At a glance
Individual · ongoing all course · one entry after every workshop day · collected at the end of each unit
What you are making
A running record of your work in this course: one entry after every workshop day. Entries are short — ten honest minutes beats thirty performed ones — and they are private. I read them; other students never do. That privacy is deliberate. The journal only works if you can admit in it what you would not say aloud: that a rehearsal went badly, that you froze, that a group decision worried you. Nothing you admit in an ordinary entry can cost you anything, because ordinary entries are not marked. What carries a mark is Milestone Journal Entries — four entries written in class, one at the end of each unit — and those are built out of the honest ones.
How to work
Each entry answers three questions, in whatever order helps:
- What we did — the facts of the day, briefly. Which task, which convention, what your group tried.
- What I noticed — the interesting part. A choice that worked, a moment the room went quiet, something a classmate did that you want to steal, friction in your group and where it came from.
- What I would try next — one concrete thing. Not “do better”: something you could actually do next class.
Two other kinds of entry count:
- Writing in Role — an entry written as a character you are working on is often more revealing than an entry written as yourself.
- Responses to performances we watch, using the describe-first habit from Watching Like an Artist.
Success criteria
| Quality | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Regularity | An entry exists for every workshop day, written close to the day |
| Honesty | Entries name real difficulties, not just successes |
| Noticing | Observations are specific — a moment, a choice, a person |
| Growth | ”What I would try next” items reappear later as things actually tried |
| Range | Some entries are in role; some respond to work you watched |
If the page stays blank (click to expand)
Start with the smallest true sentence about today: “The transition into our third tableau kept collapsing.” Then explain it to someone who was not there. You will be three sentences in before you notice you are writing.
Curriculum connection
B1.1
use the critical analysis process before and during drama projects to identify and assess individual roles and responsibilities in producing drama works (e.g., use journal writing, teacher-guided reflection, cooperative problem solving, writing in role, and discussion to identify team members’ skills and knowledge and assess their use in project tasks)
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B2.3
explain how dramatic exploration helps develop group skills and appreciation of communal values (e.g., record in a journal what they learned about collaboration, negotiation, mediation, and listening techniques during the rehearsal process; explain how drama can help strengthen community among both presenters and audience)
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B3.2
identify specific social skills and personal characteristics they have acquired or strengthened through drama work that can help them succeed in other areas of life (e.g., describe their personal development in areas such as risk taking, self-confidence, self-awareness, listening, questioning, negotiating, consensus building)
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