Kristy #4

First of all Lindsey (the cooperating teacher) has an AMAZING classroom! There is a stage with lights right in her classroom which makes a great classroom and performance space all wrapped up into one! LOVE IT!! She is pretty easy going and very helpful, even just in her words of advice and encouragement about student teaching. Challenges may include- if we are in a classroom with the ESL speakers and cant communicate as well…although I loved how she told us that there was a young man that spoke NO English and as soon as she said; hola and gracis to him that made it all better and they were automatic friends. This will be a good opportunity to work with a good group of students. Lindsey talked a lot about how wonderful her students are, they help each other and there is also great parent involvement and community support. The school also just got money put into it so there are some great upgrades to the school including technology and new computer labs that are available for use.

Megan's Reading Response 4

I did some research on direct instruction. In a direct instruction lesson: the teacher usually spends some time lecturing; then the teacher guides the students through a complex problem, with the problem broken down into simple steps; then the students are given, one by one, the simple steps to carry out on their own; finally, the students are given one or many sample problems to accomplish on their own. For direct instruction the teacher is in control. To use this method well there are many things one can do. You should often summarize what the students will be learning. Bring in various materials to work with and various activities. Ask the students questions. When asking questions one should call on the student, instead of a volunteer. Then after the student answers they should give constructive feedback until they get the right answer or another student does. At the end of the lesson the students should have some sort of an assessment to show they learned that day. I think that direct instruction is used often in a theatre classroom. In theatre there is a change of pace quite often. One day you could be reading and writing and the next you are memorizing, improving, acting, directing, or even designing. The instruction is constantly being changed. Also at the end of every lesson there is always an assessment. This should always be implied in every lesson so that the students are assessed with what they learned that day. It also seems this kind of instruction uses a lot of hands on with the teacher facilitating each part. This also happens constantly in theatre.

Briana's Response #4

I am so excited to be teaching with Lindsey and at a high school! I've only ever had my experience at junior high schools and so this should be a totally new adventure! Lindsey was very helpful with what she wanted us to teach and even had the learning goal for the unit set up. I feel like the fact that she knew exactly what she wanted us to teach really helped with our understanding of what it takes to plan out an entire year of units. She also expressed great love for her students and said they were a very fun class to work with. This makes me really excited to be teaching in a class that she has faith in and also with a teacher who has faith in us as teachers. We asked if there was anything she wanted us to double check with her about and she said that she had complete faith in us. This makes me feel so much better about stepping into someone else's classroom and feeling comfortable.

She said she has a few students who have active TIEs. I'm not sure if this will make a huge difference in the classroom environment that we create but it is helpful to know about the students. If anything we will be able to take the demographics into account and work with them. I don't forsee any specific problems.

Meagan W, Heather, Chelsea, Response 3

It was a very insightful opportunity to meet with Brittany Foster, Spanish Fork High School's theatre teacher. Going into the meeting, I was hopeful that everything would "work out"; but I almost feel like it went even better than I had planned. She was very hospitable and willing to help us in any way that she could. She provided us with some foundational contextual information and offered additional suggestions and advice. For me, the best thing to "learn" was about the relationship between the teacher and the students. Especially when I feel like I can relate to the teacher, its important to me to hear how she feels about her students. Since overall it sounded very positive, I'm now excited to jump in and "get my feet wet". -Meagan
I felt like I really learned a lot talking with Brittany. It was interesting to talk about the socioeconomic factors in the school. It's really interesting that they have split the school and that all the inner city students have been put together. I see this as a challenge but also something that can bring the kids together. I think it could be hard to deal with because all of the students feel inferior (as Brittany told us) but at the same time, it's something they all have in common and hopefully something that could bring them together and make them feel alike and united. I'm excited that the class is small, I think that will make our teaching experience very intimate and give us an opportunity to really get to know the students, which excites me. I'm a little worried about our topic and getting the students engaged and interested, since it's a topic she said her students don't like too much.
But overall the meeting made me really excited and happy about the upcoming practicum experience! -Heather
In talking with the teacher I thought it was interesting that there were positives and negatives to every aspect we discussed with her classroom. She has good technology in her classroom, but not great technology for her auditorium. I think it showed a balance and a positive attitude from her as a teacher. Her school has been split twice over the last two years and it was interesting to hear her talk about the response that she gets from her students about that transition. Many of the students express that they feel inferior to the students that attend the other schools because those schools are newer. I think students are effected my a lot more then they usually openly express. I am interested in knowing students and their needs in the class room. -Chelsea

Megan, Krystle, Kirsten Group Response

We interviewed Bradley Moss at his school on Thursday. Overall, it was a great experience. He was very specific with what he wanted and seemed excited that we were going to teach his class. His class has only 8 students, we have never taught that few before in a class. So i think it will be a good challenge because there is less students to participate, but I think we may be able to get more accomplished. He said that his students are seniors and in the advanced group, but they are not necessarily advanced level. He is worried about their motivation to work hard and take acting seriously because of their former training. He is a new teacher at a new school so that has been a little difficult in establishing a concrete drama program especially with his seniors. But he is excited that we be teaching them how to audition and cut monologues. I think as a group we are also excited but worried about finding the right way to motivate them and get them excited. We want them to be able to effectively audition and be able to do well. Bradley said that this class has no ESL learners but it's a very well established upper class. But since they do not have a lot of experience we think it will provide possibilities that we can help them discover what they are good at and help them excel. We are excited!!!

Kiely's Response 4

I learned a few things from my cooperating teacher, Kris Holley. She was a very happy person and seemed to really love what she does. One of the things she talked about that I hadn't thought of before was the differences between teaching in a high school and a middle school, because she currently teaches at a middle school. In a high school the teacher has to deal with the administration a lot more and has to, as she put it, cut through a lot of red tape. But in a middle school, her administration just trusts her to do good shows so they don't bother her at all and don't require her to get approval for any of the shows she does. She also usually is given more leeway with cutting things out of shows because companies just see it as a middle school and let her do most of whatever she wants. But in a high school they're much more strict.

She also talked about how high school kids tend to be harder to teach because they think they know everything already. Middle school kids will believe anything you have to say and will more willingly try whatever you ask. She also said discipline is a little easier because the kids believe you more when you threaten. I thought all these things were really interesting and aspects that I hadn't thought of before. It made teaching in a middle school sound really appealing...

I'm excited because from the way she was talking it seems like she has the trust of her students and are willing to cooperate with us. I don't know if this is a challenge, but she told us when she told her students we were coming, they all looked kind of worried and asked if she would still be there. That may work for our advantage. If she is still there they will feel comfortable and be willing to participate and learn. Though they may not take us as seriously at first because their teacher is still there, so they may look to her instead of us while we're teaching. It will be a challenge but I think a fun one.

Intermediate Theatre Unit Pics

Please ignore the fact that I can't spell & our students will improve as well as do IMPROV

Begining Theatre Unit Pics

krystle's 3rd post

The Utah Core Curriculum and the National Theatre Standards can help teachers address text and literacy issues by thinking about what texts they are using to create units and lessons that fit into the standards. It will hopefully open new suggestions rather than just looking in books and online for information. It can help enhance lessons by creating activities that use a variety of text to teach the core curriculum and standards. After reading the standards it made me think a lot about the things that I can teach and what texts to use. It gave a lot of suggestions of possiblities. Reading through them I didn't see them as limiting but at the same time it also brought on the realization of what I need to be teaching.

3rd post

The National Theatre Standares have literacy with different kinds of texts built into it. Many of the Content Standards talk about the ability to deal with “informal and formal productions,” which could involve devised or other non-traditional pieces as well as scripted pieces. They also discuss the ability to design, which involves literacy with light, sound, props and costumes. Other Content Standards discuss thr ability to analyize other types of art forms in relation to theatre, like dance and visual art, and other types of production, like film and television. If used correctly these content standards lead students to literacy in scripts, design elements, other performances, and the human body through devised pieces and improv.

Three Shmeee, blah dee blah dee standards.

Despite the title of my blog post, I really do think that there is some validity in the standards (both nationally and statewide) that influence the way that students and teachers interact with the curriculum. While on the state level the standards may seem broad or even over-arching, there is some merit to the fact that the standards help teachers focus in on something. We all know that Theatre, English, Math, heck, all of the content areas are broad and full; there must be a way to organize content as students move through their educational life. Aside from helping students learn the different content areas, teachers can also use the standards as guidelines not obstacles. I learned in a recent workshop that we should make our obstacles our opportunities-- it's the same way with teachers and standards. Rather than complaining about the way that standards are set up or imposed on us, we can actually use them to help us explore the different texts surroundign our classrooms.

Kirsten's 3rd Response

I like how these standards, both the Utah Core Curriculum and National Theatre, are good guidelines to follow. Its like a good check list to make sure they are in your curriculum for the year. When you look at these different standards that you are needing to meet, I originally think of different literary texts to describe each different section. This can be a text book on history, design, acting, etc. But now with our new definition of a text, anything can be used as a text. If we learn how to use them effectively. I can see how sometimes the standards could be seen as a fence rather than a spring board. By using what we now know as a text and looking at the literary uses, it can help you broaden that spring board and make your classroom very interesting and each day can be a new discovery. It can enhance your classroom and lead to a new way of looking at many different items.

Meagan Wright, 3

Once again, these references define a standard for administration, teachers, and students to aim towards. By identifying general goals and objectives, teachers especially are able to plan for/with specific texts. For example, Foundations IV specifically mentions Shakespeare. From the start, a teacher will at least know one possible text to use in the curriculum design.
In addition to being able to suggest and clarify appropriate texts, the National Standards offer a number of literacy methods. On a unit of script writing, improvising can be explored. During a unit of directing, students can be assigned to conduct rehearsals.
As the Utah Core Curriculum and the National Theatre Standards are implemented in a curriculum design, teachers are guaranteed to see text and literacy. It will not only facilitate the planning and preparing of the teacher, but it will enhance the overall education of the student as they are being exposed to text through literacy.

Kristy #3

Having an idea that teaching with a text means such a wide variety of things other than just books and scripts really helps open up a world of opportunity to teachers. Because there are so many texts to explore and appreciate- especially in the theatre there are endless possibilities to what may be taught and created in the classroom. The Utah Core Curriculum and National Theatre Standards, gives us as teachers direction and focus in this world of limitless possibilities. I have had teachers in the past who, seemingly to me, did not use the curriculum standards to center their classroom. While these classes were sometimes effective and provided for a good learning environment they were not nearly as effective as those teachers that I have had that followed the standards and had direct purpose and reason to the things that were happening in class every day. And of course I want to be a more successful teacher- not just good sometimes.

Kiely's Response 3

The Utah Core Curriculum and the National Theatre Standards are basically an outline of everything a drama teacher should be providing to their students throughout the years in their program. It starts at the basics and moves up to advanced in every topic while explaining exactly what they should be able to do. I think this provides a very useful guideline when designing curriculum because as a teacher I now know where the students should start and finish. I can adjust it as I go according to the students, but at least I have a jumping off point.

Covered in both these sites is basically a list of what all students should be literate in, in terms of theatre. As a teacher I can take the basic idea given and then delve deeper in to the concept. However this outline really helps me as a teacher because it provides a clear list of the different texts my students need to study, and how literate they need to end up. I can then add my own personal texts to supplement what has been provided here.

This also helps because it may talk about a certain text that as a teacher I may not have thought to include or spent a lot of time on. One of those for me was playwriting. I never thought previously about including a unit on playwriting because we didn't do that in my high school program. Consequently I didn't even know they existed in high schools. This is a text and a degree of literacy that I did not know about and was not exposed to until I came to college. These outlines help to expose the teacher to different texts they should be addressing that they didn't realize needed to be addressed. Because of all this the students receive a more rounded theatre education.

Heather's Response-3

The theatre standards practically force you to do what we’ve been studying about texts and literacy. I love it! I have read the standards before but after our conversations in class about texts, literacy, and blooms taxonomy, I feel like I understand them so much better. They make more sense to me in how they are set up to really help us as teachers teach what our students need to know in a really productive way.
As I read the Utah State Standards, all I could think about was Bloom’s taxonomy. Each of the foundations builds so perfectly on the next, starting with knowledge and gradually working it’s way up to synthesis and evaluation. Seeing the standards laid out like in context I can easily understand really helped me to understand Bloom’s taxonomy more fully. It helped me to realize how to implement it in my teaching and in my courses.
“There are two basic goals in theatre education: finding meaning in works of theatre art through the study and appreciation of theatre as an art form, and constructing meaning in works of theatre art through the study and skill development of theatre techniques in the creation of that theatre art” This quote from the beginning of each Utah State Standard to me is the epitome of what Text and Literacy seems to mean to me. The first goal deals with texts; finding meaning in each and every aspect of theatre. And this is done in every level of a drama classroom, just more in depth as time goes on. Then the second half is about literacy, being able to take that knowledge and apply it; to create something more. This concept is also found throughout the National Standards as every aspect involves understanding and then analyzing and creating.
Reading through these standards after learning about texts and literacy really helped me to concretely visualize and understand what those terms mean and how they apply to me. I feel grateful to have the standards to help guide me in my teaching, they make me feel less alone. ;-)

Briana's Response #3

I won't lie, I'm a little overwhelmed. I was ok when just thinking about Bloom's taxonomy and the other INTASC standards, but for some reason, reading all of the national stadards and the utah core curriculum really overwhelmed me. I've begun thinking about the things that really are required of me to teach. I apparently can't just go in a teach them what I want to. Purpose, I suppose. :)

I think something interesting to note is that one of the national theatre standards compare and integrate art forms by analyzing traditional theatre, dance, music, visual arts and new art forms. This to me leans towards analyzing and being literate with theatre without having a written text. This specific standard promotes literacy in non-written texts, which is awesome. When using this standard, the text become the piece of art work and not a book. Our students need to learn to read and understand or be literate with all forms of texts, and this is the perfect standard to do that with! I think it is also important to note that constructing and creating theatre is a part of the standards. I think this helps us to assess the literacy of our students in all forms of texts and to gauge where their understanding lies with theatre. It all fits together! That's something that is wonderful to realize. Even though I am overwhelemed, these standards may be things that I am already doing naturally.

Megan's Reading Response 3

I just realized that I actually responded to this reading prompt already. I skipped one, so I will address the one that I missed and this question again. Sorry. Reading the standards and core curriculum really help a teacher understand what they should be teaching the students. I think that we should revert back to the core when teaching. In class we have been talking about going back to the basics and giving the students all the information they need to succeed, especially in a beginning class. These standards also give us an example of clear and manageable units we can incorporate into our curriculum. Sometimes I think we may try to cram too much into a lesson or we don’t do enough. These help give us an idea of what should be included at each level as well. Also at each level we address different things and literacy would be applied in different ways. We have to start at the basics for them to understand the next level. I also really like how at the end of the foundation levels there were theatre careers and opportunities. I would love to incorporate theatre opportunities into my lessons or at least mention college texts that would be interesting to them. That way it will help the students know that there are other things besides high school and they we can get a higher education and be introduced to even more texts in the future. I know one thing that I am a little worried about is getting my students to be interested and learn what I teach them. I hope to learn lots of different ways to assess the students and help them understand so I can keep them engaged and improving.

Doi. That's Romanian for Two.

Alrighty, so I'm not normally one to become completely overwhelmed by things, in fact, I normally handle things quite nicely, but having been presented with Bloom's Taxonomy and INTASC principles again, I have the feeling that sometimes I might not be doing all of them at once. In my perfectionist mind, that just doesn't compute! But then I realized, it's all good, I already know what I need to do...

You see, sometimes, the things that we inherently do as good teachers (assuming that we all are) are the things that other teachers struggle with. For example: In our program we have been taught to pay particular attention to the way that people learn and how to best reach them. Now, anytime that anyone in the department says, "Oh, that's such a Blue thing to do." We all simply know that it means they're just being caring or worrying or thinking about others. We now inherently use our baseline knowledge as a way to interact with the world.

In our teaching it should be no different.

We are simply teaching our students the baseline knowledge that they need to be able to interact with the world. The INTASC standards call it Learning Styles/Diversity, we just call it paying attention to student needs. Isn't it funny that we have to be reminded of what we do?

In the future, I fully plan to use Bloom's Taxonomy and the INTASC principles-- not because I will have them both out constantly looking at and reviewing them, but because they are something that we simply do, because they're part of how we were taught to teach, they're just good pedagogy.

Meagan Wright, 2

First off, the reading defines a standard of teaching – a very high standard, but rightfully so. There is an implied expectation that can be used as teaching objectives. It could also be used as a guide. For example, as I review the INTASC Principles, I can ask myself: Am I making content meaningful? Am I adapting my teaching to the diverse learners? Am I sufficiently planning for instruction? Am I establishing and strengthening relationships with those around me? If I cannot answer in the affirmative, I immediately know ways in which I can improve.
Additionally, Teaching Using Blooms Taxonomy gives actual strategies on how to implement high order learning. There are tangible lesson ideas for each standard. If I wanted my students to “know” something, I could consider using films, models, and diagrams. When I want them to “apply” that knowledge, I could in cooperate diaries, photographs, and sculptures.
Finally, the reading solidifies the goals and ambitious I already have. In a way, it provides an assurance that my personal teaching philosophies and goals are acceptable.

Kirsten's 2nd post

When you read the intasc standards, it keeps you as a teacher focused. It helps you evaluate where you are and how you are doing in your teaching. It is like a rubric to keep you on task and making sure you are keeping things student centered. I need to remember these so that I can be constantly re-evaluating where I am at as a teacher. Bloom' taxonomy is really interesting also because it gives definition and meaning to different types of teaching. You can look at what you are wanting your students to gain and apply them to your teaching. It also gives you an objective to work for. As theatre teachers, we understand what an objective is and how it can help us move forward with purpose. It also gives us the tactics to use as well. The 2nd page on Blooms taxonomy talks about how to apply it. It gives you suggestions to use and you can look at these and apply them to your teaching througout the whole year. I really like this list and hope to continue to use it through out my teaching experience.

Post #1-Sorry it's late

I was confused about what this reading was trying to say. Because I am such a praticle person, I wanted concrete examples of what was being suggested. I couldn't tell if the 2 theatre classroom examples were being critiqed or were considered good examples. I know that this isn't answering the question, but since I was confused about what the reading was saying, I find it hard to say how it relates to my future classroom. I am definently one of those teachers who wants people up and moving instead of listening to a lecture. Theatre lends itself to that; it's hard to teach theatre without getting people moving and doing what you are discussing. I see that as a good thing. Again, I couldn't tell if the reading thought that was good or not. I also agree that there is a wide variety of theatre texts to be explored in the classroom. I love devised and applied theatre, and plan on using those techniques in my classroom as well as more traditional performances and texts. The reading discussed these different texts, but I couldn't tell what it was suggesting we do witht hem. That's the best I can do, since I really was confused about what this was trying to say.

Krystle's 2nd Post

For me the INTASC standards help remind me that it's about the students. Therefore I need to make sure that I am teaching students and not just lesson plans. They make me want to make sure that I am constantly uising the standards because they will help the students more. As for the Bloom's taxonomy I want to use them when creating my lesson plans to make sure that they each go through Bloom's Taxonomy. Because if they do then it ensures that the students are learning something new that is built from what they already know, there's application, clarifying, puting information together, and a purpose. I feel that by having these as a part of my everyday classroom it will help the students be more committed and it will be a place of greater learning.

kristy post #2

I think that the INTASC Principles and Blooms Taxonomy teaching skills are important to have in the classroom. It also reminded me a lot of the importance of using different theatre texts in order to implement these higher learning principles in my future classrooms. Because in order to truly put into operation these teaching strategies you would need to use a variety of different texts. This reading made me consider the kind of teacher that I want to be as I looked back and remembered the various teachers that I have had- especially those in high school. There were some who used these principles and others that did not as much. While those teachers who didn’t use as many of the teaching tool s were still good teachers the ones who put into practice these assortments of tactics they were much more effective and I, as the student, learned much more in those classrooms. That is what I want for my students!

Briana's Response #2

The reading made me really appreciate INTASC standards. Honestly, before, I kind of thought that the INTASC standards were just something that were a pain for me to make sure I got covered in my lesson plans. But for some reason, just by going over them again, and looking at them while preparing to actually teach instead of just writing my lesson plans, I understand them and appreciate their purpose. It makes me really think about the kind of lessons I’m planning, whether I’m doing something because I want them to enjoy themselves or if I really actually want my students to learn when I’m teaching! The learning thing is a good idea, I think. I love the second standard of understanding Child development and learning theory. I just finished Adolescent Development and absolutely loved learning about how my students will think and learning how to understand them. I’m excited to be able to apply that to my teaching. By understanding their circumstances not only in life, but in development, I can cater my teaching to their specific needs. I think Bloom’s taxonomy really goes back to what we talked about in class on Friday. It’s about teaching the basics and breaking it down to really help them understand the concepts and not just assuming they understand. I think the Bloom’s taxonomy also applies to different types of assessment. By using those guidelines, we can further teach and prepare our students in learning. I had a really bad experience with a Drama teacher, and I think I now understand why he didn’t do so well. He didn’t know these standards!

Briana's Response #1

Immediately after understanding that any performance piece, viewed by an audience or not, is considered a theatre text, I wanted to express to my students the importance of and wonderful opportunities we have to read theatre performances! We can find meaning in performance and learn simply from watching and understanding, not only reading. I also really loved Gee’s point about comprehension having to do with exposure to vocabulary, worlds and words. This is so important when learning about our students and discovering what they understand. If they’ve never been exposed to Shakespeare in any form, how are they to understand a performance of a Shakespeare piece where they use words dissimilar from our own today? Important lessons to teach beforehand.

I really want to do an activity in my classroom like the dramaturgy one described. I think that is such a great idea for a unit. I had no idea what dramaturgy was when I came to BYU and I want to make sure that my students get the most exposure to as many things as they possibly can. No surprises for them! And the way the scenario explained it really made the unit clear in my mind. I think it was also good to point out that as theatre teachers, we may not even realize we’re teaching our students about theatre literacy. Literacy is part of everything that we do but we need to further work to implement and enhance those aspects already present. I think the process of action, evaluation and reflection is perfect when concentrating on literacy. This process will really help my students to understand and apply what I want them to.

Heather's Response-2

This reading made me really think back and evaluate my own education and how these things were implemented into my education. I realized that if my high school drama teacher (and other teachers) had not have followed the INTASC Principles and Bloom’s Taxonomy (whether they knew they were following them or not) I would not be where I am in my education right now. I realized that the only reason I love theatre and understand all the elements of theatre and am able to create my own pieces of theatre is because my theatre teacher made sure I learned building upon each of the element of Bloom’s Taxonomy. I want to make my theatre classroom the same way to instill a deep understanding or , and hopefully love and respect for, theatre. Doing this comes back to what we discussed on Friday about breaking everything down in the beginning and teaching theatre from scratch. By breaking it all down into smaller parts, I think it becomes easier to build upon it, and see that each student is learning at the same level and at the same pace and really learning, comprehending, applying, etc.
Along with the concepts in Bloom’s Taxonomy, the INTASC Principles are so interesting to me! There is no way a teacher can teaching using the taxonomy without first applying the INTASC principles. I’ve realized I need to know what I’m talking about and use my love of theatre to inspire my students. But I can’t just teach them in the way I learn, or assume they know things about theatre that I know. I need to teach them according to their learning styles, but varying my instruction methods. I need to learn how to communicate with different types of students, to practice motivating them, and loving them, and making sure they are able to learn in a safe environment within my classroom.
These two short papers that I’ve read have really re-opened my eyes to all that I can/need to accomplish in my classroom. It makes me really excited.

Kiely's Response 2

The reading made me think more deeply about how well rounded each lesson is so that all students are able to learn everything being taught. But in addition to just learning it, I want to make sure it's internalized so that they can take the principle itself and apply it to other situations. One principle I thought of was how to use and manipulate your voice to make it do what you want. I had an idea of doing a unit on this. I could start with teaching about projection and enunciation, and exploring how to give your voice dynamism so it conveys the emotion of the scene. That is fairly specific to stage performance. But then I could take it a step farther and do a project using radio. They could tell stories like an old fashioned radio program and we could record them. With this project they are completely dependent on their voice to get the message across but it's using the same principles as before, just in a different medium. I could also do a project using puppetry with the students focusing on doing the talking for the puppets. For me I want to teach the principle, which doesn't take that much, but then use more time exploring different ways the principle can be applied to different mediums. I think projects like these coupled together offer a variety to the students because some may feel less comfortable on stage, so a recorded radio program would be something they're more interested in. It also fosters learning history as the students would study older radio programs and how they were done. I think using diversity in the activities in the classroom helps students learn to take what they learn and apply it better to other situations. This allows the learning to move outside the classroom and into their lives.