Spring Creek Middle School - Drama Club Adviser
From September 2016 to December 2017, I had the amazing opportunity to be the drama club adviser at Spring Creek Middle School in Providence, Utah. This position has been challenging, eye opening and, quite simply, lots of fun.
Click on the link below to explore the drama club website!
msfrostdrama.weebly.com/
Below you'll find a letter of recommendation from my supervisor.
Daily Outlines and Reflections
10/13/16
What we did: We started out with a slow mo race. Then circled up for a “Building a Story”. We then went around and each got to pick a small motion/gesture and an accompanying sound and as it went around the circle it got bigger. The kids really liked this one. We then took 15 minutes or so to discuss our fairy tale project. A lot of kids threw out random ideas (e.g., we should do this! No let’s do this! One time I wrote a script and it was about this!), but I am certain of a few things. The kids want solidified characters (no double casting), it needs to be flexible to add more people as more join the club, and they were assigned to come up with three fairy tale characters and/or a job that they would like to have (e.g., make up, costumes, set design, backstage help, etc.) I also know, that in the end, I need to make sure that everything works. I want the students to feel like they are heard and they have good ideas. A total of 17 kids today. It was awesome.
10/26/16
We talked about our Fairy Tales project. The past few times I’ve done this, we talk in one big group and we were not getting anywhere with that strategy. I finally realized to have them split into 3 groups, talk about their ideas in a small group, decide on one (or a combination thereof) and share it with the class. That worked so much better, I didn’t feel like I was yelling over everyone and everyone got to have their voice heard. Hallelujah! I learned that they really like the idea of fairy tale creatures (or their children) being in HS/MS and being pushed/sucked/thrown into an alternate universe of the FTs. I’m not sure how much I like this idea, but from the very beginning, I wanted this club to be student centered and I have to be willing to give students a chance. However, in the back of my mind, I always remember that I am the teacher and have the final say, since I have a broader perspective as far as theatre goes.
After the club, a few girls lingered and I asked them how they thought the club was going/how I was doing/things I could improve and they opened my eyes to something I had completely neglected. They don’t know each other! The clubs have consisted of drama games and talking about our FT project. I just assumed that everyone knew everyone and I didn’t do any getting to know you or team building activities. Another problem that we have is that there isn’t a big sense of respect for others or unity in our club right now. We have no sense of togetherness or of team building. How could I have overlooked this???
Plan for next time. Start getting to know each other. But how can I do that? I think starting at the basics of getting to know each other and building up friendships/unity and trust and then we can explore really getting to know each other by stepping into vulnerable places.
11/29/16
Today we played some games.
I revealed the cast list, but before that, I had extra time. So I impulsively sat my cast down and asked for some feedback: what is going well, what is not going well, what can we improve on, etc.
I got some good feedback.
1. We play games all the time. We need variety to actually do and learn something. I need to be teaching them more. We could read a play then do designs from is (e.g., make up, costume, set, etc.). Do workshops (e.g., dance, vocal). A guest artist could come in, talking about how to sing better, sing for us, then listen to a few kids and give some feedback. Maybe even a stage combat day. Work on monologues, do scenes together.
2. There are scheduling conflicts. When I announced auditions, 3-4 of my girls were doing the musical theatre thing. I need to talk tothe drama teacher and hash out conflicts so that doesn’t happen again.
3. Some sort of social media so kids (and their parents) stay informed. It was funny because one student said that we should get an Instagram because “Facebook is for grown-ups and Instagram is for kids.” I seriously rolled over from laughing – in my head.
When we get back from break, I need to send home a flier introducing myself, I’ve been here for two months, we played games to get to know one another, but now we’re working on a show. This is what is happening, etc., etc.
We also talked about a Christmas party. We decided upon cookies, music, white elephant and some games. Tomorrow I’m going to delegate that and let the kids pick committees to work on and what not.
12/1/16
Reflections from today: give kids time limits…they will go on forever and ever with a scene.
Today we worked on our voices, we stretched, warmed up. Talked about pitch, volume, tone, rate of speed and vocal clarity. Then the broke up into pairs and one person was the voice (told the story) the second person acted it out. They liked that, but it took up a lot of time…kids need time restraints. Then we did a sound scape activity which I hope they liked. At that point, I gave them an “assignment”…memorize a short monologue to a specific emotion. I told them I would also do it with them because I’m of the opinion that we should be willing to do what we ask of students. But we ran out of time, so that assignment sort of felt like a last ditch “oh by the way.” At least I’m learning and will fix it for next time. I also need to be more aware of my time and look at my watch more and gauge the time we have left and how the students are using it.
Over the Christmas break, I am going to finish the script and flesh out a curriculum plan for the rest of the year.
4/13/17
Today we worked on the Fairy Tale. I committed the students to being fully memorized for next Thursday. I'm not expecting full memorization then, but knew that I needed to have the expectation to be high so they can rise to it. The students are getting excited! We have two solidified performances in May and the students really are rising to the occasion. They're getting their costumes ready and building props. The tech is very limited at our middle school. Two hand held microphones, 2 sets of strip lights and that is it. I need to talk to the drama teacher and get some help with the spot light.
It was funny today because I had no idea how to turn the hand held microphone box off, and when I asked for help, a handful of students ran over to help me. I need to utilize their "smarts" more. They know more than I do on some stuff and are super willing to help.