Being both an Aussie and an American (not to mention a Brit) can feel a bit schizophrenic sometimes. I can get caught up in altogether too many dramas.
In Australia and New Zealand our politicians serve us up a new plate of dramas almost every morning, in the USA we have been getting our panties in a knot about North Korea and the whole world is aghast at the violence in Syria and most recently a street in London.
I seem to wake up every morning and head for the headlines – what’s the drama today? We hope and pray for no more violence, but a battle of words between political leaders, a new scandal that hasn’t resolved itself yet or a ‘Breaking News’ headline all have us reaching for our coffee and settling down for the details. And if there isn’t one, well, it’s a bit of a letdown.
We seem to thrive on drama. We love the sense of teetering on a brink, wondering what the next exciting episode will be. That’s why we get hooked on TV series. That’s why when I get a favourite on DVD or Netflix I can’t stop at one episode. It’s the excitement that propels us forward, fills us with anticipation, and the adrenaline stirs the juices.
How can we use this love of drama in the classroom?
Turn the drama up for the learning and down for the behaviour.
I have seen too many teachers escalate the drama when a kid misbehaves and then wonder why things seem to spin out of control even more. We love drama. We crave it. Add drama to behaviour and the kids just want more.
I have also seen the power of lowering the voice, employing the quietly insistent water torture drip of repeated directions and the refusal to buy into the drama. By refusing to get caught up in a kid’s drama the teacher has a good chance of lowering the excitement and deflating the situation.
But learning is a different matter. Add a bit of drama there. Raise excitement and leave questions unanswered until the next lesson. Pose puzzles and conundrums. Find characters and ways to let kids connect to them. I remember a lesson about the war of independence and the burning of the White House where the teacher asked the children, “If your house was on fire and you had ten minutes to get out, what would you take?” before talking about what Dolly Madison took.
Good drama needs more than just an interesting plot and a good script. It needs to be performed well. Every good teacher benefits from being a bit of a ham actor. Knowing how to use your voice well, to vary volume, pacing and pitch should be tools of your trade. You teach with your body too. Children are drawn to the drama of the enthusiast. They see it in the stance, the arms, the hands, the facial expressions.
How do you demonstrate your enthusiasm for the subject you are teaching? Because if you can’t demonstrate enthusiasm you shouldn’t be teaching it. At the very least, learn how to fake it!
We are drawn to drama.
Turn it up for the learning. Turn it down for the behaviour.