I’m back to teaching after a personal hiatus. And as I have before, I continue to improve my courses. For this first time back, I’ve added a challenging paint project to my intro class. The class covers everything from lighting to sound to scenic construction, elements of design, principles of composition, the impact of design on performance style (in history and today). . .
This, however, was brand new. It’s not perfect, but it was created by 16 students with NO prior painting experience. I’m thrilled with what they created. It’s not perfect, but it is strong. And on top of that, half the class expressed fear of painting as a requirement of the class on the first day. Maybe they’ll have less fear now.
Any BODY and any PERSON can paint.
But I have to provide special thanks to Cobalt Studios, Inc. and the summer painting studio for providing a foundation for this project. I seriously adapted a small project that I went through as Rachel and Kimb’s student. I also had a year of watching Wendy paint operas and taking advantage of her generosity and expertise.
I asked 16 brand new students to figure out the light angle and a few other things, hence the discrepancies. But seriously, this group went from no experience to this, all because they were so excited to learn. All during a course that has only 4 class periods for scenic painting.
I’ve never seen students so excited.
#ioweittomyteachers
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TEACHING PHILOSOPHY: (Click Here for a PDF Version)
My teaching philosophy is grounded in student-first and student-focused practice, pedagogical flexibility, radical transparency, a collaborative imperative, and experiential practice in both traditional classrooms and co-curricular environments.
When I was a student, I was constantly challenged by faculty mentors to pursue excellence, to expand my horizons by experimenting and exploring, to think critically, to communicate well, and to reflect seriously about what it means to be an educated person and a responsible citizen in today’s multi-cultural world. Additionally, I valued my teachers for their listening, analysis, and encouragement which they provided to maximize not only my own potential, but the potential of my peers as well. These elements comprise what I now call a student-first and student-focused practice, through which I build teaching and learning relationships with each student to find ways to best mentor them on the journey through the rigors of a liberal arts education.
Through student-first and student-focused practice I understand the necessity of pedagogical flexibility to respond to students’ needs in the classroom, responding to the class as a whole body, in small groups, and as individuals. I firmly embrace Carol Dweck’s growth mindset and recognize the many different methods and ways students learn, which require regular reflection, evaluation, and response throughout the arc of a course. I utilize syllabi to create a structure and guide for the term of a course, but within that structure it is necessary to observe, inquire, and engage students not only in course content but in their learning process as well. Throughout this information gathering, I analyze and respond to trends and individual needs by adopting (or adapting) pedagogy to aid students in their growth.
In committing to pedagogical flexibility, I also embrace a policy of radical transparency to maximize both trust and engagement in my classroom. I recognize students’ as adaptable, but by delivering the reasoning behind my pedagogical and content decisions, I witness an increase in trust in the teaching/learning relationship and a greater engagement from students in both traditional and co-curricular classrooms. Delivering the “why” we do things in addition to “how” we do things, provides students greater opportunities to think critically about the learning process.
As an artform, performance-making operates under a collaborative imperative. Even so-called “solo artists” produce their work in collaboration with the efforts of many others. A performance-making classroom, therefore, must operate the same way to provide students the opportunity to strengthen their collaborative muscles. The trust and engagement created through radical transparency provides the perfect environment to explore the collaborative nature of performance. Whether in a discussion-based seminar, a design studio, or in a theatre, shop, or site-specific project, I build regular opportunities for students to collaborate in pairs, small, and large groups. During those collaborations, I require students to reflect upon and analyze their collaborative process as well as the final product.
The collaborative imperative also necessitates experiential programming in all performance-making courses. The very process of collaboration parallels the ways in which I structure my teaching: a collaborator-first and collaborator-focused mindset, flexibility and adaptability, regular and transparent communication, and a recognition that individual assets are strengthened and furthered through shared work and responsibility. Therefore, all my courses engage in experiential practice so that students might learn by doing, reflecting, and responding to those reflections in the pursuit of excellence.
The process described above has made me a teacher committed to helping students prepare for lifelong growth, both intellectually and professionally. In doing so, I strive to provide students with a vibrant and rigorous academic program in which experiential learning, critical thinking, and problem solving are primary components. I strive to introduce students to perspectives different than their own and encourage them to analyze, understand, and appreciate those perspectives. I strive to make learning a collaborative process in a mentored environment, and to instill in students a recognition that learning is a continuous process. In short, it is my goal not only to teach theatrical design and technology but also to provide my students with a strong foundation upon which they will make connections between other disciplinary areas of study and continue to build a process of continued learning long after leaving my classroom.
I believe it is my duty as a teacher and mentor to strive for excellence in all that I do, and to encourage a similar commitment from my students. With this expectation in mind, I work to create for my students an environment in which they can excel. I believe that environment includes:
• A supportive atmosphere in which students can challenge themselves, each other, and me as their instructor without feeling threatened or embarrassed.
• A place in which all members of the course embrace and encourage the value of diversity of thought, experience, and practice.
• An understanding that all members of the course learn from each other and grow through an inclusive and collaborative process of teaching and learning.
• A place in which students are encouraged to embrace and utilize critical thinking skills.
• A place in which questions are encouraged.
• A place where students can introduce and incorporate knowledge from their other classes and life experiences which provide alternative contexts for understanding course material.
• • A place in which class information, discussion, and theoretical discourse are balanced with experiential education and opportunities for practical application of course material in performance-making and other artistic projects.
• A feeling of excitement and dedication to exploring course material.
I feel extraordinarily lucky to have had the opportunity to hone my craft at Grinnell College where I continue to learn new methods from my exceptional colleagues. Theatre, dance, and performance provide opportunities to regularly work with new colleagues, new content, changing visual aesthetics, and engage in new processes of teaching and learning. I utilize my passion for diverse areas of inquiry found withing performance-making to engage material across the academic disciplines, build student excitement, and draw students into an examination of what it means to be a human and a world citizen.
I am fascinated and energized by theatre’s all-encompassing subject matter. To be sure, theatre entertains, but more importantly it provides a lens through which we can creatively explore our humanity and confront the compelling issues of our time. A play like Copenhagen allows us to look at the moral implications surrounding the birth of nuclear weapons; in A Prayer for Owen Meany we can examine the effects of one’s faith in God upon another; in Miss Evers’ Boys, issues of race and medical ethics are intertwined with the dynamics of personal relationships. In looking at plays such as The Recognition of Sakuntala and Información Para Extranjeros, we gain insight into the differences – and commonalities – of other cultures and the struggles and successes of their unique histories.
While teaching and demonstrating design skills and building practice opportunities with scaffolded assignments, I also intentionally engage students with a diverse array of subject matter and “texts” (plays, poems, photographs, choreography, etc.) upon which students apply learned skills to solve design challenges. Students engage these texts through artistic, humanistic social studies, and scientific perspectives.
Performance-making reflects the complicated, contentious, challenging, joyous, painful and enriching aspects of our lives as individuals and as world citizens, and therefore, my classroom is constructed to provide both pedagogical and content opportunities to engage this diversity. In addition, as a teacher of young people, it is both my obligation and my privilege facilitate students’ processes in crafting their own perspectives and ideas in creating their own individual and collaborative styles. Therefore, I scaffold my assignments to go beyond the technical proficiency inherent in craft to help my students shape their own visions – to gain a greater knowledge of themselves and to express that knowledge as theatre artists in our global culture.