Presenting at F2F 2013 Sarah Abrams

Presenting at F2F 2013

Sarah Abrams

When I was approached by Professor Kavanakudiyil to collaborate with her and fellow graduate student Jono Waldman on a session proposal for the 2013 Face to Face conference, I experienced a mix of emotions.  The first emotion was pure joy; I was thrilled of course!  However, part of the excitement I felt soon became intensified by my nervousness to take on such a big role.  I had never led a session before and co-presenting at a conference filled with some of the most prolific and experienced professionals in arts education would be both an honor and a new challenge.  I wasn’t sure if I felt established enough in my own practice to stand tall in front of so many others who had earned their stars and stripes over the years.  Thankfully, Sobha reminded us that bringing in fresh perspectives and coming from a place of sharing (and not proselytizing) is what F2F is all about: a meeting of the minds and a refresher/rejuvenator to practitioners new and vetted.

After some initial meetings to complete the session proposal concepts and language, Sobha submitted our forms and so began the waiting period to hear whether or not we would be continuing our journey.  A little over a month later, we learned the great news that our session proposal, “Civic Engagement and the Arts,” was accepted for Face to Face!  Within a few weeks after that, we learned that our submission to the national AATE conference had also been accepted.  Something that began as just a seed of an idea was now given the green light for full production!

From the get go, our roles were made very clear and Sobha provided substantial support and guidance throughout the planning process; knowing our individual and collective responsibilities was key to our success.   Sobha reminded us that we were there to support the work, provide testament of our experiences and to brainstorm the most effective ways to present and share the information.  This session was Sobha’s brainchild, but she modeled the concepts of Service Learning so elegantly, that we became empowered and connected through co-presenting her connections and findings.  Our brainstorming sessions were energizing and playful, acutely demonstrating how collaboration really does strengthen and deepen the work that we do as theatre professionals. 

There was a drive in the week before the conference to clarify and fine tune any and all aspects that might trip us up during the session, but just as all best laid plans go, there were some things that couldn’t be anticipated:  such as having over 100 people preregister for our session!  We learned two days before the conference of the wonderful support, but suddenly, this intimate sharing that we had envisioned had grown into a massive event.  We zipped around trying to make extra hand-out materials, getting the right doo-dads to connect the media and as we were moved from a classroom to the Great Hall (a cacophonous space filled with grandeur), we knew that the technology we were using had to work in a different setting than we had anticipated.  Not to mention the fact that we were possibly presenting in front of over 100 people!  We actually dissuaded other CCNY grad students from attending so we could cap our numbers; thankfully it worked, and we had closer to 60 or so participants at the event. 

The session itself was a joy to workshop!  The participants were generous and engaged, which allowed us to try some ideas that we had never had the opportunity to see in action.  As a co-presenter, it was a balancing act of being personable and professional; flexible, but on task.  However, there was also the fun fluidity of switching between the three of us and resting on the knowledge that Sobha would be our safety net if need be.  This was vital as the last question during our reflection was a curve ball that I couldn’t have anticipated.  Watching Sobha direct the conversation from a possibly awkward ending into an honest and direct finale was a great learning moment.  Also, reflecting on the session afterwards allowed us to clarify the concepts, further demonstrating how this kind of sharing enriches all constituents involved!

My take-aways from this experience are several:

1) If you have an idea - submit!  You can always work out the details later.

2) If you are nervous about presenting - submit!  You have the supportive community of CCNY to will help you along the way.  Presenting is a different skill and you will only get better with practice.

3) If you are nervous about presenting alone – submit!  You can always find fellow grad students who can support and strengthen your session.  In fact, you should make it a point to present with two or more as it will lighten the load and elevate the work.

Right now I am just feeling so grateful for this experience, looking forward to D.C. and hoping to support many more CCNY grad students presenting their sessions in the future! 

See you at next years Face to Face!

Border Crossers Workshop: Why Race Should Matter to Educators Wendy Rojas and Victoria A. Wilson

Border Crossers Workshop:  Why Race Should Matter to Educators

Wendy Rojas and Victoria A. Wilson

This past March, the Educational Theatre program along with the Bilingual Education program had the privilege of participating in a workshop on race and the classroom by Border Crossers, an organization that “utilizes creative tools to encourage educators in explorations of race and racism with young students.”  Facilitator J'nelle Chelune guided us through a series of activities, lecture and discussion on the definitions associated with race, political agendas and to help us discover where our own conceptions lie.  She used this to show how to teach race, empathy and build a safe environment in our classrooms. In just one hour and a half, we not only gained mind blowing statistical data but valuable activities and strategies to apply to our own pedagogy.  

J'nelle encouraged us to open our minds from the moment the workshop started.  In the first half we "mingled" and told each other our own stories about who we are and then explored the group understandings and misconceptions of race and racism.  We looked at the three types of racism (individual, cultural and institutional) in relation to what children see and experience.  What surprised Tori the most was the idea of intention vs. impact: The government is pushing diary in its new nutrition campaigns and free and reduced school lunches only come with milk.  The majority of students receiving free school meals are Black.  Yet, about 80% of Black American children are lactose intolerant (not to mention an astonishing amount of Asian-American children as well) .  Additionally, many of those children come from religious or culturally backgrounds that don’t allow them to drink milk (doesn’t everyone have soy or almond milk in their refrigerators nowadays anyway?).  We came to the conclusion that although the government is probably not trying to poison Black or Asian children, as educators it is our responsibility to consider the impact of our intentions on every single student.

The second part of the workshop put us in different groups, analyzing and writing about our reactions to several plausible scenarios involving racial situations in school.  We all chose to focus on the scenario of a young Black American girl in an all White class that started to complain and cry when her teacher pulled out a story on Dr. King Jr. – the same story that was read in her class the year before and the year before that.  We were reminded of the importance of creating a culturally relevant classroom and the dangers of only using one face to represent an entire race. We realized that it is not the norm for everyone to be sensitive to students’ emotions or misunderstandings about themselves and race.  These situations are often ignored due to the lack of comfort of both the teacher and students.  It was helpful to discuss and role play as the teacher and students in order to explore appropriate ways to use this scenario to address race in the classroom.  After trying a few different approaches, we recognized that we really are fully equipped to resolve a situation about race.

As people of color we (Wendy and Tori) both had similar strong reactions to the workshop.  Wendy's reaction was blatant anger.  It is hard to swallow the idea that although the NYPD has clear data on their website, showing the miscorrelation between the population majority in NYC and the majority of people being stopped and frisked.  If the city knows and even openly admits that it is stopping and searching Blacks, who represent less than half of the city's population, and Latinos a great deal more than Whites (who represent the city’s majority) then what more can be done to stop it?  It was also frustrating for both of us to hear some of the responses of people who seemed to never have experienced racism in their own personal lives and therefore could not comprehend the gravity of its effect on youth.  Discrimination happens often and not everyone is fully educated or aware of these ongoing confrontations.  For Tori, there was a mixture of responses. The sense of urgency and hopelessness was definitely present, but it was refreshing to see a group of racially diverse adults come together and successfully talk about race – even if we did not agree with everything that was said.  Expressing ideas and assumptions on race is always the first step to combating racism.

So what were the both of us able to draw from this workshop?  For one thing, every educator needs to take workshops like this!  Although race might be more of a social construct then something that actually exists, it is so embedded in our society that it can’t help but effect schools.    Therefore, it is important to educate ourselves about diversity and then acknowledge the fact that these confrontations can, have and will happen in our classrooms.  It can happen in the most subtle of ways so we must be observant and aware because the way we handle it will impact our students’ willingness to take risks as well as their ideas of themselves and each other.  And talking about race can be fun!  Our job is to enrich our students with the knowledge of culture and help them to respect and celebrate the benefits and beauty of every race and every culture.

                  *If you missed the workshop, we encourage you to take advantage of the resources available in helping parents and teachers talk to children about race: http://www.bordercrossers.org/resources/

Performer Turned Aspiring Theatre Educator by Lindsie Detota

Performer turned aspiring Theatre Educator

Lindsie Detota

This past year can best be described as a whirlwind. It went from extreme self-doubt to the utmost pride of being an artist and, most importantly, an educator. Naturally anyone who has their Bachelors of Fine Arts in Theatre studies plans on putting their degree to good use. However after 6 years in NYC, thousands of dollars later, and pounding the pavement as an actor….I was yearning for a change. I love performing and everything that the art has to offer, but I knew I needed to find something within the arts to feed my soul. After a lot of reflection, I fell upon the CCNY website. Educational Theatre program popped up in my google results. I knew I wanted to truly be a part of this program I learned that how important it is to not only be a successful teacher, but to find your artistry within this field and to keep practicing it. I love learning about being a Theatre teacher, but I also love that I can still work on being a performer as well. The Educational Theatre program has been an absolute gem. Professor Jennifer Katona and Professor Sobha Kavanakudiyil bend over backwards to insure that their students have the best learning experience possible. My eyes have been opened to how amazingly effect the arts are in any classroom. I feel so blessed and grateful to be a part of it.

Theatre in Our Schools Conference by Elizabeth Simmons

Theatre in Our Schools Conference

 Elizabeth Simmons

Volunteering….voluntarily getting up at 6:00 am…so worth it. The Theatre in Our Schools Conference was put on by the American Alliance for Theatre in Education, and I got to be a part of it.  It was on March 4, at the Roundabout Theatre’s space, and as a grad student in Educational Theatre, I really wanted to jump in and meet some more people in the field outside of school. By the way, checking in people and handing them their nametags really helps with that. I noticed lots of representatives from organizations that I knew..Creative Arts Team, Lincoln Center, Story Pirates, our own Sobha Kavanakudiyil from CCNY!

The day was filled with a panel, workshops, and a keynote address. In the morning, the panel (moderated by Sobha!) offered some practical advice on teaching students with varying skill levels and interests. A particular quote that I took away from one of the speakers, Kalitchi Figueroa, talking about teaching an ESL class, is that ..”it’s not about language, it’s about communication…” I will definitely keep that in mind as I head into my residency at PS 161.

I also attended Jean E. Taylor’s morning workshop about the Lincoln Center Institute techniques. We “noticed deeply” and performed using our bodies and voices, based on a photograph and a poem. We then got to see a segment of a two person show, which also incorporated the photograph and poem. ..”I met a man named Langston Hughes..” I noticed that the participants were just as excited to share their creativity onstage as they were to make observations about what they were experiencing.

Lisa Mitchell, alumni of CCNY Ed Theatre, was the Co-Chair of the TIOS Conference Planning Committee, with Nicole L. Lorenzetti. They were very welcoming and organized an event that looking around, seemed to be a positive one for all the participants. As a current student, it was exciting to see one of the alumni in a leadership position, and also to see some of my fellow students attending the conference. Go CCNY!

Towards the end of the day, I was running some errands as a volunteer, and then listening to the keynote address by the Story Pirates. They built upon what I’ve learned from lessons on Storytelling in both Integrating the Arts and Drama in Education. Interactive, Silly, Characters, Plot, Energy were all words that came to mind watching the Story Pirates demonstrate a session.

As a grad student, a volunteer, and an attendee, I felt the conference was a great opportunity. I got to network with representatives from several organizations, and get a better understanding of different careers in Arts Education. The people I spoke with were very receptive, and interested in the CCNY graduate program and the acting work I’ve been doing. And, P.S, the sandwiches from Potbelly were delicious

From Ed Theatre to Teaching to Teaching Tech - Capella Solomon

From Ed Theatre to Teaching to Teaching Tech

Capella Solomon

When I first entered the Ed Theatre program I wanted to improve my evolution as a Theatre educator; I already had a Bachelor’s in Theatre from Spelman College; a Master’s in Education, my teaching certification in Special Education and Theatre and had been a classroom teacher for about five years. Tech had always been my passion; at Spelman I was the only woman taking every tech class they offered and overalls were a permanent part of my wardrobe.  As I got older theatre education became my passion and my art form.

While in the Ed Theatre program and I was teaching full time and attending classes which meant a lot of restless nights and coffee binges. It was all worth it though; the program taught me that theatre and education could unite to become an outlet of creative expression that was beneficial in any classroom setting but in a truly cross-curricular way. I was able to successfully finish the program with a toolkit of activities under my belt, a fresh outlook on theatre education and a rockin’ thesis about women in technical theatre.

All those theatre games and Boalian activities made me think about ways to incorporate what I learned at CCNY with my artistry as a theatre educator. I currently teach at a theatre high school where incorporating math into theatre through drafting and model making, ELA and history through play analysis and exploring period, and science by making cool special effect like blood and fog has made theatre come alive for my students in a way that it never had before.

In my last semester of the program I was offered an Adjunct position to teach the Introduction to Teaching Technical Theatre class. Now I’m back to restless nights and coffee binges but I absolutely love it! A theatre educator in the truest sense I love teaching students about technical theatre and teaching grad students about teaching students about technical theatre (bet you can’t say that 3 times fast). I encourage both my high school and graduate students to explore their creativity, try new things, take ownership of their classroom experience and to be fearless (especially when it comes to a hammer and nails)! While the overalls have been retired from my wardrobe they will never retire from my heart or my pedagogy.