Elec 285

  This week was about creative drama based teaching.  I learned that there is a difference between theater and creative drama as well as different types of creative drama.  While theater is more focused on putting on the show, creative drama is more focused on the process and learning involved to create and improvise.  This can be used by the teacher or students.  I think using drama techniques as a teaching tool is a way to really get the students involved in their learning and maintain attention.  It also allows students to have more control over how they learn.  The article we read gave examples of students acting out different scenes and by doing that they are more likely to visualize and understand the lesson than when they hear or read about different time periods.  Giving students the opportunity to experience the creative drama can make the lesson something that they can remember because they experienced it and saw it in real life.  I...

  This week's class was all about working with different programs to create a story.  I struggled with creating a story on my own and didn't get very much done within the timeframe.  When I was finally able to get ChatGPT working on my computer I found it easier to get a story written.  As I added to the story it seemed as though it was difficult to get the story that ChatGPT was writing to keep all of the elements while still making sense.  I did not like using New Bing as much to create the story because the program kept messing up so after only one or two prompts the program would stop working for me.  Once I started to use the programs I was able to expand quickly on my original ideas and create a longer story quicker and the AI programs gave me more ideas to elaborate on.  The more I used DALL.E2, the easier it was for me to find pictures to use in my story, but to get some of the pictures I had to try several different prompts before I was able t...

Water Kraken and Japanese Bridge   This artwork was inspired by Claude Monet’s oil painting “Water Lilies and Japanese Bridge.” I chose “Water Lilies and Japanese Bridge” by Claude Monet as the starting piece for my artwork because of the colors.  After sketching what I could from his piece I added in the kraken in the water.  When I began painting I started with using many different shades of greens and yellows to create the trees and greenery and then created shades of blue to add in the water.  I used some light blue and pinks to add in some of the flowers to the water.  To make the plants similar to the original I worked to create less defined plants and focused on creating similar shades.  When I was done with those elements I added the some white to create the bridge.  When I was done with the landscape background I added in the kraken.  In order to make it stand out from the painting I used darker purples as a contrast because the rest of t...

In order to introduce students to new artists and art elements I could begin by introducing the artists works.  A small mini art walk gallery throughout the room with the specific art hung around the walls and in different locations could spark some interest and discussions about the works that they see to get them to begin thinking.  Then after either small group or whole group discussions we could elaborate on who the artist was and what makes the particular style unique.  With older children they can be given websites or books about the artist for them to find their own information that they find interesting.  As we talk more about the style and technique that was used and why we can discuss how we think the artist felt and how it makes us feel.  When we have done enough research they can be given a chance to practice their own interpretations with more or less direction depending on the style or grade.  I like how in the article they incorporated learni...

  I was not in class but I was able to make my food craft at home.  I used some twizzlers, pretzels, goldfish, and marshmallows to make an underwater scene.  All of these ingredients were things that I found in my cupboard and could have easily used a variety of foods.  I used a cookie and twizzler to make an octopus with the helpful input of my 9 year old.  These types of activities can help students with creatively thinking to plan out what they want to create with food as well as giving more opportunities to explore along with other lessons.  Children can work on their fine motor skills as well as giving them a chance to relax while creating with different materials than they are used to.  The activity could be incorporated into other lessons about animals with a focus on vocabulary that go along with the animal or even the habitat that they live in.  This activity could also be used to give examples of food groups or colors and shapes.  S...

This week was all about movement and dance being incorporated into lessons.  We learned about the fundamental movement skills: locomotive, non-locomotive and object control movement which categorize if a person is moving somewhere else vs staying stationary or moving around something such as a ball.  We also learned about perceptual motor skills: time, directions, and space which relate to how movements helps students be aware of how fast or slow they are moving or spacial awareness and where their body is when they move.  I forgot to grab a picture for the blog because we were busy doing movements and dances along with the songs most of the class.  We also created movements to go along with the song “My Favorite Things,” from The Sound of Music.  These activities helped me realize that movement in the classroom can be used more in any lesson and not just for the students to use up some energy or for a brain break but to actually develop some understanding and l...