Similes and Metaphors


Today was Yom Kippur, reason why students who observe such holiday were absent. Although the class was smaller than usual, we reviewed the material covered in class up until now. The ideas discussed were:
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Installation Art (Readymades, Found Objects, Marcel Duchamp)
  • Creativity in Education
  • Collage 
  • Importance of the arts for the science of learning
  • Site Specific Performance
  • Pedestrian Dance
  • Integration
Questions
  1. What are the pros and cons of using artificial intelligence in the classroom?
  2. Why does installation art facilitate teaching methods?
  3. How can creativity lead to changes in the classroom?
  4. How are collages a viable way to enhance creativity?
  5. Why are the arts useful when teaching other subjects?
  6. How can site specific performance help teaching when there are limited resources?
  7. Why is pedestrian dance an easy way to create movement in the classroom?
  8. In which way can dance help the teaching of other academic subjects?
Exercise
  • Create a metaphor
  • Create a simile
  • Describe your perception through one of your senses
  • Describe some aspect of the classroom
  1. Express your sentences in movement
  2. Circle the most important words 
  3. Repeat the movement as you say the selected words
  4. Share your movement with a group
  5. Find a partner and establish a conversation using your movement and words.
  6. Write about your experience when doing this exercise

Vocabulary
Artificial Intelligence: Artificial intelligence (AI) makes it possible for machines to learn from experience, adjust to new inputs and perform human-like tasks. Most AI examples that you hear about today – from chess-playing computers to self-driving cars – rely heavily on deep learning and natural language processing. Using these technologies, computers can be trained to accomplish  specific tasks by processing large amounts of data and recognizing patterns in the data.

Readymades: a mass-produced article selected by an artist and displayed as a work of art.

 Found Objects: The term found object originates from the French objet trouvé, describing art created from undisguised, but often modified, objects or products that are not normally considered materials from which art is made, often because they already have a non-art function.

Marcel Duchamp (1887-19698): Subverting traditional or accepted modes of artistic production with irony and satire is a hallmark of Duchamp’s legendary career. His most striking, iconoclastic gesture, the readymade, is arguably the century’s most influential development on artists’ creative process. Duchamp, however, did not perceive his work with readymade objects as such. 

Collage: Collage is a technique of an art production, primarily used in the visual arts, where the artwork is made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole.

Site Specific Performance: It is performance created in relation to a physical site and staged at the site  itself (as opposed to a theatre space). It often involves research of the site prior to the performance.

Ana Mendieta: Her work focused on the dialogue between her own body and the landscape regarding presence, absence, and the inevitable cycles within nature and life.

Pedestrian Dance: A heightened sensitivity to the ordinariness of pedestrian movements – like walking, running, standing still, and sitting down. It could be seen as a rejection of normative virtuosity.

Linda Bair Dance Company: It is a close knit group of dancers committed to exploring movement, crafting dance that engages the intellect and the soul, and educating audiences about the art of dance. They are equally comfortable presenting dance for stage, and dance for unconventional spaces. Founded in 1998, the company is in residence at the Davis Arts Center where they train adult dancers in modern dance and ballet.

Arts Integration: the guidance of students through creative practices, that integrate the skills in an art form, such as creative dance, with a content area such as Math and Science.

References

Ana Mendieta. https://www.theartstory.org/artist-mendieta-ana.htm

Kaufmann, Karen and Jordan Dehline. Dance Integration: 36 Dance Lesson Plans for Science and Mathematics. Human Kinetics, 2014

Linda Bair Dance Company: https://www.lindabairdancecompany.com/about

Marcel Duchamp. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/duch/hd_duch.htm

Nakajima, Ninako and Gabrielle Brandstetter. The Agin Body in Dance: A Cross-Cultural Perspective. Taylor & Francis,  2017

SAS. https://www.sas.com/en_us/insights/analytics/what-is-artificial-intelligence.html

Examples of Students Work
AMANDA KUPERMAN
1. What are the pros and cons of using artificial intelligence in the classroom?

Pros: Artificial Intelligence can help children who have learning disabilities or handicaps. It can also help enhance teaching research and math classes that use big data. 

Cons: Artificial Intelligences makes us less human. Students would rely on artificial intelligence to accomplish mundane tasks they could complete on their own. Additionally, artificial intelligence teaches students to rely on computers instead of their brain. This makes children less likely to communicate with others in the class and get hands-on experience. 

2. Why does installation art facilitate teaching methods?

Instillation art forces students to use their imagination. One a student’s brain churns, their more likely to pay attention and enjoy the class. The activity can make students realize their creative abilities. Additionally, the activity can promote human interaction in the classroom. For instance, students can work in groups and build off one another’s imagination. The activity itself provides a break for students from their traditional desk environment and stimulate interest in the course. 

3. How can creativity lead to changes in the classroom?

Creativity can encourage students to explore other parts of their mind. Students who may be encouraged by their parents to focus on math and science can learn they have other interests. Creativity can promote relaxation and team work. Often times, creative projects occur in groups, which can help students expand their friend group. Additionally, individual assignments such as writing can lead to students to develop a greater understanding of themselves. 

4. How are collages a viable way to enhance creativity?

Working with one another is useful to brainstorm ideas. Each individual has a unique perspective that may boost another’s creative thinking. Building off of one another forms bonds and friendships. 

5. Why are the arts useful when teaching other subjects?

The arts are useful for every student. Especially when teaching a student who learns in a creative way. For instance, a collage explaining a life cycle can help a student learn the material. Arts also help students view the material in a different way, even for a student who is better at numbers. Different art forms make the course material more fun and it puts less pressure on the students to simply memorize materials. When students have to rely on creativity, they learn new perspectives and ideas about the material. 

6. How can site specific performance help teaching when there are limited resources?

The beauty of site specific performance is that anything in nature can be utilized. This allows students with limited resources to get the same experience as children who have unlimited resources. Site specific performances don’t require money to purchase materials and still have the same impact on a student. It also demonstrates that learning and art can exist anywhere, even with no resources at all. 

7. Why is pedestrian dance an easy way to create movement in the classroom?

Pedestrian dance doesn’t force a student to get too far out of their comfort zone. Therefore, students will participate more and be less self conscious. Also, the movements are easy for everyone to learn. 

8. In which way can dance help the teaching of other academic subjects?

As we saw in the video of students dancing to fire, air, and water dance can help students view material in a different way. Instead of only thinking about the information, students can interpret it in their own way. When a student is active, they are more likely to pay attention and truly learn and internalize the subject matter. 

Create a metaphor
Ice filled her veins. 
Create a simile
Time moved as slow as a snail. 

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