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  • 1.  How to Set Up New Drama Class or Classes

    Posted 07-01-2022 14:39
    Sorry in advance for the long post!

    I am the District Librarian for a small town school in central Illinois (400 students in the high school). I have also been the theater coach for the high school for the past four years and have grown the theater program despite a pandemic. We have gone from one musical every other year to a fall play, spring musical, Thespian troupe, and this fall I will be teaching a drama class. The school wants me to do a semester option for the students because it is new and they wanted the kids to be able to opt for just a semester to "try it out" but I also have students that want a full year course. So first semester I will have 21 students in what I am calling Drama 1. Second semester I will lose 2 of the students but gain 3 newbies. My plan is to simultaneously teach Drama 1 with the new students and Drama 2 with the returning students. Drama 2 will be less teacher driven and more student lead. They will work on projects during class time and I will have new material for them to work on independently.  I have my curriculum mapped out for the year and several weeks of lesson plans so I feel great about this coming year.

    Now I am starting to think about the next year (lol, the kids are already asking whether they can take more than one year of Drama). I want Drama class to be something that students can take all four years but I also don't have time in my day to teach more than two classes.

    My first thought is to offer two classes: Drama 1 & 2 as it is now and Advanced Drama which will be for all other students that have completed Drama 1 & 2. The students can take Advanced Drama up to 3 years. It will be mostly projects that students will work on based on their level.

    Another option I am toying with is having only one class and just calling it Drama. It will be more like Band or Choir where we work on projects all together and the new students will also work on the material I have for Drama 1 & 2 so they get the basic theater skills. 

    So a few things to note:
    -I'm not sure I will have enough students to offer two separate classes. I only have 21 this year because it is a new offering. Ten of the students are seniors and won't be able to take more than the first year. Several of the students will only have Drama 1 so will need to take Drama 2 if they decide to go on. That leaves like six kids for Advanced Drama. Drama 1 & 2 will be mostly incoming freshman so I have no idea how many will be interested. 
    -Student numbers are low right now with 9-11th graders because of the pandemic and remote schooling half of the 2020-2021 school year. I hope to grow the program more but it may take a year or two of an active theater program.
    -We start talking about the next year's class offerings in October and I want to be able to have a plan before then. 

    So, now my questions for the community: What should I do? One class with students at all levels but a larger class or two classes that are level based and smaller? Any other ideas or suggestions? Is there anyone out there that is in a similar situation? What have you done?

    Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!!

    ------------------------------
    Amy Williams
    District Librarian/Theater Teacher
    Thespian Troupe #8881
    Auburn High School
    Auburn, IL
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: How to Set Up New Drama Class or Classes

    Posted 07-02-2022 08:59
    Amy,

    You're off to a great start. RE: course
    What's the goal? High school graduation requirement / college readiness requirement for electives?  U could choose Drama 1 CTE (career technology education), Drama 2 CTE or Professional Drama Honors CTE (intermediate) which has several perks here in CA. Honors boost in GPA plus it is a performance/production class that includes after school hours. Our CTE (UC credential) is connected to Perkin$ grant funding �� for CTE courses�� If growing the program you could later add Drama 3 CTE, Advanced or a Senior Capstone.


    RE: recruitment to quickly grow your program:

    1) if possible, in late September offer a Fall Preview (teaser) of what's to come for students, parents, and invite middle school teachers and families to begin building a relationship. Make some announcements in the program of future happenings and offerings. Invite The Press to get the word out to the community.

    2) Train your drama students in drama games and how to be a drama games leader.  If They each can co-lead 5 drama games in September U could offer the school/colleagues a Drama Games Fun: Building Community workshop (during your drama period) sending students to classrooms as Ambassadors/Drama Game Leaders.  This could perk the interests of other students and possibly once a month to continue this "community service".  

    3) Lunch Time or Brown Bag Drama Games Fun: Community Building once a month to recruit née students

    4) in August email your middle school PTA, performing arts colleagues, and principal. Introduce yourself and offer:

    a) Drama Games Fun: Community Building Workshop for Teachers offer 5 games they could choose from and use in their classrooms the first week of school 
    b) invite them to the 45-60 minute Fall Preview

    C) Invite them to an Open House Saturday to visit you/some of your students in your Drama classroom, experience a student co-lead Drama Games Fun workshop
    d) invite them to the Fall and Spring play

    e) create a few roles for middle school students to be in the play; invite The Press to get the word out to the community.


    f) offer a middle school matinee to get middle school teachers/students/parent chaperones up to the high school.  Invite high school students who are not performing to be: ambassadors, parking lot and outside greeters, ushers and practice VIP welcoming; invite The Press to get the word out to the community.

    g) plan 3-4 Open House Recruitment Visits where 8th grade families tour the school with 1 of your seniors or 12th grade Leadership students that includes 20 minutes in your classroom and/or a "student shadow" visit in your class for an entire period. 

    If you would like to talk offline feel free to email me at awele@awele.com

    Getting to Bliss!

    Awele (ah WAY lay)
    She/Her/Hers Pronouns
    510-601-0178


     
    EMMY 2020, OUTSTANDING CHILDREN'S PROGRAM
    We Are The Dream: The Kids of the Oakland MLK Oratorical
     





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  • 3.  RE: How to Set Up New Drama Class or Classes

    Posted 07-02-2022 09:06
    I had a similar situation to yours where I needed to teach semester classes, wanted to build the program and have student able to take multiple classes.  Acting 1 was offered all semesters but the second class each semester alternated every other year. 
    Year 1:
    Fall:  Acting 1 and Advanced Theatre Production (costume and set design, directing concluding in a one act production by students)
    Spring: Acting 1 and Advanced Acting (more complex acting/language) 
    Year 2:
    Fall:  Acting 1 and Musical Theatre (co-taught with Choral teacher)
    Spring:  Acting 1 and Playwriting 

    Having Acting 1 each semester got more students involved and helped to fill the other classes.  You would, of course, change the classes to topics you are passionate about - but the model of every other year classes worked out very well for our program.

    ------------------------------
    Diane Landis
    MN
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  • 4.  RE: How to Set Up New Drama Class or Classes

    Posted 07-02-2022 09:36
    Wow, Amy - what a great dilemma!  Congratulations on building something so positive for the students at your school!  So, a couple of thoughts for you as you ponder what to do with the classes:

    1.  Having one large class with students at different levels does allow for a lot of collaborative opportunities.  The more advanced students can teach and direct the less experienced students.  I've seen a lot of success with this type of pairing. This works well with project-based curriculum, usually with some type of performance at the end of the semester - like a showcase.  

    2.  Two smaller level-based classes will allow you more individualized attention and instruction for students.  This might be a more skills-based approach, as opposed to project-based.  

    So my advice is to make some decisions regarding curriculum for the class(es).  I think that knowing what you want to teach in the classes and how you want to teach it, will help you decide which way you want to go.  Having a solid curriculum approach will also be a good foundation for thoughts on growth.  What has worked well for me in the past has been to begin with a skills-based curriculum for beginning classes and then use a more project-based approach with advanced students.  

    I hope this helps a bit.  Good luck on this exciting new venture!

    ------------------------------
    Jeana Whitaker
    Retired Theatre Teacher
    EdTA Alumni
    www.jeanawhitaker.com
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: How to Set Up New Drama Class or Classes

    Posted 07-02-2022 10:19
    What exciting prospects for your fortunate students. Whatever you decide take advantage of the many resources on Theatre Teacher Pro plus I recommend my book published by Perfection Learning RAISING THE CURTAIN which contains various levels for classroom experiential learning.

    ------------------------------
    Gai Laing Jones
    EdTA Board Past President
    gai.jones@sbcglobal.net
    gaijones2013@gmail.com
    www.gaijones.com
    ------------------------------

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  • 6.  RE: How to Set Up New Drama Class or Classes

    Posted 07-04-2022 17:17
    Amy, as you will surmise from the responses, there are many ways to structure a program.  Congratulations on inspiring so much participation that your administrators are willing to begin a curricular program.

    First, if you have not already become acquainted with your Illinois standards, do that.  Making sure your units help to accomplish the standards is one good way to defuse complaints and give your classes the respect they will deserve.  https://www.isbe.net/Documents/Theatre-Standards.pdf

    I found it helpful to have beginning-level classes alone, upper-level classes grouped together.  For the purposes of your students' transcripts showing growth, you'll probably want those classes to have numbers, but there is no reason why Theatre II, Theatre III, and Theatre IV can't be in one class.  I think you'll find that the objectives will be easier to accomplish on the upper levels if you do a production with them in class.  That can be advantageous to your program, especially if many students are involved in sports, making afternoon rehearsals difficult.  Having both extracurricular and curricular productions can allow students with a wider variety of interests and activities to participate.  

    I briefly taught an Intro to Theatre class that was half a credit.  I much preferred to teach whole-credit classes for many reasons.  First, the Intro class was a dumping ground for students who didn't really want to be in any class at all.  Discipline problems and recalcitrant students didn't allow much space for those who were really interested.  Second, the progression was difficult.  Even the students who enjoyed the Intro class didn't want to take Theatre I later, but they hadn't learned all of the material we covered in the Theatre I class, so they didn't fit into Theatre II classes very well.

    I hope you have a wonderful year after a restful summer!    


    ------------------------------
    CJ Breland
    Retired Theatre Arts Educator
    NC
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: How to Set Up New Drama Class or Classes

    Posted 07-05-2022 11:34
    CJBreland is spot on!
    I will add that for several years, I did a children's theatre production similar to a touring group with my advanced group in the fall (with in class rehearsals). We we able to "tour" to the elementary; students assumed many design aspects. It set the tone for studying acting styles & got our year off to a good start.
    Debbie Corbin, past president 2017-19
    Retired



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