Day 1- Let the Drama Begin!

Today was my fist day of drama class, I was so excited. Drama has always been one of my favourite school subjects, taking it in up until grade 12. I have also danced since I was 3 years old so performing and creating has always been a hobby of mine. I now teach dance, mostly ballet, jazz and musical theatre. Because of my experience teaching dance I value art in the classroom tremendously and I hope that one day I will be able to incorporate drama, performance or creativity in my classroom as much as possible.

Me at my first dance recital!

Today we were introduced to many different drama strategies including graffiti, position mapping, tap in and tableau. I had worked with tableau before however the other strategies were brand new to me. The one strategy i thought would be fantastic to use in the classroom at anytime would be position mapping. I missed the very first class so i was a little unsure of what to expect for this class... the position mapping allowed me the opportunity to show this and work up to my own comfort level. This exercise you could use in any school subject with any grade! I think it would be a wonderful ice breaker or a strategy used for the teacher t get to know the students or where the students stand with in relation to their question.  

For our class we were asked to stand in position to the chair to what we felt like towards drama and teaching. I stood a little further away from the chair than most however not totally shy from the chair. I felt this was a great to express feeling with silent body language or pose. This was also a great exercise because it allows for all types of learners to participate. If a student was in a wheel chair they could still choose a position, if a student was shy they could still participate. It is also very interesting observing everyone in the class and how everyone had totally different views, thoughts, feelings and opinions towards drama. This is such a great tool for teachers to gather how their students are feeling with out having to actually ask them and expect a full explanation. 

Overall it was successful first drama class,  I am feeling comfortable and confident in this journey to find out who I am as a drama teacher!