Post #1

                      About Me

    1. My name is Marshall Noble, and I'm from Kansas City, MO. I just finished my first year of teaching, and I am currently teaching summer school. During the school year I teach Speech/Debate and Theatre to 7th and 8th graders, but I'm currently teaching 9th grade math and swimming for summer school. I enjoy teaching middle school, and I am gunning for our high school theatre position. This is my second session at SEOS, and I'm hoping to graduate in August 2026. Outside of speech and theatre I enjoy playing games, sewing, watching movies, and the occasional light reading.

      Integrating Research into Middle School Theatre

    2. Global Collaborator indicator 3a asks students [to] use effective research strategies to find resources that support their learning needs, personal interests and creative pursuits.  Students in a middle school theatre class could address Missouri Theatre standard FA.1.T.1.C by researching the historical and cultural context of a selected scene from a classic or contemporary play (e.g., A Raisin in the Sun, Fences, The Diary of Anne Frank, or Peter and the Starcatcher). Their goal would be to understand the time period, location, social dynamics, and lived experiences of the characters to make informed acting and design choices. To build their research skills and technology proficiency, students would use digital tools like Google Scholar, EBSCO, and JSTOR to gather relevant historical documents, articles, and multimedia. They would then organize their findings using Google Slides, Canva, or Prezi to create a visual research presentation. These presentations would include:

    • Key historical events that shape the world of the play

    • Cultural norms or social challenges present in the characters’ environment

    • Images, music, or video clips that reflect the setting and mood

    • A reflection on how the research will inform their character development and design concepts

    Students would then apply their research to a staged scene or monologue performance, explaining how the historical and cultural insights influenced their vocal choices, physicality, costuming, and set design.



      Kolb's Triple E Framework Applied

           3. Based on Kolb's Triple E process I believe that this would be an effective strategy, as this lesson addresses each              section.

    • Engage: Students use tools like JSTOR or EBSCO to stay focused and curious while researching. Working in pairs or small groups adds collaboration and accountability. 

    • Enhance: Tools like Canva or Google Slides help students organize and visualize what they’ve learned, making abstract historical context more tangible for young performers. 

    • Extend: Students connect what they learn to real-world issues reflected in the play (social justice, identity, power). This encourages critical thinking that goes beyond the stage.


Comments

  1. JingJuly 5, 2025 at 4:51 PM

    Hi Marshall,

    Nice to see you. How do you use Kolb's Triple to implement your curriculum in your daily practical teaching? I also like to use Kolb's Triple E process to encourage my students to engage, enhance, and extend their learning. I was using this technique to ask my students to practice Mandarin Lessons, such as pinyin. I also used Google Classroom and YouTube to inspire students to participate in all the Chinese activities and role-playing. I believe the goal is to help students appreciate different cultures and countries, particularly their unique characteristics and customs, and to educate them about the world beyond their own.

    Jing

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anna L. RileyJuly 5, 2025 at 5:10 PM

    Hi Marshall, it's nice to meet a fellow Speech and Theatre teacher. I started teaching middle school as well, but after 5 years I moved up to high school and have been teaching high school for the last 17 years. For 6 years I taught high school and middle school at the same time; when I was teaching in a very small 3A district.

    I like your use of technology to research scene an monologue performances. I do the same in my classroom.

    ReplyDelete
  3. DeVita L. OliverJuly 6, 2025 at 12:18 AM

    Hello Marshall!! Congratulations on completing your first year of teaching. Those first few years are the hardest because you are trying to figure out so much. Kudos to you!!! Providing an opportunity for students to research key monologues in classic literature is an engaging experience for the students. Additionally, using Canva (or the like) to display their research allows students to individually express their ideas.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Shannon O'BrienJuly 6, 2025 at 2:24 PM

    Hi Marshall!! It’s great to meet another middle school teacher juggling multiple roles—teaching 9th grade math and swimming during summer school is impressive! I love your idea for using research to deepen students’ understanding of a play’s context; it’s such a smart way to tie in ISTE’s Global Collaborator standard with theatre. Having students use tools like Google Scholar and Canva to create visual presentations is a great mix of tech and creativity, and the reflection piece really helps connect the research to performance choices. You might also consider something like Padlet to share resources as a group or having students keep a running Google Doc as a design journal. Best of luck with the high school theatre position—you sound like a perfect fit!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Post #2

  Part 1 Authentic Intellectual Work (AIW) represents a shift from traditional, test-focused instruction to learning experiences that ask students to construct knowledge , engage in disciplined inquiry , and create work that holds value beyond school (Newmann, King, & Carmichael, 2007). Unlike rote memorization or procedural tasks, AIW encourages learners to make meaning of complex ideas and apply their learning to real-world problems. The component of Value Beyond School particularly resonates with me as a theatre educator. According to Newmann et al. (2007), students are more engaged and produce higher quality work when they see the relevance of their learning in authentic contexts. Chapter 2 of the text emphasizes that this value should be visible in the task’s purpose, audience, or application beyond simply earning a grade. Research supports that assignments designed with this goal promote higher-order thinking, deeper student investment, and sustained learning. In my 8th ...
Read more

Post #3

Image
  In our exploration of How People Learn II , Chapter 5 dives deep into how learners accumulate, integrate, and reason through knowledge. The infographic below distills three major themes that significantly impact curriculum design: the nature of knowledge integration, the development of expertise, and research-based learning strategies. In connection with Gura's ideas about creative learning, the chapter supports fostering autonomy and reflection in learning environments. Tools and approaches shared by Rivero, like collaborative learning and visual summarization, complement these insights. Additionally, this chapter strongly aligns with the ISTE Student Standard for Knowledge Constructor, encouraging students to be thoughtful, active creators of their learning journeys. References Gura, M. (2020). Fostering Student Creativity. EdTech Digest the State of the Arts, Creativity, and Technology 2020: A Guide for Educators and Parents. p. 7. Gura (2020).pdf National Academies of Scienc...
Read more