Drama

The Why...

Everyone in education talks about technology, but they never really mean the kind of technology used in a drama classroom. There is a push to use technology from Google Classroom to D2L. When I say that I use technology in the form of lighting, sound, and stage design I'm often told that's not the type of technology that they mean. Next, educators are often encouraged to change the physical space of their classroom. I work in a room with no desks - that's already a different style of space. Since I'm already using technology that is considered to be unusual in a space that has no typical classroom furniture, this project offered me an opportunity to ask the following questions:

Is there a place in a drama class for traditional technology beyond performance purposes (i.e. laptop for script writing, video recording for production, etc.)? If students can design their space while using technology, will student engagement for theory components improve?

My Goals:

To increase student submissions for theory work, especially for students who are successful in active classes but still struggle with submitting written components (i.e. journals) using the S.A.M.R. model. The goal was to obtain the 'Modification' or 'Redefinition' phase of the model.
To give students personal ownership over their work which, in turn, may encourage them to complete the assignment.

My Influences...

Project Required Reading:

Ditch That Textbook - not a stellar read for me because I already work without a textbook.

Teach Like a Pirate - again, as a drama teacher, it's not uncommon to find us actually being pirates so this book didn't really offer anything new for me.

SAMR Model - I needed to become familiar with the SAMR Model. I found this both challenging and exciting to try to implement. It took some research, and a lot of thinking to determine how I was going to implement levels of the model.

Speaker's Corner - At the risk of aging myself, I remembered Citytv's 'Speaker's Corner'. Adding a little bit of imagination, I determined this would be an awesome way to conduct reflective thought for students.

The Action:

Note: My project looks a little different from the others who had 'straight' classrooms because I am already working in an unstructured space.
The first step was to purchase some more interesting equipment for students to create their space for Theatre's Corner. We purchased 2 ottomans, 1 bench, and 2 lounge/rocking chairs that sit at floor level.
The next step was ensuring all students had access to a recording device: laptop, phone, etc.
Finally, the slide show below is the lesson plan that I created to introduce the journal activity to the students.

Theatre's Corner

What Really Happened!

Students were super excited to do the project but I soon realized that it was too close to show time for them to focus on it.
This meant my numbers of submissions were not increased.
In discussing the task with the students, they all stated that it wasn't a matter of not wanting to do the task, but rather not being able to while also trying to prepare for opening night. (Anyone who produces shows will understand the madness in the 3 weeks leading to opening; especially when students only have 8 weeks to prepare for a 4 show run.)
Using the same students we talked after the show about important components of a show for them to reflect on. Check out 5 videos that were completed below. The first 2 videos are from the original assignment, while the last 3 are from the adapted version of the assignment. As a group we completed a thorough debrief. See those results in the 'Going Forward' section.

RehearsalJournalA.mp4

RehearsalJournalB

BeingPositive.avi

PlayingMultipleCharacters.mp4

Having a schedule for rehearsal .mp4

Going Forward:

Do not do this assignment two weeks before show night - students are too preoccupied.
Provide class time to complete the assignment instead of expecting them to do it on their own time. This will allow them to work on bullet point, and determine a loose script.
Provide time in a computer lab so they can upload and/or edit their work.
Discuss film production qualities for the location of the camera, and the importance of extra lighting.
Determine a specific length of time for the video recording. This will help students know the depth of learning that is expected.
Do not worry if you as teacher do not know about recording programs - the students will. Aside from knowing how to record a video on my phone, I had no idea about many of the programs students used. (This assignment was done by a senior class so many students were familiar with various recording programs. Those who were new to recording were helped by their peers.)

My Take-Away

Overall, students were really positive about this assignment. I think that it is definitely a viable way to have students take ownership over their work. Students loved the idea of being able to change the space for their 'corner' because they felt they had complete control over what their video journal content contained - even though they still had to fulfill the criteria that I had established. It also provides an opportunity for all students to be successful in demonstrating some of the theory components of the course without pen and paper. This is an assignment I would not have been able to accomplish when I began teaching (what seems like eons ago). In that way, I believe I met my goal of 'Modification' according to S.A.M.R. with the possibility of reaching 'Redefinition' in the future.

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