Reflection- Chapter 8
Placing the magic in the classroom- TPACK in arts education
MSAD #9 just had a district wide meeting around the topic of RTI (response to intervention). The presenter that day spoke about meeting the demands for the twenty-first century and how children are being born into a world very different than the one we were born into. She mentioned the list of learning skills necessary for our children. The list in on page 167 of the TPACK book. I found it interesting that she was speaking about these and the reality it is for our children today.
Arts is easy for me to incorporate into my kindergarten classroom on a daily basis. At first, I was thinking of the arts as the crafty projects I do with my children, but it involves so much more...dancing, singing, music, and projects. It is my favorite part of the day, well, besides teaching them to READ of course!!! The arts cover many of Gardner’s multiple intelligences...kinesthetic, visual, spatial, musical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal skills. These are essential for gross motor, fine motor, and visual spatial development. They encourage self-discovery, self-esteem and creativity.
This chapter gave MANY examples of websites available to help with the arts in the classroom. I checked out the crayola.com, the kinderart.com, and the dsokids.com sites. They were great. Some of the Web 2.0 programs to help with the arts are iPhoto, iMovie, Garage Band, and iTunes.
This may sound kind of silly, but to my more computer savvy friends, what is an applet?
The internet can be used to help find information, but it also gives you the ability to take virtual field trips to see museums, paintings, and dances.
I dance and move with my children everyday. (You would think I would be smaller with all that exercise!) Mr. D (from the Land of the Letter People, my alphabet program) has a Mexican dance does with the children. I don’t always think to give them the background history of the dance or music being played. I also give a little girl piano lessons, and fail to give her the background of the composers of the pieces she plays. This is something I will try harder to do as an educator. I can use technology to help me find the information that I need and relay it to my students.
My children do mini skits or plays. They love performing! What a bunch of hams!! Anyway, I liked reading about the benefits of drama and how it creates self esteem, works on public speaking, and brings out talents in students that might otherwise stay hidden.
I liked the idea of using technology to have pen pals. My children are at a stage where they can write and read. It would be fun to have pen pals over the computer using technology. I will look into this for next year. There is too much on my plate to take on this endeavor right now.
It is important to remember that technology doesn’t replace the arts, but helps to enhance it.
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Stacey- It is amazing how much of the arts we use in our kindergarten classrooms...huh? I use the arts everyday and I am trying slowly to incorporate more technology into our routine.
ReplyDeleteI looked a little bit into the Kodak site. I love to take pictures and thought this was an interesting site. I glanced at the tour of Greece. What a great way to see places I have never seen before! I like looking at slideshows of pictures as well. My sister recently got married and I loved viewing the slideshow her photographer put together. Maybe as I become more skilled in technology, I will be able to more easily use these photography features.
The kinderart site is cute. I like the edible recipes. We made instruments for our kindergarten spring parade and I enjoyed viewing the movie clip about how to make a shaker. This would have been a good clip to show my class before they had to make their own instruments. I'll have it for next time though.
Thanks for your ideas!
Cindy-
It is true, we hardly ever think to utilize our local resources and museums. What a great thought to add the Portland Museum to your sites. I looked it up. Maybe this could be a place to visit when I am in southern Maine. I know Maine has other museums as well...Farnsworth and many more. I need to become better at using technology to investigate my local resources.
I had found the Edutopia site during another presentation I had done for this class and find it very informative. Is this bad, but I didn't know that there was an Edutopia magazine! Now I do! I will have to check it out sometime. It was neat that what you were discussing in class was what was featured in this month's magazine!
Thanks for helping classmates find resources. If I need anything, I might come and see you :)
Kindergarten is a world of it's own and I think integrating arts in the curriculum is a natural and appropriate fit for young children. I too, really like the Kodak site. In iPhoto you can select the pictures you want and click the play slideshow. It is easy and takes no "extra" work for. I can show you, if you want. A great idea I do at different times of the year with my kids..You can have the children bring in pictures from home and scan them into iPhoto and share with the class pictures of families on vacations, trips, etc. A nice connection throughout the year that the children get to share stories and important events.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the year I make a slideshow DVD for all the children and I take their work and pictures of them from the whole year and put it on a DVD for all families to have. That is a lot of work on my part, but after I make it, everyone can enjoy it! Come and see, ask me anything!
I happened to get the new Edutopia edition for this month yesterday. This month focuses on the multiple intelligences and ways for kids to show they're smart. Of course they included the Arts and technology as avenues for kids to shine. There is also an article on the Edutopia blog that is about student led conferences. If the print version is of interest there are always subscription cards tucked into the issue. I'd be happy to pass one your way.
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