I've been working in the field of youth theater for the past decade. I find that when it comes to training acting skills and getting specific with young actors about the skills they are learning such as voice, speech, physicality, using objectives, and general analysis of a character plot and given circumstances, Drama games do … Continue reading Youth Theater Needs Lessons – not simply games
Category: Reflections
The following speech was delivered to the class of 2015 on June 9, 2015 in Seattle WA. 1 All students all alike in dignity 2 In dear Seattle where we lay our scene 3 from ancient text to music harmony 4 We study things we know and things unseen 5 From the communal mind of … Continue reading Graduation 2015
At the heart of great teaching is differentiation; this teaching tactic of differentiation inside of the teaching content area applies to language acquisition, stages of language, and academic language development; this work will help students across multiple content areas (P2). In researching this teaching topic area, I reflected on two effective techniques for teaching academic … Continue reading Three Tiers of Words: Three Reading Strategies: Increased Personalization and Understanding
Teachers must prepare students to be responsible citizens in an environmentally sustainable, globally interconnected, and diverse society; without such preparation the teacher is negating one of the prime directives of education, preparing students to be the future citizens. When it comes to the social environment there is a vast amount of diversity to consider. To … Continue reading Multicultural Teaching: from Bias to Responsiveness
Expect Diversity in Teaching: A Collection of Personal Stories and Reflections from Teaching that Mirror Multicultural Research Know THYSELF, stories and reflections found here. Know THY STUDENTS, stories and reflections found here. Know THY SUBJECT, stories and reflections found here. PROLOGUE The parent of a former student of mine told me the following story. This … Continue reading Expect Diversity: Prologue and Epilogue
There is great controversy in the world of theatre when it comes to casting. Analogous to this is the classroom task of putting on a play. The philosophical question is the same. Does the actor need to match the part? In other words, do you need an actor that is black to play Martin Luther … Continue reading Know Thy Subject: Expect Diversity
“Our understanding of a group remains incomplete when the perspective of either the insider or the outsider is overlooked (Banks, C.A.M., 1996, p 52).” Knowing the group is essential for anyone in teaching because teaching is a two-way relationship. Students must understand their teacher and the teacher must teach to the student understanding. How does … Continue reading Know Thy Students: Expect Diversity
The lessons learned from years of teaching are rarely all put together into one lesson. Here is one example of many best practices for teaching literacy inside of just one lesson - watch to see why any teacher needs to know about them. Here is a link to the full lesson: To Read or Not … Continue reading Textbook Fail and Finesse
Teaching is not simply a one-on-one relationship. A teacher works with the student that is influenced and informed by the families they live with, the community they work with, and the neighborhood they are active with; A teacher should involve, inform, and collaborate with the families and neighborhoods that the students live in. This involvement … Continue reading Family Engagement Plan
ISTE 4 asks teachers to comprehend the social issues and responsibilities, on a local and global scale, that are involved with the ethical and legal behavior of digital culture. Therefore, because instruction and differentiation are central to good teaching practices, and therefor part of the ethical praxis of a teacher, how can teachers address the … Continue reading ISTE 4: Digital Citizenship
