TPCK Chapter 8 Reflections

Margaret Nerney
EDU 583- Cohort 1
Chapter 8- Placing the magic in the classroom; TPCK in art education
Due: April 1, 2009

Even though I am an English teacher, this chapter was by far the most engaging and applicable to my classroom. I am swimming with creative ideas and engaging resources to explore. Right from the start, Nancy DePlatchett identified those necessary skills our 21st learners need and found ways that we could achieve them. She seems to understand that much of the arts are now being swept into the core content areas to be integrated by unprepared teachers rather than being taught in the art or music classrooms as was previously the case. I find it hard to accept that our nation is going to brush aside the potential genius and creative expansion of the mind through the arts for rote memorization and standardized tests, but that day is here. What Platchett effectively achieves, is a bridge between the arts and the core content areas. Just because the program is cut, doesn’t mean that the skills have to be lost.
While reading through the many pages of suggestions and resources, I was struck by the options before me because of the one-to-one laptop initiative. My kids have the world at their fingertips with the click of a mouse. When the anecdotes about “What did you learn this year” were shared, my mind began working out all of the things that I would so desperately like to incorporate in the future. This Masters course has provided me with so many new skills and free resources to enrich my classroom. It can allow me to connect to the other people in my district in ways that I did not realize were possible. This year I would like to see my class working on a Fablehaven blog with the students of Strong, so that they are better able to work on a larger blog around the district read book House of the Scorpions next year. It is not enough to share our thoughts in a group of 12- 20 students. I want them to challenge and be challenged by the minds of others.
The arts allow for a sense of expression that the English Language Arts are not able to do on their own. Kids need the experience of multicultural dances and music as well as the exposure to the many forms of artistic expression. I know that I do them to some degree, but I have always felt that they were “playing” and almost felt guilty about taking the time to explore them. This chapter really affirmed my stance on the integration of the arts in the core classrooms, but it also reminded me that I can’t always do it all alone. I am looking forward to approaching the physical education teacher about joining in our Wabanki perspective unit. I am sure that he would be willing to work with the rest of our staff to incorporate some traditional Wabanaki dances into his curriculum. It might even benefit out unit to approach the steel drum and music teachers about working in some traditional drumming in their content areas. With the help of some of the great resources found in this chapter, I think that we can all feel more prepared to incorporate new and culturally informative practices into our content areas.
From the suggestion of shadow puppet theatre (http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/shadowpuppets/) to the information about educational search engines (Thinkfinity), I know that I am more informed and more excited about technology integration. In my view, this chapter was by far the most informative and inspiring. There are things that I am going to try now and there are things to research and plan for later, but no matter when it happens, my teaching will improve.