Grade 11 Movement Project

There are some projects that seem to work so well that as a Drama teacher, I want to use them over and over again. I've had the privilege of doing this project with five groups of students, and now I am starting it with a sixth. The project is complex, but simple.

Take a popular song with good lyrics that have a clear "dramatic" theme and that has a strong beat, or at least is easily countable. The students pick apart the theme, the message, the ideas, the characters, etc. They then combine tableaux and movement to complete a presentation of themes and ideas and present it to an audience. Songs I have used previously are Pink's Family Portrait and the Black Eyed Peas' Where is the Love? (That one has been my favorite yet!)

Oh yeah, and there's a catch. I step out of it almost completely. Aside from teaching them the Laban techniques that they will use and re-inforcing the creation of tableaux, I don't do a lot. The class elects a "director" who oversees the project.

The project serves a couple of purposes. First of all, I do the project right off the bat at the beginning of the year, so it serves to gel the group as an ensemble. They are forced to work together and solve their own problems, and in every case thus far, the group really works together to get everyone to contribute. It has done more to create an ensemble atmosphere in my classes than any other project I've tried. And of course, it allows them to explore Laban movement technique and apply it in a practical project.

Okay, enough exposition. What am I getting at? Well, even now as I start the sixth version of this project - this time we're using Christina Aguilera's The Voice Within - I still get really inspired watching the class work together. That's good news to me. But I still wonder, "how long before the project gets stale? And will I recognize that I'm not as passionate about it as I was before?" I'd hate to start a group off, but without the same intensity that I've brought to the other classes, and see them "fail".

And that brings up a more general "teacher" worry. I have promised myself that I will do my best not to become that teacher that recycles ideas, assignments, projects, etc. for years and years and years. In fact, I have always prided myself on being able to completely re-evalute a year at it's onset. I appreciate that my subject actually requires (in a way) that I start from scratch with each new group, at the beginning of each new year. After all, I might have 6 girls only in a Grade 12 class (like last year) which means we can explore something like Top Girls, but the next year my Grade 12 class might have 9 boys, in which case Top Girls would seem grossly inappropriate. Anyway, it forces me to do "new" things all the time.

But what about this year's Grade 11 Movement project? It's off to a great start. 9 girls and 3 boys exploring The Voice Within. I was worried that the boys would think that the project was a little feminine, but as it turns out they're having a good time. One of the boys even commented to me, "Mr. Hedivan, I really like our class dynamic, and this is going to be a great project." Well, thank goodness. I watched them working through the first few verses today, and I couldn't keep my excitement in. I kept jumping up saying, "Oooo can I give you an idea? Sorry, sorry, I know this is supposed to be yours" And of course, they're more than happy to hear the ideas.

So I guess that's an unintended function of the project. Even though I committ to stepping back, it allows them to see me as an eager participant, rather than an overbearing teacher.

Okay, that's good for today.
Good - it's all good.

The Second Day and the First Rehearsal

A slightly more relaxed day today, with a few less classes and a little more time to think. It's nice.

I had a blast with my Grade 12's. This group of students was one of my saving graces last year. The group just gelled together immediately in a way that so few classes do and in a way that every teacher wishes their students would. With most of the same students returning this year, we don't have to spend any significant amount of time in all those Orientation-let's-get-to-know-each-other kind of activities, so we could just jump right in. Right off the bat, I gave them an mini-assignment to choreograph 40 counts to a piece of music. They paired off and went to it. What a riot! It was great just watching them get back into the fun of our Theatre routine, and watching them explore without apprehension. Even they guys, who probably aren't all that into dancing, put their best foot forward (pun totally intended)!

The Grade 11's this year are a complete change from the Grade 10's last year. The group is hardly even similar to what it was last year, and the effect is one of calm surrender. They were able to sit, listen, and contribute - something which last year's Grade 10's were only starting to do by the end of the year. If they can maintain it, we're going to have an awesome year.

I put my Grade 10 class through a movement workshop based on "age" by taking them through the various stages of life and asking them to consider how one's movement, voice, and relationship to others changes. They pulled it off in a way that I wasn't sure they would. Aside from those few of them who will consistently be distracted and who will inevitably remain unfocused, the class did really well, and I'm pretty sure they learned something. It was refreshing, and my feeling after the class was that this group is probably going to mature quite a bit this year, and we may be able to set some lofty goals for the end of the year. I know they're excited already by the possibilty of a mini-tour to elementary schools with our Children's Theatre scripts. Hooray!

THE FIRST REHEARSAL - Little Shop of Horrors

Ahhhh!!!!! It's started. That's excitement in that Ahhhhh!!!! And an expected frustration. This cast is vastly different from the one with which we tackled The Children's Hour last year. Of course, the show is vastly different too! In a really good way. I came home after the read-through/sing-through and commented to my wife that it seemed like organized chaos. The cast was extremely energetic, hyper, giggly and all manner of distracted - but oh, so enthusiastic. I sensed that they enjoy the script, the enjoy the music, and they enjoy each other. Now, if I can channel the energy onto the stage and into their characters and music, then we've got a recipe for definite success.

I realize with increasing anxiety that there is still so much to plan for for this show - backdrops, rehearsal props, scheduling issues, set-painting - and I'm trying very hard to relax about it all. There's a lot of pressure on me. The cliche of course is tht it will all come together - it always does, right? But I'm the one who has to make it all happen, and that's a lot of pressure. I'm not shying away from it - it's what I thrive on. But I think that a certain amount of anxiety is necessary to keep things fresh, moving, and organized.

Alright, cheers till next time.

The Value of Consistency

Well - Day 1. The students are back. The staff are looking their best. Everyone's excited. The atmosphere is expectant and refreshed. Grade 12 students are looking mature and ready to tackle their challenges. Grade 9 students are looking falsely confident and slightly intimidated at the same time. Who can blame them? Not a one of them want to be the first one to crumble under the pressure of joining the SENIOR SCHOOL. They all know they're not in Kansas anymore, but who knows how many of them realize what Oz is really like.

It was a Wednesday today - Sept 6. As it turns out, Wednesday's are my busiest day. I teach 5 of 6 blocks in the day and see each of my classes without exception.

The Grade 11's.... Period 1.

We start off status quo this year with my first period class being bumped out of our theatre for a Middle School assembly. Last year, they (the powers that be) decided to put an assembly for the Middle School on Friday morning in my theatre. The only problem was that I happened to have a class at that time. Halfway through the year somebody must have gotten tired of my complaining sarcasm, because they shifted the assemblies to Wednesday mornings - when I didn't have a class.
Well, our Middle School principal was very apologetic, assuring me it won't happen again. We'll see!
Anyhow, it was great to start off with the Grade 11's. We jumped right into a character development improvisation exercise. Everyone was into what we were doing and that was really encouraging for me. My Grade 10 class last year consisted of 14 students - 4 girls and 10 REALLY energetic boys. Somehow the tables have turned this year. I have 10 in the class - 9 girls and 1 boy, who seems immediately cautious about the amount of estragen he will be encountering three times a week. My sense is that this group will be great. We're going to start right in with ensemble-building activities and projects which will have them working together like pros.

Some things of course, never change. I met my new Grade 10's. Basically the same class as last year's Grade 9's, only we've added a few more rambunctiuos boys, and a couple more girls to the mix. Now I've got 9 girls and 14 boys, and it doesn't seem to me that the boys have changed a bit - except maybe they're a little taller. They're still distractable, talkative, occasionally ill-mannered, and oh, so energetic. Don't get me wrong. I really like this group of students. It's just that they didn't seem to have any of the "new year calm" that everyone else has.

Everyone else was great too. I met both of my Grade 9 classes - the Drama and the Writing, and they seem enthusiastic, open-minded and all manner of positive things.

Now, it may have just been that it was the end of the day and we were all running on fumes, but my last period of the day, Writing 9, was SO subdued. As I think about it, they were probably all reeling from a full day of Starting Senior School. As I talked to (at) them about the course we would be emabarking on together, they all sat there, silent and still. It was kind of creepy. I stopped at one point and looked at them and I just said, "My gosh - I'm so sorry. I just started going on and on about my stuff - how are you all doing?" Well, my goodness, they perked up and looked at each other. It was as though I was the only one who had asked them that all day. Slowly, they started to respond. It kind of build itself up slowly until they were all telling me something about their day - all at once. It was a great moment. One of them said, "Senior School is so much better than Middle School." I looked at him and asked "Why do you say that?" "There's just so much more freedom," he responded. I felt like saying, "well, you may think differently in a month or two." Instead, I just agreed with him and told him (and everyone) that they were really going to enjoy their year.

On that note - I'll just say that I agree with myself. We're all going to enjoy this year.

Just a reflection

This is an e-mail that I sent recently to my Drama Education professor, who taught me the ins and outs of being a drama teacher.



"Hello John and welcome to September! You must be right and ready to go with a group of fresh recruits, all of whom are eager to spread their educational love to the students of Alberta!

I have completed my first year of teaching at a private school on the west coast, and as I reflected on the year, I was reminded of a something that I thought would be appropriate to share with you.

Feel free to share this with your incoming Drama Ed majors as well, if you see fit.

You taught us that it is important for a teacher on the first day of classes, and subsequently, to greet their students at the door to the classroom, and that a hand-shake was a great accompaniment to such a greeting. I always agreed with you and have done so with all of my new classes. But I also recognized in my class at the U of L, a hesitance, a reluctance if you will, to acquiece to our guru on this point.

I took over a well-developed program from a teacher deeply entrenched in the Victoria Theatre scene. A rather cliche, overly-exhuberant, outgoing, grand-motherly-type drama teacher, who was either deeply adored, or deeply um, not-adored, by her students. My goodness I was nervous as heck. I had "googled" her name and gawked at the thousands of pages that came up. It seemed that her resume was miles long. I thought to myself, "what the heck am I doing here?" "How will I ever gain the respect of these student who so obviuosly are attached to this retiree?"

Well, I just dove in. That's what you need to do, right? As I have always done, I stood at the door on Day #1 and shook hands as I introduced myself to my new students. I took their inquiring, confused, and judging looks as they came, and thought little about it after that. I dare say now that my year is complete that I did an admirable job of gaining the trust and confidence of the students, especially those in Grades 9 through 11. The 12's though..... they were another story. I guess it was just that they had a whole year more to bond with my predecessor, but they were not going to make the transition easy for me. The entire year was a struggle (with three of them especially. Of course, I only had 7 in my Grade 12 class, but still....) and by the end of the year I wasn't sure what I had accomplished with them in terms of relationship. As our days together drew to an end, one of the "three" came to talk to me in my office. She's an absolute sweetheart. Despite the difficulties, I love her to bits. We sat on my couches and eventually the conversation wandered into that territory where my mind had been so frequently. She told me, "you know Mr. H, I really wasn't sure about you at first. I didn't know how you'd measure up to Mrs. --------. And I know we haven 't made this the easiest year for you, but you know..... you had me on your side from the moment you shook our hands on the first day. No one's ever done that before. That's when I knew you'd be okay."

John, I just thought you deserved to know that that little tidbit (the hand-shaking) was a real help! So, thanks!

By the way, there's something else you should check out, if you wish, and also share with your potential Drama teachers. This year, I have made the decision to have my Grade 11 students keep their Portfolio journals online, in Blog form. Because it's always somewhat of a hassle to convince students that journals are a worthwhile endeavor, and don't have to take a lot of time, I have also decided that I will keep an online Drama Teacher Blog, a public teacher's journal. if you will. I can't promise that it will alwasy be interesting or inspiring, but maybe that's just reality, huh?

Check it out, and feel free to have your students check it out - the day to day happenings in a Drama departement.
www.hedivanteacher.blogspot.com

Cheers John, good luck with your "troupe"s
Colin Hedivan"