Week 3 Reflection

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 different rocks. I believe this activity can help children become creative and even think critically on how they can make rocks have different meanings. It could also allow for students to express themselves. I think incorporating rocks into a curriculum could be super beneficial as you can incorporate rocks into many subjects such as art, history, reading, math, and science. It also allows for students to have hands-on experience and engage in an activity that is a little outside of what some may consider the normal. After personally participating in this activity I definitely would like to be able to incorporate this into my future classroom as I believe it adds some fun as well as lots of different learning experiences.