Dance & Math!

 

Week 2

    Our Dance class has been exciting thus far. I continue to look forward to the new concepts that my instructor may bring up. This week, we looked at incorporating dance and math, which in my opinion, was very interesting. At first, I would never imagine the two subjects being intertwined, but I am always learning new ways to become a cross-curricular educator. Being a cross-curricular educator is an important quality to have as it allows students to experience activities that call upon different strands within the curriculum. When incorporating dance within the curriculum, our instructor emphasized the importance of allowing the students to explore movement within the activity. As teachers, we tend to get caught up in the teaching and having control, where we forget about the students experiencing learning fist hand. We must allow them to explore their learning and make connections to absorb the new content.  

   

    Our instructor allowed us to experience the exploration of movement by providing us with four prompts in class. These prompts were, Creep, Look, Melt, and Expand. It was our choice of how we wanted to explore these words and the associated movements that were generated. Obviously, it was a little awkward at first, given that we were exploring the movements in front of the camera, but it allowed us to play with the different elements of dance. For example, the word melt allowed me to explore my body, space, and time to demonstrate the melting movements. In a way, it connected to math and providing students with a tactile experience of spatial awareness, a concept used in geometry. Each group presented their interpretation, and it was interesting to see how they were all different. As I have mentioned before, teacher education is about experiencing activities that students will have a chance to experience in the classroom, allowing us to become inclusive educators. 

    

    Following this activity, our instructor provided insight into how this strategy can be applied in the classroom. It was very evident that the students were engaged and took ownership of their learning. The instructor had built an inclusive learning environment that fostered the students' engagement. I found it very interesting to see this being applied in the classroom, and it allowed me to have an idea of what to expect when incorporating dance across the curriculum.