Today we learned about and played theater games and process drama. We observed our professor reading a story and implementing several dramatic elements into her reading and between readings.
I loved this class day! I've always enjoyed drama and studying it. I loved all the ideas that were used while we were read "When Jessie Came Across the Sea". How clever. We seemed to cover so much material, yet I felt I wanted more. The mirror/reflection activities I think could be very valuable, especially to slowly establish trust within the classroom. All the activities were very creative. I liked the interviewing activities where we were a character from a story. I can see that applied in the study of social studies, or perhaps even science. It gives you some freedom to create, yet is also a way to assess what students do understand.
I think students need creative drama as a safe way to express themselves without the structure of memorized lines. Children are so creative and improvising can be very therapeutic too. It helps in perspective taking - which we are learning in Ed Psych is critical for learning empathy and developing emotional intelligence. Sometimes it seems grade school kids just want to be the funniest one, so I'm not sure how you would or IF you would try to regulate that. Humor is wonderful and I get that. But I would hope students would feel safe enough to be serious and intense when it is appropriate.
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