Jill's Blog

For me, this week was extremely stressful so it was nice to have a class that was more relaxed. I enjoyed on Tuesday being able to make food art. At first, it seemed a little silly to me that we were supposed to make some piece of artwork out of food, but after participating in it, I understand how this can be helpful in the classroom. Incorporating this into the curriculum can help students cognitively as it allows them to be creative and figure out how to make something out of a few items. It can help them emotionally as they can create something that has a meaning to them or simply something that helps them express themselves. Lastly, it can help them physically as it allows them to work with their hands in a hands-on activity. This activity could be incorporated into different subjects as you can make fruit become different shapes, represent different objects, or even make numbers or letters out of fruit. I made a house with my fruit and honestly to me it didn’t have much meaning. ...

I really enjoyed both classes this week. I enjoyed being able to experience a different environment as well as being able to get up and move. It was very cool that we were able to experience the importance of movement as well as understand how movements can be incorporated into learning. I liked how we started each class by doing a couple dances that we all knew to get our bodies moving. I believe this is not only a fun thing to do with students, but it can also serve as a brain break. Personally, going to class and being able to dance relaxes me and oftentimes clears my mind from all the stress that school endures. Brain breaks are a good thing for students as it allows time for students to relax and gives them a couple minutes to have fun and not have to think too much. Many of the songs we listened to in class could serve as brain breaks. I also enjoyed being able to experience a little bit of choreography this week. I have been a dancer pretty much my whole life and I want to be ab...

This week we learned about incorporating nature (rocks) into learning to tell stories as well as incorporating song into lessons. We also talked about the importance of incorporating music into the classroom and a couple examples of how it can be incorporated. We drew why we believe music is important in classrooms and how it can be helpful. This allowed us to think critically and express our thoughts on paper. It helped us to participate in an artistic activity that could be incorporated into our own classrooms. We were also able to walk around and see other people’s artwork and their interpretations of music and its importance. This allowed us to see other people’s thoughts and always opened our eyes to more ideas. I also really enjoyed watching the video of the man telling a story to children and incorporating a song into his story. This could definitely be incorporated into a curriculum to teach students about reading, grammar, science, history, or even math based on how you tell t...

In this week’s two classes we discussed social/emotional learning as well as rock painting and how incorporating rocks into class lesson plans can be beneficial. Social/emotional learning is extremely important and I was not very aware of what this even meant before this week. This learning makes individuals aware of themselves, others, and overall is an essential quality for everyday life. This learning allows for stronger relationships, emotional management, and overall helps us as individuals achieve our goals. Secondly, I was unaware of how impactful rock painting can be in a classroom. Honestly, I was first confused by this activity as I did not really see why painting rocks was going to help me learn anything. However, while participating in this activity I was able to think critically on how to paint my rocks based on some simple directions, and I also felt accomplished once I was done. It was very fun to have the preschoolers come in and be super excited over seeing the differe...