The number one thing that I accomplished in my EDUC 490 practicum in regards to Fine Arts was through music! Which is hilarious to me because I have tried and tried again to learn various instruments with no success, and yet with a little manipulation on my part I managed to find a way. Throughout the process outlined below I was able to better connect with my students (and since they were grade 6/7, connecting is difficult), motivate them to stay on task longer, and even belt out lyrics together as a class to relieve some stress from being cooped up indoors on beautiful days.
The first step of my process was the Hand of Knowledge. This is where the students each trace their hands onto a blank piece of paper, and as a class, we decide on questions for everyone to answer and assign each question to a finger, and then one big question to the palm. The idea of the Hand of Knowledge is to get to know each other better, but I had ulterior motives because the question that I chose was: What is your favourite song or musical artist? I put this question in the thumb so that students would not suspect any importance behind the question. The other questions chosen by the students were: Your favourite thing to do (index), your favourite movie or TV show (middle), your favourite game to play (ring), your favourite subject in school (pinky), your favourite place (palm).
From there, I spend an entire prep block finding their songs, reading the lyrics (some of them were just… a bit inappropriate) and putting together a Spotify playlist. In addition to the songs they gave me, I spent time exploring the artists that they liked that I had never heard of before and found songs that I liked as well to fluff up the playlist a bit, given that art times were about an hour each and I wanted their songs to stay fresh.
The first time I put the playlist on for the students to listen to I was stressed because my laptop would not connect to the wifi at the school, I have a new phone so I was not sure in my hot spotting abilities, and I worried that at the end of it all they would not even care. BUT, as they started on their collages I managed to get the music going. The volume was lower at first and the students did not pay much attention because they were used to music being played in the classroom while they worked. Yet, as time went on and I circulated I started to see their eyes widen and whispers starting as they each, one by one, heard their favourite songs being played.
When I tell you that there is no better feeling in this world than singing Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody with 27 pre-teens, I mean it.
From that point on, the students and I each had at least one thing to talk about on a personal level and I cherished the moments that they would come to me with a new song suggestion to add to the playlist. It gave me quick snippets of time with them individually where they were able to request something of me, and I was able to oblige wholeheartedly and without hesitation.