I honestly learned quite a bit through those drama exercises. The group drama exercises, surprisingly, encouraged teamwork and togetherness. We all had to work together to make a machine work, with the parts, and sounds. We also had to figure out angles and each do our own. It brought us together as a class as well. Who knew drama could encourage togetherness and unity? The pair exercises were fun, as well. It encouraged leadership with those less inclined to lead under normal circumstances, and for those less inclined to follow, it helped them understand what that felt like. All this, while still, encouraging unity - they had to be cautious not to go to fast and follow one another - be considerate. It was also fun. Even the ones we did with the book projects were fun! I never thought about using drama in my classroom before, but now, I would use it everyday!
I would probably start on a larger scale and move down to more individual performance, simply to broaden my students' comfort zones. I'd use class and group games, such as the following circle, with one person performing movement and the rest follow while someone guesses who the leader is. The machine builder, as a group and as a class, would be fun. I would then move to pairs, with freeze frames, where the partners work together to portray an event in a photo. Then I would move to sculpting and the leading games, where one partner is in charge. From there, I would probably start the ABC story telling, where we create a story as a class with individual additions from each student, giving them each a chance to stand out. Then we could move on to individual performances and hopefully, by then, they would feel more comfortable performing for the class. I think a process for progression, confidence, and unity can be built by drama, and I hope to encourage that among my students.
Though I did not realize this before, drama is needed among students. It is needed because it encourages confidence and public speaking/performing abilities. Unity is encouraged and strengthened through working together as a group to make something work. A little competition is encouraged in a positive way, while also encouraging working with a group. A class can be unified through drama. It allows them to work together to make something fun and meaningful. Drama involves many learning styles, thus making the activity more engaging to more students and more memorable for later cognitive recall. By integrating drama into other curricular areas, students will be able to remember the concepts more easily. By acting out a concept or conversing over a piece of information, students have something to refer back to, in story form, which is so much more easily remembered. Drama creates emotion, which enables memory. It is a great tool that will most definitely be used in my future classrooms!
The group project was fun and we got along well. By tying drama in with a book, the book will be more memorable. Concepts from the book are more real when we act it out, or do something that ties in with it. I learned to use props from other group presentations. I also learned, being animated helps engage your students more. It is important to include a little drama in your teaching!
