Always when asked, I have proudly stated that I am a drama major and I have always been met with the same weird look… adding education to the statement does not help. I could see the questions in peoples eyes, the question they wanted to ask but never would “why drama?” I understand why people have this question; upon first thought drama does not seem important. For a long time I had the same thought until I read the Alberta Drama Program of Studies.
How many times have you had to do a project that ended in a presentation? You spend hours working on it and the final product is amazing, you can’t wait to share it with your friends. The day of the presentation comes and as you sit at your desk, watching your classmates present, one after the other, the doubt begins to set in. What if your project isn’t as “amazing” as you thought? What if it never was, you can’t share it with the class, what were you thinking? You start to doubt yourself, finally its your turn to share and by this time your body is not your own. You’re possessed…. shaking uncontrollably and the voice coming out of your mouth is robotic, clearly not your own. Eventually you stumble through the presentation and when it’s finally over you race back to your desk too embarrassed to look at anyone, you sit down head hung in shame.
Okay… maybe not as dramatic, but you get the idea. I have experienced these feelings of self-doubt on countless occasions when giving a presentation and still do. I can’t recall the number of times I have given a presentation with my face buried in my notes because I was nervous and thought I wasn’t good enough. Through drama, I want students to become confident. I want them to willingly present and share their knowledge and thoughts, confidently and effectively with the world.
Drama is NOT a core subject but it IS important. DRAMA IS EVERYWHERE!
Drama is made up of hidden curriculum; it is about developing the whole-person. There is so much flexibility and room for growth in the drama curriculum. Elementary drama is designed as an optional program it can either be used as a separate subject or integrated into the core subjects.
We as teachers are performers, how can we not share our knowledge with our students? In my few experience teaching I have found many ways to incorporate drama into core subjects. Most recently I created a puppet of a historical figure (William Shakespeare) and on his back is a short autobiography. It’s a different way to get students thinking creatively about presenting information. This allows students to share their knowledge while bringing the information to life.
How many times have you had to do a project that ended in a presentation? You spend hours working on it and the final product is amazing, you can’t wait to share it with your friends. The day of the presentation comes and as you sit at your desk, watching your classmates present, one after the other, the doubt begins to set in. What if your project isn’t as “amazing” as you thought? What if it never was, you can’t share it with the class, what were you thinking? You start to doubt yourself, finally its your turn to share and by this time your body is not your own. You’re possessed…. shaking uncontrollably and the voice coming out of your mouth is robotic, clearly not your own. Eventually you stumble through the presentation and when it’s finally over you race back to your desk too embarrassed to look at anyone, you sit down head hung in shame.
Okay… maybe not as dramatic, but you get the idea. I have experienced these feelings of self-doubt on countless occasions when giving a presentation and still do. I can’t recall the number of times I have given a presentation with my face buried in my notes because I was nervous and thought I wasn’t good enough. Through drama, I want students to become confident. I want them to willingly present and share their knowledge and thoughts, confidently and effectively with the world.
Drama is NOT a core subject but it IS important. DRAMA IS EVERYWHERE!
Drama is made up of hidden curriculum; it is about developing the whole-person. There is so much flexibility and room for growth in the drama curriculum. Elementary drama is designed as an optional program it can either be used as a separate subject or integrated into the core subjects.
We as teachers are performers, how can we not share our knowledge with our students? In my few experience teaching I have found many ways to incorporate drama into core subjects. Most recently I created a puppet of a historical figure (William Shakespeare) and on his back is a short autobiography. It’s a different way to get students thinking creatively about presenting information. This allows students to share their knowledge while bringing the information to life.