Miss W is a Drama Queen

Laban's Theory of Movement. This had to be the one theory that we talked about more than anything in our dance class. The Theory of Movement is something that is the guiding force in dance and physical education in schools today... or at least it should be. According to some notes that my wonderful dance teacher gave us, this theory shares with us concepts of how we move. It is what was used to develop the arts curriculum, which is mostly about creating. Laban talked about using the whole body, space, relationships to others and effort. These were eventually turned into the elements of dance that we use in the curriculum documents: body, space, energy, relationship, and time. Different action words are used to avoid mechanical movements. This encourages students to focus on creating and to feel the movements. Like I said, this was the guiding theory that we really focused on. Every day we had those action word cards out. We were so focused on creating and really feeling the...

If you have wonderful memories of the book Stephanie's Ponytail by Robert Munsch, then stop reading right now. I am about to ruin those happy memories and take a sad adult spin on the book. We ended up doing a drama presentation where we took a literary source of inspiration and determine what drama strategies we could use to help incorporate it in the classroom while integrating different areas of curriculum. The book that we chose was Stephanie's Ponytail. We also wanted to do something a little different than all the other groups presenting, so we decided to incorporate the health and physical education curriculum into our presentation. We wanted to look at bullying and the effects that spreading a rumour can have. We started off by using the machine to demonstrate how something can start off one way, but finish off looking completely different. I felt that this was a great way to demonstrate this concept. I didn't know how this specific strategy would work out bec...

This course has taught me a lot about incorporating dance into different curriculum areas. One lesson we got was incorporating dance into social studies, and let me tell you... it was pretty cool! At first, I didn't know what was happening. We got into groups and were given a bag of shapes. We were told to create a pattern with the shapes. This was our only instruction. Of course, our linear brains made a pattern in a straight line, but that's not terrible. All of a sudden, we were told that we had just choreographed a dance. WHAT? We were then given a legend of the types of movements that the shapes represented. We were then to follow our pattern and create a movement sequence using these terms. Legends and keys. That's what this was all about. Starting in grade one students are required to learn about mapping and using symbols in maps. Specific curriculum expectations that reflect this are:  B3.4 demonstrate an understanding of the basic elements of a map (e.g....

Pretty clever title for the blog huh? It totally describes me...Well, not really. But at the same time... yes. I don't know. I am really confusing when it comes to drama and dance and putting myself out there. I am probably one of the most reserved people you will meet. I am so quiet, I hardly ever talk. That is until you get to know me. Then I am a total chatterbox with absolutely no shame. While I remain in my shell around those who don't know me, if you were to put me on a stage, I am more than happy to put a show on for everyone. If I am performing, it's like I am a different person. While most of my performing has been done in music, I do have a secret love for drama and dance. Sometimes I wonder why I never pursued my dreams of being on broadway. But then I remember I have bills to pay. Teaching is pretty great though. It's like being the centre of attention in a very low key way. Anyway... While I love the arts, and think that they are important in education,...