SLC S23W2 / Role playing games

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Role playing is an aspect of teaching strategy where a teacher plays the role of a student and the student teaches. In the educational system whether formal or informal, this learning strategy has proven effective and has helped learners improve their communication skills, reduce stage fright, interact and socialise and develop creativity.

Ohkay, if you tell a child to role play the role of a mother, you'll see how perfect she would do it because they have learned and seen and children nowadays are so intelligent and smart that they pick things quickly. Their creativity is enhanced as they think of ways to mimic their parents and makeup stories that would fit.

I can remember when I taught in a school during my internship programme, I was opportune to witness children role-play their parents. They were like;

Boy: [Acting as the Father] Ima ima, I'm home. How are you doing? Where are the kids? Junior...... Daddy's home.....😁

Girl: [Acting as the mother] Sugar, I'm very fine. Let me help you remove your suit. How was work? Hope it wasn't stressful? I prepared your special meal, your favourite. Come to the dining table.

Other children: [ Acting as the man's kids] Daddy ohyoyo....Daddy ohyoyo. Daddy carry me. Daddy carry me....Daddy carry me. Daddy what did you buy for me?

This was an experience to show how children role play their parents and it would definitely help them build up a satisfying home when they are of age to make a home. Charity begins at home. So for the purpose of this activity, I'll be sharing my own peak of the roleplay story. It's about stress. A girl fainted on her way home because she was so exhausted and stressed. Guess what happened? Did she pass away? You'll see.

The type of role play I choose for this activity is professional role play. This is a type of role play where one plays the role of a doctor, lawyer and other professions. So for the purpose of this activity, the profession my team and I role play was that of a doctor and pupil. The doctor saved a pupil who fainted because of stress.

As a professional role, the settings we used for the doctor wasn't a hospital setting because the doctor was within the neighbourhood, after returning from work. I actually thought of other role play but the cost of purchasing costumes made me settle for the ones I had. As a student, I have lab coat and thermometer at home. My mum lended me a stethoscope to use for this purpose.

So the reason why I choose it as outrightly explain was because I wanted to curtail not having necessary costumes for the role play to make it look much real. Asides from the cost, I choose thistle role play game because it hasn't sends a lot of message to those that are stressed in one way or the other. There are moral lessons involved in both the doctor and the students role. Doctors today are known to save people's lives and this is their profession.

They are trained in all ramifications to do so. Students or pupils too need rest to succeed as most pupils stress themselves on the verge of passing an exams, doing an assignment and the likes. This can also affect one's mental health. So this role play choice was chosen to send or pass a message to the younger generation that Success means nothing when you're so drained to enjoy it.

My characters for this role play includes the following;

Doctor Shun: He's playing the role of a doctor in his complete uniform and thermometer in his pocket and Stethoscope. Doctor Shun is a young boy of 8 years which is so passionate and cares about people so much. He loves helping people even if it means discomforting himself and he has a magnetic brain. You can't tell him something twice before he picks. Just once is enough. I don't have this type of magnetic brain the way he does and whenever he speaks or do things, he does so with enthusiasm. He isn't staged fright by anything or anyone.

Other characteristics include empathy, his age and communication skills. These are characteristics that are different from my own personality. The way he communicates with people differs from mine and concerning the level of empathy, I'm more empathetic than him because he hasn't been exposed to life situations yet or experiences and may not fully understand what showing empathy mean as a young boy

Lyla: This girl is my favourite character. She's hyperactive and bold. Most times she acts like a man and stand up for what is wrong. This is different from mine because I usually mind my business and I'm not as hyperactive as she is. She behaves more like a matured young girl that's why I classed her to play the role of a student who has been stressed. She also lacks this sense of humour and empathy probably because she's still a growing child.

I couldn't use her to play the role of a doctor. Stage fright isn't her problem and she speaks well and communicates mostly with people above her age except her brother. I find it difficult to do so freely because I usually ask myself what I'll discuss with them but she makes friends with all those that are not her age and relates well with them.

It's just that she's too emotional. There's how you step on her toe or insult her with hurting words. She can cry the whole day for you without stopping.

Children have different characteristics that are different from we the adults. We were once in their shoes but we tend to understand life more better now and some childish characteristics had been modified to suite our age and composure. The sharp contrast is that this generation of children are more intelligent and smarter than we were in our time. All children don't have the same personality. It differs.

When it comes to role playing, their mind was there. These children don't like sleeping when they return from school. So I had to show that through a creativity that sleep is important and that stress from school kills. So if they don't want to die early, they must get enough rest. The children felt so happy during the activity. It was as they were carrying it out on real life.

If I'm to show you the behind the scenes, you'll laugh uncontrollably because it was funny and they enjoy acting. They put in all manner of seriousness to show how they felt about the activity done. They saw it as an opportunity to improve in one way or the other. Immediately they saw me come to their house before the activity was done, they pleaded with me to do content with them.

They felt so happy when the content was ongoing and they felt energised and motivated after being appraised for performing their parts so well especially the girl. Both of them were comfortable participating because it didn't have to do with injection settings or hospital bed as the girl have phobia for those things and places.

So using a scene and creativity that would make her comfortable as she closed her eyes was after fainting in the process which she was told to.

Personally, I felt so energised and encouraged by the way of acting, the intelligence of these children and the emotional quotes derived from the acting which focused more on stress relief and how pupils and students can avoid stressing themselves too much to avoid mental instability which could make one faint in the process or even die. So that's the line we acted this role play game.....

Title: Saved in the Nick of Time

Aim: The aim of this role play was to help the cast build confidence whenever they do something and also reduce stage fright which one of them is victim of. It is also aimed at helping the viewers know the essence of not overstressing themselves so much in an attempt to work harder or study harder.

Casts

Doctor Shun	Doctor
Lyla	Student
Bossj23	Passerby

Scene: Doctor returning from work, seeing a child lay down helplessly by the street side where vehicles barely move about. Using what he has on him as he just returned from work to help this child. Not a hospital scene.

A young man was passing by the street listening to music as he suddenly bumped into a young child who was returning from school and lays on the ground helplessly and wasn't breathing well as if she was dead. The young man calls out for someone to help the young child as there was no one around. He turned the girl who laid on the floor with her chest to the group and kept her upright.

In the process of shouting for help, a young man who happens to be a doctor came to her rescue as he was also passing by, fiddling his phone. He ran to the school and excused the young man named @bossj23. Doctor Shun loosenen her tight clothes for air circulation and intake as he stretched out his stethoscope from his bag, wore it and then placed it on her chest and pulse to see if she's still breathing and how her heart beats. He was able to determine that she fainted.

Doctor Shun told bossj23 to soak any available clothe in the water he saw close to where they kneeled. I as bossj23 brought the cloth to the doctor. He placed it on her head and squeezed the water and also placed it on her neck and the girl resuscitated. She was gradually regaining consciousness and was breathing well. The doctor used his thermometer to check her temperature and saw it was not too high.