Golly gosh! I learnt so much from this prac that I don’t know where to start…. I think the biggest realisation for me was that Drama teachers in high schools really need to be confident Directors with real creative vision (this is something I need to work on)!

I was slightly intimidated by some of the stronger personalities in the drama department. I was also intimidated by the talent of some of the students. This has reinforced that I really need to get active again in theatre myself, as I haven’t done anything for ages.

At the same time, I really think I enjoy the potential of learning through drama (or the process) as opposed to theatre performance (the product). I think the reason why I have enjoyed this class so much this semester is because it has focussed on the former. I think this might be my niche….

I was quite proud of myself attempting to teach a Religious Education class through drama -and especially letting the kids hotseat my teacher-in-role. The class focussed on the downfall of the Roman empire (and the subsequent rise of Christianity) which is definitely not my forte! But I enjoyed doing all the reseach (I’m turning into a history buff!) and thinking about all the activities I could employ to design the best learning experience for the students. This takes a lot of time (but I quite enjoy it)!!!!

Unfortunately, the hotseating didn’t work too well as the girls weren’t used to this technique and I was a bit nervous Jo suggested next time I could try describing the character and asking students to come up with some questions to ask the character, before getting into role myself. This is a great idea. For example, they might need a bit of prompting: “What would you like to know about living in this period? What jobs did people have? What did they eat?” etc, etc.

I didn’t get to do much with VCE students, but hopefully next semester I will get more experience in this area.