Danna

=__BIOGRAPHY__= = "Acting gives you a story to tell, a reason to cry, and lets you for once be someone other then yourself" - Gorgie Roman. = = = = = = =

ME! ME ! ME!
=== When I was very young, I hated being in places with big crowds, I was very shy and hated performig in front of others. Its funny how with age, the axis has the power to completely turn around. Right now, I am a cazy, loud, outgoing person, who loves to perform. I find it magnificent how one can leave their own world and life behind and step into a whole different alternate universe when steppig on a stage. I love it. It excites me, relaxes me, and educates me all at the same time. === === I speak two other languages other than English. They are Hebrew and Russian. In my opinion, food is the best thing ever, but sleep is pertty amazing too. I like all music genres, but my favorite ones are rock, 80's, and indie music. Family and friends to me are the most important, as they are what drive you to be happy and successful. I love volunteering with kids, exploring the outdoors, and taking pictures of nature. I am a busy-bee with a passion towards all that is true and beautiful- anything that creates a form of art within itself. ===

ACTING!
== Ever since I was about 10, acting has been embeded in my soul, and I know it will never leave. Acting has been a passion of mine for many years now, and being able to help others improve their acting skills, as well as learning new things from other students while helping is an amazing journey that I am glad I have the chance to be taking right now. ==

__Friday, Feb 17__
====The past two weeks in the drama department sure have been hectic. But in all honesty, if it’s not hectic, it not fun. I get to tutor grade 9 and 10 Drama, and so far it has been a great experience, with tons of amazing actors and directors. My main job consists of giving students notes so they can improve their acting skills, helping them memorizing lines, answering any questions they have about the script, or how to say a certain lines, keeping energy and motivation going, as well as helping the teacher or any of the directors with their ideas. Last week, the students got A-B scenes, and I walked around and helped them with ideas on how to make their scenes better, as well as gave them notes of improvement after they had they performed in front of the class. At the end of last week though, my teacher gave me a “project” for the new, longer scenes that the students had to work on for practice. She put me in a group of students where one student knows no English AT ALL, another student is a very good actor, and the other only came to Drama class twice in the past two weeks. So I was to pick up that student every day from their third block class and to replace them in case they won’t show up. It was very difficult trying to work with a student who doesn’t know English, and keeping the motivation high so that the good student doesn’t get upset or mad that they got put in that kind of group. Slowly, we got the ESL student to say his lines correctly, and gave him tips on improvement. The student that was always absent began to show up after a director and I picked her up a couple of times and everything began to flow; all lines are memorized, and the scene looks great. On Thursday and Friday she wasn’t here for reharsal though, meaning that if on Monday she won’t come to class, I will need to replace her in the performance, but that’s ok. I got to know the students in my group and they are very nice and fun, and I really hope that all will go well on Monday and that everyone will show up, say their lines correctly and have fun on stage.====

**__Friday, Feb 24__**
This past week has been a very busy week at the theatre wing for me. There were final scene performances and the class got their first play. I also got assigned to work with another girl who skipped a lot of class, and she got a week to perform a monologue because she missed her scene performances. The girl hardly knows any English. Finally, I also got assigned to help develop a scene for a group in the play. All this information brings me to the topic of the week. What CAN I improve on? I need to start managing my time better, because I have a lot of tasks to do during that one hour every day. I also read over the teacher evaluation, and the only thing that I lacked a bit was leadership skills. Im a very outgoing person, but it takes me a bit of time to get out of my shell. I also feel too bossy if I take control of a situation, but I guess that bit of bossy-ness is necessary with energetic grade nines and tens. I also need to put more effort into my work with students. Not that I dont, I understand that its hard to get out of ones comfort zone and for some, its hard to perform in a second language. But Ive been through those situations too...I know how frustrating is to not understand a word, or to have to do a serious scene when you're more of a humor type person. But since Im over that stage, its sometimes hard for me to be as patient. Which I need to work on. Also, since the drama department is like a big family, I want to get to know my students more so they can feel more comfortable with me. Other than that, as hard as it is, I really enjoy my peer tutoring block with the kids, it gives me energy and well...kind of gives me joy :)

__**Friday, March 2**__
After three weeks of working with the students, I feel very comfortable in the class. That’s why I love Drama, it’s not like a regular class where even on the last day of school you still might not know the name of the kid sitting behind you. In Drama class, you very quickly become a family. And it’s awesome. Its important not let the so called “power” in my hands to get to me. I know, from personal experience, that it’s not fun to be yelled at and told what to do all the time. I instead suggest ideas, nicely ask individuals to pay attention, and try to give them as much space, freedom and individuality as possible. At first, it was a bit hard to get the respect/ attention of some students, but as they got to know me better they began to accept me too. With the new play introduced about a week and a half ago, I got put into a small group of girls who had an individual scene in the play, so I can help train them. At first it seemed like a disaster, since they were all shy and quiet. But soon I got to know them better, gave them ideas, suggestions, and help with any questions they had. A week later, I had 5 loud, energetic, and decent actors! The teacher and I were very pleased, and seeing the girls pleased with their own achievements made me even happier since I helped them succeed. So far, I am very happy with the class and I am hoping that the play will be amazing at the end!

**__Thursday, March 8__**
Peer tutoring is more than a regular class to me. I get to do two of the things I like most; I get to teach and act! It’s also another hour out of the day where I am not sitting in a seat listening to a teacher talking. It’s an hour to have fun, learn, teach, and interact with awesome students and peers. What makes this class so meaningful to me is the fact that I get to help other students who are still shy and unsure of themselves. It brings me joy to see them grow and develop into being more confident, loud, and better actors who make better choices and take risks on stage. In this class I get to apply my knowledge and see it shine through the work of my students. By giving the students advice and letting them make a choice instead of telling them what to do, they can become better learners, and I can become a better peer tutor. I believe I still have plenty to accomplish, but that’s what makes me enjoy this class more than others. Here I learn from myself and from my students, not from a textbook.

__Friday, March 30__
When dealing with students younger than me, I must have a lot of confidence and authority so that I can help guide them with their insecurities by showing them examples, and giving them tips of what’s right or wrong without fearing being judged by some of them. A good example of when I felt confident this week was yesterday, when I took a group of girls to work on their scene. They are in grade 9, and so it is their first play, so they are very unsure, scared, and shy. I had to help them build their characters and let them shine, so that the scene could be interesting and fun for both them and the audience. We were out in the hallways, where there were plenty of guitar students, and people passing by, but I had to have confidence so that I could demonstrate to them what choices they should make on stage. I had to forget about everyone else and just do my thing, meaning be loud and as much in-character as possible. I imitated what an old pie vendor woman would look, sound, talk, and walk like. The girls I tutored began laughing, and soon understood that truly committing to their role is the only thing that will draw attention to their scene. They tried harder, took my advice, and even kept asking me to do my “old lady” voice again. I felt very good about helping them, because I showed them how important it is to be confident, and that the less you care about what people think, and the more you try and put effort into your role, the better it will look, and the better you will feel at the end. That’s basically how this experience can aid me later on in life; I should always be confident and accept uncomfortable situations, because the only way of truly succeeding is by getting out of a comfort zone and achieving new things. My passion for acting and my high energy helps me in my Peer Tutoring class since I can help kids understand how important it is to get out of their shells and how rewarding it all is at the end.

**__Saturday, April 14__**
So far, my peer tutoring placement has been going very well! I really enjoy it since I get to learn and teach new things, got to meet many new people, as well as hang out with a few peers from my grade that are directors in the class. In the last two weeks, I have been working with the class very hard on their play, which they are going to perform at the end of April. A girl that was supposed to be in the play had dropped out, so as the peer-tutor, I need to fill in for her spot during rehearsal and will need to perform with the students in their morning and night performances in front of other classes, friends, and family. While rehearsing with the class everyday, I also give notes to students on what they could improve, help direct scenes, and help motivate students to do their best. It is a very challenging and tiring job, since I need to multitask between rehearsing and helping others. In the end though, it is very rewarding, since I know that I help students do their best, and I build on my skills of acting. I can’t wait to see the final product of the play, knowing I am a part of it.

__Wednesday, April 24__
With performance times coming close, the kids in grade nine who have never been on stage in front of an audience were getting pretty nervous. There were times when students lost props, or forget lines and freaked out because they didn’t know what to do. It was very important for me and the directors to help and calm down the students as well as assure them that all will be well coming performance time. The group of girls that I share scenes with are all in grade nine, and so they were pretty nervous about their performances. A few days before performance I took them to the side, and asked them what their strengths and weaknesses were. I then helped them enhance their strengths by giving tips on how to better themselves as well as encouraged them to always take risks- it gives a rush when you see the audience enjoy our acting, and it makes you want to do even better. As for their weaknesses, I gave them tips on how to keep calm, told them to read over their lines, and to not be afraid- in the end they will only regret the risks they did not take. Today was their first performance and I have to say that my group was outstanding, I could not recognize them! They were fearless and took many risks, were loud and in-character. I was very proud of them, and seeing their happy faces after the show made me even happier. I’m glad I talked with them and got to figure out what they fear so that I could help them. From here on, there’s only going forward, since now they know what success feels like, and they will only thrive higher and higher.

__**Friday, May 11**__
Theatre performance is one of my favourite things to do; It’s full of excitement, fun, and there’s always room for growth and development. I place a great value on theatre as it is my passion, and so at times I may get agitated when people don’t take the subject seriously. I am very goal-oriented and when people procrastinate in class I have to get them moving by joining in or directing them, while making sure they are enjoying what they’re doing. I heavily rely on my own experiences in my six years of theatre performance (2 in middle school, 4 in high school). I always give examples form my own experiences to students to show them that they shouldn’t be worried, as well as give them tactics and tips that I have learned over the years from my teachers and fellow students. For example, a lot of times before shows, students get nervous and feel as if they’ve forgotten all of their lines. I tell them that it always happens, and that the moment they will get on stage, their lines will just fall out of their mouths. I remember in my first scene performance in front of the class that I did with my best friend, we both forgot our lines and ended up improvising half of our scene, and we still got an A. I carry this “talent” of improvising with me, and always tell students that it’s essential to know how to improvise, because nobody knows what the exact words in the play are except for you. So you can change lines and orders a bit if you forget your lines. I am very grateful that I have gone through many years of theatre performance, that helped me gain the skills and ideals that I pass on to my students in their Drama class.

__** Friday, May 25 **__ What I love the most about theatre is that it is not a regular class. Very quickly the whole class becomes a family. So I have many highlights in the class since every day I get to know more about people, work with them, and help them with all that they need. One “star” these past two weeks was when one of the directors wasn’t in class and I had to take over his group who is doing a dark, 1900’s play. It was very challenging to try and get the students to not be so dramatic but instead be real and listen to their peers lines, to make sure the play is set as a mysterious scenery but has good acting. After giving them props and helping them block the play (create movements so they don’t always sit), the play began looking much better. One “wish” for me is that I need to be a bit more on-task, especially in the last few weeks of school, when the sun is out and I got to know the kids much better, It’s hard to stay focused sometimes because we start having awesome conversations. With performance times coming closer, I will need to be more focused on getting work done with the students whenever I am helping a director or even substituting for one. Another “star” that I have is when I helped a student in one play to get over a scene that was awkward for him. In the scene, he needs to “almost” kiss the girl that his character like sin the play, and as a young actor, it’s hard not to laugh when doing a scene like that. One day when his acting partner wasn’t there, I took her place and helped him get over the awkwardness by basically not laughing whenever we came close to each other. Soon enough he understood that he can’t laugh, and he was absolutely serious when doing the scene the next day. It was a little funny and awkward to help him through that challenge, but as a senior actor, I know how to be more mature in these situations and had to pass that onto the students. They had to understand that even if sometimes its fun and games, at a certain point they need to get serious and get work done if they want their play to be successful. Overall, these past two weeks have been very enjoyable and educating for both me and the students I help.

__Friday, June 8__
Peer tutoring has honestly been a great, rewarding experience. The past five months have gone by in a flash, and now that the end is close, it feels like the time spent, the memories made, and the lessons learnt, are just not enough…Sometimes I wish I just had a little bit more time, to learn a bit more about the students in the class, to laugh, to share and to see how they grow to be crazy drama kids, like I did. I have gained so much from this experience, whether it was good or bad; it all taught me something important that I shall carry on with me for the rest of my life. My favourite moments would definitely be seeing the happy faces of students when they just get a new play and a new exciting role, seeing the kids work so so so hard on their plays on the last weeks before performances where everything is rushed and full of adrenaline and excitement, and lastly seeing their happy faces at the end of every show. It was just an amazing feeling knowing that I helped them reach their goals, that I was just a part of their success and confidence. I was very proud of myself throughout this whole experience. A few downsides, and there are not many at all, were times when students would get over worked and pressured or frustrated when they couldn’t get things right or were close to a deadline but weren’t ready. When the students get grumpy, it’s hard to focus and keep things going well since in theatre performance success relies a lot on the energy you give and receive to and from others on stage. So my job with the directors was to cheer them up, encourage them to do their best and move forward. An off day doesn’t mean much, we all have them, the students just had to promise that the next day they’d bring their A game and be the best students. Over all, I loved this class, I met so many new people, learned so much more about how to approach people, how to communicate, and help people who need me. I gained a great skill set that I am very confident will help me in the future and I am so glad that I chose this course as it honestly enriched my knowledge, and my appreciation towards this wonderful art called theatre performance.