I have learned that drama doesn't always have to be acting. Drama can be just thinking like someone else, participating in an activity that gets you thinking and moving. Drama can be a group thing so that it's a safe environment for people that don't necessarily love drama. I have a new appreciation for drama and what it can do to teach people.
I really loved mirroring activities, I felt that it was relaxing yet helped me focus. I will also definitely want to use activities like miming and character meetings. I like using panels and assuming other characters. I really also liked it when people used physical objects in their lesson to help us understand. Another fun activity that I really enjoyed was alphabet story. It was a lot of fun but really made us think of other word use and how a story is put together which would help students immensely in creating their own stories.
Children need drama in their lives. I came from a family that was quiet and to themselves and not going to do anything to feel stupid. Being brought up this way really held me back in a lot of ways and still does. Doing different drama activities is still a struggle for me, I don't open up in silly or different ways that drama requires. Using drama in the classroom can really help children come out of their shell, experience something new. I also think drama can help build confidence and be helpful to children in discovering who they are and what the world is like. Drama has so much to offer and after learning about all the different ways drama can be integrated I'm not so scared to incorporate it into my classroom. This kind of personal discovery can help solidify teachings in other curricular areas and could really enhance learning.
For the group project we all took some of the pages from the book and decided on an activity. I really enjoyed doing a Process Drama and think this is a way I could become a better storyteller. Accents and different voices just really aren't my forte but using process drama can make the stories come to life for my students in ways that I couldn't do before. From the other presentations I learned there are so many options for incorporating other curricular areas like language arts. I didn't realize the vast possibility available in a project like this. Our group worked well together because we all held up our end of the responsibility. I did learn though that some of us were more creative than others and that some of us really thought about the project and what would be meaningful for our students while other members just completed the assignment for a grade.
