Erika Ortega

LBS 400
4/20/15
Visual and Performing Arts Reflection
To teach Visual and Performing Arts, teachers have to be creative and need to feel that
this subject is important for students to learn. Art was a subject that had been removed from
curricula because of the belief that is was not essential to student learning but, that is not true. Art
is something that allows a person to grow intellectually. It has the power to expand the
perceptual, intellectual, cultural, and spiritual dimensions of human experience. To teach art,
teachers need to incorporate dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts in their curriculum.
Teachers need to realize art programs are to be studied as discrete disciplines that can be related
to each other. To teach art in a meaningful way, teachers must have an artistic perception,
creative expression, and teach historical and cultural context, and teach the value of aesthetics
and the connections and relationship of the art to other subject areas.
I believe to be prepared to teach this subject to students. I am ready to make their learning
fun and creative in many different ways. I love the arts, dance, music, theatre, performing arts,
because it is a beautiful way to express what you are feeling. This subject does not require
specific standards to be taught, like teaching multiplication, and because of this teachers can
explore different ideas and activities that can be used to enhance student learning and
appreciation for the arts. I may have trouble with is getting carried away with teaching this area.
Teaching a broad view of cultures may also be something I would be less prepared in because I
do not have a broad view of culture. I have only known one culture all my life and have not had
the opportunity to learn about other cultures. I will have to learn other cultures, especially the

cultures of my students.
The classes that have prepared me for this subject area are Art 301 and Dance. Taking art,
I learned the different styles of art and the different techniques used by artists. The skills, I
learned in this class, will help me teach the visual arts content standard. The being in the
classroom, has also prepared me. I have seen different activities done with the kids that deal with
art. Not only have the kids done art activities, but they have also incorporated dance and music to
their class. I have seen the children sing and dance to an ABC song because they were learning
the ABC's. The other class that has prepared me is dance. When I was at a community college I
took a couple of dance classes, and I loved it. I danced to different styles of music, and how the
different rhythms can be expressed with different movements. For this area, I will put the
different art drawings I did in art class. These work samples will demonstrate what I will be able
to do with my students. One thing I will remember when looking at my drawings, is that, I will
not tell my students what to do, like my art professor did but, I will tell them what I want, and let
them decide what they will do to do it. I will not narrow their options to what I like, but I will let
the door open for them to create what they like.