Drama in the Classroom!

I have always been a DRAMA QUEEN, and know I get to use that to enhance my teaching, How cool is that! I knew that I was going to love Creative Arts from the first second we started talking about the syllabus. I plan on having a very well rounded class room full of many teaching techniques and going at our learning from different angles. Drama is a fun way to loosen your class and open the flow for creativity. It will help your students get outside of their comfort zone, and work together in a fun way. I have learned that you have to ease into the theatrics. You can't just expect all your students to be comfortable with acting through learning. There are so many different types of people in this world and you as the teacher have to encompass each and every student in your learning and there will be times when drama isn't the most beneficial way to teach something. We use drama strategies to allow those students who like the limelight, to have a pathway that they can shine. Also for those students who are shy to get involved more actively in their learning. The old-school way of teaching is slowly changing and the integration of creative arts into the classroom is proving to change the end results of learning. Students are engaging different parts of their brain and getting a more well rounded way of learning.

I love that we start out every class with some sort of warm up that integrates what we are going to learn for the day. It is hard to explain how you learn to be a teacher, but it is through modeling and seeing good teaching practice, and that is what I feel we are learning in this class. I have written down in my arts journal all our warm ups and I plan on using them in my future classroom to introduce Drama to my students. Everyone is involved and we all work together and no one feels left out. That is true learning and it has bonded us as a class. I love the "follow the leader" activity we did, and I can't wait to try it out on a class someday. It is a great way to get your students out of their seats and working with their peers.

I think when people hear DRAMA- they get a little freaked out because they think that you can't learn while being dramatic. The word drama doesn't always have the best connotations and us as the teachers have to break that barrier with our students. Some of your older students will think that it is dumb or silly and wont want to participate but if you model it as a positive way of learning you will have wonderful results. Curriculum is our guideline of what we teach, but how we teach is the amazing autonomy that teachers have. I feel that you can integrate drama into every area of learning. You can make plays, and interviews about everything you are teaching. I can't imagine a funner way to teach writing, and math! You just have to change your beliefs on teaching and start thinking through a dramatic brain, then integrating drama into your classroom wont be so difficult!