The most daunting part of trying new things is walking into an unfamiliar room with unfamiliar people. The name game in particular was very hard as I did not remember many names and those I did, were mentioned already.

In our group we did a tableaux on Goldilocks and the three bears, I jumped out of my comfort zone and tried my best to be involved in all aspects of this.

I learnt that my emotions really pave the way within the workshop. If I feel nervous, that is visible, if I am excited that would be visible as well.

I discovered that I quite enjoyed this workshop, having a more practical lesson really allowed me to feel less anxious and retain the information. One of the examples of this was through demonstrating “Voice and Movement” in front of the class in pairs. We brainstormed what this was within drama and how we would portray this. It allowed us to not just write it down but to view it in away that I have not thought about before, I really enjoyed this learning method.

Drama is within everything, being more engaging and practical is a great way for students to get out of their comfort zone and have fun.

Activities:

1-8 move around

Stop go jump clap

Clap circle, ball game

Name game

Shapes with body ( Australia)

Socio metrics

Post cards

Tableaux

We presented and performed today, I forgot my lines during the rehearsal which threw me off majorly. I was very nervous as the performance was worth a heavy percentage.

During the performance all of those nerves and fears washed away, it was the best run we had ever done. We danced our hearts out and put our all into the drama aspect.

In reflection, I was so proud of not only myself but the entire group. We worked together both during and outside class to step out of our comfort zone and create something that would relate to primary students. I hope that the audience took in our performance and take the meaning behind it to their future students.

From the start of the semester to now I feel so different, more confident and sure that this is what I want to do. The arts is a wonderful aspect of life and I am so grateful to know its impacts.

This video was created for our performance, we used our drama techniques not only within our in person act but within the above video. We decided to use no sound to enhance the storyline and our mime skills that we had gained earlier in the semester.

Within our media video we incorporated our newly found talent and love for stop motion videos, it helped focus on our subject.

To transition to our dance we embedded the music into the powerpoint for a smooth transition within our performance. The red background was displayed throughout the video which helped enhance our colour theme.

Group stop motion

A very engaging way to use media

• focus on sound effects

• lighting focus

• impact of small movements

• story line

Enabled the group to focus on the characters and how small details create the story or emotion within the video. We explored the use of sound effects such as moving card in the background to create a windy sound. We also enhanced the movement of our tinfoil person by patting the floor when it was "walking", which added more depth within our stop motion.

I really enjoyed this activity and workshop as we have been focused on movement for various weeks. Through media we were able to create a story from inanimate objects and use our creativity to bring them to life. This is something that I will bring with me throughout life and not only in the classroom. The smallest details make the biggest differences within media.

One of the most engaging and interesting aspects of the course was the stop motion.

I took my knowledge from the workshop and created countless different videos to put my skills into use, this also assisted in the creation of our media aspect in the group performance.

This is a great activity to bring to the classroom as it is free to use and only requires a device, most schools have access to IPads which are perfect for stop motions.

The practical workshops within this unit deepen my personal understanding on what dance is and how it can be used. We partook in many activities such as a birthday dance and creating dances with small prompts. It was very engaging and fun, which through my nerves I was able to realise that it was not about how good of a dancer you were, it was that we all were participating and enjoying ourselves. This would help students within primary school as they are able to take on the challenge, explore their creativity within the prompt and create individualised pieces that reflect and embody themselves.

Within this unit I have made many personal realisations. One of these is that I really enjoy the arts. This unit has surprisingly been my favourite, it has been a place that fosters friendships and created a safe place for us all to explore. I have also realised that to create this environment, you must have a teacher that paves the way. We have been so lucky to have someone like Kristy who has been so encouraging and welcoming, especially within the daunting dance unit. This is something that we will all take back into our classrooms.

Dance and the elements of dance are very important as they have helped in our memorisation skills with learning sequences and patterns, confidence and collaboration, enhanced our creativity, improved fitness skills and aided in our integrative learning.

Though the unit there have been many opportunities to express emotion, one major opportunity is through the planning stage of our group performance. We have chosen to focus on bullying, something that most people have experienced, myself included.

I am surprised that dance, drama and media arts are imbedded into our everyday life and contribute to creating a more collaborative environment. That within a classroom, many students will be engaged but some will not, as a teacher it will be their responsibility to assist the disengaged students and use many different strategies to get them involved. Kristy did a great job with this and succeeded every week making sure we all had the opportunity to participate.

I am very keen to use the blob activity within the classroom, this activity promotes collaboration as it does not work if the group are not in sync. It also helps explore space, as the blob moves from one place to the other. Through something that would be fun and engaging to younger students they will be able to learn and explore dance elements without knowing they are doing so.

I am starting to enjoy each workshop more than the previous one, I was quite nervous and scared to participate at first now this class is something that I look forward to each week. We partook in a box activity where the room was in a circle and we all mimed taking something out of the box. I thoroughly enjoyed this activity as it promoted everyone to think of something new on the spot and ways that it could be described with only minimal actions. (focus on movement, facial expressions) This is definitely something I will bring with me into my own classroom.

In previous workshops, I had stepped back and stayed silent with decisions. Within this workshop I used by own mime ideas and involved myself more within the group collaboration.

Drama fosters collaboration and cooperation as you are a team, just like a machine if a cog or switch is not on or working, it effects the whole operation.

The group work within this workshop enabled me to realise that everyone within the room is stepping out of their shell and that I am not alone in that. Everyone is doing their best to take in what drama is and doing so without a judging thought. This is something that I am so grateful for as judgement is one of most scariest things within a classroom, this would be related and the same for all classrooms too.