Presenting...GOOGLE!  Learning to use some of the many facets of Google Drive has been a real education in "presentation". The ability to produce nifty slide decks and shared documents, survey forms and data charts has jiggled my imagination in terms of applications to the work I do with kids in theater.

There are many steps to doing curriculum-based drama that have nothing to do with the rehearsing and performing of the play. Teaching the content, seeing how that content is expressed in the narrative, determining one's role in the story as well as various steps of production, all can be made more accessible using some of the Google Drive features.

When I first begin to work on a theater piece, I give a verbal storyboard.  With Google Slides, not only can I create a visual storyboard to show on a smart board, but students can create their own, in groups or individually. In this way, they can get familiar with the subject matter and see how it fits into the storyline.

Another important aspect of the process is seeing how a particular character moves through the story.  Using a Google Sheet, I can map a character's entrances and exits, students can do line counts and see where the content is repeated for emphasis.

Casting is always a bit of a challenge when dealing with young students who either want to be 'the star' or be 'invisible'. I often give them three choices of who they would like to be and one chance to share who they would be very unhappy portraying. Using Google Forms, I can create a casting survey which asks these questions and, in the response page, can easily see who the students believe to be the protagonists and who they believe to be the less essential or interesting part to play. I can also use that program to ask them questions about the characters and what they think about the story. Those responses would be very good to see at a glance.  Often, as a result of kids' choices, I make modifications to a script, making it truly specific to that class or group of students.

One of the difficulties of being a teacher coming into a school to do my work is coordinating and communicating with the relevant classroom teachers. After an initial meeting where I am told which part of the curriculum they wish to dramatize, I then take a week or so to write the script and music.  During that time, I could use a shared Google doc so that the teachers can see the play as it is being written and make comments in terms of the weight that particular information is given.  Additionally, when creating a post-play assessment tool, the teachers and I can collaborate since they know their student's academic level as well as what they want tested better than I.

I'm sure there are many more applications of Google's program.  Given time and opportunity, I'm sure I can integrate more technology into my work.

~ J