Part I: Setting Sail on a New Voyage

Lori Menger, an amazing Reading teacher, has taken the time to document the Technology and Drama integration changes that have taken place at our school over the last school year.  With her permission, I am posting her paper here, since I feel others could benefit from her honesty, perspective and insight.

Setting Sail on a New Voyage
by Lori Menger

At the start of the 2007 school year, San Jose Episcopal Day School (SJEDS) set sail on a new course. That course was to integrate technology and drama directly into the curriculum. This paper is a reflection of the first year of this maiden voyage. Addressed will be :

• the reasons for change
• the initial plan
• a look at the successes and challenges
• followed by a revised plan for the upcoming school year.

Because this evaluation is reflective, quantifiable data in many instances was not available. This reflection is also from the perspective of a sixth grade reading teacher.

Meanings can vary with context so technology and drama integration will be defined. Technology integration will refer to using technology as a tool in teaching and learning in the content areas. This integration requires that technology is not taught in isolation as a means to learning technology, but rather is taught and learned as a part of instruction in the content areas.

Technology hardware used included:

• desktop computers
• AlphaSmart Neos®,
• laptops
• digital cameras
• MP3 players
• video cameras
• document cameras
• portable projectors.

Technology applications used included:

• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Power Point
• Audacity
• Windows Movie Maker
• Microsoft Photostory
• Voice Thread
• United Streaming
• Mixbook
• Animoto
• Flickr.

Drama integration refers to using the performing arts as a means to teach and learn in the content areas. Drama integration included; poetry performance, Readers Theater, writing and reading scripts, public speaking, dramatization, set making, story telling, and movie making.

The Impetus for Change

SJEDS could have stayed safely anchored in the “Bay of Status Quo”. By all measurements the school was successful and maintained an excellent reputation in the community. Parent and teacher satisfaction surveys were favorable and enrollment high.

So why consider a change of course? There were several reasons that prompted SJEDS to embark upon a different way of teaching.
The first prompt was a recommendation from SJEDS’s accrediting body, the Florida Council of Independent Schools (FCIS). Every five years an accreditation team performs an in-depth evaluation of the school. The last accreditation, in February of 2007, SJEDS received an excellent report, but there was room for improvement. The report recommended an increase in academic time and less time spent in resources. Students had resource classes in art, drama, computer, media, music, Spanish, Latin (sixth grade only) and physical education. Responses to a faculty survey mirrored this recommendation, where the teachers also requested more academic time.

The next factor for change involved a plan, already in existence, to increase technology instruction. Guided by a technology committee comprised of teachers and parents, SJEDS had been working toward comprehensive technology instruction that would ensure that students would leave SJEDS prepared, with 21st century literacy skills. Students had attended computer class one time per week, and the administration believed this was inadequate and that a different approach was needed. Technology would not be taught in isolation, but the skills obtained while being used as a tool for learning in the content areas. Additionally, teachers needed to become familiar and comfortable with technology to be able to integrate its use.

Using Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences (1999) and knowing that not all students have the same learning style, the administration believed that integrating technology and drama would provide another means for students to access information. This integration would also provide more opportunities to incorporate higher-level thinking activities outlined by Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy (date not given).

Another guiding factor was a belief that adequate instruction in fluency was lacking in the curriculum. According to Wolf (2006) fluency is the ability to read text accurately, quickly, and to use good expression so that time can be directed to understanding what is read. The instruction of reading should be balanced in the five areas outlined by the National Reading Panel (2002): phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Fluency was not being ignored, but was not being taught consistently and in the right balance across grade levels. The administration also believed these components should not be taught in isolation.
Laura Robb (2000), states that reading strategies should not be taught in isolation, and standing alone do not make a complete comprehension program. In addition to comprehension strategies, fluency and  vocabulary must be taught. Providing support in fluency and vocabulary instruction will positively impact comprehension.
According to Shanahan (2002), research found that fluency instruction improved reading no matter how it was measured. Not only did fluency itself improve, there was a positive impact on decoding, word recognition, silent-reading comprehension, and overall reading achievement. Shanahan (2002) identified three essential features of effective fluency instruction; oral reading as opposed to silent reading, reading repetition, and providing students with guidance or feedback.

The integration of technology and drama would provide more opportunities for these key features in instruction. The integration of technology and art forms, such as drama, into the curriculum was recognized as a way to bring engaging methods to learning and to help forge connections between the content areas.
Burnaford, et al (2001) states that, “Arts integration is a way of thinking about learning and teaching; it is not a formula, and it is not a strict structure that requires specific resources.”

Integrating drama into the curriculum would increase fluency instruction and achieve balanced literacy. Including drama activities such as poetry would help to bring about this balance.
Nile Stanley (2000) states,” Poetry can help you teach to a broader definition of “balanced literacy.”
The administration also wanted to move towards a more constructivist learning approach, centered on projects that promoted learning in the core subjects.

According to the Computer Supported Learning Center (date not given), Knowledge is not a fixed object; it is constructed by an individual through her own experience of that object. Constructivist approach to learning emphasizes authentic, challenging projects that include students, teachers and experts in the learning community.

Continue reading Part II: Charting the Plan