As I have had the chance to participate in the Arts Academy this year, I have come to understand just how important the Arts really are in our education system.  I had always known that they were important, but never realized just how important.  I have always enjoyed the arts, personally, but never have known how to really teach them in my classroom.  The Arts Academy boosted my self-confidence in teaching the arts in a very dramatic way (pardon the pun).

I remember at our first meeting in Park City, being very hesitant in wanting to participate.  But, I also remember being “converted” in the first session and realized that my teaching really needed to be put under construction.  I love George’s ideas about how “at-risk” learners can be reached when I realize that they may more appropriately be considered “dramatic” learners.  This idea has changed my entire perception about many of my students, past and present.  There has been many times where I have thought, “If only I had known then what I know now.” I recognize that I am still an Art Teacher in training, but the Arts Academy has given me wonderful ways to incorporate the arts into my classroom, without having to spend oodles of money and preparation time on lesson plans.

One of the most valuable things I have taken from the Arts Academy is that students can be artists, in all the many ways that artists are formed.  I have learned that it’s okay for me to spend school time in teaching the arts and that I don’t have to feel guilty when I teach Art for Art’s sake, rather than incorporating it into some other subject (although, I do see the value in that, as well). 

I have loved all the ideas that the Arts Academy presenters have given me.  I have used almost every single idea that George gave us about how to use drama in the classroom.  I had my second graders make their own costumes (out of butcher paper, rather than newspaper) and act out nursery rhymes.  I have taught math, using the cards, masking tape, and students’ bodies.  I have turned our Reader’s Theaters into mini-plays that the students will be performing for their parents next week.  I have also used his shadow puppet lesson plan, having the students create a story out of a piece of art, and performing the story with shadow puppets.  I have used the other presenters’ ideas as well.  Jerry gave me the confidence I needed to start a 2^nd grade choir and perform a Christmas program.  They didn’t sound wonderful, but they were good enough, and the students and parents loved it.   There’s no way I would have done that if it hadn’t been for the Arts Academy. I have also used Marilyn’s ideas of dancing and moving to books and music, that I never would have even thought about doing if it hadn’t been for the Arts Academy.  I have also had the chance to do some of the ideas I got about the visual arts with my second graders, such as learning about shadowing with charcoal and using famous pieces of art to inspire other, more original, second-grade artwork. 

I am so truly grateful for my experiences at the Arts Academy. I have loved getting to know so many wonderful people and it has provided fresh air to my suffocating teaching style.  I am a changed teacher (and person) because of it. 

I loved Marilyn’s idea of having the students “dance” a book. I chose a book that was about a Lion who is trying to put his baby to sleep and the other animals in the jungle were being too noisy. I put the kids into small groups and assigned each of them a page. I was amazed at how those second graders interpreted the movement of each of those animals. I was especially impressed with a small group of girls. The only word on their page was “QUIET!” and I was a little nervous about what might happen when it was their turn to perform for the other kids. I was amazed when they had each taken on the role of a different animal, and interpreted how each animal might respond to a large lion yelling at them. Their bodies shook and it was clear that they were trying to portray animals who were frightened. The kids loved the activity and have asked me several times if they can do something like that again.

I teach second grade, and yesterday I did the walking and mirroring activities with my second graders. Overall, I think it went well. I tried to reinforce the idea that they were not competing with one another, but working as a team. Still, I had a few kids who were being silly, and were trying to trick their partners. We stopped the activity, talked a little more about the purpose of it, then tried again. It was more successful after we had talked about the importance of teamwork and how slow movements are much easier to follow than fast movements. All of my students seemed to understand reflecting, as opposed to following, so that was encouraging. I incorporated a little math with the activity and talked about the line of symmetry we were making. The students had a great time, especially because I had taken them outside to do it. It was nice to have a different teaching environment, though the class was a little more difficult to manage. When I do this activity again, I will make sure to have a good conversation before the activity about the purpose of it, and how teamwork makes any activity better.