Reflecting on Drama

Now that we have one field trip left, our drama class is coming to an end. While I was very nervous when this class was starting, I now have a new appreciation for drama.

My teaching pedagogy for drama centres around the idea that drama can be utilized throughout each and every subject. And that is something that I learned through this class.

Furthermore, I believe that in order for students to learn in all subjects, they need to be able to make connections to what they are learning. For them to make connections, they need to be engaged in the subject. They need to be taking ownership over their own learning. And I believe this can all be achieved through drama.

Drama is everywhere. We, as teachers, just need to embrace it.

Day Five: Back from the Break!

It was definitely a hard first week back, coming back from Christmas and working but I was excited to get back to Brock and keep on learning. Something that I thought was interesting was that a lot of us said we didn't really teach drama because there was an arts teacher. However, now that I'm looking back at my drama experience and the strategies we learned over the previous four weeks, I definitely did teach drama. I utilized a lot of these strategies with my students, the only difference is I didn't say to them, "Okay class, we are doing drama today!" Without this portfolio, I don't think I would've came to that same realization.

Back on topic..... the strategies of the day!

Strategies:

What If...

The strategy of What If was a cool strategy to work through. This group used what if in regards to a fairy tale we all knew the story of but what I loved most is the discussion my group had on this strategy. We all discovered that we had all used this strategy during our placements, but were unaware that it was considered a drama strategy. Often, I would use this while reading a book. I would stop in the middle of the story and ask students, "What if..." and change an aspect of the story. It was something they all enjoyed because they were able to use the story they liked along with their own creativity.

Tableaux

Tableaux is a strategy we looked at in our first class and we returned to it in this class. During my placement, we created a tableaux with the entire school at the same time for each station of the cross. With this experience, it was very interesting as we had all previously created a tableaux on the same topic but they were all very different when we performed. This just reminded me of how different individuals view different strategies.

Caption Writing

This strategy really reminded me of the graffiti strategy. It allowed us to think of what the individuals within the story were thinking of. I think this would work very well in a social studies or language class as we often examine individuals and their lives and this would give the students an extra amount of depth to any situation. 

Voice Over Narration

This strategy was great as it allowed us to add our own ideas to an already existing story. If I were to do this in a classroom, I would do it the same way Katrina did. I would allow the students to start with a story that is previously created and they would be required to add to this story. A great extension of this would be for the students to create more pictures for the story. Or to create a complete reenactment of their narration, rather than just a narration.

Another way this could be used, in order to ensure everyone is participating, the class could create a new story together. Each student could be saying one new sentence of the story and then they pass the story onto the next person.

Shadow Puppets

These shadow puppets were a great strategy and a great resource to use in a different classroom! It is something low-key, something you don't need a lot of resources for and it can be done in any classroom with a projector. This is also a drama strategy that students wouldn't be nervous about participating in. This doesn't require any drama talents or artistic talents; it only requires some stick figures and a shadow. I would definitely use this strategy in a junior or intermediate classroom to help get them feeling more confident in their skills. It would be a great introduction into a new story. 

The next part of class was the strategies we learned as a whole class. I'm only going to touch on the collective draw as it was new to our class.

Collective Draw

Collective Draw was a new strategy that I really enjoyed. It was something that required group participation but you didn't need to have artistic abilities to enjoy it. I really do not enjoy art but I loved the group feel of this strategy. I enjoyed talking about what we were going to draw and it wasn't like the class was looking at MY drawing, it was a GROUP drawing. I think this strategy would work very well in junior/intermediate grades and it could be utilized in many subject areas. You could use it in a diagnostic way to see what they already know about a certain topic or to assess what they have learned. It could even be used during math class to look at what we already know about a certain word problem.

Critical Analysis Process

Learning about this process really made me think of my placement. A major part of ELKP is modelling how to ask thought provoking questions and helping the students to think critically. Therefore, all the questions and aspects of this process were something I had thought so much about and done a lot of during my placement. However, learning about this process made me see how important this will be in every grade I teach. It is definitely something that I will be thinking about throughout my planning and teaching.

Critical Affective Positioning Theory

Learning about this theory reminded me of a previously learned theory in this class, the Multimodal Theory. This theory states that the stable and flexible parts of each individual shape our identities. I really believe in this theory because without these parts of ourselves, who would we be? We wouldn't even have an identity without these parts. This is something we, as teachers, need to keep in mind during every aspect of our teaching. We do not know what our students are going through in other aspects of their life but we can try to understand their identity. And this brings up the ideas of differentiation. Differentiation should and can be used for more than just students with disabilities but for every identity of each of our students.

Day Four: A Perfect Day in Perfectville

Our fourth class and I'm getting the hang of drama! Here we go, class four.......

Theory:

The ideas behind the Multimodal Theory is that contexts (whether it be fixed or situated) shape the way we communicate and represent. This is something we discussed in the fifth class as well so I'll talk about it more during that blog entry. However this is something that I do believe is true for every individual. The things about us definitely shape the way we do everything in life. And more specifically, the way we learn. For me, this goes hand in hand with the multiple intelligences theory. Our personal attributes are what pushes us toward a specific intelligence and thus the way we learn. 

Strategies:

The strategies the group presented were picture walk, alter ego, mask, hot seating, gibberish and slow motion. As I talked about in a previous post, a picture walk could be used in a variety of instances and grade levels. And a picture walk is something that I used every week during my placement. When introducing the class to a new book, I would ask them to look at the pictures before I read it to see what they predicted would happen. 

Alter ego was also an interesting strategy that would help look at a character and how they were feeling. This can give students a deeper insight into what their character was feeling and why. This could also give them a small insight into how they themselves feel. While this picture is from the week before in reference to the Giraffes Can't Dance book, this is an example of alter ego. In this picture, Donna and I were Emily's alter ego. It was a really eye opening activity to examine the different ways in which she could be feeling as the giraffe.

Another strategy I really saw the value in was the use of masks. In classrooms where children are nervous to get a little silly in drama class or let go of their inhibitions, masks could be a great addition. Masks allow for students to act in a certain way without feeling embarrassed because while in drama, we are always in character, a mask allows a little extra security to that fact. I also really liked in class how we had the ability to create our own masks. It gave us more ownership over the strategy, which I think is a great idea when teaching.

The next strategies we did in class were: wild thing, pop up story, teacher in role, exquisite corpse, and flash forward. To direct these strategies, we used the book "Where the Wild Things Are." I had never read this book but I had seen the movie and I wasn't a fan so I was unsure how to feel at this point. But using these drama strategies really changed my feelings on this story.

The first strategy we examined was wild thing. I think it was a good idea to start with this strategy as it was a great lead in to the story we were looking at, and it was a great way to shake things up in class.

The next strategy was pop up story which I thought was a great (second) introduction into the story we were about to base all of our drama strategies on. It also added a second element to the story for everyone else in the class, as well as for those of us who are participating. In order to encourage participation in my own class, I would use this strategy but in a little bit of a different way. I would assign different pages to different groups so that each student was participating. Instead of having some students just watching the story. 

When we used the strategy of exquisite corpse, I wasn't quite sure of how it would fit into the strategies that would come next. But the best thing that I have seen about any of these drama strategies is that they're all very adaptable to any concept that is being taught. In this case, these pictures we made came up later when we were using the strategy of teacher in role. In a class, I think this would really interest and excite the students as it is something they made coming into the story and holding meaning. This just furthers my philosophy of teaching that students need to make connections and take ownership of their learning. What better way to make connections than to include something they created in the process.

Day Three: Giraffes Can't Dance

Third week of class meant more presentations! And a lot of giraffe talk.. here we go!

Theory: Bloom's Taxonomy

This theory really resonated with me. Even though it is something that is obvious when you think about it. But it is definitely something that we need a reminder of, as teachers, that teaching should not just be about talking at students. Students need to be able to make connections and take ownership of their own learning and this theory identifies that. The best way to ensure that learning is happening during lessons is ensuring all of these aspects are involved.

Elements of Movement:

These elements of movement are something that I tried to keep in mind throughout this class and the strategies we were learning. It is a part of class that I feel is necessary to highlight in order that we don't forget to ensure the curriculum remains a part of the drama strategies we teach.

Strategies:

The first set of strategies in this picture are the ones that were presented by my classmates and the second set of strategies are the ones that we went through together as a class.

I really enjoyed the way this group did their presentation. Rather than a whole class, we had stations that we rotated. It is clear that the whole class liked this way of presenting as that is what every group has done since then. 

These strategies furthered the idea we have talked about each week that drama can be integrated into many different subject areas. There doesn't necessarily have to be a period every day designated for drama but that if you can and do integrate it into the other subject areas, it will be more engaging for the students and allow them to make more connections to the material. For example, I really enjoyed the News Reporting strategy as it allowed me to think more about how my character would be feeling. This could be used in math (asking about a real-life problem in math and explaining how they found the answer), social studies (interviewing someone from the past), and in language (interviewing an individual from a book in order to see their motivations more clearly). 

I also really enjoyed the rest of class which revolved around the book, Giraffes Can't Dance. This part of class made it clear to me how much you can do with just one book. 

Through just this one book, we examined the strategies of hot seat, dance sequences, voice alley, voice over narration, and corridor of voices. These pictures are some small snaps into what happened during this class. This is one reason I really enjoyed drama class; the ability to take pictures as we went. It really helps to be able to look back and reflect on these pictures and say OH I remember that and how much fun it was!

This lesson was really eye-opening for me. It isn't as if this book we read was a large chapter book with a lot of plot twists and turns but it was easily adaptable to many different drama strategies. I really liked the voice alley and corridor of voices strategy but I can see how it could end badly in a classroom of adolescents. To be able to use this strategy, I think your classroom management skills would have to be near perfect and you would have to know your class very well. As we were all a class of teacher candidates, it worked out fine but I can definitely see it not ending very well in a classroom. 

Writing this portfolio is really making me see how useful this will be to me professionally in the future. I think it would be really easy to forget everything I learned in this drama class but  this portfolio is already helping me to remember the strategies and I'm already thinking of ways to bring this into my next placement.

Day Two: Presentation Day

This class was the day of my group's presentation. Since we were the first group, I was very very nervous for this presentation. I wasn't sure what to expect and I was unsure of the drama strategies. But with research and preparation, my group was ready to present!

The strategies we presented on were as follows:

Mirrors

Mime

Slow motion

Flashback 

Flash forward

Since it was nearing Halloween, we went with a Halloween theme. We decided to go with this theme as it reflected what we would do if we were actually in the classroom. I am a big believer on making connections with students and why not go with a topic that they are already very interested in? The main idea was a Halloween poem: 

For these drama strategies, I think they can all be used in conjunction with each other, the way we did in our presentation. These strategies could also be applied cross crucially. For example; flash back and flash forward could be used in social studies when looking at different cultures or the lives of individuals. The mirror strategy could also be used in math when looking at patterning or shapes.

The other strategies we did in class were: 

Syllable Clap

Call and response

Ladybug Garden

Rolling theatre

Choral reading

Rhythm reading

The syllable clap strategy was one that I really enjoyed and actually did in my placement. When we were in class this week, I felt like I didn't really use drama but while doing these blog entries, I am realizing how much I did integrate drama into the classroom. I did the syllable clap as a movement activity in between other activities. We went around the room and clapped the syllables of our names. This was then integrated into a math activity as we discussed whose names had more syllables, whose name had the most syllables etc. This activity alone goes to show how drama can be easily integrated in a day-to-day basis.

Features of Choral Work

Multiple Intelligences Theory

Learning about the Multiple Intelligences Theory in class just brought it all together for me. This Theory is something that I tried to keep in mind when planning all of my lessons during my block. I am a big believer in this theory and that every individual learns in a different way.   It also shows how each intelligence could be utilized in every subject area. Prior to this, I might have thought that the musical intelligence would solely be utilized in music class but its possible to use it in any subject area, if you know the strategies.