Week 4 Reflection

Week 4 Reflection: Continuing Drama Techniques and Story Creation

This week’s focus was on continuing our storytelling activities and reflecting on the roles of storyteller, facilitator, and teacher. We were asked to explore these roles more deeply, and I found the discussion particularly insightful. The presentation about what it means to be a storyteller, facilitator, and teacher helped clarify these roles. Storytelling is not just about telling a story but engaging children in a creative process that encourages them to think critically, imagine, and express themselves. As a facilitator, I will need to create an environment that allows for these kinds of explorations, where children feel free to share their own stories and ideas. 

Editing our stories was a great exercise. It made me realize that sometimes stories need adjustments to make them better. As a teacher, I will need to be flexible and ready to make changes when something is not working. This also helped me think about how children might need guidance when telling their own stories, especially when they are figuring out how to communicate their ideas clearly.

In the Childhood Studies Core class, we continued to focus on shared reading and reading aloud. One interesting connection I made between the two classes is how both drama and reading aloud rely on engaging children’s imagination. When we tell stories in drama, we are asking children to picture and create mental images. Similarly, when we read aloud to children, we are inviting them to imagine the scenes and characters in the book. Both strategies enhance the child’s cognitive and emotional development. 

This week reinforced how important it is to make sure the storytelling is engaging and clear for the kids. Drama activities like this one will be a great way to encourage children to be creative and confident storytellers.