Moodle It!

Who's heard of Moodle (homepage)?

If you want to incorporate online technologies in your Drama program (or any other subject, for that matter), then Moodle (explanation, history etc.) is for you!

Don't stress, even if you're a self-confessed technophobe, this baby is easy to understand.

And no. Age is no barrier. It's never too late to learn. In fact, the older you are, the more respect you'll probably earn from your students for trying out technology with them.

Moodle is basically an online e-learning program (website) with a database hidden behind it that stores teacher and student information. In Moodle, students and teachers log on with a password and activities include forum postings, chat room conferencing, assignment postings, lesson content online, puzzles, glossaries, wikis (where students collectively edit posted information in real time) and workshops where students offer peer assessment of each other's material. Added features include calendars for upcoming events and of course, the ability to link to other documents on the web.

The easiest way to get started is to check out the link to Moodle above, pass the information on to the technology gurus/techs at your educational institution and ask them to download and install the latest version on the school's Internet server. From there, start playing with it and in on time you'll have an online supported Drama course up and running. Best of all, your students will love it!

Moodle is open source software, which means it is a non-commerical product, totally free to use and can be modified to suit your needs, if you know how. There are a few other programs out there similar to Moodle, but Moodle is easy to use and besides, I'm biased, as Moodle was developed by Australian Martin Dougiamis in 1999.

I read an article a week ago in the New York Times that clearly explained that students, teachers and parents who do not embrace technology today wherever possible, will be left behind very, very quickly.

Most important is the ability to experiment with new and emerging technologies. 7th graders are doing podcasts, classes are messing with online blogs all over the world and having the ability to do a PowerPoint presentation is now considered as difficult as opening a Microsoft Word document! So technology is not getting harder, it's just getting better and more interesting.

My current goal is to teach myself how to do an online blog and a podcast. I'd been avoiding the blog for a few months and a week ago it took me five minutes to set it up on Blogger and fifteen minutes later I'd published my first post on the blog you are reading now. That easy. No special knowledge of technology required. A wizard took me through a few simple steps and within no time the blog was a happenin' thing!

So if you teach Drama, what's wrong with using a blog as a replacement for a paper Drama journal? Whether it be at regular intervals or just for a small time during a special performance project, students can use the blog as their reflective tool. Information is never lost. Online servers back up stored information daily behind the scenes. It's better than the old version of a Drama journal, surely?

As for podcasts ... not that hard, but a tiny bit more time and effort is involved than setting up a blog. When I've mastered podcasting in a few weeks time, I'll throw up a post on how to use podcasts with your students in Drama as well.

Wicked

Our school auditioned for the musical Godspell yesterday and got about half the usual participants rocking up. There were probably several reasons why, but in the words of one of my Year 12 students, 'hardly anyone in my year level has ever heard of Godspell'.

So this got me thinking. Which Stephen Schwartz musical had the most performances on its original Broadway run? Godspell? Pippin? Or has Wicked already surpassed them both?

After a little research at the Internet Broadway Database (great site if you're curious about Broadway stats) I thought the answer just had to be Godpell. Right? Wrong!

Between 1972 and 1977 Pippin ran for 1,944 performances at the Imperial and Minskoff Theatres. In 1976-77 Godspell ran for just 527 performances at the Broadhurst, Plymouth and Ambassador Theatres. So Pippin wins (well, to be fair, before hitting Broadway, Godspell was actually one of the longest running Off-Broadway musicals).

But where does that leave Wicked?

Schwartz's monster musical Wicked (sneak peek) has been an absolute Broadway blockbuster since it opened in October 2003 at the George Gershwin Theatre. As of this post, Wicked has nearly doubled Godspell's run and is currently at 951 performances on Broadway. I don't think Wicked has a problem in the world of becoming Schwartz's most successful musical.

But where does that leave me and my theatre buddies?

Living right down the bottom of the world map in your local atlas, we waited about six years for The Lion King to come to Australia, which after about a year in both Sydney and Melbourne, will soon close on 4th June. There are rumours bouncing around at present for a possible 2007 Spamalot visit to Australia, but it doesn't matter how much we seem to love musicals here, when you live so far away, things don't happen quickly. To be honest, the big musical landscape is pretty barren in Australia at present, but that's another post in itself. It's going to be a long wait for Wicked to arrive on our shores, but I'm sure it will be worth it.

So hands up if you have seen Wicked? (Sorry about the 'hands up' bit, it's the teacher in me). I think we need some Wicked reviews. If you've seen it, throw up a post about it. Is it as good as everyone says it is?

Wicked Wicked Review!

Shoeboxes

Definition of a shoebox: my Drama classroom.

Today I got kicked out of having senior classes timetabled on the stage of a new theatre. Why? It's a 'Lecture' Theatre, not a Theatre, and it's everybody's space to share.

Semantics aside, I don't care what it's called and I'm more than happy to share with everyone else on the block, but after three lessons in there at the start of the year, it's time to go back to a 'classroom' that's 'small' enough for about five of my fifteen Year 12 students to learn in.

Don't see Year 12 Physics in the gym. Can't see Year 12 Art happening in the school canteen. And last time I checked, Information Technology classes were occurring in computer labs. So why doesn't Year 12 Drama get timetabled on the stage of a new theatre?

I once met a guy in the early 90s who rocked up to a new school only to find his Year 12 Drama class was timetabled on the school oval! I didn't believe him, of course.

Until he showed me his timetable. There it was. Clear as day. O V A L

In the past I have subscribed to the fact that the poorer the space, the better the work the students can produce. To a certain extent, I believe this is true. I'm sure there are many Drama teachers out there who have taught in worse spaces than I, producing brilliant work from their students. But when the space is just plainly inadequate and I'm the only one kicking up a fuss, beating my head against a brick wall seems an attractive alternative.

But my school is a winner in so many other areas ... the staff ... the students ... so it's back to work tomorrow with the best smile I can muster.

I'd be interested to hear your stories about Drama spaces. What's the worst space you have ever taught in? We might as well enjoy a laugh about it. After today's proceedings, I could do with a giggle or two.

If You Haven't Got Passion, Pack Your Bags And Go Home!

A couple of days ago, I touched upon the word 'passion' in this blog's opening post. Today, I intend to revisit this topic in more detail.

Last year I sat down with a fellow colleague and respectfullly enquired just how the hell does she get so passionate about teaching senior Mathematics? I knew she was an outstanding Maths teacher and at times I could literally see the passion for her subject in her eyes when talking to her. Everyone comes from a certain viewpoint, so my perspective was the memory of being a 15 year old boy who was so damn bad at Mathematics, I was almost ENcouraged by my teachers NOT to pursue it in my final two years of schooling. I didn't see the value of numbers in a world where we use dialogue to communicate with one another and to me, numbers were boring (ironically, today 'Numb3rs' is one of my favourite shows on TV!).

She said the beauty of Mathematics lay in the fact that there was only one correct answer to a problem and seeing her students strive to achieve this was her challenge. This was one reason why she was so passionate about Maths. 'Strange' I uttered. Because I knew the exact opposite was one of the reaons why I am so passionate about Drama teaching. When a student asks me 'how do I seamlessly change into performing a second character in a solo performance?', I tell her the sky's the limit. The possible answers to her problem are infinite, limited only by the confines of her imagination. Some answers are better than others, but there is no one, correct answer to the problem. Today, I often say to students young and old 'this is not Maths, there's no one answer in the back of the book. This is Drama....and there are hundreds of answers and possibilities'.

Passion in Drama teaching is sometimes underrated. A Drama teacher's passion for their craft is arguably the most important tool they may possess. Passion in Drama teaching goes hand in hand with inspiration. If I can say to myself after a day in the classroom, that I inspired my students with my passion for this discipline, then as far as I'm concerned, my day was a success. To prove my point, even outside Drama class, my car licence plate is 'DRAMA'. Some of my students think I'm crazy, even a little odd. But others who know me better, know that Drama is my passion and I'm happy to advertise it to the world!

And the best thing about passion in Drama teaching is that it sticks like mud to your students. For some of them, it never comes off. These are the students who have a love for drama, theatre and acting running through their veins 24/7, 365 days a year. They're usually the same ones who come to class looking a bit tired most days because to them, sleep is a waste of time. They can't sit still. There's too much to do. Drama class at school. Drama class after school. Musical or play rehearsals. Theatre shows to see and talk about. Favourite actors' lives to follow in the media and on the web. It's a never ending passion for the one and only thing in life that matters to them.......an unquestionable love for drama!

In the theatre, we teach our students that if they don't fully believe in the character they are portaying, then why should the audience believe them? To put it more harshly, you're nothing more than a fake. A fraud. It's the same with Drama teaching. If you're not passionate about it, pack your bags and go home! You can't 'fake' Drama teaching. Because the day you do, your students will see right though you.

But if you're passionate ... your Drama students will run with you till the end. And for a Drama teacher, it just doesn't get any better than that.

Top Class Auditions

Well, I feel like a proud father with a new born baby today....only there is no baby. Three of my cherubs from the 2005 Year 12 Drama class auditioned for Top Class this morning and the news this afternoon by email is positive. All seemed to go according to plan, everyone was there on time, nerves out of the way, last minute rehearsals done and solid performances from the girls.

Now we just have to endure the big wait until mid-March to find out the results. Fingers crossed!