LESSON: Drama The Rabbits

DATE: 10/08/2015

1.

CLASS: Yr 9

What I intended my students to learn during this lesson

-A sense of physical space and using non-verbal communication to add to the

story telling
-To practice their improv skills
-Greater awareness of team work through volunteering to join and exit a scene
-To involve as many students as possible

2. Changes I made to the lesson plan during the lesson and why
-Moved the circle to the other side of the room as a student farted causing a lot
of distraction. I moved the whole group away so that they could not complain
and I started the circle closer to the smell to show students that if I could stand
it, so could they.
-Eventually cut the whole activity and started the next part of the lesson. The
students were not participating properly, one broke the others headphones,
some refused to move. It was not working and it was no longer a safe space for
students to have a go and express themselves. So I decided to stop and move
on.
3. How my students responded to the lesson
-At first they were intrigued by the new activity, but as the disruptions came it
became harder for them to focus.
-As I was called out of the first 10minutes of the lesson to speak with senior
management, I was not able to set up the classroom dynamic from the
beginning. The change of teachers halfway through was not ideal for what we
wanted to do. It also did not help that the teacher prior to me was doing
something completely unrelated when I returned despite leaving a detailed
lesson plan to follow.
-As soon as I stopped the activity, I felt that the whole class changed attitude.
They could tell I was frustrated and disappointed. When I introduced the next
task I was returned with smiles and compliance. Unfortunately the bell went
shortly after so we were unable to do to much in that positive space.

4. What I could have done differently to improve the outcomes for my students
I think we could have done a few things differently;

1. Stuck to the lesson plan! Or scrapped it all together.

Either way, swapping half way through was unfair and set the class up
to fail.
2. Set the students up in a circle. They stood around and
watched as people jumped in the middle, but because they were
standing, they kept gravitating towards each other and they were
unable to maintain the designated space of a circle. It made it hard to
have boundaries and know where they were meant to be. If they were
sitting than the chairs would give an automatic circle for them as well
as limit where they could move. It also would stop disengaged students
from wandering around and breaking other peoples headphones.
3. Create a reset signal. Some sort of call or word or noise
that resets the action automatically. So when you hear this sound or me
shout reset, you go back to your seat. This allows us to reset the space
and then start again. I can also then as the teacher make sure other
people are getting involved and having a go.