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Reflecting on teaching
Theater Project (5-7 class periods)
The class theater project lesson continues to be one that my students and I enjoy. I am always pleased with the outcome of any project when there is a high level of student agency. This lesson allows students to work creatively on a piece of the project that they feel comfortable with. Because they are choosing the job that they wish to perform, the lesson fosters a creative outlet without students feeling like they are forced out of their comfort zone.
Every year I am impressed at the unintended consequences of this project. Students often learn as much about what kind of leader they are, how to meet deadlines, how to scale a large project down to be manageable in the short timeline given, and how to positively negotiate with one's peers. I often see students who are frustrated at the beginning of class, end the class with a successful solution to their issue. This is more than often resolved without any interference from me as their teacher! They often are able to work things out as a class and by respecting the other members of their "production team".
Something that really struck me as interesting this year was the surprise that the students expressed every 12 weeks towards the freedom that this project allows. Often students are bound by very strict guidelines and are given very specific directions and step by step procedures to follow. The basic principle behind this project is that every student knows that the outcome should be a good show by their class. However, it is up to each class and their student directors to make their own plan for success in this project. Even though most students are excited to set their own goals and learn the process of planning for success, some students tend to be quite stifled by this. They truly need someone to tell them step by step what to do in order to be effective. I think this has become an important part of the project, as someday these students are not going to have a teacher to plan for them - they will need to be able to set their own goals and do their own planning.
Suggestions for Improvement: Students score their class on a teacher made rubric. We tried having the students developed their own rubric, rather than using a teacher developed rubric. I would like to find other teachers that have tried student created rubrics to see how they have achieved this. it was very hard for some of our students to articulate outcomes for multiple scores.