Play Practice - Reflection

This lesson went well.  The students were all very excited, at times, too excited.  We were able to use the stage in the media center rather than the hallway, which provided a more authentic experience (that is the location at which they will be performing).  The students enjoyed the demo, but not all of them were ‘into’ the brainstorming activity.  They also tended to talk over one another, despite the reminder we had discussed at the beginning of class.  This is typical for how they behave in the classroom, but they got better once they saw that I was insistent upon it and we would not go on until their behavior was appropriate.  Their plays were much improved over yesterday.  The reminders (from the brainstorming session and following ‘rules’) seemed to have been beneficial (I saw them correcting themselves on stage).  However, I am also aware that some of the improvement has to do with the location (clear on/off stage), and, possibly, to do with the fact that we didn’t use props, which reduces the opportunities for silliness.

          The second group had more problems with giggles.  I was frequently at a loss for how to help them be more serious and often chose to wait them out after reminding them that they were wasting their own time.  The group has three of the class clowns, so I was prepared for problems.  I frequently had to stop and make them wait before they could go on when they were being disruptive.  It worked, but it took time.  I will ask my supervisor what other strategies I could have used.  Talking one-on-one with the students before hand and giving them ‘jobs’ might have helped.  It also might have made things worse.

          If I taught this lesson again, I think that I would rather have just one group, and no audience, at a time.  I would have the other group practice in the hallway or classroom to, hopefully, make things go more smoothly.  However, despite the rough patches, we got a lot done today and the students had fun.