Journal #3

February 8, 2007

Palms sweaty, heart working a little harder than normal, taking a deep breath, I took my position at the front of the classroom. This was my first day teaching; my first day ever really taking a classroom and making it my own…the first out of a lifetime of doing this work. As Jena and I taught the first period Advanced Acting class, the time flew. Although I was uncomfortable with the silences, I reminded myself that it was the sound of minds at work. I tried not to feel awkward, especially when Jena was speaking and I was standing right next to her, and I was feeling like everyone was watching me. Any fears I had, however, flew away like the time. Students were willing (if not quite eager) to participate in the discussions we had about key terms for acting. Some students seemed to really enjoy the activities we had planned while the ones we had to cajole into playing were at least open to trying it. We started today with improvisation skills, while simultaneously playing Freeze and interjecting with comments and lessons about presence, placement, scene ideas, dialogue, and other key terms we had previously discussed. There are students in the class who picked up on the game immediately and made hilarious scenes because they already have very strong personalities. Both Jena and I noted that the topics of their scenes kept coming back to the same subject areas—boyfriends cheating, getting in fights, picking up on girls, gambling, going to parties. We tried to steer scenes in other directions, challenging students to play different ages and characters, but many times they kept falling back on these issues that are facets of their realities. It was difficult to find a balance between what they felt comfortable with and how else we felt we should challenge them.

While, as I said, some students were reluctant, once it was clear that they would have to participate eventually, they were active participants and even surprised everyone with funny commentary and scene ideas. I felt bad making these students participate, especially in the second period class which is a 10^th grade English class. There are students in this class who have no desire to act and have a fear of getting up in front of their peers, so we tried to make the environment as welcoming as possible. One student in particular was turning bright red and so incredibly embarrassed. A different student suggested the scene and it was really difficult for the nervous student to come up with anything to say, but once she started, she was into the scene and it turned out wonderfully. I hope I didn’t make her too embarrassed because I don’t want to turn anyone off to our purpose and goals. I ensured everyone that we would be doing different kinds of work related to theater in the next sessions—things like set design that would involve more of the visual arts. We had students journal at the beginning of each class so we can start to get to know them better and see what they know and what they need to work on. Overall I feel the day was very successful—one student even asked when we would be back next. It was a strong start that gives me hope for the success of the whole residency.