Today I started off in the drama workshop. In this week’s workshop, we looked at a further four drama conventions:

• Flashback
• Flash forward
• Slow motion
• Narration

 

We used these techniques and created our own scenes using each technique, based on the theme of a haunted house. In addition to this, we looked at the work of Augusto Boal – the founder of the convention ‘Forum Theatre’. This is when the audience suggest ways in which the drama could be changed. Although this worked well in our workshop it would be difficult to replicate with a primary school class as children may interpret the suggestions as criticism.

The convention ‘Teacher in Role’ was addressed again as this concept it helps to set the scene of the drama yet it can be the convention teachers are most apprehensive about using. This may be because the teacher cannot guide where the discussion will go. However, the pupils having the ability to guide their learning is a vital. During this session, we briefly discussed the role drama plays in building confidence and the importance of this. Confident Individuals of one of the four capacitates of CfE (Scottish Executive, 2004), thus it is vital that all pupils are given opportunities to gain confidence whilst learning. Finally, at the end of the workshop, we discussed next week’s task: a microteaching lesson based on a book. We have to work in groups to create a 20-minute lesson based on a children’s book. I am incredibly apprehensive for this lesson; however, my confidence has been developing over the course of the module and I know that it will improve significantly after the completion of next week’s workshop.

Later, in the music workshop, we began by exploring the importance of the voice. The voice is the primary way of communication in the classroom and it helps with classroom management, thus it is paramount in “carrying out professional roles and responsibilities” (GTCS, 2017). We then looked at advice from the British Voice Association concerning taking care of your voice. I learnt that It is important to take care of your voice and it is vital to warm your voice in the morning to ease into the day (BVA, 2017). We then warmed up our voices using the music resource, “Choon Baboon”. This is a Scottish resource and so fits in well with the Curriculum for Excellence as well as helping teachers who are uncomfortable with teaching music. This was an enjoyable, interactive lesson that would be easily replicated in a classroom.

Finally, we selected instruments and created our own tunes using a Graphic Score. We selected a theme of a rain dance and used our instruments to create the sounds: clap, bang, trickle, ting and rumble. The Graphic Score is an easy way for children to follow music as well as compose it themselves prior to learning notes and scales.

This week’s music workshop was also very engaging throughout and gave me a further insight into how I might teach music in the future.

 

Reference List

Choon Baboon (2017) About Us. [Online]Available: http://choonbaboon.com/about-us/. [Accessed: 31 October 2017].

 

Scottish Executive (2004) A Curriculum for Excellence: The Curriculum Review Group. [Online] Available: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/Doc/26800/0023690.pdf  [Accessed 31 October 2017].

 

The British Voice Association (2017). About the Association. [Online] Available: http://www.britishvoiceassociation.org.uk/about.htm [Accessed: 31 October 2017].

 

The General Teaching Council for Scotland (2017). Voice and the Teaching Profession. [Online] Available: http://www.gtcs.org.uk/web/FILES/FormUploads/voice-and-the-teaching-profession1652_214.pdf [Accessed: 31 October 2017].