Redefining Drama

When I started to read Esmiston and Wilhelm's article about using drama in the ELA I was a little confused to begin with because they dive right into how they used it in the classroom then explained what exactly drama is.  Due to preconceived notions, I've always considered drama to only exist in stories such as plays, novels, and movies.  According to Esmiston and Wilhelm's definition, I have been wrong about the extent of what drama is exactly.  They explain that drama is asking "what if..." then imagining the possibilities of the "what if" in an imagined world.  "What if" opens up a new world of imagination and questions to be explored.

Okay, so I understand that drama is not what I always thought it was, but now I have to wonder how this applies to the ELA classroom.  They (Esmiston and Wilhelm) quote Dorothy Heathcote who says drama is when you, "put yourself in other people's shoes and by using their person experience to help you understand their point of view you may discover more than you knew when you started."  I was not really sure how drama would be used in a classroom, but one way Esmiston and Wilhelm give is to have the students put together what they would have in a museum in which students must decide what to put in the museum and why.  This process requires research and collaboration between students. 

How could researching history through drama be beneficial to students? After reading on a little more it started to make more sense to me how it could help.  Drama requires students to get involved and research and to put themselves in the shoes of those in the past which then adds to any material they might be reading in class around the time period they are studying.  Students are then able to connect to the literature in a different way than if they didn't have the background research and thought that drama requires to help them in comprehension.  Further exploration in how drama works in the classroom will be something to look forward to in the future.

How to talk to a student without eavesdropping

Tumblr has proven to be resourceful as always.  I like to resort to tumblr when I'm out of ideas for blogging.  When in a big class of students it is difficult to talk to a student who is being disruptive without drawing the attention of other students especially when the student who is acting out just wants the attention in the first place.  In addition, teachers can't very well ask the student to go out of the room and talk for multiple reasons; the main one is that a teacher should never be alone with a student and second of all, a class shouldn't be left unattended. 

One solution to this problem is quite simple really.  Have the student come up to your desk and have the conversation on a word document so that the rest of the class cannot eavesdrop into the conversation allowing the student privacy.  In addition it saves the teacher from both dangers of leaving the classroom with an added bonus! Typing the conversation in a word document allows for the teacher to date and save the conversation in case an occasion calls for the teacher to have "evidence" of what went on in conversation between the student and teacher.  I love this idea because documenting situations whens students save the teacher from being sued or taken to court and they can be used in parent teacher conferences.

Visual Society and revolutionary way of communicating

I can remember in middle school before everyone had cell phones when you wanted to make plans you called someone's home.  It was a process that made calling your crush a nerve wrecking process because you never knew if they would be available plus that meant actually talking to them to make plans.  Now, teens just text each other and that nervousness is eased and sending a text is not as difficult.  This is the first shift in visual dependency of being able to read a thought instantly rather than listening to it.  It seems the way that teens communicate is always evolving.

Just recently I upgraded to a smartphone, something that I thought I wouldn't do for a long time.  With having a smart phone I have taken it upon myself to explore what it has to offer and what apps students might be using on a regular basis.  Last week I downloaded an app that seems to be growing in popularity because it is part of the change in how people communicate.  The app is called snapchat and took sometime to figure out how it functions.  The basics of the app is that you can add friends who have the app and send pictures to each other.  Before sending the picture you can add captions and draw on it as well as set the time allowed for viewing.  At first I thought it was pointless but after playing around with it I found out how addicting it could be because you could convey more through an image than words in a txt.

The point that I'm discussing this app is first of all is because it demonstrates our growing dependency on visuals and the change in how we communicate.  I have put some thought into how this might be used in a classroom.  Using the app in a classroom would be difficult because once the time is out on viewing the image it goes away.  However, the concept might be able to transfer to a project in the classroom.  Such as telling students to create an image from a novel or poem that could convey an important part if someone only had a short time to view it.  I want to try to bring apps, social networking, and etc. to a level that can be used in the classroom since it is what students are used to and can relate to.