CONCLUSION

Today is the last session of art class. The lessons were very active and inspirational. We had lots of opportunities to learn new techniques and methods of involving art into the lessons with children.

 But most of all I got to know a new approach to art. I have never been good at it at school and because of that I was afraid to involve art during the lessons. I know that I do not have enough knowledge and skills to do it correctly. However, after these classess I am not afraid anymore. Now I know that ART is a very broad term and it can be introduced at school in different, sometimes unconvencional, ways.

Thank you very much for all the activities and advice during the lessons.

We will for sure use them during our teaching career.

HAPPINESS IN POLAND

When I was thinking what makes Poles happy, the first thing that comes to my mind was SPORT.

We are very proud of our best sportsmen: Adam Małysz, Agnieszka Radwańska, Robert Lewandowski, Robert Kubica and of course our best volleyball players. 

Agnieszka Radwańska

Robert Lewandowski

Always crowds cheer them 

during matches !!!

Volleyball players

Adam Małysz

Robert Kubica

 

On that occassions fans make lots of different tools to support their actions. In my opinion these things are real pieces of arts. They are mostly very simple but they have been done from the bottom of our hearts!!!

GET UP

EAGLE

FLAGS

HATS

TRUMPETS

WIGS

 

Poles love sport very much. In 2012 there was  UEFA European Football Championship in Poland and Ukraine. In our country it was like a month of holiday. Everybody was involved, even those who generally are not interested in sport.

 

In my opinion sport is one of the most common things that makes us happy.  I think that cheering is also a piece of art. A real fan should have appropriate clothes, painted face, some tools (flags, trumpets), knows songs and most of all truly believe in our representatives!!!

 

 

Last session - Toon and Charlotte

During our last session there were two guests: Toon Delanote & Charlotte Peys who are Belgian artists.

They talked about using different techniques and methods to create pieces of art with children.
The lesson was very interesting and inspirational. All the time I was wondering how can I use presented techniques in the reality of Polish schools.

The artists showed us several different ways of presenting art:

1) DRAWINGS

Our task was to draw a collection of things.
Collecting is very popular among young students, so for them it won't be difficult to share their treasures with others. If a child does not collect anything, he/she can think of a collection of their dreams or draw a colection of their mum/dad/grandmother/friend etc.

My mum's buttons collection

2) GRAPHIC NOVEL

That's a very simple and interesting technique. First you colour the whole page with crayons (one colour or more). Then you put some dark paint (for example black). Next step is to scrape a picture by a toothpick.

3) PORTRAIT 

The third technique that we used was drawing a portrait of your  neighbour. We sat down opposite each other and using paints we tried to draw ourselves. It was actually very funny exercise - each of us tried to paint the other person as good as it was possible but thick paintbrush were barriers difficult to defeat. However, such experience was also very inspirational and creative.

 

4)  Thougts

Next technique is closely connected with the previous task. Our task was to draw what were we thinking of in that moment. For me it was a diffilult thing to do, because I thought about many matters and most of them was difficult to draw. However, I think that for kids it is a great activity. They exercise their imagination. It can also help them to organize their thoughts and maybe help in making a decision. Such activities have also therapeutic purposes: it helps to overcome fears, straighten up dreams and wishes.

5) MAPS

This technique - maps - for me was the most strange and the least needed and creative. I could not find the aim of that activity. However, I am aware that art does not have to be useful and understandable all the time.

6) PRINTING INK 

The last technique that we used was for me the most interesting one - printing ink. We first prepared the picture, cut the parts that later will be black and then put the ink. The results were fantastic! We have printed our own stories. I think this task will be extremely interesting for the children. They can experience on their own that the process of printing is not so easy but definitely worth spending time on it !

Template with the story

Printed story

The session was very interesting and inspirational. Presented techniques can be also used during foreign language lessons as a warming up activity or a part of a longer project.

 

Visit to the museum Dr. Guislain in Gent

Our the last but one session was a little bit unusual because we went on a trip to the museum Dr. Guislan in Gent.

We have seen two popular exhibitions:

1)      ‘Nerveuze vrouwen’

2)      ‘History of Psychiatry’

The main purpose of that trip was to consider what and how we as a future teachers can visit any museum with children. During that meeting it occurs that it is possible to go with kids to almost every museum. 
What’s really important, is how we will organize such event.

The children do not have to see the whole exhibitions. We can choose for them only some the most important or necessary parts. We can even focus on one piece of art.

As a future English teacher, for me the most interesting is how to use such trip in TEACHING ENGLISH. 

It is also possible, even when the museum is not ‘English’. During our trip we have done two activities which can also be used in language lessons:

1)      One pupil is standing in front of the picture and tries to describe to the other children who does not see it. They try to draw that image.

2)      All the children see a painting. In groups or pairs they try to create a story (what happened before or after the scene in the paintings). They can also draw it or tell it.

Here are some more ideas of language activities in the museums:

1)      The children get the written descriptions of pieces of art. Their task is to find that object in the museum.

2) Each child chooses one piece of art. He/she gathers the information about it (it can be in native language). Later their task is to present gather materials – being a guide.

3) The children task is to create a map of the most interesting things for them. Then they take a whole class to the tour in the museum (each group prepares a map of one room). They present the pieces of art in English.

The museum is a great opportunity for children not only to explore what is inside, but also to practice foreign language. Language teachers should use all the opportunities  they have. Such lessons may be also more interesting and practical than activities in the classroom.

DRAMA ACTIVITIES

During one of art classes we did some various drama activities (most of them outside the classroom).

1) What is drama?
Drama is a tool that can be used in many different ways to express feelings, opinions, show behaviours and essential human activities. It is present in everyday life. Drama can be easily used for educational purposes, especially with young kids or in language teaching.

2) Drama in foreign language teaching
I study to be English teacher, so for me using drama is very interesting in the field of language teaching.
In that area, drama is widely and very often used to teach foreign language not only children but also teenagers and adults. Drama activities require to use different skills and knowledge from various fields.
That is a good opportunity to organize warm up activity or revision. It is an excellent way to work on vocabulary, grammar; improve speaking and listening skills.
What's more learners have a lot of fun during preparation time and also during the performance.

3) Difficulties
Drama is a very useful and interesting educational tool, however, there are also some difficulties that the teacher can meet with.
First of all, not all the learners like such activities. Some of them may be too shy to participate in that active exercises. There are also some people (especially teenagers) who think that it is too infantile.
What the teacher should do, when he/she meets with such reactions of the students?
In my opinion, the teacher should first get to know the pupils in the classroom and consider if drama activities will be appropriate for such environment. Secondly, drama activities should be introduced step by step (starting from short, little-active exercises ending with longer performances). Thirdly, the learners can't be forced to participate in drama activities. Let them observe, enjoy it first as the public and then maybe it will convince them to take active part in it.

4) Conclusion
To sum up, I think that drama activity is a great opportunity for the learners to improve language skills, gain new knowledge, revise some information, and also to improve social skills: cooperation in the group, expressing feelings and emotions, stretching the imagination.

Above all, drama is a great fun !!!

BOTH DISTANT AND NEAR

During last classess we learnt how to use different kinds of technological tools for educational purposes.

One of them was the programme called AUDACITY. In my opinion, that is a very good tool for both teachers and learners in almost every age. There are many ways of using it:

1) Recording stories (with different sounds).
2) Learning foreign languages (recording your speech and listen to it to correct mistakes in pronounciation).
3) Promoting reading ( for example: children who don't like reading or who are not so good at it may be motivated to learn this skill if they know that it can be recorded).
4) Recording stories/ essays for younger children or blind kids.

During the class we tried to come up with our own story based on two paintings of our favourite painters from Poland. We recorded the story and also we added some sounds. It was a really great fun for us, and I am sure that children will also have a great time during creating such work.

Second program that we were talking about, was SCREENCAST.
Who uses this programme? Most of all teachers and students.
It has a very similar advantages as audacity, however it is also possible to make the image.
I think that screencast is a great tool for distance education.The teacher can easily prepare the whole lesson, show different materials, point at the most important parts, explain everything. That's a significant opportunity for those learners who can't participate in traditional lessons.

Maybe the future school will look excactly like that:
Every student and teacher sit in their own home and participate in the lessons using only the computer.

However, the world without traditional schools is impossible to imagine at the moment, distance learning may occur in the near future. 

FUNFAIR - happiness and art ?

In front of my house in Gent, there is a huge funfair for adults, teenagers and children. Since two weeks lots of people come there and try different attractions.  The reactions are various - some of them laugh very loudly, some scream, and some say nothing.
What connects them is the reason why they come to such place - RECREATION.

Therefore, I have been thinking about the place of 'funfair' in the social life.

Is it an ART or just a place which give participants and also observants HAPPINESS?

Or maybe both?

On the one hand, it for sure gives a lot of pleasure and amusement.The word fair comes from the Latin word feria, meaning a holiday. People come there to have fun, to feel a little or a lot of adrenaline, to spend time with family and friends, to eat some delicious snacks - isn't that a definition of happiness?

On the other hand, 'funfair' is a travelling show which is prepared for a long time by lots of people.
And 'art' is a broad range of human activities and also their products. Most of them are visual arts, and architecture is one of them. I think that 'funfair' may be included into this category.

One of the functions of an art is entertainment - funfair brings positive emotions.

That's why I think that 'funfiar' is a piece of art which brings pleasure.