My Journey

DUN DUN DUN DUNNN........ Being totally honest, dramatic arts was the teacher ed. course that I was dreading the most. The thought of experiencing dramatic arts again was a scary one. On the morning of our first class, I was filled with a variety of emotions. Fear and anxiety filled my mind as I thought of having to act, speak, and present pieces in-front of others. Flashbacks to elementary drama all came flooding back. The last thing I wanted to do was act in front of my peers and fellow teacher candidates. Following a script? That seemed even worse. Curiosity of what was to come in the next six sessions was also a primary emotion. A small bit of excitement followed, as I was excited to be in a new environment. This was definitely going to be an interesting journey but I think I'm up for it! After all, some say teaching is like acting!

"What. .. I just had fun and enjoyed myself... and that was drama class?" After the first session of drama with Kari-Lynn Winters my thoughts of drama and what was to come in the six weeks of class were completely changed. Although I felt the anxiety rise within myself when she started the class with us up on our feet, doing drama, I quickly learned that this was not a place of judgement or competition. Everyone in the room was here to learn and many others had the same feelings towards drama as I did. From the very beginning, Kari-Lynn Winters emphasized the right to pass, or the right to observe. I feel that in order to make students more comfortable with drama, you need to never force them to participate in something that makes them uncomfortable. Emphasizing that respectfully observing is also valuable in drama is as important to teach as strategies are. In my classroom, I hope to emphasize this to my students in order to create a comfortable and welcoming learning environment for all. I knew that after the first class I was in for a lot of learning throughout this course, but I was excited!

Over the next few sessions, I grew as a person, teacher, and learner. Not only were my thoughts, attitude, and pre-conceived notions of drama changing, but my knowledge was growing. I was beginning to see how integrating drama into my daily classroom routine not only allowed me to reach more of my students but also allowed for deeper and more creative learning among my students. The majority of each class was lead by my fellow teacher candidates. Learning drama strategies and seeing and experiencing demonstrations of how to integrate drama into all subject areas was an amazing experience. 

As the Learner's Theory outlines, those who get the chance to experience a concept and teach it to others retain the most information. Experiencing every single strategy discussed throughout the course, learning from my peers, and teaching my peers has deepened my understanding of drama greatly. I can say with 100% confidence that I would not feel this way about drama if I learned these strategies from a textbook or website. I will forever have my personal experiences of each strategy to refer back to when working with my students. 

One thing that stood out to me throughout the student-lead facilitations was that drama and drama strategies allow for a diversity in expressions of knowledge and understanding. Not only is there no right way to do each strategy, but each strategy allows for interpretation by the student. I feel that some drama strategies could be used as a means to express understanding in various subjects. I hope that in my future classrooms, I can offer my students many ways to express their thinking such as a dramatic art piece, written work, visual art representation, musical composition, comic book strips, and more. Allowing for multiple expressions of knowledge emphasizes to students that our differences as people and learners are acceptable and arguably one of the best parts of each of us. We are all unique in many ways and that should never be hidden. 

This course has been probably one of the biggest learning experienced for me throughout teacher education as I learned so much about myself. I now feel comfortable and confident walking into the classroom and integrating drama into various subjects. Witnessing and experiencing this transformation myself has created hope within me that I can make my future students comfortable with drama.