Things to celebrate...
We kicked off a new unit in senior drama last week, in which students will work in smaller teams and ensembles to begin generating material that can be used in our class's collective one-act by developing mini-collectives. This unit is designed to help them review the creative process and the collective creation technique while giving more students an opportunity to share their voices, ideas, and perspectives than would be possible if we were working on a whole-class level at this stage of development. After several hours considering a variety of student data (portfolio entries, preference surveys, conversations and observations in class, etc) two ensembles and four teams were created to help support students in revising / developing material for our mini-collectives, with each student being given a specific production role (director/dramaturg, designer/producer, stage manager/producer, and performer). We used a few different techniques to select a starting point for our mini-collectives, generating a big list of local, relatable issues (first in teams, then as a class), up-voting potential areas of focus, debating different topics (which led to a fascinating conversation about how "local" and "relatable" might look different to different members of our Maple community) and eventually selecting one area of focus or starting point that we will use as a through-line in all of our work. See images of the process below.
The juniors continued to make progress on their Vocal Collage performances and most groups shared their preliminary performance work for peer- and teacher- feedback on Friday. Feedback was shared with students orally, in writing (on Google Classroom) and on video. Videos of preliminary work were also shared on Google Classroom so that students would have a chance to see what the audience saw and further self-assess to identify areas for improvement this week. In our feedback sessions, performers also had a chance to self-assess and to ask questions of their audience (including their teacher), and were given suggestions for next steps: specifically, strategies or techniques to explore during their two remaining revising and refining periods. Students will be asked to actively reflect on their use of feedback as part of their Unit 2 Portfolios. Instructions for the Vocal Collage process, performance, and Unit 2 Portfolio were shared with parents (via this site) and students (via Google Classroom and in class) two weeks ago in the "Vocal Collage" handout.
Things to look forward to...
This week, senior drama students can expect to begin moving into the imagining and generating stage of the creative process. We will also be scheduling workshops, which will be one of several opportunities for evidence to be gathered for assessments of learning throughout the unit.
Junior drama students will have two more periods to prepare for their final performance of their Vocal Collage performances, which are being held in class on Thursday, October 25th. Students will be given time to work on their Unit 2 Portfolio entires in class on Friday, but are encouraged to begin sooner rather than later while some of the important material for this portfolio (feedback from preliminary performances, things they did in rehearsal using that feedback, and how they felt they improved in their final performances) is fresh in their minds. Both the final Vocal Collage performances and Unit 2 Portfolio entries are assessment of learning tasks.
Things to do at home...
In light of the legalization of cannabis last week, I wanted to pass on three resources for families that were shared with us by our school board:
- Help Your Teen Understand What's Fact and Fiction about Marijuana
- Cannabis: What Parents/Guardians and Caregivers Need to Know
- Cannabis Talk Kit: Know How to Talk with Your Teen
While conversations about substance use and misuse can sometimes be intimidating or awkward for both teens and their families, it is important that teens understand they have a caring community of adults around them who are open to listening to and respectfully addressing their thoughts and feelings about both legal and illegal substances that may pose a risk to their own or their friends' mental, emotional, or physical well-being. Unfortunately, by not acknowledging the risk of your teen coming into contact with substances or users, you may potentially cause unintended negative consequences, including allowing teens to become misinformed by peers and/or the media, or promoting a sense that these things should remain "hidden" and therefore limiting the chance that your teen will reach out to you--the person whose support and guidance they need most--should their well-being (or that of a friend) be at risk. Finally, if there is a risk or concern of substance misuse for your teen or another family member, our board and schools can connect you with community-based services and support programs designed specifically for youth and their families, so please reach out to your school staff if needed. Stay well :)
Comments
Post a Comment