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When teaching social studies, it is important to include aspects of mathematics, science, English, and other secondary subjects to create an interesting and fun approach to history that taps a cultural aspect. This is important to consider because culture contains all these aspects, so it is completely appropriate to teach that aspect of the culture. It is also important to consider this as a teacher, because you are building upon concepts being taught in other classes. One important concept is the concept of time and chronological thinking. According to Maxim (2009) who mentions an example about Mrs. Schenski, “Chronological thinking is considered fundamental to historical reasoning. Was she expecting her students to behave day after day as though they knew something even if they didn’t have a clue? Ms. Schenskie began to detect the potent connection between history and math. If her students were unable to apply chronological thinking to the use of calendars, it would hinder their ability to grasp the concept of past, present, and future—the heart of historical reasoning”. The approach Mrs. Schenskie began to use is what she called a talking calendar. I enjoyed this approach because it taught the students about another culture, and it incorporated math concepts. Another thing it sparked was discussion. It allowed the students to discuss different aspects of the culture.
I believe an effective approach to solving problems such as the chronological concept and other issues such as incorporating science. While this could be challenging to incorporate, it is important for teachers to address these issues to create a well-rounded curriculum. References Maxim, G. W. (2009). Dynamic social studies for constructivist classrooms: Inspiring tomorrow's social scientists(9th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. I believe I could be sufficiently prepared to teach the arts. Currently, my classroom is extremely arts-based in a variety of attributes of visual arts, theatrical arts, and music. Prior to my career in teaching, I worked in the media field and obtain my BA in Media & Film. In addition, I also have a minor in vocal music. What I would need to sufficiently prepare in order to teach would be focused lesson plans in those areas to pin point my goals and objectives. For the music end, I feel comfortable in teaching voice seeing my main experience is there, however, with my limited experience in another instrument I would need to properly prepare myself by studying the variety of appropriate wind instrument fingers, brass instrument fingers, and string instrument fingerings for the notes. Overall, I would be prepared to teach at a 4th grade introductory level. In art, while I am not very artistic, I can teach basic building skills, such as mixing paint, using materials. Drawing is not my forte.
I feel extremely comfortable in teaching the performing field of theater, broadcasting , and film. I am familiar with the current software in use and technological field terms. I would feel confident teaching any level from K-12. I might improve this area by brushing up on historical highlights for the class lessons. There are a variety of ways the vocabulary of visual and performing arts can be promoted inside the classroom. One way I promote vocabulary is through use of experience and discussion in the classroom. Listening to stories and understanding the images is also another way. Cornett (2011) quotes Eisner (2002) who mentions, “Hands-on arts experiences are important means of helping students understand how the arts are basic ways people solve problems—specifically, communication problems. Because the arts are so personal, they can uniquely help students grasp the concept that it is not what they “take” from a text, but what they “make” of it (Eisner, 2002). When you use the appropriate terms for a child, they begin to better understand the meaning of the words. For example, Musicians use the term rhythm to designate the a pattern in the beat. Well if I were going to try to do a sound pattern, I could alternate the word pattern, and use the words ‘rhythm’ and ‘beat’.
Cornett (2011)also quotes Lockwood (2005) explains, “Without a basic symbolic vocabulary art remains impenetrable. We need to teach how to look at the ‘thing.’ How an oak in a painting suggests strength and longevity, or olive as peace.” Students lacking arts literacy become frustrated, along with the teacher, when they try to “read” art, even in picture books. “ One example I find with my students is that we are continually focusing that pictures have meaning and can be interpreted. During storytime, I stop the story and ask questions about what they see in the picture. Developing this awareness is important to their literacy development. In addition, they could also be re-created by artists. When my students are in the art center, they are no longer students, they are artists, and they can use the materials (which we name for them) at their discretion. “Picture book art is a readily available “text” to teach students to decode visual symbols,, but success depends on learning art elements and how to investigate meanings in the composition. For example, picture book artists often orient figures to direct the eye to move to the next page. Short lessons on a few arts words and concepts free students to notice more and create meaning from what they see” (Cornett, 2011). References: Cornett, C. E. (2011). Creating meaning through literature and the arts: An integration of resources for classroom teachers (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall. |
Lindsey PietrocolaSince 2010, I've been incorporating technology (in some form or another) into a classroom as a teacher. Archives
April 2019
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