Workshop Opportunities

Check out the the free symposium for acting teachers this coming Monday Dec 8. The lineup of speakers is truly amazing... and it's FREE...

Acting Teachers of America Symposium


And this is an entire SERIES of FREE workshops/PDs for educators that you can choose from at the Museum of the City of New York. Lots of great historical NYC resources here...
Free PDs at Museum of the City of New York

Winter Performances

Below is a schedule of upcoming student performances from our talented Theatre TA team:

December 12, 2:30pm ... Audrey Nedderman's elementary afterschool students perform.  PS 40, Jamaica Queens.

December 13, 10am ... Julia Grob's Lifestories ensemble hosts an "Open Class" with performances.  UAP office.

December 16, 7pm ... Kira Neel's HS afterschool students perform.  Newcomers HS, LIC Queens.

December 18, 6pm ... Dawn Crandell's elementary afterschool students perform.  PS 277, S. Bronx.

December 19, 2:30pm ... Michelle Slonin's HS Studio students perform.  Facing History School, Midtown.

December 22, 3pm ... Kira Neel's HS afterschool students perform.  Newcomers HS, LIC Queens.

Break legs!

December Reminders

A few key reminders:

Unit 2 outlines should all be in by now.  Start looking at your curriculum for the rest of the year, especially in light of the new Essential Question you created at the TA PD last week.

Future Theatre Dept. PDs will be Feb 6th and April 3rd.  Mark your calendars now.

Datafish Training meetings are coming up.   Choose one date to attend (Dec 4th @ 6:30 or Dec 10th @ 6:30) and come in to learn the new timesheet system.  Contact Hillary with any questions.

Our new Evidence of Student Learning document will emailed out from Phillip in the coming weeks.  We should start thinking about it NOW.   Begin by identifying which students you'd like to to highlight in your document (Struggling, Achieving and Excelling). Remember you need to only choose one student for each of the 3 categories, along with one short example of their work.  This work can be a video clip from you flip camera or a piece of writing such as a script.   So start identifying your 3 students now.  Dan will be in touch with you soon to start building the document.

Warm-Ups

Here is the list of successful warm-ups we created at our meeting Friday.  I've included a brief description of each one, along with the name of the TA who introduced it, so if you have additional questions about them you can contact the corresponding TA directly. Thanks to everyone for your input.

1. Fred Schneider: Someone in group is asked question in rhythm.  Person responds (using his/her best Fred Schneider voice) and group sings/chants a variation of that answer.

TA: Chris

2. Seven Things: Someone in group has to answer a "Name Seven Things..." question (i.e. name Seven Things you can eat for breakfast).  This is also done in rhythm.   

TA: Chris

3.  Beanbag/Name Game: The classic name game exercise, where people's names are tossed around the circle.  This time an actual beanbag is used for the tossing.

TA: Nora

4.  Sound/Movement Circle:  A sound with accompanying movement/gesture is created by one person in the circle, then is "passed" to the next person in the circle.  That next person must repeat the sound/movement they received and then pass it on, but in passing it on they may change the sound/movement.  This continues till we've come full circle.  Note: To modify this for older kids you can add an adjective to the sound/movement, or another modification could be that the entire group collectively tries to make that sound/movement.

TA: Nora

5. Sausage: The aim of this one is to not laugh.  Questions are tossed to individuals in a circle, when the individual answers he/she can only respond with "Sausage."  Then it is their turn to ask a question to anyone in the circle (i.e. what are wearing around your neck?).  That person must only answer with "sausage."   If anyone laughs at any point they are eliminated.  This continues until there is only one person left.

TA: Julia

6.  Kitty Wants a Corner:  This game is all about finding an open space.  A circle is formed.  One person is "Kitty" and stands in the center.  That person chooses anyone in the circle and says "Kitty Wants a Corner." The person Kitty chooses should point to someone else in the circle and say "Sorry try my neighbor."  Kitty then goes to the new person and asks the same "Kitty wants a corner." Meanwhile the other circle member will try to switch places in the circle.  They have to do this quietly without Kitty seeing because if Kitty catches you she will "steal" your open space.  The person left without a space is the new "Kitty."

TA: Michelle

7:  Shakedown: The old reliable, quick-fire physical & vocal warm-up.  The group collectively counts back from 8 to 1 while shaking a limb in time to each number (right arm, then left arm, then right leg, etc.).   Group can then repeat the shakedown but counting faster every time.

TA: Kira

8.  Okay:  also know as the "Yes" game.  Person stands in the center of a circle.  Looks around until they lock eyes with someone at which point they ask "Okay?"  If the person  responds with "Okay," they then switch  places and the game continues.

TA: Kira

9. Wild Wild West:  Group forms a circle.  The 4 sounds are "Yee-Haw," "Hoedown," Red Barn" and "Gunslinger."  The main activity is to pass the sound "Yee-Haw" with a gesture in one direction, each person saying it to the next.  If the next person says "Yee-Haw" it continues in that direction.  If  the next person says "Hoe-down" then the "Yee-Haw" reverses direction.  If the next person says "Red Barn" then the "Yee-Haw" skips a person, but continues in the same direction.  If the next person says "Gunslinger" and points at anyone else in the circle, then the "Yee-Haw" continues with that person, in any direction.  Make sense?  Takes a little practice, but it's a great game.

TA: Audrey

PD Recap

Thanks to to the Theatre Dept for a productive and inspiring first PD meeting.   For those few who missed it and as a reference for everyone in general, I am posting the meeting agenda along with accompanying notes.  The warm-up list we generated will be posted in a separate entry, to make it easier to find in the future.  As always feel free to post comments and/or sign up (on the right side of this page) to "follow" this blog so you can receive updates as they happen.  Thanks to all our TAs!  Here is the agenda (with notes) from Friday's meeting:

Check-in: We discussed our early successes and challenges in our classrooms

Warm-up Workshop: We shared successful warm-ups, modeled them and discussed how to modify them for different classrooms (this list is large so has been posted in a separate entry, hopefully this will be a valuable resource for you as the year progresses)

Methodology Follow-up: Is the UAP teaching process of "Experience," "Study," "Create," "Refine," "Present," and "Reflect" being used in your units/lessons?  Can it be clarified?  What steps/transitions are most challenging?

Intro Theatre Standards Discussion: What is a standard? How is it different from a goal or an objective?  Why is it necessary to have standards?  If we take a look at the NY State Theatre Standards, do they apply to our work?  If so how?  If not, how could they be modified to reflect our work with UAP?  Can we create a set of standards for our own UAP Theatre Department by the end of this year?

Intro UAP Theatre Website: www.uaptheatre.blogspot.com.   How can this site, still in its early stages, be improved so it is more useful to you?

Open Forum/New Ideas:   Ideas raised were :

The importance of feeling connected to other Theatre TAs here at UAP

The need for a unified language for our department

How to keep curriculum and other UAP requirements clear and useful for us as Teaching Artists

The challenge of doing live Theatre (especially in relation to the other art disciplines here at UAP)

The request for a resource packet of warm-ups/exercises/goal-driven lesson plans for TAs

The possibility of our next PD devoting the first hour to an Improv Workshop

The idea that for our next PD we ask all TAs to email in 3 questions to be addressed that upcoming meeting.

Theatre PD Friday Nov 7!

TAs take note: this week will host its first Professional Development meeting of the year for the Theatre Department.  These meetings are designed to enhance your work as a teacher by refining yours skills, sharing new ideas and developing new methods.

The theatre PD will take place this Friday Nov 7 at 5:30pm, at the UAP office.

Hope to see you then.

The "You" Warm-up

Here's a quick and easy warm-up you can use with your students at almost any point in the year.  

It enhances communication skills, group focus and trust.  Here's how to play:

"YOU"

Students stand in a circle.  One person starts by gesturing towards someone else in the circle and saying "You."  That student then gestures and says "You" passing it another person in the circle.   There is no order or sequence for the "You," but as it is passed, the energy of gesture and volume of the "You" increases.  This continues until one student achieves such energy and volume that the person whom he/she is passing the "You" to realizes they cannot top it.   That's when the energy and volume begins to decrease, from person to person, until the gesture disappears and the "You" is not heard, only mouthed.  From there, the mouthing stops and the the "You" is passed only with movement of the eyes.  It may get lost soon after this point, and that's OK, because it will make the students feel they have a psychic connection with each other.

Note: This is game is especially good when preparing for a performance, but can be used at any point to enhance the group dynamic.  The more secure students feel with each other, the more risks they will be able to take in rehearsal, and the more confident they will feel on stage with each other.

Websites of Interest

Hello Artists,

Following is a list of websites that may be useful to you as you plan your lessons and your field trips.

http://schools.nyc.gov/Academics/Arts/StandardsandCurriculum/default.htm

www.highfivetix.org/splash.aspx

www.lincolncenter.org/load_screen.asp?screen=purchase_studentdiscounts

www.ny.com/museums/all.museums.html

Artistic Skills

We've all completed our curriculum by now and are well-versed in the difference between artistic, academic and citizenship skills.  Since it's the beginning of the residency for most of us, I thought it would be useful to focus on the Artistic Skill Set, which we should all by implementing at this point.   After looking at everyone's curriculum and some of my past ones as well, I've combined all our artistic skills to create a Top 10 list.   Use it a reference point in your starting units/lessons, and by all means modify it or give us your thoughts using the comments section. 

Here are your Top 10 Artistic Skills:

- Students will learn to project their voices

- Students will learn to speak clearly and powerfully

- Students will learn the importance of movement: moving with purpose, filling the stage

- Students will learn the importance of body language: posture, gestures and eye contact

- Students will learn the elements of what makes a scene dramatic

- Students will understand how energy affects performance

- Students will understand how a character is developed

- Students will understand the importance of pace and rhythm in performance

- Students will learn the basics of improvisation/brainstorming: using ideas to create dialogue

- Students will learn to communicate in a clear, concise and effective manner, on and off-stage

Testing...

Hello Teaching Artists!  This is a test post so I can see how this site will look.  Stay tuned for updates.