Bamboozle Bites Apr 2009

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Thank you now on to this month’s Bite. 

If you have been forwarded this from a friend then go to http://www.bamboozletheatre.co.uk/ to sign up to receive your own copy of Bamboozle Bites each month. 

Each Bamboozle Bite has three sections – a multi-sensory activity, a drama idea and a behaviour management strategy. It may be that you are interested in only one of these in which case click on the summary of the one you want [below] and you will go straight to that section. 

Multi-sensory activity 

Barbed wire (imitation) 

A great way to add an authentic visual look to certain environments. 

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Drama idea
  

Notice on the door of the classroom or studio 

One of the simplest ways to introduce anticipation into the forthcoming session is by putting a notice on the door of the classroom or studio.  

Click here for more. 

Behaviour management strategy
  

Your position in relation to the group 

It’s not that any position we take up is right or wrong, just that wherever we sit or stand gives a message to our students’ unconscious.  

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This month’s multi-sensory activity 

Barbed Wire (imitation) 

When we worked with London special schools on the National Theatre’s sell out production of War Horse we needed to build environments that reflected the First World War subject matter.  One of the settings we used was in the trenches.  

We put the students in role as soldiers and gave each group a collection of materials – sand and hessian bags to make sand bags, timber, ammunition boxes etc., to build their section of a trench.  We also gave them a length of fake barbed wire which they loved using.  It looks very realistic and added to the authentic look of the setting they were able to create. 

It can be used for a touch of authenticity to any setting where someone wants to keep someone else out.  A political boundary, a building site, a farmer’s field etc.  

Although obviously not sharp like the real thing the fake barbed wire is not entirely benign. It is make of a kind of flexible plastic material and the imitation spikes are obviously pointed so a degree of care is required.                   

This month’s drama idea 

Notice on the door of classroom or studio 

One of the simplest ways to introduce anticipation into the forthcoming session is by putting a notice on the door of the classroom or studio.  As long as some of your students can read then a written one works well, if they don’t then a picture or symbols will serve the same purpose. 

Signs that carry warnings or that seem to advise against entry can make it more intriguing and therefore more inviting.  For example 

DO NOT ENTER – Magician at Work 

CAUTION – Radiation suits must be worn at all times 

Others can give weight and purpose to something that the students have previously made as part of the drama.  Maybe they have made identity passes for the characters they are going to take on.  So a notice on the door that gives value to their work is a good way of helping them to commit to the fiction.  

EVERYONE MUST SHOW THEIR PASS TO GAIN ENTRY 

Or the notice could give the first indication of where the drama is to be set. 

NARBOROUGH NATURE RESERVE. 

THE APACHE RESERVATION 

See also the multi sensory activity in Bites # 9 “First Things First, The Way In” for other ideas about entering the space.  This can be found by going to www.bamboozletheatre.co.uk/bamboozle-bites 

This month’s behaviour management strategy 

Our position in relation to the group 

When I am talking to a group of students during a drama session they usually all sit on the floor.  I therefore also sit on the floor and write their ideas down on a large sheet of paper on the floor in front of me.  This gives the message that we are in this together – we are all working as a team to solve the problem or engage with the ideas.   As I write Bamboozle is working with a group of students most of whom use wheelchairs.   In order to give the same message I need to be on their level so I am using a chair and, as writing on the floor is awkward and would be harder for them to see, I am using a flip chart without the legs to write ideas down on. 

Whatever position we take up in relation to the students will carry a message.  And the message will be read by them on an unconscious level.  Talk to the class from behind your desk or stand beside the whiteboard at the front of the class and you will give a clear message that you are in charge and you will have put some distance between you and the class.   Put some information on the board and move amongst the students to look at it with them gives the message that you are seeing it from their point of view.  If you stand up while the class sits you give a distance and authoritative message too, go and sit on a chair round the same table as them and you are more accessible.  

None of these positions is right or wrong, but it is certainly worth considering which one you want at any given time, as the messages each one conveys will have an effect on the relationship you establish with your students. 

Just a reminder.  If you haven’t already I would really appreciate 2 minutes of your time to answer 5 multiple choice questions.    Simply click on the link below now. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=LM1d395Gjn64f6NJSOJHZQ_3d_3d 
Have a great month, warm regards