Reflection #5: Process Drama

What did you learn about Process Drama/what did you learn from the other presentations? I learned that you can truly have students relate to the stories and experiences in the illustrated books. They can have fun and truly remember the information, but mostly how they felt. A feeling truly stays longer with students and they can remember that experience for a long time. I learned a lot from the other presentations. I learned that having a campfire and retelling a story can be taught in so many different ways. There are so many ways to teach information by using process drama. The students can learn by doing and it's fun and interesting for them.

So what drama ideas will you implement in your teaching? I loved the group that did the decision alley activity. It has the whole class involved and they can be a part of the story. It makes it feel so real for them and the thoughts and the words that come out of their mouths can be completely different than another students. I also loved the role on the wall activity because it has students take views from different perspectives. The story may be told first person from the main character, but I like how this can be used to write the thoughts and feelings of the main character on the inside, but we can also write down the thoughts and feelings of another character's perspective by viewing the main character too. Many of them are great, but these were a couple of my favorite tools that I would like to use for my classroom.

Now what will I do to integrate creative drama into my teaching? I will try to integrate it by doing as many subjects as I can. I can't do them all obviously all the time, but there are so many options to do for social studies and learning about the different people in history. There are many ways to integrate it into language arts and reading to represent a person's feelings, thoughts, and emotions and expressing them through their reading. In science, you can take on different formations of erosion, weathering, and eruption and what different ways to represent how these processes occur. All in all, I want my students to remember how they felt and had fun in learning and doing well on their assessments. I think it will help them retain the information better and in a more fun and interesting way.

Reflection #4: Drama

What I have I learned about drama? I have learned more about drama and how it will especially help students in the classroom rather than just being an extra-curricular activity. For me, it really enhanced my mind and made it more open to infinite possibilities to do in the classroom. I felt more creative and I was encouraged to be creative. It helped me to realize that there really is no wrong or right answer. I felt safe and like I could be myself and I think that's how students want to feel too.

So what kind of activities will I use using drama in my classroom? I really loved the mirroring activity and game. It helped me to focus and feel like I was being challenged. I think the students would love that too. What I really loved was the activities we did involving "The Little Red Riding Hood" story. I think that will really help to teach social studies and make it so much fun. They can use their imaginations and be so creative. They will also retain the information so much more.

Now what does drama do for students? Drama is an amazing art that can open up so many opportunities for learning and teaching. It can virtually be used in most subject areas. I remember that I was taking drama lessons in a youth theater I joined and there was a girl there that was so shy and hardly talked to anyone, and now, she is the most talkative and friendly person! She really came out of her shell knowing that it's okay to be silly and express yourself in so many different ways. She was happier because she made friends and she felt confident in herself. That's what I want for my students is to feel confident and happy in their schooling and also in their personal lives too.

Reflection #3: Visual Arts

What have I learned about the principles of visual art and looking and understanding a piece of art? I have learned that there is more to art than just looking and thinking it's a nice painting. I have learned that there is more to the piece. Every person is so different and can interpret art in their own unique way. How I may I interpret a piece one way, another can interpret it in a much different way than I have. That is what I learned is that there really is no wrong way to view and interpret a painting and say it's right. Everyone has their own interpretation and what it means to them personally. Children's illustrators use the principles of art in so many different ways than another illustrator, but they all use the principles of art. Children love pictures and books and they can easily identify the principles of art in a book, I think. We can teach them about the illustrators and why that illustrator paints those different ways. They want to create an emotion and feeling for children as the audience.

So what can I do to effectively teach students about art and its techniques and styles? I can introduce the elements and principles of art to them and focus on one a week. I can also introduce an artist or other artists that use that technique in their art. I will have students paint or draw that element or principle so that they can learn and also learn about other artists as well.

Now what--why will that be important to me and my students? I think art opens up creativity so much for children as well as adults. Because each student is so different and unique, their work will be unique too from any other person's in the classroom. If I have to feel like they're allowed to be creative and draw how they want to, they will want to do it more and more. Not only will they be creative in the arts, but I hope that they will be creative in their other subjects in school and in their own personal lives outside of the classroom. If they can express their opinion and their creativity, they will feel like they are confident and successful in whatever they may be asked to do.

Reflection #2: Visual Arts

What have I learned about visual art-both from the text and class? I have learned that there are many different elements that are associated with visual arts. I have learned that there is deeper meaning than just coloring a picture. There are shapes, lines, texture, value, and many other elements that can be expressed. I learned that there were a few things that I struggled with while learning about the different elements. Texture and value were probably the more difficult elements for me to learn doing. It just shows that I can learn more and there is more room for improvement. Overall, it helped me to teach my own students that there is more to the world of visual arts and creativity than just coloring, it is the elements that can help students enhance their creativity even further.

So what does that mean for me as a teacher? As a person? It means that there are more ways to open up our creativity by using these elements. It can allow me and my students to focus on texture and what that would mean. Books use words that describe a setting or feeling (soft, rigid, hard, prickly, etc.) They can picture that texture in their mind of what the author is talking about. Lines can also be used for math and what kind of lines (90 degree angles, perpendicular, parallel lines, etc.) Many things from the different elements can be integrated into the other subjects as well. It helps me as a person to see that the world is filled with visual arts and the elements make up those things.

How will this change the way I teach my future students through this newer perspective? Yes, this helped to realize that art goes beyond just coloring for fun and for the kids to be quiet. It really enhances their learning and creative thinking which will expand their knowledge and schema for the different subjects they are studying. All of these different elements are very much apart of the math, reading, writing, science, etc. It will allow them to be more creative and be successful in art as well as their other subjects too.