I have enjoyed the reading in preparation for our upcoming session! One thing that I have implemented in my classroom is doing more writing about the arts. We have become experts at doing the brain dance and other fun activites, and now I am having my students write their reflections. I am also having them write about what they feel/think when they see different sculptures, paintings, etc. It is amazing the different level that it adds to our conversations in class! It really does a world of good to have the kids think and digest about what they’ve done or seen, before we all discuss it. It is also fun for them to go back and read what they thought and felt before! We have been doing a lot with dance the last few weeks. In the beginning when I told the kids they would be dancing, the response in their writing was very negative. Now that we have had some dance lessons, the kids are thriving and really having a ball! They felt rather silly when they went back and read their initial ideas about dancing- now they love it!

I had such a wonderful time at our first session of Arts Academy. I came back with a wealth of information and have had fun sharing it with my classroom of 3rd graders.

The first thing that I did with my students was the mirror activity. They loved it! They were suprised by how difficult it was to maintain eye contact with someone for that long. They were also suprised by how difficult it was to have on partner “take-over” from the other. We have tried doing the mirror activity with and without music. My kids loved doing it with music! We have tried it with classical music that has a slower tempo, classical music that has a fast tempo, and with a big-band/jazz song. So far they think it is easier to do it to music with a slow tempo, but more fun and silly when the music is faster.

I have also really been able to use the information on different personalities that we got from George. A couple of my colleagues took the test and they found it incredibly helpful! About 2 or 3 weeks after Arts Academy, I got a new student who is incredibly difficult. He has been very draining on myself and my other students. I have been using what I learned about different personalities to try and work with him better. I have not had the chance to do the color-test with him yet (he has been out of my room most of the time either in the principals office or being suspended) but am looking forward to finding out more about his personality and how I can work with him better.

I will admit that I am nervous about coming to Arts Academy again -as fun as it is, I don’t enjoy singing/dancing in a large group – it is extremely out of my comfort zone! But I am very excited for all the new things we are going to learn.