Monday to Friday 14th 18th December 2015.   What did I do this week in Lessons?

On Monday we had Becca and rather than doing Tutorial we had fun watching Toy stories one of the old children's classic hits on Netflix what I enjoyed about it was the enthusiasm the movie had and the energy but what did not go so well at the start was that we did not agree on watching it all of us at first. Then in the afternoon we had Rob in Drama were we waited for our groups to individually film/ rehearse our silent movies in the class opposite ours what went well was the excitement of rehearsing and teamwork in our groups. But what did not go so well was the time keeping or attendance of some people in the class.

On Tuesday we had Drama were we started by playing games like musical statues and chairs what went well was the energy and we all laughed and had fun in class, but at the same time helped each other out and were supportive to the other fellow classmates. What did not go so well was every person in the class did get involved in some parts because their were not enough chairs. Then we had Dance were instead of having a lesson we had the opportunity to watch a pantomime in our college I have to say I really enjoyed it the singing was really amazing and the excitement and energy they put into it when rehearsing to make it that good. Then I had English were I completed another 2hrs of my essay what I thought I did well was the paragraphing and use of sentence openers to make it engaging and interesting for the examiner to read, on the other hand what did not go so well was I got quiet tired after a while and time keeping to make sure I know exactly when to move onto the next part.

On Thursday I missed Maths and Drama as I was feeling unwell in the morning. So I was only able to attend tutorial in which we were invited to see a preparation performance for the level 2/3 music production students which I enjoyed but I got a bit tired towards the end. What I thought went well was the way they presented it for example the lighting and entertainment, energy and enthusiasm they put into it. But on the other hand, what did not go so well or what they need to improve is they should do it in the theatre so it is not too long and tiring for us and we don't get pain in our legs.

Monday to Friday 23rd to 27th  November 2015  what we did this week 8

On Monday we had Rebecca were we did proportal and continued to write what we missed or had not finished in the previous lesson with her help if we did not know what to write but we had to do it independently. Then we had Drama with Rob in front of the music students were Sarah and the person she worked with, Jessica and the person she worked with performed in front of the class and after the music students our guests/ audience gave them feedback which was positive and negative on how they thought the performance went and from what they saw in their own opinion after we all as performers thought what could we do better for example project our voice more or make sure we are positioned at angle were we are not blocked and are able to be seen as individuals .

On Tuesday we had Rob were we did normal rehearsal in our groups going over the lines repeatedly for both lessons and making sure the plays run smoothly with believable characters and emotion in what we are performing rather than being ourselves and receiving constant feedback from our teacher to help us improve before the performance on Thursday in the theatre so that we are comfortable and confident when it come to us doing it and we also rehearsed our performances in our normal classroom and once we were called by our teacher to come next door with the people who do the same script as us we performed it but this time Rob was paying close attention to our characters and how they react one by one we performed ours until we did them and each pair got feedback on what was good and what could be even better or improved. Then in the afternoon we had Mandy were we were given health info which has to be turned into a poster for our homework using pictures etc.. to make it eye catching for people and when she marks it, we also di some exercises to build up the core muscles in our body and make us stronger when performing on stage to help us project and speak clearly to be understood. After that we continued the telephone and ignore mime and moved into a circle as told by the teacher and were asked to do a few mimes on what people working in a pub would do, we had to then get into the previous groups we were in and incorporate the moves it did not matter in which order or pace we did it as long as all of them were used in the mime sequence which then once polished and smooth had to present to the rest of the class and in my group that day I struggled not to laugh which was a bit of a challenge for me for some reason. In the evening we had English with Hailey were we studied and discussed questions on sheets of paper about crooks and his behaviour/character. We also watched the scene which showed his friendship or companionship towards Lennie and how he reacted space and attitude wise how he would react to him coming in to his room
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On Thursday we had Maths were we revised on the topic conversion graphs on the board, then moved onto learning data collection sheets doing exercises on the board about the topic we are learning, after watching the clip and answering the questions as asked to by the teacher she made sure we understood what we were doing. Then to finish the lesson we did a worksheet and once it was fully completed we marked  it with another person in the class. In the afternoon we had Drama with Rob our teacher were we rehearsed our pieces in our normal class on chairs in each pair in a space but not next to the pairs that did the same script as us we mixed with other people but as soon as we started the fire alarm went of so we had to evacuate the  building as soon as we came back and it stopped we rehearsed at least for another half an hour of the lesson just going over the lines repeatedly until they were flowing and  smoother once the lesson was finished he told us we had to be off script by next week and know it completely with confidence in what we are doing. Then we had production arts with Becca were we were split in our groups again and started planning and figuring out how to present or advertise the concert in the venue we are holding the concert for Miley Cyrus and how to bring across the message e.g. prices, snacks, seating plan, designing poster which was the first step to starting the concert plan in a team which is the way you succeed incorporating or getting each person involved not just yourself.



On Friday we had Maths were we revised Data collection sheets, then moved on to doing two way tables were Jessica, Sara and Me along with the teacher watched a Maths clip on two way tables, answered the questions on the clip as asked by the teacher and then did some of the worksheet questions on pieces of paper, we then were asked to check them one by one by writing the answers and showing our working out to the other people in the class on the board in a marker board pen. In the afternoon we had Becca were we continued working on our blogs for this weeks lessons and looked and winter clothes and had a chit chat in class but mostly concentrated on our work which was the main priority in the lesson. In the afternoon after Becca's lesson I had ALS Support with Imishka were we continued to do a harder worksheets on area and I managed to complete the whole booklet, after that I thought I had extra English but apparently in the end it completely changed to 1.00pm in the afternoon from next week.


 

Monday to Friday 19th to  23rd October 2015. Week 6 what we did in Lessons?

• On Monday we did not have normal lessons we just did our presentations in our groups at different time slots which went well even though I forgot or mumbled/ rushed my words, one person in our  group was nervous and one completely missed our presentation but I will not mention the persons name. But overall, even  if the standard or look was not what we imagined it to be we hardly showed the errors we made and most of the people or everyone present on the day made efforts to make their part look good and too come confident and prepared when we shared it with Becca our form tutor who was  impressed with us all for putting the work in even though it was a short day I pretty much enjoyed it.

• On Tuesday I stayed at college for a few hours going to the library, having a lunch break and talking to the teachers about our English as the assignment was cancelled and as we got notices from the teacher apparently were told it was moved to or we were doing it after the half which will be In  2 weeks so today in class we will do extra preparation so we will feel more prepared and confident in what we are doing after half term.

• On Wednesday we had a day off. On Thursday we had Maths lesson in the morning doing exercises on the board on perimeter and area, then we attempted a worksheet  with questions on what we were taught and learned in class. Also we watched a clip and did working out questions after watching parts of the clip on Paper. In the afternoon I my review which went well with Becca and Rob and was pleased with the comments I got from each teacher and the overall things they said, even what I need to improve or keep up over the year to succeed really well in all lessons by asking the teachers when don't understand something or repeating the question/ answer again, also writing down in my book what we did in the previous week so I remember what we did in a book.

•         On Friday I found out I did not have Maths or any other lessons with other teachers or ASL support                                                                                                                    

Date: 22/09/2015              what we did this Monday to Friday?

• First we were doing some exercises with Rob our Drama teacher to make us warm and full of energy for the lesson ahead of us and we discussed what we did on Wednesday and the weekend in a semi circle going from left to right and talked about a film called ''Everest'', then birthday cakes and pizza and the occasional joke and laugh here and their.

• Afterwards we were put into pairs but the week before we were given a script and were asked to finish it off with lines of our choice and using our imagination on the spot and I worked with Jacob pretending to be in an interview asking or explaining why I should get the job of a teacher and gave example such as: ''I am confident and at working with kids in that environment or field'','' I have worked in primary and secondary schools before and in the future or in a few years time see myself working in a college or another job''.
• But this week I worked with another person in our class and we were given four scripts to start with and as a basic guideline on what to say and then moved on too finishing the lines our self with our imagination and out of box thinking and we agreed on doing a performance on someone who made their girlfriend pregnant and my friend was worried, angry and stressed about what he did and my character was the opposite at the start as I did not feel guilty but thought it was a good thing he did and totally was the opposite of him but towards the end felt sorry for him and what happened but he had enough of me pressurising him and told me to leave which left the audience thinking should he really trust me as a friend or not? and am I a friend he can rely on?, left the audience at a cliff hanger, problem which was hard to solve/ mystery to unravel and shock, but also anti-climax and the atmosphere at a tense ending.

• This week Tuesday we also had dance with Mandy to build or make our body stronger physically for Drama and build our muscles/ body but instead of movement, we were told we are learning about pedestrian movement.... when the fire alarm went off we were all tired and told to leave the building. But soon after we came back and started the lesson a little later then expected. When we finally started the lesson we watched the video and closely saw each movement and realised how it was not really hard movements but easy flowing physical movement which anyone in the theatre can attempt to do and their bodies were sharp and close/compact and tight together with the movement and rhythm and timings all at the same time from each individual and the energy and pace is also the same from the group. After we were put in groups/split in half in our class and told to do a routine after doing our warm up exercises with Mandy which make our spine and legs and arms stronger, more flexible to move with out any risks of injury. Then we were shown the routine which had 8 counts in it and had to work and rehearse until we got it right but when we performed it we had trouble with the timing at the end so to improve it for next time we were told to all rehearse it at home.

• Then we had English were we were told what assessments/ exams we are retaking and what we will learn this year to do even better in our gcse English and pass to get a ''c'' grade and apparently  funnily enough we are studying ''Of Mice And Men'' again this year and if good enough take the exam in January. Also we had 1 session of Maths were we start by doing or unravelling a code and a long number and did a worksheet on prime numbers/factors which was a bit tricky but we all managed to do and today were told we don't have a lesson which I was totally confused about but understood in then end.

• Then we had Drama again with Rob were we were put in our groups of ''4'' or ''5'' people and started listening to pieces of music and got 2 pictures and words and repeatedly listened and looked at, but at the same discussed the mood and setting of the play we are creating/ improvising in our groups and wrote down things they made us think of words and phrases. The next we asked Rob for help and examples as we still needed help with what we have to do and explanation and when we knew we started thinking of what we could do and incorporate in the play and when we came to a conclusion which all agreed on we started to get on our feet and moved to the other room to rehearse but had to wait for one of the people in our to come back and then when they did we started rehearsing but had a little lunch break first for 1hour and sat down in the room and then we came up with ideas and our going to rehearse it. Which is we want to do a scene at a dinner I am a mother and the wife's of my sons will stay, while they set off to go to war, then they are on a journey in a ship isolated in the cold weather, After they are at war fighting in the dangerous conditions when on dies and one survive and makes it home, to conclude or at the end we go to my son who dies funeral and here a speech from our family and the person in charge of holding funerals. Then their is a blackout on stage and my dead son comes to life and does a dance by Michael Jackson ''Thriller and Beat It'' and that is the end of our 5 minute play which will leave the audience in shock and upset.  

                                     

Monday to Friday 12th to 16th October 2015.    Evaluations for level 2 Drama and week 5 of blogs:

• The targets I set myself to achieve in performing our pieces for the induction 6 weeks at college were to speak loud and clearly, pronounce the words properly and have confidence when performing on stage in front of a big crowd or audience in the theatre or even in class. In artistic terms I would say perform confidently without hinting of being scared so the audience know you are playing role naturally rather than showing you are scared and making the piece look less believable and powerful in drama terms shall I say and completely spoils or gives away the effort and enthusiasm in the performance making it look dull and boring. Also Pronouncing your words in artistic terms makes the audience empathise feel for the character and what they are saying which makes sense as they say every word as though it has meaning or means something rather than just saying it in a odd way, it makes the play more exciting depending on the type of genre the play is. But in technical terms confidence makes the people giving lighting and sound queues in the theatre much more sure about what to do at what point in the play without messing up by doing bigger more clearer or exaggerated gestures so it is clear what they are doing and so it matches with the piece of music etc.. Also the pronunciation or projection of lines gives them a hint of when to start/end the music to leave the audience on a cliff hanger or dramatic pause with shock or happiness in tears.

• The issues we were having during the devising process was were the pieces matching the scenes and time of era, or were they too slow or too fast, loud or quiet and would they match the time we said the lines and would our voices have to be projected to be heard by the audience? once we started shaping and rehearsing the performance and using the songs while saying our lines or even listening to them we knew weather they would match or not. Sometimes we had to cut them to the part we thought would work with the scenes and sometimes we had to change them completely. Another issue was lack of focus or motivation to do some rehearsing or shyness by me wanting to remember big lines which I managed a bit at the end and also attendance from some people or some not coming to college and we had to chase them or contact them to see were they were but I won't mention anyone in particular in the group, sometimes we had to rehearse without them in class which was hard but we tried just improvising around them and sometimes it meant staying late nights rehearsing with the group or new people in the group for long hours which was not 100% convenient or what we would have wanted to do but we had no other plans if we wanted it to be good by the time it was our performance day.

• My strength as a individual were characterisation because I got into the shoes or role of the mother and understood in times of war such as world war1 how the mother behaved at home and what sorts of things she was responsible for such as the cooking and cleaning. Also throughout most of the play my timing was good as I knew when to come in and when to stay in role even when something went wrong I wascompletely focused so I did not let the team down. My weaknesses were confidence as I was shy and nervous that I would forget a line on stage and my mind would go blank or I would make a mistake and also remembering lines was a issue at the start but as I started learning them they were stuck in my head but I am worried about learning big lines but maybe is something I can improve and develop over the years.

As a group our strengths were team work as we cared for each other and helped each other when one person in the group struggled or did not know what to or even panicked or stressed about something. Cooperation as we all came up or agreed with the persons idea and worked together without complaining much throughout the weeks. Our weaknesses were timing as people were always missing so we could not rehearse in Drama lessons and a 100% commitment which improved later.

• I thought the performance went well except for one technical issue with the sound for example we where all focused the whole team on the performance except sometimes In rehearsal were we where tired or put off by what happened outside in the college building, I also thought we were all engaged In our play and what we were doing e.g. our characters and the set or layout of the play and the relationship with one another as characters how we would behave/ act around each would we be closer together or further apart as in proxemics and space were things we all had to consider when working with each other as actors and how different It would be and how we react in the theatre then in the classroom with Rob our Drama teacher and friends in class. I thought overall the as a whole the audience thoroughly enjoyed the plays as did we for the music students who also did exceptionally well as we did and I think we all should have been so proud of ourselves as everyone who watched was and could not stopping going on about it after we left the theatre.

• I think the areas I could work on more as an individual our remembering long chunks of lines when do come to doing script work etc. and pronouncing words properly as I say lines in rehearsal and on stage to become better and better at it and feel confident with it so people will be able to understand me more when I am speaking whether it is too my friends or even family.

Monday to Friday 12th to 16th October 2015  week 5 what we did in Lesson?

• On Monday I had ASL support with Arlette were we wrote down what I should edit on my presentation on backstage roles which I had to cut and change a bit more to make it short and easier to understand, I had to revise my line for our performance from memory without the piece of paper for our performance and we discussed the techniques I use when rehearsing Drama lines.
• In the Afternoon we had a supply teacher as Becca could come in as the teacher said she injured herself and were told to do our professional from what it said on the paper but ended up finishing our presentations instead with the supply teacher. In the Lesson after two groups only performed their pieces as the groups had some people missing, then we gave them feedback on sheets of paper by saying what to improve and what was good in a circle.

• On Tuesday we rehearsed in the two classrooms for the whole drama lesson and Rob came and saw both groups while rehearsing until the end of the lesson and at the end of the day my group rehearsed for a while and saw to actors Rob was working with scripts to get an idea of what they do. But after Drama we had Dance with Mandy were we rehearsed and showed the performance to Mandy so that we get feedback on what to improve which we did later and had to without one person In our group who was missing and did not turn up for the whole lesson and gave in our posters later. Then we had English for two hours were we where told we are doing a creative writing piece instead of film review and she gave us example of good film titles and we did as well which Obafemme wrote on the board and she showed us to ways of writing or building up the story.

• On Wednesday we rehearsed on parts of the play we needed to make better and parts we thought needed more rehearsal until it was at a good enough standard with even people who were missing a lot while we rehearsed and even did a rehearsal in front of the level 3 performing arts students with the new music.

• On Thursday we had Maths in the morning where we did time questions on the board using harder stratergies and people we asked to show theit working out on the board to the class to show they understood the question, then we answered a sheet of paper with functional questions based on what we are learning which was perimeters the new topic we stated this week. In the Drama lessons we headed to the theatre as a whole class and told the technical director our queues for the music and when to faid the lighting on stage in our group order of performances and then it was the music students so we went up stairs and some people sorted out their props and extra creative ideas and every group rehearsed until the performances were ready and we were told to head to the theatre. In the theatre we were told to put our stuff in a cupboard then they told us were we are supposed to sit and the running order of the show. When it started Charlie did a short introduction then every level and group performed until we reached the end were we collected our thing and said well done to everyone and left full of joy and excitement.

• The next day was Friday we first had Maths were we did the same activities as the day before. Then we had Tutorial with Becca were we did our blogs on the work Rob sent us via Gmail to answer the questions on our Drama performances and how we thought they went in our own opinion and she told us important pieces of information for the week ahead or next week. Then when everyone in my class went home early I had lunch and later my ASL support with Imishka for Maths were she printed more worksheets on perimeter as I struggled with it in my maths lesson and was told to finish it for homework and we checked my other pieces of work and at the end of the lesson I had to sign a piece of paper.    

Monday to Friday 16th until 20th November 2015. Lessons we did on week 8 in college


On Monday we had a lesson with Mike were we did a debate and discussion on ''terrorism'' and learnt what the term of terrorism meant and what lead to them doing those things, apparently in London they have a poster of what things we should not use or have around us when these things happen. Then the teacher split the class in two halves in our groups we did research one about why the poster ''which is right'' and if it links to issues such as religion etc.. and our group did it on (The English Defence League) a group who protests against wages and attacking the police to get their rights.


Why we did this activity was to gain further knowledge and have a class discussion on our personal view or opinion surrounding that topic of issue and so we as young people become aware of the things happening around the world globally at the moment and don't get a huge shock at our age. But most importantly stay safe and not to feel the need of being at risk or In danger and feeling pressured or scared about this in any way at all.


How it helped me with my learning was understand the term or meaning in depth of terrorism and have more knowledge about the issues or reasons for and against of why these things are happening today? and what is the reason or consequence of that happening quiet so often in may Mediterranean or middle east countries in particular but also others?.


The techniques I would have developed further is having a go at being more involved in topics we debate which I did more in English later on. How I will use it in the future I am not really sure I will need too unless there is a real life situation were you will have to do a debate, but that is not really the case.


 In the afternoon on Monday we had Drama were some us were asked to show some parts of our opening scenes in the play we have been asked to perform in pairs by our teacher and I wanted to volunteer by showing Lucas's and my piece first as we were brave enough to go first and I thought we did alright, at the end of the performance we got feedback from the teacher on what to improve for the next rehearsal.


Why we did this activity was so we could present to the class what we had done so far and so the audience has a taste of our performance. But mainly to know the points or areas we still have to improve on or develop even further and which parts look good and don't need to necessarily be changed drastically or at all.


How it helped me with my learning was that through the mistakes or things I did not do so well I was able to learn and correct those little mistakes to get them up too a good enough standard, but also to strengthen myself as a person and the role I played as well as though it was a learning curb or a challenge which needed correction.


The techniques I would have developed further If I had the chance too would probably be just pronounce my words properly and to learn or correct the mistakes I made during my previous performance in my lesson and to make it 100% better than it originally had been before.


 I will use it in the future when going onto doing theatre productions and having to audition for them you would have to take on board the negative criticism from the people telling you what to do or the director and just except what you have to do and what just happened and come back stronger next time and not let things come t me and let things knock me down I just rather have to be myself and a strong, confident person and believe in myself every step of the way as they are only trying to help you improve as an actor.



On Tuesday we had Drama in the morning were the pairs that did the play ''two'' by Jim Cartwright were asked to go next door with Rob and do a whole run through of the play (including Lucas and Me) as our play was the longest and most challenging piece and I felt,I learnt a lot from the acting side of the character and the miming part of the performance as well.


the reason we did this activity was in order to prepare us for the performance in the theatre as the scale of the theatre is much bigger compared to the rehearsal rooms we use during lesson time and as we had a lot of lines  to learn and were struggling to learn them fast enough and had trouble with the timing and pronunciation of things we decided to work on it with Rob until we felt ready enough for the next pairs to do the same with Rob as well.


How it helped me with my learning is it made me understand and learn from that characters perspective and how in general they would behave and react to things and also benefited form the miming side,  that were taught from both Mandy and Rob to shape it and create it in a way that it looked much better theatrically when performing it to an live audience.


The techniques I would have developed even further by practising and experimenting with them at home would probably be the miming side of things so it looked much more natural and as though I had performed the actions confidentially.
How I will use it in the future is if I ever come across another character with that much miming and speaking in the way the landlady does.



In the afternoon we had Mandy our dance teacher were we did warm up exercises to stretch our muscles to reduce the risk of injury and make our core muscles stronger, then we did the same dance,  we did last time again and tried to do it better than the previous week that we attempted the dance routine and we did the dance in rows (the table, the wheel and the door frame) after rehearsing and repeating the moves a few times we attempted in slow motion with the music, then a bit more fast pace until we got it right. After we did the move the rows at the front reversed to the back and so on until we did it to the standard the teacher was happy with in the lesson and to finish with she asked us to attempt a freeze frame were we were asked to (pick up the phone, do an action and turn away).


Why we did this activity was so that we could practise the timing and keeping up with the people in front and behind us and make sure it was smooth and looked elegant without any mistakes throughout the dance. But we struggled with the moves we did it slowly and speeded it up until we got it right




Then we had Hailey for English in the evening and we briefly started looking through how to prepare a detailed piece of essay, then we were given the exam question, our previous essay grades for the short story writing and after started reading the books opening paragraph and in more depth studied and discussed on our tables the character ''George'' a angry but caring or responsible character (young adult) who knows how to handle with Lennie's problems or get him out of trouble. such as keeping his work or reminding him of things he has forgotten.











On Thursday we had Maths were we did exercises  and worksheets on what we learnt but i can't remember what we did. We then marked the worksheets in pairs on other tables and gave each other an overall scores out of 10. Then we had Drama were we did some Drama games and vocal projection / pronounciation/ articulation exercises, but also some tounge twisters to make us clearly and to practise how we will speak on the actual performance and so we don't mumble and rush to be understood clearly. After we had Music production were we finished of the proportal  work on our smart goals and other things which we want to improve and achieve.



On Friday we continued the work and got the concert booklets on a hard paper back copy to read in our spear time step by step of what we should do to achieve or pass the assignment briefs in this essay. I then had Imishka were we did a worksheet on area and long multiplication questions for h/w. Also had Maths in the morning but i came late so i only had a bit of the Maths lesson eft and atleast did a bit of the work on the board with them and the worksheet which our swapt and marked with one of the opposite people on my table.