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.
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.
posted by Hedivan at 8:38 PM
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