Week Nine - Week Ten 2006

Week Nine

Wednesday 3rd May 2006

‘Jamie William, hey! William… is that after Shakespeare?’

 ‘No… my middle name is William’

 ‘Is that after Shakespeare?’

 No… my Grand Father’s middle name was William’

 ‘Is that after Shakespeare?’

 ‘…oh… yeah! Why not!’ [1]

 The big news today was the birth of my son. I was so excited (or exited as I wrote in my e-mail), however I am completely exhausted (hence the spelling mistake). I don’t know how I made it through today, however I can tell you is was rather difficult. The Ed Pack meeting went well, and we are close to finalising a completed editing example. Nicole and myself are planning to meet this Friday to get some things under way, hopefully it will all fit into place. Although it would have been difficult by herself last year, I envy Nicole’s ‘solo’ Ed Pack. I am easily getting confused on what still needs to be done, who wants to do what and so on. Put on top of that unavoidable absences and it becomes a nightmare. What I sincerely enjoy, however, is everyone’s enthusiasm and ideas.

 With Melissa this week, I was able to ‘spring board’ some important approaches to my character. A re-development of my ‘zzzzzz’ seems necessary; not so much the noise, more so the action I present. The side-to-side head movement looks like I’m having a fit, a horizontal movement has replaced it, as it seems a lot more appropriate to the character. I’m also toning down the erratic behaviour of Bluey, as I was bordering on Tourette’s. A simpler head movement connotes Bluey’s ‘laidbackness’, as well as emphasises his ‘fly’ qualities. I’m happy with the character at the moment, as I’ve developed aspects of his Australianness, ‘Fly’ qualities, ‘laidbackness’ and heroic nature. I know there is more depth to the character, but I’m not sure where to go.

 There is no doubt that I love this unit, and perhaps the reason is that the objectives expressed in the unit reader are similar to that of the Outcomes Based approach. In fact a lot of the objectives can be specifically related to the Elaborations of the Arts Ideas Outcome. ‘To develop performance skills’ is a creating and exploring Elaboration, as is seeks to enable students to use a variety of movements, voice and role to successfully create a believable character. ‘To develop an understanding of collaborative/ ensemble work in the theatre’ is an Elaboration of development. This aspect of the Arts Ideas looks at planning and refining group work, as well as integrating problem-solving processes. ‘Problem-solving is an important part of discovery; it involves taking risks, making mistakes, questioning and trying out new and different solutions’ (Hickman (ed), 2004:91).

 Another objective of the Children’s Theatre unit is ‘to develop a critical awareness of the tenets of T.I.E. (Theatre in Education)’. The Arts Ideas Elaboration most closely associated with this is a presenting Aspect, specifically the idea of presenting ‘drama to particular audience for given purposes’ (Curriculum Council, 2005:22). Even a critical awareness could be associated with the interpreting component of the Arts Ideas. In addition, the last objective also focuses closely with Elaborations associated with presenting drama works. The unit objective asks university students ‘to develop an awareness of the demands of a professional theatre company for efficiency, responsibility and commitment in theatre practice’, much in the same way the Elaboration expects students to ‘focus on the energy in preparation’ (Curriculum Council, 2005:22).

 What is important to note here is the use of ambiguous language in the Children’s Theatre objectives. This ‘so-called’ ambiguous language is alive and well in vital aspects of University objectives, so why is it such a problem in the schools? Terms like ‘develop’, ‘understanding’ and ‘awareness’ are used in this unit, however they have a known and established currency. I have found that drafting up the key Elaboration Outcomes of each level to be a valuable activity. Although my approach will possibly not work for anyone else using it, the simple process of constructing it pointed out the key differences between the levels and the expectations of the Outcome’s achievement.

 I would suggest to anyone to draw up your own personalised interpretation of the Elaborations. Make a personalised checklist that you can use in your classroom. For me, it pointed out holes in my possible approaches to lessons. For instance, Arts Ideas level three under creating, asks students to ‘use some specific learned drama terminology’ (Curriculum Council, 2005:22). It is understood that teachers will impart a lot of information verbally such as specific stage directions or stage equipment, however an equal amount of student written work should also be recorded. Student work in drama should not be entirely engaged in just acting, just as English should not be entirely just writing and reading. There must always be a balance. An activity can, and should combine both aspects of written and performance work. I believe that giving something for students to physically write down each day is essential.

 I have a basic philosophy for teaching; teach the concept three times. Firstly verbally communicated, secondly physically acted out while ‘narrating’ you actions, and thirdly ‘narrating’ the concept while the student completes the task. For this week’s lesson plan, the activity relies on the third component of this approach. Defining Drama encourages students to ‘use some specific learned drama terminology’ (Curriculum Council, 2005:22), by first teaching these concepts to them. The step-by-step process would see the teacher explain the specific drama term, then narrate themself as they physically demonstrate the concept, and then ask students to research and define the term for a poster.

 I believe this lesson plan works as it invites students to decorate their classroom with their own work (terminology posters) that can be extremely useful to their learning. The repetition of the concept can encourage students to remember the terminology, and therefore help in securing a level four achievement. It must be noted that it is not an Arts Ideas activity; it is an approach that helps ensure the Arts Ideas outcome can actually be completed itself. A means to and end, if you will.

 It must be noted that an ‘Achievement Target for The Arts’ is a level four outcome to be achieved by all year nine students (Curriculum Council, 2005:11). This is a worry, as I discovered most of the year ten students, and some of the year nine students, that I recently taught on prac were achieving a high level two or a low level three. Such an Achievement Target is achievable, but this is where the teacher plays an important part. If all levels up to four rely heavily on guidance from the student’s teacher, accountability is paramount as ‘teacher can help guide students to discover, respond to and appreciate their sensory environment in creative and imaginative ways’ (Hickman (ed), 2004:11). With this in mind, I turn to the guidance component of this weeks lesson plan. This time, I have not included an assessment section with this activity. Moreover it is an activity sheet to help students obtain an understanding of symbolic codes; which itself is extremely useful in theatre and specifically outlined as part of the ‘creating’ Elaboration.

Week Ten

 Wednesday 10^th May 2006

 ‘High school teachers yesterday recorded their strongest opposition to the State Government’s outcomes-based education plan, with hundreds calling for the controversial scheme to be delayed’[1]

 Okay, I’m deep in the middle of Ed pack at the moment; and it seems to be taking forever. One of the hardest areas, yet the reason that I agreed to take this project on in the first place, is the Elaboration of each of the Outcomes Based learning areas. That is, each learning area divided into its specific area and outcomes. For instance, under The Arts, we have listed the four Outcomes and placed individual activities into each section. Further more, the activities, I hope, will be accompanied with an aim and purpose for the teacher to understand why it’s in the Ed Pack. Also, each activity will state what it could follow and what it could proceed within the teacher’s educational sequence.

 On Friday, Nikki and I started this very daunting project. After collating all of the Ed Pack committee’s information, we were able to start putting all of the activities into their specific sections. We received major assistance from my best friend, editor and all round superhero, Tiffany. Some activities fit neatly into certain areas, however other activities have been placed in odd learning outcomes as a means to (I guess) fill the gaps. That’s why it is vital that we have detailed introductions for the teacher to understand why the activity is in the pack, and how to use it. We have made some huge leaps with healthy teeth activities and colouring in butterflies, however our aims will (in theory) tell the teacher how they fit in. Tooth activities are linked to myths about fairies (i.e. the tooth fairy) and Butterflies are located on the backdrop etc.

 This is where I believe the Outcomes Based approach is great. In this case, we are not just telling the teachers to use the activity; we are informing them why we believe it connects to their students needs. When teaching, it is vital to inform students of their requirements, namely what they have to achieve to obtain their best results. I feel by informing students of the different levels of requirements and grading, students will become responsible for their own learning. Furthermore, they know what it is they require in order to reach the next level. Recent news articles and cartoons, like last week’s ‘The Dinner Meeting’[2] in the Western Australian, suggest that a lot of schools plan to delay the OBE’s implementation. It is a shame, because I see it being a rather beneficial system. It is however not liked, and that’s a problem! I’m not sure what the solution could be.

 As I look at the next area of focus, Arts, Skills and Processes, I would like to look at evaluation in more detail. As a result, the lesson plans over the next two weeks will look at the assessment component, rather than the lesson itself. I want to look at two things, assessing the individual, and assessing the group. I have some great ideas and a great resource to look at. Two years ago I helped out in a Department of Education trial that looked at this exact thing.[3] My aim is to create two lessons or activities, and then use a variation of this piece of assessment to analyse them.

 This individual activity is called Poetic Performance. It requires students to choose a piece of Australian poetry, and perform it for their classmates. As I said, it is more the assessment approaches that are vital here. It would be necessary to explicitly communicate to your students the marking criteria of the assessment; in this case, use of space, voice, movement, sense of audience and characterisation. I feel it is important to physically express these ideas to the class, as it offers accountability as well as the opportunity to improve their performance. As the outcomes clearly express a need to improve, this activity works as it connotes the levels required to achieve these expectations.

As the semester is almost over, I feel it is appropriate to complete a look at my objectives just one last time. This will allow me to try to regain some perspective and direct my approaches over the closing weeks.

View Andrew's 'Integrating Drama and the Outcomes and Standards Framework' journal entries...

Week One - Week Two     Week Three - Week Four      Study Break One - Week Five

Week Six - Week Seven     Study Break Two - Week Eight     Week Nine - Week Ten

 Week Eleven - Week Twelve     Week Thirteen   Week Fourteen     Kids Reviews    Lesson Plans and References

..or view other journals...     Integrating Drama and the Outcomes and Standards Framework (2006)

Semiotics and Performance: The role of the Actor (2005)     Performing Shakespeare in the Classroom (2005)

Drama and The Curriculum (Summer, 2005)     Children's Theatre (2004)     Acting (2004)

... or view...     Photo Gallery and Lesson Plans

...or view other individual lesson plans, draft checklists or completed activities...

Family Photos - Lesson Plan     Picture Story - Lesson Plan     Arts Response Draft Checklists

Warming Up - Lesson Plan     Defining Drama - Lesson Plan    Arts Ideas Draft Checklists

Poetic Performance - Lesson Plan     Seasonal Grouping - Lesson Plan     Arts Skills and Processes Draft Checklists    

Prop Me Up - Lesson Plan     Commedia dell 'Arte - Lesson Plan     Arts in Society Draft Checklists    

Snottygobbles Retell One     Snottygobbles Retell Two     Snottygobbles Retell Three     Snottygobbles Retell Four

Go to Children's Theatre:     My Journal     History      Notice Board     Your Work

Contact Andrew @ thechaseison@optusnet.com.au