4 Nov Post

In reading the chapter and thinking about the different ways that assessment can be handled in the theatre classroom, I was constantly reminded of when I was in MSJ's 396 class. During that class we were constantly working through different ways of assessing our knowledge. For example, we would have to do group assessments or a written assessment or any other myriad of evaluation of our knowledge. Due to the set up of the class, it probably would have been easier for MSJ to simply give us a bubble sheet and test our hard knowledge of the facts of the course, but instead we were given a more holistic approach to assessment. For me, these different types of assessment not only made the class more enjoyable but helped me to solidify the knowledge in my mind. I fully intend to bring alternate assessment to my theatre as well as English classrooms.
As for the most effective form of assessment, it was evident from the reading that it is cross-curricular education. From the beginning of the chapter it was clear that the author supports the idea of having students work through all aspects of theatre together, not just dividing the education up into different topics or sections. As a high schooler, I remember once talking about theatre history with Shawnda and saying, "Wait, I learned this in my other classes!" She said, "Yes, it's called cross-curricular learning." I of course then asked what in the heck cross-curricular meant; needless to say, my exposure to interdisciplinary learning began long before I started my formal education to become a teacher. By learning and assessing our theory in practice we are more able to learn more varied and rich curriculum-- which is probably why the book advocates it so highly.