As I look back on the semester I have to admit I am astonished at the amount of new information I have learned and the amount of work I have done. Though not quantifiable, the amount of knowledge I gained from student teaching alone blows my mind. I had a seminar class and then three to four days a week I went into a school and soaked up class after class, seventh through twelfth grade, and experienced how much effort goes into being a classroom teacher. I taught a unit for the juniors and seniors and the amount of preparation I did was exhausting. While I enjoy working with their age group sometimes it was frustrating because they are so hard to read. They are 16, 17, 18 and for the most part they are not inclined to share a lot of information about exercises they enjoyed, questions they have, etc. Though to be fair I did not take drama in high school and I never had a student teacher.
This is a photo of me leading a stretch as part of our warm-up:
However, on my second-to-last day the classroom teacher left the room for the last 15 minutes so I could ask the students some questions about their classroom learning experiences. The first question I asked: What is it about your favorite teachers or your best teachers that makes them the best or your favorites? The students knew exactly why and their answers were very interesting to me. Here are a few of their reasons:
1. Preparation: One student said her favorite teacher was always prepared and always had a lesson plan that he followed.
2. Enthusiasm: Several students mentioned that their teachers' pure enthusiasm for the subject made them interested and want to learn, even if the subject wasn't necessarily one that they had previously enjoyed all that much.
3. Understanding of students' different learning styles: One student mentioned that she looked forward to one class because the teacher's teaching style was dynamic. It was history class so though he did lecture quite a bit he also changed up his teaching tactics so the students learned in different ways. She mentioned teacher-prompted debates and group projects using fine arts and performing arts as two examples,
4. Accessibility: The most popular answer or the one that most students were very sure about was accessibility. Their favorite teachers in the school communicated that they were available to the students, for help with work and for conversation. One student said that she asked teachers who were not her classroom teachers to chat and they always said yes.
The discussion was very informative.
I also took Drama with Special Populations where I learned so much about how to modify my lessons for students with special needs and a lot about straight-up good teaching. Though it was a class that took up three week-ends, I was always so happy to be there. I walked away thinking I gained many tools for teaching.
I also took Shakespeare I this semester and faced my fears about acting in a Shakespeare play. I performed scenes from Richard II and it was a real challenge. Though I have been acting for over 15 years, I managed to avoid Shakespeare that whole time. Learning the lines was the hardest part for me but I learned some great exercises to break down the language and eventually was memorized. I also coached students from the Youth Ensemble on Shakespeare monologues and that was very enjoyable.
Technology Resources for Performing Arts Educators is the last class I have yet to finish. There was so much information and I did so many different things in the class. I created a website that has music, an iMovie I made for class and a cool literacy page with resources I have already used. My final group project was a blog for a dance composition class that led up to a performance. I think it's a great model for documenting a theatrical production that I will use once I direct my first theatrical production as an official theater teacher. It is the last class that I still have to finish my final project so I will sign off now.
DG
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