Elements & Artifacts
Element 3.A
Teachers demonstrate knowledge about the ways in which learning takes place, including the levels of intellectual, physical, social, and emotional development of their students.
Artifact 3.A.1
On the first day of classes, we presented a questionnaire to the students that was compiled of questions relating to their background in dance, why they are taking the class, and what they are feeling confident about versus what they are feeling anxious about. This artifact showcases two examples: one from my Dance 1 Regular class and one from my Dance 1 Arts Magnet Class. This questionnaire gave me a understanding of each student on a more personal level and what they needed from me and the class environment to feel prepared and supported throughout each unit, lecture, performance and overall development in class. This allowed the students to be provided with personalization in class and is something I find important to take into my future classrooms for the most successful learning environments.
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Element 3.B
Teachers use formal and informal methods to assess student learning, provide feedback, and use results to inform planning and instruction.
Artifact 3.B.1
Especially with dance, informal and formal assessments are happening all the time. As the teacher I am consistantly checking students understanding of content, execution of technique, their artistry, memorization skills, and musicality but this Creative Project: Performance Evaluating Rubric was a great way to have both the students and myself formally asses ones progress. After the student performed their group choreography pieces, they watched the videos we took and evaluated themselves using point scales from 0-10 in 5 categories. Then, I went into each rubric and re-watched their performances and graded them in what I believe matched their skills, growth, and aligned with the rubrics. Dancers are always hard on themselves and I wanted to make sure they also could recognize their grades from an exterior perspective as well. Taking their evaluation and my evaluation into consideration, I then computed their final grades and utilized the average of each section from the whole class to design what I wanted to focus on in the next unit which was strengthening technique and musicality. Formal assessment benefited the students to be able to see where they should focus their growth next and also is an effective way for me to assess them all on a similar scale and provide feedback that they can use to find personal growth.
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Element 3.C
Teachers integrate and utilize appropriate available technology to engage students in authentic learning experiences.
Artifact 3.C.1
In my Dance 1 Regular class, after seeing their interest in dance come more from the commercial dance lens, I created a mini project for them to showcase choreography they enjoy watching to the class. Using Tik Tok, Instagram Reels, and Youtube; I had them find choreography that intrigued them and answered questions about what style it is, who the choreographer is, and had them find two time stamps of points where formations or choreographic devices were strong and visually interesting. This was a great assignment for this group not only because it gave them an opportunity to show what kind of dance they really love but it was a great use of time with technology that they are used to but in an effective and strong learning environment.
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Element 3.D
Teachers establish and communicate high expectations and use processes to support the development of critical-thinking and problem-solving skills.
Artifact 3.D.1
At the beginning of the semester when setting our rules and guidelines for class, I shared with the classes a Dancer Etiquette & Agreement list that compiled rules for class. It didn't only focus on dressing out and being on time, but how to communicate with me, how to support the other students, and the expectations for class as a whole. This not only set a solid base line for how class should go but it also provided students with skills to use for problem-solving and being able to meet critical-thinking standards from the start.
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Element 3.E
Teachers provide students with opportunities to work in teams and develop leadership.
Artifact 3.E.1
During our choreography unit in the Dance 1 Arts Magnet Program class, I created an assignment where students could collaboratively create choreography and use teamwork and leadership skills to develop their art and community in the space. With this assignment, they went into groups of 5 and had to take the jazz combo we were working on and depending on the track they decided to focus on with their group dynamic and skill-level represented in the slide linked to this picture, they had to adapt the choreography and or add to it. This specifically focused on not making one person the leader but collaborating working as an entire group. When observing and checking-in on the groups, I made sure to see if all of the voices were being heard and that everyone was pitching in ideas and listening to one another before making final decisions. This was a very successful assignment as they all learned very quickly they will get more done and in a successful way with patience, listening, and confidence rather then over-stepping and trying to get the assignment done with only one voice.
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Element 3.F
Teachers model and promote effective communication.
Artifact 3.F.1
Every day, each class gets a Daily Dance Discourse that I make that sets up how class will look and what the plan is. It has a daily dance journal on one side that the students write out in their notebooks and on the other side states the plan for the day. This is a consistent model of effective communication as it is clear, directive, and is a routine understood both by the teacher and the students.