Our workshop was really successful and so much fun! The students obviously didn’t have a lot of experience with drama as they were initially very silly during the warm-ups. As time went on and the scenario was effectively developed by us, the students were carried along by the unfolding drama and became more focussed. They really seemed to be “in the moment”, which was demonstrated by their strong desire to find out “whodunit”. It was interesting to see how it became almost like a detective game for them, and although this was not necessarily our intention, it worked quite well.I had been a little worried about my improvisation skills but I found that it all came back to me when I was in character (especially Jemima Goode). I forgot to include some important bits of information in my Newsroom Supervisor speech, but Jo interjected and reminded me to talk about headlines (for which I was grateful!).

As the “suspects”, we didn’t have too many inconsistencies in our stories (even though the students tried to very hard to find them!). My first rotational group didn’t seem to really grasp what they were supposed to do, so I led them, in character, in the direction of how to begin their questioning. Once they figured out what they were supposed to do, they became much more confident. The last group leapt at me with questions and accusations, and I almost felt like I really was at a press conference! They’d listened carefully to the other characters and had obviously decided to believe some stories over others. In this way, they weren’t acting objectively as a true journalist should (perhaps a follow up class could further examine the journalistic code of ethics?).

I’ve always been aware that a vital skill for teaching is the ability to be able to improvise and think on your feet, and our workshop really proved this point. You just never know which way students are going to go; especially in a class discussion, an inquiry-based unit of work, or in a learning through drama scenario. It is important for teachers to be well-informed about a topic, to be prepared with re-focussing questions and activities and to be able to run with students ideas.

It was fantastic to see how engaged the students were throughout the workshop; even when it came time to write up their stories. The class teacher suggested quietly to us that certain children might have trouble with the writing aspect and wouldn’t produce much work, but to everyone’s delight, those very students proved her wrong! There was a great deal of collaborative learning taking place, with students helping each other to complete the task.

I was a little disappointed with the final discussion as the students became quite shy and didn’t offer much in the way of feedback. Perhaps it was too formal a setting for them to voice ideas? Perhaps they don’t work in this way normally? It would also have been helpful for us to know more about their prior learning in this area, as we could then have delved further with our questioning, so as to ascertain the learning that occurred.

All in all, a great first class! I think we all benefited from it.

P.S. I’ve found a Canadian website titled Learning Through the Arts which has lesson plans in a similar format www.ltta.ca/lesson_plans.html. There are not a lot of drama lesson plans (there are more dance ones) but I did find one on medieval life which could be useful. There is an International Lesson Plans icon and not much on offer - maybe we should email them ours?