Theatre Arts – Page 3 – David Orace Kelly

Modeling Digital-Age Learning in a Participation Arts Based Classroom (ISTE 3)

ISTE Standard 3 states that teachers should exhibit knowledge, skills, and work processes that are representative of an innovative professional. My content area, theatre arts, is based in human interaction; these interactions must occur in the moment and in person. An actor must learn to act and re-act. Taking the content of theatre arts into the technological realm is equivalent to making painting class into a digital photography class. However, there is a great deal of content that can be delivered in a flipped classroom format; there are digital tools for teachers, students, and actors that are becoming increasingly common place.

Because the world is increasingly tech-enabled and tech-enhanced, how can I as a teacher of theatre arts, demonstrate technological processes that both enhance my curriculum, increase productivity, and build technological capacity in my students?

Kennedy (2009) speaks to the need for educators to rethink education and align learning environments with real world demands so that learning is flexible and can be utilized anytime and anywhere. One of the most tedious tasks of the actor is to memorize lines. One digital innovation seeks to change that. ScenePartnerApp (https://www.scenepartnerapp.com/) is one of many emerging tools for actors to use when the need to memorize their lines. Any student with an iDevice can download existing scripts or upload their own. This makes the program highly adaptable to any classroom, especially mine because much of the theatre work that my students engage with is written by the students in my classes. However, when we do get to the published works (such as Shakespeare), we can simply download the text.

One of the greatest highlights of this app is that it allows the user to hear only their lines or only the lines of their scene partner. This ability to repeat the text and use a digital scene partner is invaluable. Without this, the technique of memorization with a partner would need to happen in class. By using this app many of my students, those with iPods and iPads, have a highly effective solution that not only saves time for my classroom, it adds digital flexibility for my students. This app is one clear example of how I can integrate emerging digital technology into a classroom based on human interaction. In fact, because of the time I save (due to students memorizing their lines outside of class) I can increase the amount of human interaction in my class.

Theatre arts is not alone when it comes to time saving digital tools. Now because of the Google Institute (shared by Lida Enche in Google+) students can save travel time and virtually visit art across the world. This too increases the human interaction because in the classroom, teachers and students can talk as much as they want. Google Institute can be found at, https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/project/art-project. I encourage everyone to check out both of these new digital tools that help arts classes.

References:

Kennedy, K. (2009). Volume 7, Issue 2 Distance Learning 21 Cross-Reference of Online Teaching Standards and the Development of Quality Teachers for 21st Century Learning Environments. Distance Learning, 7(2), 21-28.

ISTE #2 Teaching With Technology

ISTE QUESTION 2: Given that authentic learning experiences can be powerful and lifelong, how can educators put technology into the hands of the students to personalize their knowledge and demonstrate their understanding; further, how can students use technology for self-assessment (formative or summative)?

I started my question this week with the assumption that self-assessment was valid and effective in the practice of teaching. What I found, to support that assessment was valid, was a study conducted by de la Fuente (2014); a link to the study can be found at http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/command/detail?sid=cd7a458d-96f3-4e94-a3d7-2e1c3fc46da9%40sessionmgr198&vid=26&hid=125. This study compared two types of student assessment in a secondary language classroom. The scenario of students working independently to memorize words and phrases is not too different from a common scenario in the theatre arts classroom. In my work, I often give students time to work on memorizing their lines. The study placed one group of students in a position of control over their self-assessment with mobile assisted language learning (MALL). The second group surrendered all power to the instructor with an assessment that was instructor manipulated language learning (IMLL). The study observed the comprehension of the students following the assessments. Students in the MALL group demonstrated significantly higher levels of comprehension in multiple categories (de la Furente, 2014). When comprehension is the central task, self-assessment is more effective than instructor directed assessment.

Second, I attempted to answer the more difficult question of how to implement self-assessment through technology. A second study was found to answer this question (Mordis and Economides, 2012); the link is provided here http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=24&sid=cd7a458d-96f3-4e94-a3d7-2e1c3fc46da9%40sessionmgr198&hid=125. Mordis and Economides (2012) found that during a self assessment test the learner was able to reach an optimal emotional state in relationship to the learning content by giving students the reward of applause after correct responses.

Students took a multiple choice question test and the levels of anxiety were observed and measured. Results showed that male students not receiving applause have a significantly high state of anxiety after the test than female students not receiving the applause (Mordis and Economides, 2012). Further, males that received applause after correct responses were significantly less anxious than females in the same category. In other words, males need more external positive motivation to reduce their anxiety.

Mordis and Economides (2012) conclude that affective feedback during self-assessment is only one tool that can be used; this supportive feedback can have positive or negative outcomes that may fall along gender lines. Lastly, affective teaching must embed self-assessment within the educational context (Mordis and Economides, 2012).

In my classroom, I have students give a “clap of respect” to performers. The clap does not signal success or failure (as the second study did for success). However, this did highlight renewed awareness that every student reacts differently to praise.

What really interested me this week was the idea of self-assessment through technology in an arts classroom. Lida Enche, provided a reference to the tool that could combine my public presentations with technology. By utilizing a document camera, I could have students highlight their own work (e.g. notes they made on their script) and evaluate their progress for the class. The resource provided by Enche (http://www.theartofed.com/2014/09/01/15-fabulous-ways-to-utilize-a-document-camera-in-the-art-room) does not address the concept of self-assessment, however it does lead one to extend ones thinking about how to use the document camera.

References:

de la Fuente, M. J. (2014). Learners' Attention to Input during Focus on Form Listening Tasks: The Role of Mobile Technology in the Second Language Classroom. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 27(3), 261-276.

Moridis, C. N., & Economides, A. A. (2012). Applause as an Achievement-Based Reward during a Computerised Self-Assessment Test. British Journal Of Educational Technology, 43(3), 489-504.

Teaching With Technology

The integration of technology in a classroom can be an effective means to instruction because it can generate creativity along side developing proficiency with technology .

In consideration of ISTE 1 and the practice of drama instruction, learning can happen online – in a flipped classroom setting. The online portion of the learning can deliver content and allow for the classroom time to be focused on the creative aspects of drama. The technology can then also be used to capture the creative expressions of the students.

For example, I can deliver a lecture online about the play format and style.

Continue reading “Teaching With Technology”

Socially Responsible Practices of Theatre Education: Sign Three

David Orace Kelly

Journal Entry from October 20, 2014 for Theatre Methods

What is…

At this point I have a decade of experience under my belt in youth theatre. I have a firm grasp on “what is” in my program. This grasp has been continually transforming over the years and has certainly shifted from a more idealistic to a more realistic perspective on what is possible and achievable. Some of the most cumbersome constraints include administrative oversight and school policy, student interests, and limited instructional time.

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ONLINE SURVEY and KWL

Using the KWL model (Know, Want to know, and Learning accomplished) is an effective tool for educators to assess student progress and gauge engagement with the content. A teacher must understand the previous knowledge of each student’s abilities; they must activate the students desire for knowledge based on what the students want to know; the must assess what students have learned. Assessing student knowledge can be cumbersome. With multiple tests, exit tickets, and paper surveys, it can build up on a teacher’s desk and quickly end up in the recycling. Instead, a teacher can effectively integrate technology into the classroom through online surveys; in doing so, students are introduced to the technology that will make their education more simple and efficient (P4).

This year, I started using Google Forms for all of my classes. It is an effective method of collecting (and keeping) student

Continue reading “ONLINE SURVEY and KWL”

ONLINE SURVEY and KWL

Using the KWL model (Know, Want to know, and Learning accomplished) is an effective tool for educators to assess student progress and evaluate engagement with the content. A teacher must understand the previous knowledge of each student’s abilities; they must activate the students desire for knowledge based on what the students want to know; they must assess what students have learned. Assessing student knowledge can be cumbersome. With multiple tests, exit tickets, and paper surveys, it can build up on a teacher’s desk and quickly end up in the recycling. Instead, a teacher can effectively integrate technology into the classroom through online surveys; in doing so, students are introduced to the technology that will make their education more simple and efficient.

This year, I started using Google Forms for all of my classes. It is an effective method of collecting (and keeping) student information. These surveys can serve as pre-assessment tools, formative assessments, and summative tests. Through Google Forms, I can customize the experience. By adding navigation functions from one question to the next, I can send a survey link to every grade level and the survey will sort out the questions that the respondent needs to answer based on their previous responses. This was most helpful when I designed a survey for all students as they prepared for their student conferences. I am also able to limit the number of responses to one per respondent; this means that students cannot retake a test.

With Google forms, I can quickly gather student data on the relevant topic. More importantly, I can access that data anywhere I have an Internet connection. I can easily send out a survey to an entire class, including students that are sick or absent for the day. Now, I no longer need to track down a student that has not completed a survey. I can simply send them an email reminder to complete the work online.

PRE-ASSESSMENT: At the start of the semester, I wanted to know what my eighth grade students knew about Shakespeare. Before we started the unit, I had them take this quick “quiz.”

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1QDW4v-2B0M2iRcUSwqPKpoAGTg8esIhgQen4nF_86KA&authuser=0

I was able to use the results to gage my lessons. At the end of the unit, students will take the same quiz and I will be able to compare the results and assess learning for all students as individuals and as a class.

FORMATIVE WORK: Discovering what the students KNOW and what they WANT to know, I implemented a survey that assessed student progress to date. In the seventh grade, so that I could quickly evaluate each students progress with their playwriting project, I implemented a survey. I used the student laptops so that I could demonstrate the process in class. Each student was able to fill out the form during class time during this first round while I was available to answer any technology questions.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=14hndDn2MEJTz4miOcWkbU4uWXHD56jsij1DhgpH4CfU&authuser=0

In answering the survey, I was able to find what the students wanted to write about (what they wanted to know). I was also able to assess how well they knew the format that I wanted them to use (what the knew).

SUMMATIVE WORK: Here I used the survey tool as a summative assessment. This is the third portion to a state standards test for Drama in Pantomime (what they learned). Students had to respond to a performance they presented in class the day prior.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xNAAo4gTekec3z5Bby_dM1FZYFor2RNWoI-oxrlUFB4&authuser=1

One may have a concern about the ‘take-home-test.’ However, in this case, there is no information that the student can look up on the Internet that will help them. There are no notes that they may have that will give them the answers to the questions and students must use their class materials to complete the test. When the take-home-test is an option, the survey format is excellent.

In summary, I have seen a great deal of benefit in efficiency and student buy in with the online survey. Students see it as “cool” that they get to do homework online and I am able to keep all the responses without any additional paperwork. I aim to further my pursuits in online survey work.

There were a small handful of students that do not have Internet access at their homes. However, students are able to access their email accounts at school. Because of this, I allow multiple days for the completion of the survey so that students can access the form from school.

In future versions of the online form, I will be sure to make the directions clear in the answer (e.g. select two answers). In one form I created, many students gave me the feedback that the form was confusing due to one question where the requirement to select two answers was unclear.

Because of the success of Google forms and Google docs, I aim to integrate Google Presentations into my classroom next. I envision a project that requires multiple students to collaborate into a single presentation.

THE ALL POWERFUL RUBRIC

Standards Based Education is an essential component to effective teaching practice; teachers must use learning targets that are connected to the standards and effectively measure student progress toward those standards.

I have come to embrace the rubric as an essential standards based teaching tool. Used correctly, the rubric can:

Guide student learning throughout the lesson.
Support student self-assessment.
Proved feedback for future student improvement.
Direct teacher assessment that is qualitatively and quantitatively equal from one student to the next.
Align to standards and measure desired outcomes.

In teaching my introductory monologue unit for sixth grade drama, I utilize a rubric that is effective in all four areas. The rubric provides simple statements that describe student achievement across five essential areas of acting. I expect that all five of these areas will continue to progress across the three year sequence; consequently, I do not expect students to achieve a perfect score in their initial performances.

Many teachers will use a rubric at the end of a unit to grade a project. While this is an effective use of the rubric, there is often a missed opportunity to use the rubric throughout the lesson. In my sixth grade drama class I use the rubric to guide student learning. Students that pre-view the levels of achievement in the rubric have the opportunity to stretch their learning into the desired category. I purposefully include levels of achievement that are beyond typical sixth grade achievement. I introduce the rubric as “level based” and not point based. Using the metaphor of Karate Belts, students can conceptualize the idea that different students will be achieving at different levels. Pre-viewing the rubric will also give students an understanding of the entire project in advance of starting any work. This pre-view will help students make connections from one area of assessment to another and plan accordingly.

A well-designed rubric can be easily read and understood by each student. I take the time to explain the content in my rubric for this unit and ask that students explain it back to me. The student voice component here is an essential element of assessing the student achievement in relationship to the learning target aligned to the lesson. The rubric also includes the content of each learning target that is included in the unit. Because of this, a rubric will also help students to self-assess their progress throughout the lesson or unit. Students that work from the rubric can see where they are fully completing the task and where they need to continue to work (O2).

During the process of the project, the teacher can use the rubric as a quick method of assessment and feedback for the student. They can ask the student where they believe they are at any given level, reflect to the student on their observations, and use the rubric as a common language. The teacher can also point to work on the rubric that would take the student to the next level. If the rubric is organized for learning, each step should follow a logical progression of skills.

Regarding formative and summative assessment, the teacher can use the rubric for assessment. This assessment will clearly have a quantitative value where points are assigned across a number of categories. However, the categories can also be viewed with qualitative assessment in mind. I can use the rubric to describe the academic journey of the student.

Lastly the rubric includes the content that the learning targets support. If students work with the learning targets in each lesson and demonstrate developing or basic mastery of each learning target, they will easily score in the mid to high range of the rubric.

In future editions of the rubric, I plan to increase the effectiveness and include the actual learning targets for the unit within the rubric. This will increase the connection for each student form the individual lessons to the culminating project of performing a monologue. It will also assist students to assess their daily progress in relationship to the rubric and the learning targets simultaneously.

Comprehensive Theatre: Sign Four

Journal Entry from October 27, 2014 for Theatre Methods

What is…

Lazarus (2012) describes a model of Comprehensive Theatre Education. I strive to create this model in my classroom. I strive to have all students experience all aspects of theatre education. It is through the common experience of acting that I have each of my students also act, direct, design, manage, and research their productions. I also integrate other subjects into my classroom; most recently I have had collaborations with English (in the study of Shakespeare), Art (in the creation of puppets for puppet theatre), Physical Education/Health (in improvisation with Health Topics), and in Music (with creating sound scores for the annual school show). I have Comprehensive Arts Education program. The challenge is, of course, finding the curricular time to accomplish all the goals of a comprehensive program.

Comprehensive Arts Education is defined by three central ideas: a holistic arts education, an interdisciplinary education, and an integrated program. Really, this encapsulates the idea that theatre is every subject. I have told my students for years that they must be scholars if they want to be great actors. It is only through an understanding of academic knowledge of multiple fields that they can bring life to a wide range of characters.

What does this mean for the teacher of theatre arts? Does this mean that I must be an expert in every subject? I do not believe Continue reading “Comprehensive Theatre: Sign Four”

Socially Responsible Practices of Theatre Education: Sign Three

Journal Entry from October 20, 2014 for Theatre Methods

What is…

In my class, as I often describe, I try to create an atmosphere of respect. One benefit of this is that it serves as a backbone for socially responsible actions. We, society, must respect the identities of the people we interact with. We, each individual, must also respect our own history and identity. Too often in theatre, we take licenses to transgress boundaries that are present in society. Sometimes it is very appropriate; it can provoke discussions that allow society to progress. Sometimes, in middle school, the students are not ready to take on those discussions; to cast Romeo and Juliet with two boys, for example, may provoke content that students are not comfortable discussing.

Continue reading “Socially Responsible Practices of Theatre Education: Sign Three”

FAIR INSTRUCTION: (Classroom Management)

Classroom centered instruction, including sheltered instruction, must be connected to the communities within the classroom and the school; a teacher must have the knowledge and skills for working with multiple stakeholders within the classroom community.

After observing my mentor teacher for the past several years, I have developed an approach to classroom management that is aligned with my own teaching philosophy and comes from the best practices I have observed in my mentor teachers.

The classroom is home to many individuals; every individual is expected to perform at the same basic level. However, each individual approaches the classroom with a different set of skills, diverse backgrounds, and a wide range of attitudes to any given subject matter or class. The teacher must navigate these differences and provide fair treatment to each student. Fay and Funk (1995), promote the idea that fair is not always equal. Different students need different approaches to the content in the classroom. This concept can be integrated into the general classroom management that the teacher implements in the classroom.

One example of fair treatment is through sheltered instruction. In my classroom, there are a few students that are English Language Learners (ELL). These students require additional support within and outside of the classroom environment so that they can continue to perform at grade level expectations (GLE). Sheltered English instruction engages English Language Learners with grade level content and academic skills that are aligned with the mainstream classroom and aim to increase English proficiency. Continue reading “FAIR INSTRUCTION: (Classroom Management)”