Drama NZ Conference

Drama NZ Conference
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fYV9AUTbNbcEj_OeRF7x_1AysF7AqiI1LmL3up3rPu8/edit?usp=sharing

Pop culture

Small group of  bi-lingual yr 7's today [other's at kapa haka] - we're looking at how drama is used to tell a story. I thought to look at a short film and they[all boys] suggested fortnite, We are looking at FARTTS; elements of drama, focus/action/time/tension/space.


Giving students choices in content, they were enthusiastic about fortnight
Info for parents

Here's what parents need to know about this game.

• Fortnite is an online shooter that starts with 100 players and leaves one winner standing.
• The entire point of the game is to kill other players, but the violence is cartoon-like.
• Although the game itself seems pretty harmless, players can talk and type whatever they want to each other, and bad language is rampant.
• In-app purchases can turn this free game into an expensive habit, with the average player spending about $85.
• Short matches and accessible gameplay make the game addictive.
• You can regulate your child's playtime (as well as in-app purchases) via parental controls on platforms like PS4, Xbox One, Switch and iOS.
• If your child is showing signs of isolation or depression because of the game, seek professional help.

The power of conversation

How & Why

Link KEP/SCT - develop skills to hold professional conversations.

Practicalities - when is the time for colleagues to observe/ converse?

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19OV9ItLWwXQ76G4Q3JCxP3sFjx7StzCd

Student engagement to raise achievement

ERO reports on raising student achievement
ERO found that two thirds of schools set effective targets, and about half took effective actions to raise achievement. ERO found that the most important factors for school success were:  schools clearly identifying the target students who needed to make the desired lift  schools resourcing the required actions to lift achievement  staff translating goals and targets into focused actions  teachers and leaders collaborating, and involving parents and whānau, in designing and implementing a solution to underachievement.
2018 plan to target 2 priority learners per class.
Positive environment - as with the start of 2017 my colleagues and I are setting up new learning spaces, having plants, cushions, posters was not the disaster some predicted bt it requires constant vigilance to keep things nice

http://www.instantdisplay.co.uk/alphabetsets.htm

• doing displays Shakespeare/ Musicals in auditorium for this term
• Have sourced resources , new musical posters

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1v3sJpnyNtg8QJ6HVCnuP5_JaaZzVJEYp

Pinterest

Shakespeare: Support and Extension

Titus Andronicus - big focus for NCEA level 2& 3 in 2017 term 3 which will flow into term 1 2018 when it is performed at the Court Theatre. It also links with Classical Studies- I am teaching new topics on the Roman Empire and have spent much time these summer holidays watching gory documents. We can link the play with 3 or 4 achievement standards thus giving students a choice of how they share their knowledge. Challenge with many senior is to the flip their learning - learn lines, watch videos.. at home so we can rehearse in the time together. some do it well- the 2 featured here worked very well on their piece- extending academically and socially.

The happy cast of Pyramus and Thisby 2017 Shakespeare Festival. We already have students [as well as me] planning for 2018. I will talk to the local organisers about acknowlidging junior groups as the national body has now excluded year 7 &8 from the competitive element. In 2018 we also had 1 student participate in the Selwyn Drama Festival. Another opportunity for "real" learning in the community is the 48Hour Film Festival. My challenge is that many of these opportunities happen as extracurricular events and limit the time we have to work om them- after-school [when there isn't a meeting] and weekends  - when we all have family commitments.

Musicals: Collaboration & Culture

Musicals must be collaborative- the range of skills- costume making/ design; choreography; ensemble work; lead actors; voice coaching. We had 3 teachers, a student support & 2 itinerant music teachers working with 36 students on this Art kete musical. We have built up capacity and confidence in our ability to put on a musical and I hope 2018 will see a full show. I think it is important, through the blogging, to highlight for students what they are LEARNING in a musical.

Leaning about Musicals in 2018. Building my background knowledge

Friday 26  I went to an entertaining talk  run by cimtss recommended my talented music colleague. https://www.facebook.com/chchintlmusicaltheatresummerschool/

I certainly learned more about Broadway and how to build a musical career [hard work, seize the opportunities but more profoundly about how performers support each other, cope with the stresses and believe in themselves as people. For example  the importance of physical fitness, "getting out your head". They mentioned Thoroughly Modern Millie [an old musical which I didn't realise had a recent Broadway outing]
Speakers - Jonathon Groff , Andrea Burns, Julia Murney

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jonathan-groff-hamilton-script-how-king-george-accent-came-be-894256
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1dHGSKyoozllbB1Ls5-5lRdyaxytpF-Gs?usp=sharing

2017 retrospective

11Drama 2017- a small and quiet group; worked with a great teacher intern on devising. The picture is some of the class on on a small outing to look at the Theatre Royal/ Victorian museum exhibit and such Victorian/Edwardian architecture as we have left in the city. This was exam preparation. They gained greatly in confidence and did a whole class performance to a public audience with their Term 3 melodrama.

I have been involved in GaTE education for some years- this year I attended this parent groups Christchurch conference. The focus was on individual needs and the need to foster well-being. Gifted students often feel things, like expectations or frustration, very strongly and outcomes can be less than desirable. I am on the committee of local organisation - Canterbury Association for Gifted Education.

The DramaNZ conference in 2017 focused on creative processes, I talked about the devising work I had done with the Arts Kete in 2016, the process is so student centred, physical and engaging. I went to 2 sessions about Musical theatre. I have used resources and ideas in classes. Later in the year I was able to do a DramaNZ workshop on performing arts technology [see my steam punk creation]. I have been working to include some Performing Ats Technology standards, in 2018 they become part of a different qualification system? How will that work? The year 11's did good work on a makeup task but they need to record more pictures of the process.

I attended the CTU Womens Conference as  PPTA representative. I think involvement in our union is essential to being collegial- being aware of issues such as workload/work-life balance- and working constructively to make teaching a safe and fulfilling profession.

 I attended a wide range of theatre performances, making the most of the generous invites the Court Theatre makes to dress-rehearsals, often we have DramaNZ regional meetings prior to shows. I am the branch treasurer; I regularly attend conferences [presented  a brief item at the April 2017 Dunedin conference]. I find the subject based support of my colleagues invaluable]. The Agatha Christie show was memorable for featuring a former student who created a funny, yet fully believable character in a classic/ old-fashioned? whodunit.

Whare Toi Whakaari- new spaces from pinterest to practicality- major task of the year moving into the new spaces of the Auditorium block,  a lot of practical work packing/unpacking/setting up spaces to provide more flexibility. The year 10 Music/Drama classes in the same line spent a term working together on musical theatre. This worked very well although in 2 hours a week we achieved far less than in the short, intensive Arts kete scenes from the Lion King.

Maori language- I need a LOT of repetition in languages, in term 1 I attended a 2 hour x 6 week course with Matua Corey. I learned that my nervousness with languages tends to panic my brain and block out what I do know! Nice relaxed conversational language course which has improved my pronunciation of vowels.
Looking in the wrong places- Mindlab: I started a course with Mindlab but it wasn't meant to be; changed from Monday nights in Hornby to Thursday nights in town; just too much work at this point- I have too many family commitments to give up Sunday's for study.

Summer Reading

Summer Reading - Creative Schools- Ken Robinson and Lou Aronica

Ken Robinson

I didn't realise he had trained as a Drama teacher- in the heyday of Dorothy Heathcote and process drama. Now I see why his philosophy has always appealed to me, it "feels right". I have watched his talks before  and I can find a lot to agree with. I have lots of post it notes in the book, such as
Education should enable students to understand and appreciate their own cultures and to respect the diversity of others. pg 48

• I myself went to a very mono-cultural high school, partly due to the era but also because it was private/integrated on religious grounds. A dominant culture of Irish Catholicism had little space for Italian Catholics, Maori culture was history and girls from the Islands played volleyball. I think such educational archipelagos still exist in Christchurch. Uniformity is dull.

The challenge is to put the ideas in practise in our context. A year 9 girl said to me at the end of 2017, "Do you think it's racist to say there are too many asians here miss?" In 10 Drama a loud Pasifika boy  labeled someone else gay, when I challenged him he said, "but there are no gay people in here miss", only to have several girls assert that there were. The filipino students in my form class rarely talk with others [except at camp]. Start of year- students need to build relationships with each other as well as with staff. 

Performing Arts/ Sports - great places to mix up students, but therefore challenging, no sitting in a corner with earplugs and a computer.