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.