Teaspoon of Light
It was really interesting to see how the use of the “cloth of dreams” was therapeutic to traumatised children. The imagination that the children developed within the video provided not only an outlet, but also a belief and hope. The use of drama, dance and arts in general within this particular setting allowed for the continued use of creativity, regardless of how strange it may have seemed. To me it shows that if in these circumstances the arts can be used in such an effective fashion, imagine the possibilities within our own classrooms. There was talk of “increased focus” for the children as the workshops continued, which shows a real benefit that can assist in all learning for students.
Drama – Part A
I really liked the warm up game - the evolution game/adaptation technique that was played within the case study (Sinclair, Jeanneret & O'Toole, 2012). To me it seemed like a perfect way to engage primary students into the drama workshop and also the animal characteristics of the characters within the book The Fox.
Another strategy that I felt appealed to me in providing more information and allowing students to understand the characters was Hot-Seating. This is strategy where the students interview the teacher, who takes on the character's persona. This aims to build up the students’ knowledge of the character. This is a technique I found in a website by David Farmer, which I will add to the toolkit (Farmer, 2013).
Conscience alley is a strategy that I also felt would fit within this workshop a primary setting. The whole class involvement, combined with brief sampling characters role-playing and then the persuasiveness required in character would be a great way for students to embrace their imagination and creativity.
Finally I would like to see their interpretations of another scenario through an actual Role-Play of a setting within the book. I feel this is where students can release themselves from worries and pressures and enter a world of imagination through their creative nature to help them develop understanding.
Drama – Part B
I’d never considered how the use of drama could be used in a Mathematics lesson. I have used Role-Play in Science before in my PE3 and saw benefits but not in the way it was executed in this video. It was great to see how the different techniques, like the "teacher in role" and how it could be used in practice. To start off with I thought there was a lot of drama and very little Maths, however the video continued I saw how they transitioned into a real mathematical problem. The students were engaged from the beginning and the motivation continued all the way through the lesson, I have definitely taken a lot out of this to hopefully put into practice.
Finally, I found after reading the Making, Presenting and Responding section within the text it gave me a more structured view to understanding the process involved. For example, I see the use of the initial games like the Dog, Bird and Fox game as drawing on aspects of “making” as outlined in Education in the Arts (Sinclair, Jeanneret & O'Toole, 2012). This gives me more confidence in structuring/incorporating a drama lesson within a classroom environment.
Tool Kit: Drama
This website was really useful in regard to strategies, however it also had planning ideas and was easy to follow.
References
Farmer, D. (2013). Drama Resource - Creative Ideas for Teaching Drama. Retrieved from http://dramaresource.com/
Sinclair, C., Jeanneret, N., & O’Toole, J. (2012). Education in the arts: Teaching and learning in the contemporary curriculum. South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press.
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