's lives. It is also a way of communicating and helps the brain to be a powerful tool both physically and mentally. We should integrate music because it bonds people together which is important with the different ethnicity's and differences found in elementary schools.

So What:

My goals for using music with my future students is for them to develop a love for all types. I also want to teach them music in a way that will help their memory and will help them do better in school. Another goal is to make learning meaningful and fun and a great way to do that is to involve something the students enjoy and that is music. Last, a goal that I think is important is using music to teach other subjects. Music can be use anywhere and with pretty much anything and will still be affective.

There are many things that makes teaching music to children important and those include allowing the students to be creative, teaching them how to listen, finding the connection, learning how to perform, and being able to read and study.

Now What:

Yes, I plan to effectively organize and prepare lessons that involve music. Whether I integrate it by teaching it directly or by adding it into other lessons. I plan to research what music is beneficial for students and what helps and impacts them the most. I also plan to prepare by looking at the books that are made to help include music into classrooms and to use the activities they list. I also plan to look at my past experiences when I was in elementary and what my teachers did to integrate and use music ,and how I felt.