Week 10: A Finale!

Well it's over! We didn't have as many people show up as we would have liked to do a final performance (our coordinator Becky says this is often the case on the last day) so we had a celebratory party complete with games instead! Sarah baked some brownies and cookies for our girls, and after going outside to enjoy the nice weather, we played some games and new games. A new game the girls seemed to like involved each personpicking a buzzword. Then a ccene would start with a locale, if any of the other people said your buzzword you had to exit the scene (with it still making sense.) The same goes for entering back in. At first, the girls would just run off, but after getting the hang of it, the girls seemd to really enjoy it. Our scenes were hilarious, including Sarah and I getting into a tiff because I lost her in the parking lot of an amusement park. Then, we had a discussion about what the girls learned. Overall they really enjoyed the experience of thinking on their feet. They also enjoyed having a role model who like to do the same things they did. Overall, they seemed to have a really positive outlook on Sarah and I's performance and group.

Weeks 8 and 9: Nearing the Finish!

I apologize for the lateness of these blog posts. Graduation, moving out, and final projects have really cramped my blogging time. The last two weeks, we have been working on scenes. During Week 8, we read over some scripts that my cooperating teacher gave me for C&I300. My teacher says her students tend to really enjoy these scripts because they are adaptations of fairy tales. Additionally, they are short (about 4 pages) and tend to have a lot of different parts as to have the most participation. We looked at "The Three Little Elephants" (based on "The Three Little Pigs") and "The Very Ugly Woodpecker" (based on "The Ugly Duckling".) Based on students wishes, we decided to do "The Very Ugly Woodpecker."
This week, we had much more attendees which was both a good thing and a bad thing. We had more people, and hence more actors, but some of the new arrivals hadn't read "The Very Ugly Woodpecker" and instead wanted to do another play. We explained to them that the choice had already been made the week before, and they didn't seem to put off by the play upon rereading it. Then, we decided parts by simply asking the students for first choices. It was surprisingly easy to deal out the parts and the students were mostly cooperative. I am filling in some small parts in the play, while Sarah will play the role of audience next week for our "performance." We rehearsed some blocking, with the students having the majority of the input. Next week is our last week of Flagship, so next week will be my last post! Until then!

Week Seven: Definitely Feeling Spring Break

Our kids definitely felt the effects of Spring Break when we returned to our group on Wednesday. The kids looked at their finished masks, played some of their favorite games, and we discussed scenes. Our session was mostly productive, but I have noticed in the past couple of weeks that our students would easily get distracted. Sometimes they wanted to write on the board rather than listen to us. I felt it appropriate to say something. At the end of the class, I just took 20 seconds to highlight the point that Sarah and I are volunteering our time to be there, and that it was sometimes difficult to keep everyone on task. The students seemed receptive to this, and it was also the perfect opportunity to discuss the rest of our time with the students. The students are eager to start scenes and I feel that Sarah and I have adequately prepared them for scene work. During this particular lesson I have learned that saying something, such as in a problem, is definitely better than not. I don't think the students had any idea that they were goofing off, or that it was bothering us. Even taking a simple 30 seconds, really seemed to make a difference! Until next time!

Week 6! More Fun!

This last week's flagship was dedicated entirely to painting the masks students had made. We had a new member, a girl, join our group...she said she had thought the Drama Flagship had ended a long time ago, and never realized it was actually happening until she heard some other girls talking about it. Because she didn't make a mask the previous week, Sarah and I thought on our feet and got her some paper plates. The best part was she didn't feel left out that she was painting paper plates instead of paper mache...her monkey mask was actually quite cute. I know last week was the end of the quarter, so I think everyone was feeling the stress (6th graders have end of quarter projects and tests...right?) so painting for the students eliminated a lot of unneeded stressful energy. There is no Flagship for the next 2 weeks...so Sarah and I are gearing up for the back stretch of this great experiment! So long!

Week 5: Everybody Must be Feelin' the Stress!

Sorry for the days later post. Last week was crazy for myself, Sarah, and our students and this is the first time I've had since then to reflect. The end of the quarter is coming up, and the students could definitely feel it. The girls had a hard time focusing on their mask making. We tried to get out some of the hyper energy by playing the Numbers game, but the girls just got frustrated that they weren't reaching their goal. Then we made paper mache masks. We definitely could have used some music because I think the girls just wanted to get out some of their stress. Focus was a hard task last week, but I know the girls were stressed so I definitely understand. They are great girls, we couldn't ask for a more hyper bunch! I think, in reflection, a more active day would have suited their needs better. This week we are painting our masks, so we shall see if the end of the semester stress will be released by some painting. Maybe I could bring some relaxation music to start the day. The girls seemed to really enjoy the isolations when we did them and it may just give them a chance to unwind. That...or maybe we could do a 10 minute dance party to get out the energy! Until later!

Week 4: Finally! Some Excitement!

So, this week in Flagship was just us girls. We had 2 new girls and a girl who is a regular. Today's discussion was warm-ups and character (trying to fit 2 weeks of stuff into 1 because of last week's mishap.) We talked about why warmups are important: responses from girls were..."gets you into character," "warms up voice so you don't get tired," etc. We did some body isolations and relaxation, then we warmed up our bodies. Even as a 22, almost 23 year old, I still love to pretend to walk through honey, or mashed potatoes, or clouds. Brings out the little kid in me I guess! Then, we warmed up our voices with tongue twisters such as "Unique New York, Unique New York, New York is Unique" and others. One girl even remembered "To sit in solemn silence..." from the Mikado. However, the biggest breakthrough came from when we played the party host game. This game, a frequent on Who's Line is It Anyways, was an instant success. Every girl wanted to go out into the hall to be the host, even multiple times. Plus, after the first round we didn't have to come up with many suggestions for quirks. Sarah and I got to play ourselves, which was very exciting. Overall the creativity of the quirks coming from the students was amazing! We had: vampires, grandmas, one girl was lactose intolerant, it was great! At five, the girls were sad to go and wanted to play some more. Next week, however, is students' choice of game...so I told them we could definitely revisit that in the future. Next week we are also making masks...which will be super fun! Until next time!

3rd Week: A Little Bump in the Road!

So this week Sarah and I showed up to Flagship, fully knowing two of our students wouldn't be attending. Little did we know, none of our regular students would show up at all (Turns out 6th Grade had a ski trip today and hadn't returned yet.) We did have one new girl sit down at our table, but she didn't look too enthused to be the only one there. Sarah and I discussed our options and we felt that we didn't want to scare this girl away from the group forever, by Sarah and I just teaching warm-ups to her. This girl didn't seem like an "all eyes on me" sort of person, so we encouraged her to come back next week to join the rest of the class then. Sarah and I sulked (sort of) back to our respective cars, unable to do anything with the group, and unable to teach Flagship today. However, I think in the long run...this was the best decision, as all of our kids put "how to act" on what they would like to learn. Being warm-ups are an integral part to actor training, or at least for middle schoolers, the students will really benefit from the new material next week. Sarah and I have decided to keep with our original plan and stick to our outline, so we will be doing half of this week's material and half of next week's material next Wednesday.
Also, I have been placed in a drama classroom at MHMS for my final classroom observation. Sarah and I could always use more kids, so my cooperating teacher and i had the idea to maybe hold mini drama groups during lunch at the school. This way, students could test out drama and see if maybe the after school flagship program would be fun! Until next week!

2nd Week: Trudging Along!

Second week of Flagship has come and gone! We had one new student, a boy, which added a fun dynamic to the mix. This week we focused on character. Last week, each student was assigned to observe someone close to them, noting how they walk, sit, talk, etc. It became really interesting during these presentations when the students got really in depth, "This is how my sister brushes her teeth...This is how my brother dances..." We also played family portrait, which the students really got into. After that, we played charades...a classic party favorite. Sarah and I engaged the students in a discussion of character before the game, which I believed helped them immensely at not playing stereotypes. We talked about how one would prepare a character. The students brought up "youtube, videos, pictures, books," but they also brought up in depth study. The idea that how can you pretend to be someone or do something that you have never done yourself. These discussions help the games along, and further investigate acting as a craft. Sarah and I plan to do much more of these types of discussions in the future.
At the beginning of Flagship, however, two of our girls informed us they would not be attending our group for the next two weeks, leaving us only 2 people...a boy and a girl. It will be interesting to see how this affects our group dynamic and ensemble as the group will be so small. Next week we will be focusing on warm ups, something I think the students will love this...as on their info sheets, most of them put "how to be a good actor" on the "what do I want to learn" box. Check back next week for more updates!

1st Week: The Big Bang!

Well, week one of Drama Group is over. Sarah and I exchanged some furtive glances when only two members had shown up at our designated table. A few minutes later, two enthusiastic best friends also joined our table. After they had eaten their snack, we established some ground rules for our particular group. For the most part, they were right on with what Sarah and I wanted them to come up with: Be respectful, No interrupting, Listen to the Teacher etc. Sarah added the rule Be Encouraging to the list, while I added HAVE FUN in big letters to make the rules positive as well. We had all the students trace around their hand print and sign inside their hand to agree to the rules.
Next, we played some name games. Being since we had such a small number, this didn't last long. One thing I learned quickly is the ability to teach on your feet. I looked at the clock and we had used up most of our planned activities in only 15 minutes of the allotted 1 1/2 hours. We decided to do some upstage downstage information, as well as play a game that accompanied/solidified the information.
However, when we had just begun the game, several students came in from other groups. While I do not oppose the joining of members, it was hard to re-discuss the rules and aims of the game over and over as each new member joined.
Additionally, I felt that the 4 students were really meshing both together and with Sarah and I, and the new additional members threw the whole dynamic off. However, Sarah and I incorporated them into the group the best we could, by having the students discuss what they had just learned (upstage hand, upstaging someone, no backs to the audience,, etc) and we played Stage Picture...a game with little rules that could quickly be explained to newcomers.
We also played Freeze, Questions, and a variation of Freeze in which all the responses must go through the alphabet. Something that surprised me is how quickly students would help the player that was struggling to come up with a question...almost like they were a family playing "Family Feud" in which they consult in a circle before submitting a response.
For next week, Sarah and I instructed the students to brainstorm name for our group. Next's week discussion will also be about character, so their assignment is to observe someone or something (speech, movement, mannerisms) to present next week!
Up Next? WEEK TWO!

A little more about the Flagship Program...

Welcome...

to my blog documenting my senior project, spearheading a Drama after school program at Meadow Hill Middle School in Missoula, MT.  This site will provide you weekly updates on progress, happenings, and musings from this exciting experience.  My Senior Project partner, Sarah, and I are excited to get started...and today is the kick off! More posts soon!