Entry 9

Before I start this entry, I would like to invite you to watch this video:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng7ZcGSubp8

This is a scene from the end of our ensemble piece

What strikes me the most of this piece is how we worked together in smooth transition without looking at each other and knowing exactly where we all were. This showed that we had developed a sense of understanding and trust with each other and this is how I want students who finish their times learning drama to feel with each other. On top of developing understanding,skills and theoretical understanding, students can also have fun and gain some skills beyond what is required. 

Life skills.

Trust, teamwork,self awareness, and other forms of personal developments can come through an effective Drama process. As teachers we should strive for that as it does in a way tie in with what the syllabus and curriculum wants.There are no clashes..

To end,

I felt that my role in this group process allowed me to mature as a performer..

As a scriptwriter I learnt to take in more views and accept the realities and constraints that bind me. I also learnt to take in new views. I managed to do up my script from the original to the more focused version after communicating with my fellow actors and understanding the limitations involved. Now looking back at the original script I came up with I see the vast difference and changes I made with the help of my peers which streamlined the script and made it better in my opinion. Here is a sample of my initial script (Click on link directly below):

Initial script (MRT scene)

I also learnt to enjoy what I did. When I started the play i took on roles like coming out with the track for the first dance item and editting it accordingly and finding and trimming Ministerial Videos to better our performance. I did not feel bothered by it as I was excited about it. 

I learnt that rehearsing is crucial and with more rehearsals one is bound to do well in a performance. As I took two major roles in the performance I was careful to rehearse every opportunity I got and to carry my rehearsals through to when I went home. This allowed me to develop my character and explore it better and find new angles and also better the character if I possibly could.

Lastly, during the performance I realized the importance of proper warm ups. During the performance I felt my energy level could have been better and I also found myself to be thinking too much while in role. A good warm up would have helped and it is something I will keep in mind for future performances.

Thanks and I hope you enjoyed this ACU 321 journey as much as I did..

Entry 8 part 2

Beyond what I think, I also collected some feedback from my group members:

Group Interview (Facebook)

On top of what I have mentioned in part 1, i gained new insights from their perspectives.

1.Devising
 This is something that I noticed but my group members did as well. One of the main problems we had initially in getting our work done fast was the time we spent chatting and scripting without movement. Once we got into the space and moved through our piece, however, the devising process gained momentum. If we had realized this earlier and before Prue had told us, we might even have saved time and could have further developed our play better.

As mentioned earlier, the students undertaking "O" level drama are required to do their prelims, the devising for their stimuli and their other coursework developing in a short space of time. This does not leave them with much time. This can be problematic. Thus, using this approach in getting students to devise may be effective especially for their stimuli pieces which are not accessed for the performance aspect. It saves time and get students moving along faster in a stressful period.

2.Focus and proper research

No role can be handled without proper research. Our group took time to look out for materials and videos online to mould our characters. This was highlighted by Faeza. She also highlighted how we worked hard to brainstorm. We did well when brainstorming as we were focused on the task at hand. We did have some fun from time to time but when it was time to sit down and work we did it together and that helped us progress.

Students can go out and do further research for their roles. In fact, in my recent practicum stint, I caught a glimpse of students using their Smartphones (with the teacher's permission of course) to find out more of a certain disease they wanted to do a performance on. This allowed them to come out with a logical and well thought off piece. Focus is a problem with Secondary school students. They tend to get sidetracked and do not stay serious. There are times where they may distract each other or go off topic. This is common in a Secondary school setting. Teachers must motivate them and maybe conduct focus exercises and breathing exercises before lessons to get students settled in and in the right frame of mind to be focused and work.

As a group the fact that we are still in touch is also something of great value and it shows that we worked well and came out of it as friends and with a good understanding and respect for each other.

Entry 8 Part 1

Through the Ensemble devising, I managed to learn more about Group Dynamics:

1.The importance of a good rapport:

This was rather important as it was because we all worked so well that our piece was a success. There needs to be a good level of understanding amongst members. In my previous work, there were times where there were clashes with members over ideas but i found out that such clashes only hinder the process.

Thus, in a classroom setting, it is vital for me to get students to work well together when they are working on their Group pieces for Coursework (O levels) or when they have group projects to do (Lower Secondary). The methods of doing so that i identified is through listening to everyone's views and being tactful when dismissing or rebutting their views. It is also important to emphasize teamwork where the Strong-headed members of group are not encouraged to make all the decisions. Instead, everyone has to be involved in the thought process. I would agree that it is hard to achieve this as a teacher but with tuning into discussions in classroom hours, I can get a sense of what is going on. Also building a teacher-student rapport is crucial as it gets me to understand the character traits of students to see how they function in a group. Also, as mentioned earlier, I must prevent fights or attempt to solve misunderstandings if need be.


2. Technology

As I mentioned earlier, the use of technology was done by our group through the usage of facebook. I found this useful. Here is the journey we took and my feelings and thoughts over why I would translate this to a classroom setting (click on link directly below):

Our Facebook Journey and reactions

3.Constant questioning

I did say that I did not want clashes or misunderstandings in the groups but i would want to encourage constant inquiry. One of the reasons why I felt my group worked well with each other is due to the constant questioning process of our group where we asked each other questions and conversed freely amongst each other. We did not hold back our questions to prevent it from become an issue in the future.

As a teacher, I would have to encourage students to question their own work and their peers' contribution. After all, they need to tie up any confusions or doubts they have as, at the end of the day,they will need to retain this knowledge for their Written Examinations. As a teacher, if I do not see questions being asked I will trigger it off by asking questions by myself. In a sense, I am using a democratic classroom management approach where there is "multiple perspectives being taken in" as mentioned by Edwards (2011) in his book on effective classroom management. With my questioning and the polite way i phrase my questions, other members of the group may follow suit and continue the questioning process long after I have left the group of students. That said, this may not always happen and politeness is subjective so constant monitoring is a must and also basic etiquette, manners and class rules must be properly defined to prevent the questioning process from getting heated up. Students must also approach lessons with an open-mind.

4.Audience Awareness

Another realization I developed is the need to understand the Audience's point of view when devising. Everyone should take turns directing a piece. In that way, multiple points of views can be developed and the case will rarely arise when the audience do not have a bearing of what the play has set out to achieve

In a classroom, it is vital for students to perform in front of the teacher and their peers for evaluation en route to their final product. This helps them to see some loose ends that they may not have realized.




5.Understanding the Elements of Drama

Lastly, there is a need to understand the Elements of Drama. As I have mentioned in my previous post, a good understanding will allow for some elements to start emerging in our piece when we start devising.

Sometimes students are lost in their devising process and it is vital that they understand the facets of Elements of Drama to help them get through. I mentioned how my ensemble group subconsciously played around with mood and atmosphere through music. The same way I hope that students will end up doing the same. They can develop a realization of this later on when they question their process. With good Elements of Drama knowledge, they will be able to start putting in elements into their performance like as if it were second nature, thus enhancing it further. This can only happen if they have good knowledge and understanding of the elements.

There is a chance that as a teacher, I will not have enough time to drill the concepts in fully. Thus, I must keep the students paying attention to particular aspects of their performances where they may improve and give them prompts like "How would you symbolize this better?" etc.. I would however want them getting the knowledge and concepts in well as it is vital for their examinations as I have mentioned before.



References:
Edwards, Clifford H., and Vivienne Joy Watts. "Democratic Classroom Approach." Classroom discipline & management. 5th ed. Milton, Qld.: John Wiley & Sons, 2011. 124-142. Print.

Entry 7 part 2

I decided, after the performance, to look back at the piece to look out for some elements of drama in our piece. I managed to find several which I have highlighted at the end of this Script of our final performance (click on link directly below and see the last page):

The script and the Elements of Drama seen

I realized that consciously and subconsciously we were infusing Elements of Drama into our piece.

Along the way, we always made decisions to incorporate new things into our piece taking cue from what we knew about the elements of drama. That prior knowledge helped to shape our thinking and allowed us to rationalized what we were doing to our piece. For instance, the use of the music in the maid scene, contributed to the mood of the scene and allowed for a contrast of emotions between the comical melodramatic scene and the serious love song. This allowed the humour element to come through stronger and also set the context for the scene. We were influencing the mood without even talking about it. We knew what we were doing but we only found a label for it after the performance and after we had devised.

For the next post, I will explore what I have seen in this entry and link it back to how it has influenced me as a performer and how I feel i will translate this into a classroom.

Entry 7 part 1

Now i shall move on to the next part of this package which would be the Group performance task.
Before I start on that, let me first tell you the story of how our group negotiated our Ensemble piece, The story goes something like this:

CLICK HERE FOR THE STORY!!!

(https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0ARC5rVSbLPmZZGh3Y3NmOV8wZ204N3FmaGo)

Our process of making our ensemble piece went rather smoothly. However, at the start of it all we were rather cautious and not very comfortable with each other as some of us were collaborating for the first time. For me and Owen, this was not the first time we were working together. At our first meeting, whilst brainstorming for ideas, I noticed that we were all trying to get a sense of what each other was like. We were trying to hear views from everyone and trying our best to see the different work styles of each other. This was obvious as there were many times where we were saying "What do you guys think?" We were trying to gain acceptance with each other in the group while the more strong-headed members tried getting their voices across.

As we continued devising, we grew more and more comfortable. We would take in everyone's view and reject any view we saw as not right, collectively. We had a thought process together. We all decided to take charge of one aspect of our script and we went back and devised it accordingly. Our initial aim was to have a script that was fragmanted and non-linear with no fixed storyline but a clear message. We, thus, wrote our respective pieces. I was in charge of the MRT scene. We then came together and read through the script and made changes accordingly. My script was a bit too long and was shortened down when we decided to do a way with a bit I had initially proposed with regards to a gameshow happening on stage.Everyone brought out their opinions and views with regards to the piece. I found myself questioning other people's scripts while I saw my script being questioned as well. We handled this queries and proceeded from there.

We then allocated roles in accordance to our abilities. I was chosen and agreed to be the Indian Foreign worker as I felt that I could relate better to it and write the script as close as possible to it.There were confusions with roles such as the Newscasters so we all had our turn in trying to be one. We then found some of our members to be very good Newscasters and they stuck to the role. Thus, we were tapping on our strengths.

When we got down to devising, the MRT scene went about easily but the Maid scene was one of problem. I found myself constantly consulting my peers with my role as it went from me talking in English similar to that of the actors from the movie "Titanic" to talking in an Indian accent. I got feedback from my peers for this and this helped me out in deciding which to choose.

A major occurrence in our piece happened when Prue came to watch our piece. We realized that in our bid to come across as fragmented and non-linear in our presentation, we had a rather messy piece. The fact that both the MRT and maid scene did not link became an issue. We were rather concerned and devised through it. For this, we did not re-write the script. Instead, me and Faeza went through the scene trying out new lines and scenarios while taking feedback from our peers. We managed to devise a piece extremely fast. We began to understand why Prue told us "not to worry about it" and that "it would come". It was indeed through devising that we explored our characters more and coupled with some further research we managed to get the scene going further.It was clear however, that we initially did not pay attention to the audience perspective and also to Characterization. After we did them both, we managed to get a clear direction and understanding of our role and our piece, we felt became clearer.

For me, however, I felt that the piece could have more improvements and time constraints did prove a hindrance to our process. Also, it was hard to get everyone together to rehearse due to struggles finding rehearsal places.We had to make compromises like staying in school to late to further our devising as well just like other groups. It was, thus, vital that we all could get along well for us to work well together.

I also noticed that there were some strong-headed members in the group who did not respond well to us not accepting their views. Thus, as a unit, we tend to open all our decisions to everyone else to come to compromises effectively.

Entry 6 Part 2

A look at Assessment through Nicholson and Kempe

To end this entry, I also want to look at assessment and the problems in assessment in Drama.

There has been an ongoing debate on whether or not Drama should be appreciated for the progress it gets out of people or just plainly for the final performance that the Drama leads up to. For me, it is the right mix of both.
Some forms of assessment i will be looking for will be formative and some summative.

I will look at what Nicholson and Kempe (2007) call Assessment for Learning in my classroom. Students in classrooms sometimes tend to struggle to reflect on their own work beyond the classroom. In drama where there will be games played, we may see students not being interested in anything else but the "fun" aspect of Drama. What is the point of students enjoying a lesson if they take nothing away? Assessment for Learning requires the "use of peer/self-assessment to identify own strengths and areas for development" (Nicholson and Kempe,2007). On top of these,Nicholson and Kempe also suggest sharing lesson objectives with students and gaining their feedback. This helps me monitor their understanding while ensuring that students know what is going on in the classroom and how it impacts them. Based on my Practicum experience, I noticed how the teacher clearly specified the objectives at the start of the semester and illicits feedback. This, however, is more challenging for weaker students. The weaker students do not respond well went we try to gain feedback. Thus, we look at things like Journals with prompt questions provided weekly to help gain the students' feedback. With good prompting, students can improve and provide better feedback.

It is no secret that we, in Singapore, are currently in the Criterion-referenced (Nicholson and Kempe,2007) mode of assessment in Secondary level where the assessments are set beforehand and expectancies are laid out. However, beyond this, there are other forms of assessment like feedback and teacher's observations. This is classified other formative assessment by Nicholson and Kempe. In a Singapore classroom, giving students marks for class participation could be handy in getting the quieter students to participate in the lesson. It would be unfair for a teacher to assess based on his/her own observation especially if he does not stay with the class through the whole year. If he does, however, it is inevitable that that would also play a part in his assessment of the student. The use of a base assessment as prescribed by Nicholson and Kempe may also come in useful in seeing where the student is at the start of the semester so that a good comparison can be done with what he has achieved at the end of the semester, and allow a teacher to properly gauge a student through his observation on class participation.

I will try to award marks to students that i feel meet the criteria effectively and also through formative assessment, show the most effort. There must also be a common consensus that is well developed amongst all the Drama teachers in the school pertaining to the rubrics so that every student is properly assessed.

Striking a balance between measuring the end product and development might be tough, but it is attainable.

References:

Kempe, A., & Nicholson, H. (2007). 5. Learning to teach drama 11-18 (2nd ed., pp. 122-154). London: Continuum.

Entry 6 Part 1

For this entry, I want to explore how the O level final paper is set out for the students. We can draw links to the O level paper and what is bring thought in the Elements of Drama.

Students will be asked questions in their exams like "What technical aspects (lighting,costume,make up) did you use to create an appropriate atmosphere in the piece XXX?" or "Identify 3 aspects of the character of Mr. X and how would you show this in your performance?"

This questions are very much linked to two aspects of Elements of Drama which are mood, space and place as well as role and relationships. The O level paper promises questions such as this based on Characterisation, spatial awareness, tension and other features. Thus, understanding the different Elements of Drama and what they do to a play help students through this questions..

Entry 5 part 2

Entry 5 marks my last visit to the Elements of Drama. I chose to highlight the elements that I felt was vital to students' understanding of drama and which needed scrutinizing. On top of that, however, I will not be forsaking the other elements of Drama as listed by practitioners like O'Toole in Dramawise. I believe firmly in teaching Role and relationship,movement and language to the students as well. I have highlighted some drama games pertaining to role and relationships in the first entry which would be great entry points for all drama lessons especially those in the Lower Secondary. Movement and language, however, are ever present lessons in class as I will explain in the podcast below. With all these elements, i believe students will be well equipped with the basic applications of the elements. Understanding these are vital as I will mention in my next few entries, the O level Drama syllabus' written paper requires student to be competent in identifying these elements and go beyond that and examine their overall effect.

On top of that, these elements also help Lower Secondary students have a basic idea of what Drama is and when we infuse them in our lessons, their understandings are heightened and they have a stronger sense of what Drama is.

So here is the last podcast on the Elements of Drama and their classroom use:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlgkDHSzKzo

Entry 5 Part 1

The Element of Drama I will be approaching next, and the last one that I will look at in detail, is that of the usage of Symbols in Drama. As seen from the slides below, I highlight some aspects of symbolism from my group's ensemble piece. We had a clear direction as to what we wanted to do for the piece and all of our symbols were well placed to bring out the overall meaning of the play. In the same way, I would want students in my class to be able to understand the usage of symbols in their play and understand the significance of it at the same time. In our recent stint to CHIJ St. Nick's we saw performances from Secondary 3 students where they used a lot of symbolism to negotiate their texts. They found the symbols to be an effective way in bringing out the overall meaning of their text.

(If slides don't appear below please click on the following link: https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0ARC5rVSbLPmZZGh3Y3NmOV8xMmZiYzloOWdm )

Entry 4 Part 2

 As i approach the end of my exploration of Elements of Drama in the classroom, I have to start looking at lesson planning which was also covered in class..

The link below labeled "Lesson plan Newspaper", leads to the "Curriculum Times", a newspaper editted by me on the expected things to look out when planning a Drama lesson in the classroom (Please click on link directly below):

 

Lesson plan Newspaper

Entry 4 Part 1

Taking cue from last week's podcast and thoughts on Focus, this week i will explore more on space and place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPEJJA_-p0g

Teaching Space/Place in a Singapore Classroom

           

     One of the things that can be done is to give students a certain setting and ask them, to recreate the setting on stage. They can do this in various groups and they can explore their different interpretations and manipulations of the space to achieve the setting. They should also be equipped with basic technical knowledge on how to work the lighting and sound in the space given to them. Most drama schools in Singapore will have their own Drama rooms. It is vital for them to understand how they can transform the room to the liking of their own plays. This will also do them good during the recordings for the “O” level examination submissions when they reach Secondary 4, should they decide to major in Drama for their “O” levels.

Also, students must know why they choose that particular piece of staging and why the use of certain lightings or set design? There must be a reason set for it as “many settings carry with them very strong associations” (Hoseman & O’Toole, 1986) which will be conveyed to the audience. Students must be able to understand this and provide an adequate rationale for their choices

Challenges

             

   From my experience during my practicum in a school offering drama, I noticed that there were many limitations to the spaces on offer. The drama rooms did not have that many facilities that one would expect from a Drama space. Students are limited. Thus, students must work on their envisioning skills to transform the space creatively. Furthermore, from my recent visit to CHIJ St Nick’s, I learnt that the requirement for an overly elaborate set is not there. Thus, students should only need to know the basic technical skills and as a teacher we should not dwell too much on it.

                Students also tend to get carried away and start making up settings that do not tie in well with the demands of a scene or act. They may even stray off course and allow the constraints of the space to block their progress in developing a good setting via the space. It is vital for students to stay focused here and also think critically about every set design and usage of space onstage. They cannot deviate from their requirements. Teachers must monitor this closely as students are often susceptible to such things.

Reference:

Haseman, B., & Toole, J. (1986). 4. Dramawise: an introduction to the elements of drama (pp. 52-60). Richmond, Vic.: Heinemann Educational Australia.

Entry 3 part 2

Teaching Focus/Place/space and in a Singaporean Classroom

                As I showed from the video, one of the ways of teaching focus to students is to get them to act out a scene from different perspectives. For this exercise, I will use scenes that are synonymous with the Singaporean context. For instance, using scenes like in a Singaporean hawker centre, MRT train, bus stop or a HDB block of flats may be relatable for the students and they will be able to devise it faster. It can also allow them to critically assess the characters involved. For instance, taking cue from my group’s ensemble piece, while removing the “foreign talent” aspect of it, I can actually get students to enact a scene where there are characters like an old man trying to get a sit from a younger passenger, someone observing them from a far and a news reporter. I will then ask the students to guess which part of the focus of the scene they were. On top of this, we are also exploring some Singaporean Social issues and students begin to see different perspectives and are encouraged to wonder how to negotiate the scene. A questioning process can be conducted after this scene is enacted to get the students to think about how the issues in the scene can be negotiated. The responses from the students can be recorded in journals and this helps to shape them as 21^st century concerned citizens with greater social awareness. A forum theatre understanding may also be developed through this as the format is similar (though there is no acting involved to remedy the situation here) and in the future, this serves as an entry point into venturing into that just to beef up the student’s knowledge on a dramatic style and technique which is part of the Drama O level syllabus.

                Another aspect of focus is the focus in constructing Drama. This is a crucial aspect in the classroom setting as based on my experience during my practicum as students tend to get sidetracked, distracted or restless during lessons and while devising. One of the methods that can be used to teach them focus would be to get a student to lead another using the palm of his/her hand. The other student follows the palm and focuses on it, blocking off any other distractions. This allows the student to understand how good focus allows them to follow through the task at hand and also this helps the students’ relationships and they build trust from this game.

Challenges

                The lesson on focus is a bit tricky as the various angles of focus may be hard for the students to decipher. Thus, it is crucial that before they go into practicing the different angles of focus that they understand it well.  The Normal Academic and Normal technical students may not be able to critically analyze the scenes they depict so I will concentrate more on getting the technical aspects of focus right. Their lower abilities mean that they may struggle to move further on in the lesson so I must take that into consideration and maybe just add some guiding questions along the way for them to identify the rights and wrongs. Also, using a questioning process where students sit down and discuss the issues together may also not work if it takes too long. As identified by David Hornbrook in Education and Dramatic Art, Pupils who enter a drama lesson do not want to spend long periods of time locked in discussion (Hornbrook,2002) . From my previous observations during practicum I find that to be especially true as students tend to get very restless if left sitting on the floor and in discussion for too long. Thus, if my discussions span too long, I should avoid them or do something else like making students discuss in role where they stay in character and exchange perspectives. For the lower Secondary students, I must also be aware that the aim of the lesson would be to teach the students about focus so I will not overtly dwell on issues that invite a lengthy discussion. I will concentrate my effort on showing them the different outlooks of a piece and how it affects it.

References:

Hornbrook, D. (2002). 2 The Players: Dorothy, Gavin and the New Muggletonians. Education and dramatic art (Taylor & Francis e-Library ed., pp. 17-28). New York: Routledge.

Entry 3 Part 1

For this post, I have explored the Element of Focus and how I will teach it in a classroom. For more understanding of the idea of focus and place. I have came out with this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyuhK90ihlY



This video will help in my lesson for the student which will be explained further in this podcast::

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjmNgSjl96U

Entry 2 Part 2

Teaching Dramatic tension in Singaporean classroom

As mentioned in the podcast, there are several ways for us to teach the 4 aspects of Dramatic tension in the classroom. However, as I have mentioned in the first week, there needs to be more done than just the learning outcome of their ability to identify and perform a certain kind of tension. We must infuse some personal development in the students as well. So, for instance, in a game like “Grandmother’s footsteps” to teach them about the tension of surprise, I could make variations of it like giving students roles as they approach to “Grandmother” so that they have a sense of role-playing and character development even, through this exercise. I can also give the more timid students or less outspoken students a chance to take centre stage and become the “Grandmother” to get them feeling confident and be immersed in the lesson, hopefully allowing them to gain some confidence in the process.

Possible challenges

                As I go about teaching Dramatic tension in class, I must be vary of the fact that there are many games from which students need to trust each other and, thus, I must be involved in the student’s learning process and guide them carefully through the game to prevent any clashes amongst themselves or cheating. One thing I could do is, as mentioned by Toole, Stinson and Moore (2009) in Drama and Curriculum, making myself a “teacher-in-role” and getting involved in the roles students play (Caroll,1980 ).  Some games like those that require blindfolds may be difficult for some students and some may even struggle to grasp the concepts brought about by these games. Thus, scaffolding carefully is of the upmost importance. I cannot assume students will gain the knowledge based only on the games and if I feel that students cannot get the concepts (especially the NA and NT students), I must add variations and simplify the games. I will not be able to cover all the aspects on Dramatic tension in one lesson as it would be too heavy on the students so I will need to plan this out to ensure that it spans at least 2-3 weeks so that students effectively grasp the differences in the concepts and have a clear understanding.

References:

Toole, J., Stinson, M., & Moore, T. (2009). Drama and Language. Drama and curriculum a

giant at the door (p. 51). Dordrecht: Springer.

Entry 2 Part 1

For this entry, I will be concentrating on the Element of Drama of Dramatic Tension and how I will negotiate it in the classroom. This is my second podcast where I will look at Dramatic Tension and how it can translate into a classroom setting..

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XX2d1XmVAU

Here are some supplementary materials that helped shape my understanding as Dramatic tension can be hard to define...

Defining Dramatic tension

Definition of tension (courtesy: thefreedictionary.com):

3.

a. Mental, emotional, or nervous strain: working under great tension to make a deadline.

b. Barely controlled hostility or a strained relationship between people or groups: the dangerous tension between opposing military powers.

4. A balanced relation between strongly opposing elements: "the continuing, and essential, tension between two of the three branches of government, judicial and legislative" (Haynes Johnson).

5. The interplay of conflicting elements in a piece of literature, especially a poem.

Dramatic tension would arise in fusing these human tensions in the platform of Drama. From the definition above, we see how the four different aspects of Dramatic Tensions were derived. 3(a) effectively shows us where tension of the task stems from with the mental emotional and nervous strain. 3(b) on the other hand shows a slightly different definition that brings about the idea of tension in relationships as there is hostility involved between two characters.

Tension of Mystery and tension of surprise is not well in thefreedictionary’s definition but when we look at 

Merriem- Webster’s definition we get the following:

a: inner striving, unrest, or imbalance often with physiological indication of emotion

b : a state of latent hostility or opposition between individuals or groups

c : a balance maintained in an artistic work between opposing forces or elements

Definition (a) shows the feelings that may accompany the tensions of mystery and surprise. The unrest is developed in mysteries as there are a lot of unanswered questions that the character needs answers to. There is an inner striving that needs to be involved as well as if the character in the play is not motivated to solve the mystery, the tension is not vividly created. The definition of imbalance works better when there is tension of surprise as there is something present in a given scenario that threatens to offset or change the direction of the play.

From these actual dictionary definitions, we see how the Dramatic tensions were possibly derived. As there are many definitions of the term “tension” (since it is associated as a feeling that cannot be easily quantified, at times), there is a need four the four portions of Dramatic Tension to be equally looked at. As a teacher, many a time, I may actually end up focusing more on the most blatant form of tensions which is tension of mystery and relationships. This would not work well for the student’s understanding as he/she may only associate tension with these two scenarios. I must take into considerations the other forms of tension and also be open to the fact that this may not be an exhaustive list of the different kinds of dramatic tensions that may be encountered. The main objective would be to allow the students to feel and understand the idea of tension so that they grasp a deeper and proper understanding of it.

It is important to note that Tension is an integral part of any Dramatic performance as it feeds on the idea of conflict which is the essence of a piece of Drama. Every Play should come with a conflict in order to get the plot further.

References:

Haseman, B., & Toole, J. (1986). 2. Dramawise: an introduction to the elements of drama (pp. 18-33). Richmond, Vic.: Heinemann Educational Australia.

Hornbrook, D. (2002). Drama and Education. On the subject of drama (Taylor & Francis e-Library ed., pp. 6-18). London: Routledge.

Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. (n.d.). Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. September, 2011, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/


Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary. Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary. Retrieved November 15, 2011, from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

Entry 1 Part 2

I also have a podcast from youtube!!!.. Throughout the course of this reflections I will be expressing myself through this podcasts and other mediums. This is the first of many and it includes my thoughts on certain concerns of drama approaching the module as well as some of my prior knowledge and feelings..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zptabfMLHRo

Entry 1 Part 1

The Self Interview: This includes the thought process before entering the module proper on the first week and also some of my takeaways...

Introduction:  Elements of Drama

A “Self-Interview”

What is Drama?

Many of us in the class saw Drama as a performance based project. The basic elements as listed down for us were; the Role (Motivations- attitudes, status and purpose), Dramatic Tension, Focus, Place/Space, Time, Movement, Language, Symbols (Semiotics etc...) and Moods. However, many of us initially saw it in different light.

The vast array of possibilities that Drama holds for everyone was uncovered today. To me, I looked at Drama as a form of escapism and a breakaway from the normal life we lead. We get a sense of a different life and gain a new perspective through Drama. After all, one may argue that Drama can depict life and can act as a form of mimesis of our realities. It can also reshape it for us through active imagination.

It can also be seen as a form of therapy as well. For instance, new perspective gives better understanding. A man who has anger issues can look at the victims of his anger through drama and be in the position to understand the feelings and pains from his anger. He may realize the effect of his anger in a more emotional level and this could be a way to cure his anger eventually.

How do we see Drama in the Curriculum?

As beginning teachers, we have various opinions on what we expected out of Drama as an Academic subject. For me, one of the biggest things I will be hoping to gain a fresh perspective on is the grading process of Drama. Should the process be treated equally to the end product or the output? For instance, Taking levels from 1-10, level 10 representing a great performer and level 1 a weaker performer. If we start our first day of lesson with student A at level 7 and student B at level 3, we immediately can identify the stronger student. However, if student A stagnates at 7 by the end of the semester while student B moves over to level 6, how then should they be assessed? Should there be more weightage given to the process rather than the end product (final end of semester performance)?

As educators we would want both students to be treated fairly in grading and ideally show significant progress in the subject. The first aim would be to ensure no student stagnates but, beyond that, the idea of assessment must also be a well thought of process.

Also, we have to look at what we want to achieve when we teach Drama. Many a time Drama is used in schools as a vehicle to impart knowledge on the world as well as moral behavior. We have to make our students all rounded performers, as well, beyond just being good actors. They must understand that every play may have a certain degree of significance and is performed for a reason. They must be able to accurately grasp that and portray the significance to the audience.

How do I create an effective entry point into Drama lessons?

We went through various games in class like “Grandmother’s footsteps” and unconventional older games like “Pepsi Cola” and we looked at them as possibilities of being good warm up games or teaching tools for Drama lessons. The context of the lesson must be considered before we decide on a game. The lesson must effectively flow after the game. For instance, we cannot possibly play a static game if the lesson is going to be based on movement. We also can explore different levels within a game. For instance for a game like Grandmother’s footsteps, the students may first walk towards the “Grandmother” normally for the first part of the game. They can then try exploring three different levels as they play it a second time. Lastly, the can try experimenting with levels as well as facial expressions when they freeze. This allows them to gain an awareness of levels in Drama and also how they can take cues effectively. Every game can serve as a platform from which we can up the ante and create new levels for students to explore within it.

What is the significance of the following games to you?

1.       Warm up games

Some of the games played here included “Pepsi Cola” and the British Street Games. They were great in generating energy and getting us ready for the lesson. Since they were movement based it also served to warm up the body. More importantly, the games were fun and this would raise the spirits of the class coming into the lesson. This is crucial in getting the students to be ready for participation as the lesson goes on.

2.       Role playing games (acting as Principal and Child etc...)

These games, for me, were very strong in letting me identify various viewpoints within a piece of drama. I am not stuck in one particular mindset and can explore and get a different dimension on a situation. In class, we enacted the roles of Principal, student and parent where I could effectively form opinions and understand the attitude of the character I was playing. There was also a certain degree of understanding that came with this. A student acting as a teacher may understand why the teacher needs to reprimand him. He/she can also understand how he/she comes across to the teacher in class. It is an effective character building game as students can understand the various layers each character has through their different portrayals of a same character and it also serves them well in understanding their surroundings or certain environments.