My Week.

Week beginning 20/01/2014

Monday (20/01/14)

Chestnut Street Primary School

Going into my second session I was feeling very excited and motivated to see all the children again after witnessing such great potential from the previous session. The children greeted me with glowing smiles and attitudes that expressed a readiness to work. We began as we always do with the ‘name game’ allowing the children to focus on how they move across the circle, the importance of clear direction and clarity whilst obviously giving me a brief chance to learn names.  Prior to stretching we developed a warm up game in the first session which focuses on Greek (the sessions being themed around Ancient Greece) Gods/Goddesses/Heroes and Villains. The children again responded very well, giving all their effort and energy in what was being asked of them. I then facilitated a stretch sequence working all areas of the body, particularly the neck, shoulders, spine and legs.  The creative task set for this session was looking into the concept of ‘flocking’ and ensemble work. Using ‘The 300 Spartans’ as a useful resource I showed the children several pictures of ‘The 300 Spartans’ and asked them to comment on what they noticed.  Great words started to emerge such as “formation”, “closeness”, “together” and “as a group” it was delightful to hear such clever and accurate responses.  After a few minutes we worked with the concept of being a unit but having the potential for one leader influencing the group. We then went on to creating a small movement sequence.  The sequence itself displayed a variation of gestural and specific movement actions and was received highly by the pupil learning it. Without my aid, they performed with enthusiasm and energy I might add.

Tuesday (21/01/14)

Swinderby All Saints Primary School

This was my third session with the pupils at Swinderby and the children were very energetic to begin working. Pleads of “can we do this…” and “can we go over that…” rung around the hall. I was delighted to be greeted by such determination. The session started (as always) with our usual ‘name game’ similar to that which is done at Metheringham, however this game involves saying our name loudly and clearly whilst also performing an individual action. It’s very surprising to witness year 5/6 children performing such extravagant actions such as the splits or crab, none the less the actions are a reflection of their personality and so it’s a good chance for them to show off a little bit. The previous two sessions were mainly focused around building a relationship between me and the children, getting them working with imagination and creativity, rather than me just giving directions /instructions all the time. Groups of up to five created short freeze frames centered on the theme of ‘getting ready for school’. As well as this, we also created a short movement sequence based on the action of putting on a tie. Within this session we successfully managed to create a strong start point integrating all the children which then naturally allowed us to lead into our ‘putting on a tie’ and into our group freeze frames.  Overall a fantastic session.

Wednesday (22/01/14)

Metheringham Primary School

I have to say that even though it is an early start, I do enjoy the prospect of going to teach at Metheringham. The school itself does not have many male representatives and so I really do feel it’s important for them to see and interact with a male facilitator, particularly one who leads sessions with the focus of dance. I have two sessions one with year 1s and another with year 2s. Although the children are very young and perhaps do not have a great deal of dance experience both classes are always ecstatic to see me and to start working. Each week I try to deliver something different just so the children stay interested and don’t become bored by repeating the same thing each week. Our theme is ‘Up  Up  and Away’ we have developed movement related to a Spitfire along with the growth of a caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly but this week was looking into creating movement based upon the flight of a kite and projection of a firework. The children worked with patience and precision which ultimately produced stunning movement. We always end the session with a well-deserved high five for appraisal and effort.  

Thursday (23/01/14)

Rauceby Primary School

This was only my second session and I was feeling very excited about working with the children. Sessions with Rauceby are themed around ‘high energy dance’ and the previous session was centred on seeing how mobile, fit and healthy the children actually were. We held relay races which started to introduce various movement actions – rolls, running, turns and balances to warm up the body. Although the children were more focused on finishing as quickly as they could it was still a joy to see them attempting each move as best as they could. This session however allowed us to go over our small routine which we started to do as a group the week before. The routine was dynamic, sharp and got the children working quite hard. I encouraged them all to push through and just enjoy what they were doing and they did! It was only the second session and I could really start to see the children’s perception of dance starting to change. Finally, due to their wonderful dedication shown throughout the session I decided it would be a fun way to end by getting the children to explore the notion of ‘monkeying’. Giving clear instructions and demonstrating the correct way to travel through the space it was time to see how the children would get on. To my delight they seemed to respond really well. They were really enjoying this new found way of moving and they adopted the technique better than I had hoped. They've even requested to do it again next week!

All in all a great week of teaching. I’m thoroughly enjoying my time with artsNK and it is such a pleasure to witness children and young adults engaging with dance. I have every confidence that my sessions of present and those coming my way will continue to surprise, excite and inform me further. Be sure to check out what the other team members are getting up to with daily updates on the blog and our other social networking sites. Have a great week everyone!

James.