I love that we can integrate art into every subject to make it more engaging and expressive, or even just bring a smile to a class! Last semester when I was doing my practicum I was teaching a unit in light and I have to say - I didn't find it terribly interesting. I know, gasp! School work not interesting? It's not that it wasn't valid information, it just all seemed like common sense. One of the things that I'm challenging my self to think about is that common sense only becomes common sense with some background information....so all this "common sense" teaching is important. Does that make sense? Anyways, I wanted my students to be excited so we did fun hands on stuff and I wanted them to feel encouraged to play with light. Like most classes, we had a projector in ours...and as soon as that thing was on, there was some kid who just had to get up and get something and "accidentally" create a shadow of themselves, a peace sign, a bunny...you know, that common things :) I used this video to introduce light and at the end of the lesson, if they were done their work they were able to come and have at the projector to try to recreate some of the things that they say. Most of them had no idea who Louis Armstrong is so the first part was a little lost on them but I guess that is to be expected. The kids loved it and as it was the first lesson that I taught them...they liked me a little more too! WIN!
I almost applauded at the end of that video. I personally love science, but you are 100% correct, students need background information and hands on stuff to really connect to it. My favourite part of my undergraduate in biology was always labs and field work. It connected the beauty of real nature to the lectures about plants, animals, and fungi that we were studying. I think sometimes we forget that science and art were not considered separate entities centuries ago. How could a scientist explain the beautiful organisms that were discovered without drawing them, or using language to expressively relate their qualities to others? I think science is fun, thanks for letting your students have fun with it too Jana-Rae!
ReplyDeleteUmmm yeah. That is one of the coolest videos I've ever seen!!!!!! I think that is an amazing way to introduce and engage students to a unit on light. Go Jana-Rae!
ReplyDelete