Department of Dance Student Professional Papers | 2022
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11274/13756
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Item Dance activities to support mental health in adolescents in the high school setting(2022) Hachtel, Monica; Morgan, Ilana; Williford-Shade, MaryAfter 21 years of teaching high school and seeing the increasingly common presence of mental health issues in students, the author arrives at this project to investigate the use of dance to support mental health in adolescents. Because the author perceives that dance can assist in the improvement of mental health through self-expression, she began by gathering information on mental health statistics, dance learning in relation to mental health, the WhyTry curriculum (a social-emotional learning program), and the National Core Arts Standards in Dance. She then chose three activities from the WhyTry curriculum and enhanced them with dance and in alignment with the National Core Arts Standards in Dance while still maintaining the social-emotional learning elements. The three activities the author enhanced have an easy-to-follow plan for the teacher and provide students an opportunity to use movement to explore and perhaps conquer difficult situations they may face in life.Item I see you: Dance as behavioral intervention for middle school students(2022) Medrano, Crystal Dulce; Morgan, Ilana; Williford-Shade, MaryThis research project outlines the creation of five movement/dance activities for use as behavioral intervention strategies in a middle school classroom. The author builds this pedagogical project on concepts and theories from published research on adolescent behavior and middle school behavioral management. The author outlines her process of creating the activities, the study of activities in action in her classroom, and subsequent editing of the activities. The methodology and procedures used in this research project consisted of a literature review, narrative inquiry of the author's past teaching experience, and creation of a theoretical framework to guide the creation and implementation of activities. This paper concludes with an overview of the created behavior intervention activities that incorporate movement/dance in promotion of positive behavior skills essential for middle school students.Item Spatial Design Strategies for Competitive High School and Collegiate Dance Team Routines(2022) Hogan, Kristianna; Morgan, Ilana; Williford-Shade, MaryKristianna Hogan’s research entitled “Spatial Design Strategies for Competitive High School and Collegiate Dance Team Routines” discusses what spatial design strategies dance team coaches might use in an effort to improve scores for competitive dance teams at the high school level, and prepare high school dancers for the collegiate level. Through deep analysis of two winning dance routines performed at the Universal Dance Association Nationals competition and their various spatial design strategies, Hogan provides five formation and transition strategies for dance team coaches to utilize along with a list of formation examples she hopes those in the dance/drill team field can use in their dance-making processes to both enhance the competitiveness of their choreography and potentially better prepare high school dancers for the realities of collegiate level dance team choreography.Item Dance is Second Nature: Movement for Movements—Dance Activism for Transformation, Environmental, and Eco-Dance Æffects(2022) Collins, Rae; Morgan, Ilana; Williford-Shade, MarySite-specific dance may be the intersection of dance education and outdoor education, and screendance may further interconnect them with 21st-century skills. The research has called the author to provide substance showing this in association with dance education, because this is dance activism, in support of—but not limited to—environmental justice. Indeed, environmental screendance may be the interweaving of those crosspoints braided with environmental and social sciences in addition to experiential education. As one who has much experience with dancing outdoors, especially having experienced living in rural areas, herein is substance supporting the expansion of the curriculum to gain both health and wealth in this style of learning while also learning sustainable education. If the interconnectedness of artistic (specifically, performance-based dance), scientific, historical, and technological subject matters can be more drawn upon, presented, and delivered in curriculum, then perhaps (re)connection, (re)discovery, reciprocity, and stewardship may be the æffects, bringing each and all another step closer to achieving much-needed transformation. This dancing author has created an Eco-Dance ART(if)ACT for individuals—or Self, for humanity—or People, and for Planet—Earth.Item Creating a summative grading rubric and feedback form to promote progression in dance at the middle school level(2022) Drexler-Richardson, Candiss; Morgan, Ilana; Williford-Shade, MaryThis paper examines published research in assessments, rubrics and educational frameworks to support the creation of a “summative grading rubric” for middle school dance educators. The hope is that this rubric would then promote the building of rigorous lessons, assessments, and expand the opportunity for constructive feedback from teachers to their students. In this paper, the author institutes a teacher's self study to reflect upon the use of the created rubric in her classroom. Elements of the National Core Arts Standards (NCAS) were also examined and applied in constructing this educational tool. Additionally, in the analysis of this assessment tool she takes into account her dance students' reactions to the different methods used over a period of three weeks at West Briar Middle School in Houston, Texas.Item Creating Peak Experiences: Contemporary Dance Student-Centered Practices for use in a Studio Setting(2022) Weinman, Kristina; Williford-Shade, Mary; Morgan, IlanaThis research investigates holistic and student centered teaching practices for use in a contemporary dance studio setting. With examination of published literature in the area of dance curriculum, general education curriculum studies, and holistic and student-centered learning approaches, this project culminates in the development of creative questions and discussion prompts for the dance classroom. While initially the author set out to create activities it was discovered via a teacher self-study that in order to facilitate holistic student centered practices collaborative languaging and planned moments for discussion were needed for students’ self-discovery. The author concludes this paper with an infographic which illustrates goals of holistic learning along with student-centered discussion strategies and prompts. From this undertaking, the author hopes that dance teachers can utilize this research and its findings to create concrete and cooperative learning experiences in their own classrooms.Item "But I Don't Dance!": Building a Cross-Curricular Integration Workshop for K-12 Educators(2022) Kirk, Bridget; Morgan, Ilana; Williford-Shade, MaryThe author arrives at this project in an effort to ease intimidation expressed by fellow K-12 educators regarding cross-curricular integration of dance in their classroom practices. These feelings of intimidation, paired with the author’s belief in the importance of and a commitment to embodied learning, led her to develop a K-12 workshop accessible to all teachers, regardless of prior dance background, experience, and/or content area. The author began by gathering current models, processes, and perspectives from published literature and arts organizations regarding dance and arts integration in professional development. With this information, she identified trends and important components to include. Additionally, she worked to define her own personal values from which to build the professional development workshop. This workshop was then designed for K-12 classroom teachers to introduce ways to integrate dance and embodied learning in their classroom curriculum without having an extensive dance background.