Learning Clowning through Video

Subject Area: Drama

Grade Level: Grade 10

Source - URL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4cmrMJul1g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv6z6clc3Jg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH5REC6nE1Y

Desription of Learning Object:
Watch the videos above and determine what ideas and conceptsof European clowning are shown in the videos, where are they located in the videos, and how do they affect the comedy with in the videos.

Classroom Integration:

A. Form groups of 4 in which you can work on the assignment.

B. Research on the internet ideas and concepts of European Clowning; use at
least 3 sources. Be sure to focus on the following areas:
* Innocences
* Discovery
* Simplicity
* Melodrama
Everyone in the group will be responsible for the research in 1 of the 4 areas.


C. Watch the following videos and determine what ideas and concepts
of European clowning are shown in the videos, where are they located in the
videos, and how do they affect the comedy with in the videos.

Video web addresses:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4cmrMJul1g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv6z6clc3Jg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH5REC6nE1Y

Everyone is responsible for their section of research in this activity.

D. Bring all the information together into one comprehensive project which
includes the 4 sections research and video analyze. This must be compiled on a
word processing program and be spell checked and grammar checked.

E. Anwser the following questions as a group:

i) Did any of the four researched subjects stand out as being more important
then the others? Why or Why not?

ii) How could clowning be used in other forms of entertainment or in everyday life.

iii) Are there any of ideas or concept of clowning that are not one of the 4
researched? If so what are they?

Planning and Preparation:

First I would view all the material and make sure it is appropriate. Then I would make sure I have a firm
concept of all the material myself so that if the students had questions about it I would be able to give them
and intelligent response.
Secondly I would create a teacher web on-line to help guide the students in my absence. Like so:
http://teacherweb.com/WQ/HighSchool/Clowning/


GLO:

3. To develop an appreciation of drama and theatre as a process and art form.

SLO: Theatre Studies

4. Recognize dramatic structure of a play.
5. Recognize elements of tragedy and comedy.
6. Recognize realism and selected other significant theatre styles.

ICT Outcomes:

C3   Students will critically assess information accessed through the use
       of a variety of technologies.
C5   Students will use technology to aid collaboration during inquiry.

Responiblity for Internet Safety

The biggest problem with students using the internet properly is that a lot of adults don't know enough about computers. Most kids know more about computers then some parents. Parents are getting their kids to help them when the computer breaks. This is a huge problem.

Sure there are lots of protective software out there but most of it can be easily bi pasted or shut down. This software and programing to protect kids should be used in all schools. But the best way to protect kids is to put the responsibility in there hands as well. Talk to them about why they shouldn't engage in inappropriate activities online. Encourage them to be upstanding moral citizens and good people.

Too much blame is being thrown around for issues such as this these days and not enough responsibility is being picked up. No one single person or organization is to blame here. Everyone needs to do there part; parents, teachers, businesses, government, etc. So before people start pointing fingers at others they should make sure they are doing their part first.


Kirk Hall

Excel in the Classroom

Excel charts and tables could be used and as far as I'm concerned should be used for every classroom in one form or another. They can quickly and easily make examples or show information in an organized fashion that students can understand and follow. As we have also seen in assignment 6 excel can quickly and easily allow you to calculate large numbers of grades; perhaps for several classes at once. The uses of excel pretty much speak for themselves once you understand how it works and how to use it.
Warning - I personal would keep hard copy files of all orignal marks before entering them into any program. Computers can be screwy and people can push the wrong button and make it all disappear quite easily.

Discussion Boards for Teaching

Pros
+ Students can enter discussion boards at home and continue their learning outside school
+ Students can learn from each other and help each other succeed
+ Teachers can follow students progress without being intrusive
+ Introduces students to on-line communication
+ Can give teacher control of the discussions by being the administrator
+ Can allow teacher to remove inappropriate content that you couldn't remove if it were a blog

Cons
- Students can get distracted easily on computers with other functions
- Students could misuse discussion board: personal chat, cheating, cyber bullying
- Teacher could over use discussion board and lose real life hands on learning
- Students could mislead each other in projects or make group errors that effect the class
- Students may become dependent on technology for learning and interacting
- Could remove teacher from learning process too much


Five ways to enhance learning with discussion boards:

1. Set up a general class discussion board in the first week of class so that students can interact and learn; have students be required to make posts at certain intervals to prompt use.

2. Make sure to supervise and observe all content and interactions on the site while not intruding on the students; make it a safe and enjoyable place to interact and learn.

3. Set up a new thread for every major project or test. This way you can help guide their discussion topics.

4. Post things that interest your students to prompt use of the site: links, videos, games, pictures, etc.

5. Post things that will help your students learn: examples of work, links to helpful websites, educational programs, diagrams or text to further learn of subjects being covered, etc.

This web is one I would present to my drama class when beginning work on making a full scale theatre production on stage. Having a clear outlook of what needs to be done will give them an idea of where to begin. As well the students can explore the inspiration software themselves and branch off from this starting map into even smaller sections to explore the different aspects of drama. This would be a great learning tool to combine the ever so distance arts and computer sciences.

This will cover C1; Students will access, use and communicate information from a variety of technologies. Students will get a chance to explore a new program and use it to further their progress in the play.

Shakespeare in ourTimes

References:

Alberta Education. (1986). Drama 10-20-30. Retrieved September 29, 2007, from
http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/k%5F12/curriculum/bySubject/finearts/drama10.pdf


Drama 10


Description of Activities:

Students will engage in discussions of Shakespearean plays they have seen, read or heard of. Then through the use of computers they will research Shakespearean plays that have happened or will be happening in their city, province, and country; as well as how they are staged. After discussion and recording of their findings a brief clip from the modernized Romeo and Juliet movie will be shown. The students will then discuss and list changes that have been made in Shakespeare's works for today's audience in terms of staging, language, and social context.


General Learning Outcome:

To develop an appreciation of drama and
theatre as a process and art form.


Specific Learning Outcome:

Explore various conventions and
traditions of theatre


ICT General Learning Outcome:

C1 Students will access, use and communicate information from a variety of technologies.


ICT Specific Learning Outcome:

1.1 access and retrieve appropriate information from electronic sources for a specific inquiry


ICT Rational:

These activities will allow the students to explore different methods of searching for information from local to country wide resources. This will widen their information searching abilities as well as being able to focus on internet material in a broad and more focused view from different types of electronic sources. These activities will also allow students to discover more about Shakespearean theatre in a modern day and relevant context.

What is Technology Integration?

Technology integration, when we are discussing education, is the use of new technology in and out of the classroom for learning purposes. This has great possibilities and could speed up and/or enhance the learning process of students if integrated well. Some good ways to integrate technology into classrooms can already be seen in a lot of classrooms across the country. The use of LCD projectors allows teachers to quickly and easily display from computers text, pictures, video, etc. This would save time from making overheads, blowing up pictures, or dragging around TV’s from class to class. Things could quickly and easily be researched right in front of the class using the internet or computer programs. Teachers and students would no longer have to go through books and libraries for hard to find information. Information and multimedia can most certainly speed up the ability to find and show material. As well the quality of that material as well could be much higher because of the amount of information computers and the internet can hold gives a large field to choose from. Also how that information can show using computer technology can enhance the quality of material and subject matter.

Technology integration as well though can have it down sides if not done well. Internet and computers have many programs on them that can allow students to find short cuts for their work. As well having computers readily available with a tremendous amount of information on it could have kids continuously attached to their computers doing work instead of using conventional pen and paper. Libraries could become obsolete and books ignored. Students could stop reading just get summaries of books, plays, and texts on-line. If every student sat down at a computer to learn then a connection between teacher and student can become completely lost as the students focus is drawn completely to the computer in front of them. Interaction, group work, and socialization could be completely lost. Integration of technology into education must not be all encompassing. Their must be a limit to the use of technology and human to human interaction must occur. Real life does not take place within a computer or on the net, it happens here in the real world. Students must be able to learn and develop in the real world and integration of ever growing technology threatens that, we must be careful how far we take it.

A large barrier that does hinder the integration of technology in the class rooms is that simple fact that not all teachers are equipped to use such technology. Many teachers grew up never having seen such technology used in class rooms and aside from not knowing how to properly use it, they may be afraid to use it. As well the education system is not as well funded as it could be. Education is not always a top priority of the government or public. So with limited money schools may not be able to afford to buy new technology or to train teachers in how to use it. Teachers do not make enough money to continually buy the latest technology to keep up to date them selves. These are all things that are stopping the integration of technology into class rooms.