Theatre Department

Wow! BYOD has added unlimited possibilities to our Theatre productions! One of the main ways that we are utilizing BYOD is by using backchannels. Backchannels are conversations that are occurring between audience members during a lecture or in our case, a performance! During performances in my classes, students will use Twitter to tweet their critiques of the performance as it is happening.
This allows them to be processing the performance while it is occurring and forces them to be clear and concise (144 character limit). We label each performing group with a non-sense hash tag that is a combination of their names so that they can search the tag when they come off stage and read all comments.
I have also had students use BYOD resources to take pictures of their own faces expressing various emotions to create a sort of "emotion collage".
And finally, I have allowed students to film in-class performances so that they can watch and critique themselves at home. Though we have had to be very strict about only using our own devices to film ourselves to protect student from having their performances placed online by someone else. Classroom management is key to successful BYOD use. FHS Theatre, Lucas Roeschley

Theatre Rehearsals

When working on duet acting scenes, students used their phones and voice recording apps to record their partner saying their lines. Then when they went home, they were able to rehearse on their own with all the benefits of meeting with their partner. This was especially helpful when we had a partner go on a weeklong vacation. It helped them stay on track and continue to make progress even though they were in different states!

Jenn Elder

Griffin Middle School

Theatre Arts Director