Week One
Monday
10th January
In
the first class, we started off with some warm-up exercises. We were asked to
pick a point on the wall, and simply move across the room to that point. The
instructions also informed us to move in another direction if anybody else was
in our pathway. I repeated this activity many times while changing my mood and
the way I was led across to that point (e.g. reluctant or moving from our
elbow). I also moved around the room freezing or changing my walk when a clap
was heard. We then focused on vocal warm-ups, paying attention to creating
sounds rather than speech itself. Standing in a neutral position (feet slightly
apart with hands by my side) I began to focus on my breathing and on the
creation of sounds. First an ‘F’ sound, a slow humming tone and then
a horse’s sigh.
The class then focused on the character Max, from the text ‘Where the Wild Things Are’.[1] The first activity was used to see how we would react to a child in a mall doing something naughty. We were asked to react first with a facial expression, then by adding a gesture and finally adding a movement. We then split into pairs and mirrored these same reactions to another member of the class (while also adding sound). The class then took part in a number of different activities that created an understanding of the character Max from the text.
An activity called ‘role on the wall’ was used to create a character profile of Max. We used descriptive words such as imaginative, creative and naughty as a means of creating different dimensions of the character. A ‘conscious alley’ was created to communicate possible feelings that Max may experience. This activity required the whole class to split into two rows and the calling out of emotions that we felt that Max may have experienced when he chose to return home. In large groups we created the boat that Max sailed in. Our group created a mast, a hull, oars, crashing waves and even the figurehead at the front of the boat. We then constructed a 30 second scene by adding sound and a story that showed narrative structure. We also split into small groups and drew our thoughts of what a ‘wild thing’ was. We were then asked to construct the ‘wild thing’ using the materials provided.
I
found the first class to be fun and exciting, and the activities that we
participated in were of importance to our role as future drama teachers. They
informed us of what to teach our future students, yet also informed us of what
our students may think as we have taken part in the same activities. I think
that warm-up (and warm-down) exercises are extremely important in drama as it
immediately creates individual focus and centres the class. As a teacher it is
impossible to know were all your students have come from before class. A warm-up
can assist students to become mentally and physically aware and help create
motivation (important for activities). I found that the point on the wall
activity gained our focus and created awareness of the way we walk. This
activity also allowed us to get used to the ‘clap’ command, a useful tool
that grabs direct attention as well as provides instruction. Basic courtesy was
also explained for this activity; asking us to move out of the way of others was
established so that we maintained focus and safety. I find guidelines are vital
because they establish what is expected and unwarranted. Voice warm-ups are also
crucial as projection and communication are important aspects in drama.
Why would Robin use an example of a mall scene to connect us to the story ‘Where the Wild Things Are? When we started with the text, a mall scene was used to ‘hook’ us in. The text provided a real life example to connect us to a situation all of us had seen; real life experiences will help grab students’ attention too. I believe that asking someone to create a facial expression without any motivation could be confusing; using an example of an incident in a mall creates a situation that is familiar. The familiarity will allow all students to participate, rather than alienate them in a situation they have not experienced. By focusing on specified areas (i.e. facial expressions and gestures) we were all able to focus on precise responses. As a teacher I would aim to focus on one specific area of drama in each activity (e.g. voice and then establishing a sense of the audience) slowly building a checklist of character development through exercises.
I
thought it was interesting that a lot of the activities relating to ‘Where the
Wild Things Are’ used the whole class, rather than relying on individual
input. Placing a student on the spot can create tension and anxiety (especially
on the first day) and therefore possible reluctance in future activities.
Collaborative work creates group ownership and promotes socialising skills,
which are outcomes that are present in the Curriculum Framework.[2]
Limits were clearly set allowing us to have free rein yet stick to the purpose
of the exercise. ‘Roll on the wall’ and ‘conscious alley’ were great
activities that allowed the class to collaborate by thinking beyond stereotypes
and suggesting a multi-layered character profile. In addition the act of process
drama takes away the anxiety of having to perform, therefore allowing some
students the ability to gain more from the activities rather than feel
frightened of the prospect of the ‘spot light’.
Tuesday
11th January
Before
class even started today we were asked to pay attention to the sign-in table.
The table featured a simple notice directing the first important steps that each
of us should complete before the start of each lesson. The instructions were
clear, and as students, we were given a position of independence to complete the
directions. We then completed a seated warm-up exercise, mainly to illustrate
the fact that space is not always available for a warm-up. A calming exercise,
like the one this morning was used, and later an energetic warm-up was used
after our break. We also watched a video of a teacher in a drama class taking
his group from an improvisation activity to a scripted performance. The teacher
negotiated with the students on how to present, improve and combine all
performances based around the concept of pressure. Students had a say in all
aspects of the production including properties to use, sets and basic
presentation.
We then moved on to improvisation, which is a ‘dramatic action that is spontaneously created without a script’.[3] Improvisations first started with students individually creating certain shapes including the letter ‘F’ and a circle. Then in pairs we were asked to repeat some of the shapes including new objects like an egg and a cup or a pair of chopsticks. In groups of about seven, students were asked to mime receiving a ‘present’ and create a response to the group in order to give a clue to what the ‘present’ was. In the same groups, we were introduced to the concept of ‘offer and acceptance’, in this case a group ‘present’ was introduced and we had to collectively decide what the ‘present’ was. Someone established the size, I established it had a horn and so on until the group collaboratively decided it was a motorbike. In pairs, we then improvised scenes that included a key phrase that had to be used at the start of the improvisation and also at the conclusion. These scenes were shown to another group, and then groups of ten presented their scenes to each other, slowly creating a comfortable situation and environment. We were explained the importance and usefulness of improvisation in drama, mainly as a means of promoting imagination and the development of interpersonal and social skills with others.
The simple purpose of the sign-in table was to create student independence. The guidelines of what needed to be completed were established and it was up to the motivation of the students to complete the tasks. Independence skills cannot be verbally or physically taught, such skills need to be encouraged, regulated and developed. The warm-up was cleaver as well; a teacher needs to work with their surroundings as a classroom can be small or physically unchangeable therefore lesson flexibility is crucial. Having a variety of different warm-up activities for different areas is necessary. Teachers need to negotiate with their surroundings, just as they negotiate the way they teach. The video presented a teacher who provided feedback, asked students to evaluate other students and self-assess as well. Students’ can gain an understanding of independence and ownership by choosing their own sets, and learn how to reflect upon their own work. Through this process, pride and self-esteem can be encouraged and maintained. This leads me to think, what type of style will I use and how will I teach it? This is a question that will take me a while to answer.
Improvisation,
like drama and teaching itself, should enable students to develop personal
skills and attitudes. As a result of improvisation being made on the spot,
scenes can never be recreated and are initially based upon imagination or
previously experienced events. Our improvisation started as individuals moving
into pairs and then slowly developed into a larger group to create comfort and
promote a non-judgemental environment. I believe that students must always feel
safe about learning new skills or concepts such as improvisation. First the
concept was introduced, and then individual work was established, followed by
large groups, all the time building new information upon the previous. This
scaffolding style constantly reflected upon previous steps to ensure key
concepts were being remembered and learnt. The concept of ‘offer and
acceptance’ for instance was introduced, and at first I didn’t truly
understand it, but after a number of examples and Robin introducing ‘Teacher
in Role’ the concept began to make sense. By constantly reminding the group of
the concepts throughout the rest of the day through verbal cues, examples and
physically completing activities, focus and understanding was established. In
addition, ‘improvised scenes often explore the role of status relationships
between characters’.[4] Scenes improvised using a
property such as a suitcase that required us to not only create a narrative
structure based around the who, what, why, and when, but create a character
about the suitcase’s owner and the people they encounter. ‘Narrative is
built into a improvisation by feeding the focus and accepting offers’.[5]
It seems to me that narrative structure may be the most vital element of
improvisation.
Wednesday
12th January
Today we started by watching a warm-up video demonstrating various activities that a teacher can implement into the classroom. ‘Focusing on a Spot’ or ‘Murderer in the Room’ were activities used to focus the students’ energy and attention. We moved onto our own warm-up; standing in a large circle, holding hands, and sending a pulse around the group to return back to the sender. This raised the issue of touching students in schools, namely when is it appropriate and when is it not?
The class then focused upon scripts, specifically how to read and interpret them. The step-by-step introduction presented various elements of writing (e.g. cartoon, story, script) and the different elements of a script layout (such as setting). We were then given a script with only the dialogue and the characters in the scene, with no idea of who’s line was who’s; the lack of stage directions made the task quite tricky, although not impossible. Our group established possible character profiles for each of the listed children by determining clues that were presented in the dialogue, thus making educated guesses. We were asked to workshop a play, paying particular attention to how you would present it, even choosing the appropriate stage. In groups we workshopped ways of presenting a scene from a Mary Morris play called ‘Two Weeks with the Queen’. Our focus was upon stage choice, basic direction and reasons for our choices. We chose a proscenium arch layout to attempt to frame the realism of the story, and used the concept of mood or emotions to instruct the movements of the son and the mother. The mother eternalised her feelings trying to avoid confrontation about her emotions; the son therefore constantly entered her personal space by questioning her motives and decisions.
The day ended with small group discussions about the final production. Given only a basic outline and the theme of ‘wild’, we were able to discuss possible scenes or incidents that could be created for the performance. Ideas were presented in the group, and similarly to the offering and accepting in improvisation, ideas were improved or discarded. The group created the basic structure of ideas and possible ways of presenting.
A variety of different warm-ups are a valuable advantage to teaching drama. Basic warm-ups can be repeated, although I think blatantly copying the same routine ever morning will create a stagnant and uninteresting environment. Simple variations on the same task can enlighten focus such as asking students to pay attention to their pitch or working on contrast with other characters can redirect their focus on an activity. Giving a clear purpose and aim for each class ensures that students can gain new skills, but also understand the importance of certain drama aspects (e.g. why improve my pitch? So we can understand what you are saying better). The pulse task raised an interesting topic of touch and its appropriateness. I believe that awareness is possibly one of the best plans of attack, knowing it exists and working with it sensibly. Taking physical steps to avoid touching any students is a pathway to alienation of not only student relations but also your personal approachability.
Just like drama being a ‘distinctive arts language with unique qualities and identifiable characteristics’[6], scripts contain unique elements that need to be deconstructed and translated. To incompetently assume that a student know the basic elements of a script, or for that matter the genre of a script, is dangerous to any lesson plan or classroom. Explaining the genre is a positive way to introduce elements of a script by introducing and developing key terminology such as dialogue or stage directions. Reading a script is all about making and uncovering the meaning, which has been encoded by the writer. We constructed meaning for our unallocated script that made sense; that is it created a structured narrative, which made meaning for us. What was quite interesting was the fact that other groups placed their characters with completely opposite dialogue to our group.
Thursday
13th January
Today
was a non-attendance day, however our advocacy poster group decided that it
would be a great opportunity to use the available drama workshop space. The
group consists of Jenny, Marika, Brandon and myself, and we started by
individually presenting thoughts on what and how we should create the poster. We
eventually created a design consisting of elements of everyone’s thoughts and
suggestions. Our main focus initially was on the aesthetic quality of the poster
and its impact with a potential reader. Some immediate problems resulted from
this initial attack mainly due to an unclear purpose or desired audience for the
poster.
We began to collaborate using concepts present in this unit to control and maintain our discussion. Looking for a ‘hook’ to grab readers’ attention we decided that the poster should be interactive, similar to drama itself. People learn in different ways and by attempting to communicate in multiply ways our poster should be able to converse to a larger audience. Our discussion used many concepts located in improvisation such as offering of ideas and the acceptance of suggestions if appropriate. Many ideas were workshopped and re-suggested, thus negotiating with the group’s consensus and not leaving anyone out. There were certain times at which Brandon was left out of the discussion, as a result Jenny made appropriate recognition of his suggestions and queried if he had any thoughts. I introduced the idea of each individual addressing the group to suggest possible skills they can offer (like the activity on Wednesday), thus allowing each person to talk for an uninterrupted period of time.
We have designed a poster to look like the proscenium arch stage in a theatre, and using this concept, have attempted to use the ‘stage’ to present information in the appropriate areas (downstage right, upstage left etc.). The poster will display an explosion chart that can help to instruct teachers on the benefits of implementing drama into their classroom environment. The poster will be interactive and hands-on, just like drama is designed to be.
I think this project is a great example of what you can have students in schools create. The task utilises many important outcomes that are present in the Curriculum Framework. Enhancing social skills for instance is vital for students to develop; furthermore the group took it upon themselves to collaborate independently of the class. Self-motivation is necessary to complete this task; therefore clear communication is essential for its success. At first our ideas flowed well, but they were mainly unconnected and off on tangents.
Like
in a classroom, we had to negotiate with everyone’s ideas and remain focused
on the job at hand. By approaching the poster design as if we were presenting a
classroom activity, we allowed the group to reflect upon some of the teaching
methods we have learnt and how to possibly implement them in our own studies.
The ‘hook’ we decided on was the need to introduce drama into schools,
mainly what drama teaching is, why do it, how, when and where. Our concept of
‘selling drama’ to teachers maintains the important elements of
improvisation; a purpose must be established, if not you’re just wasting the
reader’s time. Negotiating is also crucial, knowing when to let ideas go and
when to build upon them is important to identify. I’m starting to see drama
teaching as growing a tree rather than a scaffold, ideas and strategies are
constantly making you grow out on a variety of different branches, however you
must always return to the base to ensure that you remember the basic concepts
(watering and fertilising). Taking a couple of steps backwards to re-explain or
clarify is always important as it keeps everyone included in the discussion.
Strategies to gain focus or even re-establish focus enable students who fall
behind the opportunity catch up. By always reminding students of the purpose of
a lesson or even previous activities, they should feel included and therefore
sufficiently informed to participate.
I have found by using drama concepts, we are adapting and reflecting upon our recently acquired knowledge. By revisiting concepts we can develop a greater understanding of how they operate and their importance. Adapting skills into varying situations is a crucial to teaching. Modifying the same philosophy that is used to teach a drama class, and then in creating a poster allows us the opportunity to utilise and discover the approaches that work for us. Next time, however, we might save time if we attempt to define our audience first rather than last.
Friday
14th January
It was a great and informative class today, although physically exhausting. Once again, I enjoy the way in which the lesson begins. The music being played creates a positive mood, and the reminder to self-check-in is also repeated. The constant variation of methods attracts and sustains my attention, as I am a very visual and auditory individual. The class itself focused upon two areas of drama, voice and movement.
Liz Pascoe brought to light many crucial points in relation to voice. Being a teacher, and even in acting, your voice is important, therefore, you should know how to use it in the most effective and safe manner. A resonance exercise was used to demonstrate that clear ‘resonance equals maximum vocal impact for minimum physical effort’.[7] It was explained that we use our voices to communicate meaning and without it, meaning cannot be created as easily. ‘The Nostril Circuit’ offered a focus exercise that encouraged us to centre upon our breathing, our posture and our voice. To add, I found it important to note that the way Robin and Liz worked with each other in the teaching environment was cooperative; that is information was shared and the other expanded if necessary, such as constant reminders about posture. For movement, Laban’s theory of movement was presented in three distinctive manners. A verbal presentation of key elements helped to introduce us all to the theory, secondly a physical activity offered a hand-on presentation of each element. Finally the chart on the wall offered a way of demonstrating the effectiveness of the information by attempting to match the element to the movement.
We finished by identifying the elements that make a learning journal reflective. The parts of a journal that are reflective were explained, namely parts that ask questions, present beliefs, justify and set goals. The handout offered useful and important written assistance in order to improve my personal reflection.
One thing I am finding hard is the physical exhaustion I have felt far too regularly this week. Drama requires active participation, although it can also wear you out. As a teacher, it is important to pace your students’ involvement, while at the same time not over or under work them. I guess it’s a fine line to tread, how much is too much? I assume a variety of activities is necessary; with perhaps a week of study consisting of one half physical and hands-on learning and the other half theory or possibly written work. Our class today was a great example of both methods.
Focusing purely on voice work this morning was extremely important. The activities we completed today were not only useful, but also reinforced some vital safety issues. Teachers naturally worry about physical safety; yet fail to think of the voice as an instrument of equal importance. I found the warm-ups focusing primarily on voice work not only saved my energy but also enabled me to use my voice efficiently; resinate more and therefore use less voice. Last year in EGL308 Shakespeare, I undertook the role of Malvolio in an excerpt of the box hedge scene from ‘Twelfth Night’. Every time I completed the lonnnggg monologue, my voice was dry and sore. I knew I was not using it effectively but didn’t know how to fix it. In the future these basic exercises offer a manageable solution to not only improving the way I perform a role, but also the approach I have to teaching. I was truly not aware of the frightening statistics associated with teachers voice fatigue. In the area of movement, I found the information that was presented on Laban extremely interesting and the method used to teach the theory was equally as interesting. Multiple methods of teaching really work for me, in fact, looking back at my journal in E101 Introduction to Teaching, I wrote and also drew my concept of learning. I believed, and still believe, that teaching should present the same concepts in multiple ways. There is only one thing that I would add to that idea from today’s demonstration. Although the lesson presented Laban’s theory in different ways, each method progressed the group through the steps of reading, imitating and physically doing. Each method expanded and built upon our previous knowledge, finally relying on the whole group to work together, rather than letting us trying to work it out by ourselves without success.
In
the same vein, why didn’t we receive all the information about reflective
journals at the start of the unit? I guess it was to slowly work us through the
genre, finding out our mistakes and developing our own solution. Being told the
information at the beginning would not have taught us effectively. In addition,
we will ask our own students to write a journal so it is important to understand
the problems and anxieties that they might encounter. I need to understand their
possible problems in order to help them.
View other 'Drama and the Curriculum' journal entries...
Week One Week Two
...or view other journals...
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
Go to Children's Theatre: My Journal History Notice Board Your Work
Contact Andrew @ thechaseison@optusnet.com.au
This page last updated: 17th February 2006