Dramatic Arts in the Classroom

In school I was very involved in theatre. The truth is, I can remember more about the plays that I was in than some of the classes that I took. So here is my question. Did I learn from the plays because I enjoyed them, or because I was forced to act out what I was reading? Here is my theory. If students act out what they are reading, they will remember more and therefore comprehension will be better. I think that readers theatre is an excellent way for children to read and learn from stories. I know that many teachers already use this way of learning but I think that every class should use this atleast once. In my fourth grade class we made puppets and acted out our stories. In middle school we put on plays and did workshops with the high school theatre group. Those were some of the most beneficial ways of comprehending stories for me and I think that many other students could benefit from the same experience. Opinions?

Special Education and Physical Education

Have you ever considered how important it is for special ed students to participate in a gym class with general ed students? I think that gym is one of the only times in school that students are truly engaged in either working together physically. In the classroom they may have to work together to solve a problem but in gym they are physically active and using high thinking and problem solving skills. It seems to me that these are some of the main goals that special ed students are expected to achieve in their schooling. By allowing these students to participate with their gen ed peers they would be socially involved, physically active, and part of a team.

As well, if these students are not mainstreamed into gym classes, I think that gym teachers should have to take a specific course on creating activities for these students. I was observing recently and I went to a gym class with a physically disabled classroom. I noticed that the teacher seemed to be making up the activities as they went. There was no pre planning involved for these students. I think that gym is extremely important especially for the physically disabled. It helps to strengthen muscles that are often not used in the wheel chair as well as create a sense of team work. I would like to see some more effort being put in for gym for special ed students. Anybody have opinions?