Woah, We're Half Way There...

Friday marked the half way point in the school year as we began the 3rd marking period. It was a bittersweet time to say "goodbye" to the inaugural group of Playwriting students at the high school and hello to a new group of middle school Theatre students & the first Acting 2 Honors class in many years.

I struggled to put together a lesson plan map for the Acting 2 Honors class that I liked. The curriculum guide left by the previous teacher had some great idea for performance projects with a devised piece and a performance for children. But, the structure felt too disjointed for me. It wasn't until I peeked at the student surveys from the Playwriting class that it finally clicked. What the writing students enjoyed so much was the ability to learn from lectures, lessons, and exercises while having the freedom and time to let their creativity flow at their own pace. The one-on-one instruction was also helpful. That was it. If that was what creative students wanted, now I needed to find a way to apply it to the honors level acting class.

Friday afternoon, I presented my ideas to the Honors class at our first meeting. The class would have an acting studio-type structure and engage them in a series of individual and group performance projects. They liked the ideas of the devised and children's theatre pieces, but also the opportunity to do some self-reflection and to develop their own individual goals and projects. We will see how that all works out, but I'm excited by their excitement. I cannot wait to see how giving them the room to run supports whatever their imaginations can conceive.

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