Impact Project Updates

Lesson #1 of 5, COMPLETED!
(Not taught, but written)
YEAH!

A Quotable Summary of Week Six

"You're my fourth best friend with a birthday close to mine!"

"Miss Levine, I got poop on my shirt. Look, it's straight dookie!"

"I hope you get a black eye."

"Trying to stay positive today so Miss Levine doesn't throw the Grinch at me."

"Since Friday is early release, will you go buy me a salad from Panera Bread for lunch?"

And one of my personal favorites,
"When you retire our senior year, can they hire Miss Levine to be our teacher?"

In my little world, every week is a great week : )

Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord! [Ephesians 5:19]

Almost-Friday : )

In anticipation of tomorrow's holiday, here is a photo from last week's Tie Dye Friday!!
One more day till the weekend : )

Monday's Lesson:

If I can survive my IDP, I can survive it all.

[But for now, this remains to be seen]

The "Lessons" part of the blog.

Lessons, Week FIVE (HOLY COW)
1. Love your students. Even if they are turds. Always love them.
2. Never wear a dress to teach theatre.
3. Be yourself. You can't get everyone to like you, but if they do like you, they might as well like you for who you really are.
4. Take pride in the small things.
5. Work smarter, not harder.

And above all else,

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.

Day 21, in which sleep-deprivation no longer matters

I haven't written a fully-fledged blog post in a while, so I suppose it is about time. 

I've been continuing to teach Theatre I (in fact, my teacher often doesn't even stay in the room any more). I'm still supporting in Tech Theatre (it's all practical stuff - building the set for the play, etc.) And today I began lead-teaching in Theatre II for their monologue project. Now, I work a little differently from my host teacher, so I've found that it's slightly more difficult to pick up the teaching load as the semester goes on, because the students are more and more accustomed to the way that their regular classroom teacher leads. Even so, I have some students in Theatre II who seemed to get a lot out of our activity today, and since they are working on monologues, it's really up to them to prepare well. It's not that I don't care if they're using their time wisely in class or not, it's just that they need to learn to be responsible and to manage their time so that the final product is something to be proud of.

I'm not sure if that's the wrong approach to teaching, but I think it's appropriate - they are high school students after all, they should be held accountable for keeping themselves on task, especially when I've given them a specific goal to accomplish by the end of the period.

We've moved into a Pantomime unit in Theatre I, and it has been going well so far, although today I didn't accomplish nearly as much as I had planned - that's alright, that's what tomorrow is for!

I've been working with the ensemble for the Fall Play, and although I'm still unsure of exactly what I'm supposed to be doing, I have enjoyed working with the students on a different level than we usually can within the confines of the classroom. They have been really great, and for the most part, totally willing to try whatever I throw at them... and I can be very abstract and right-brained, so that's saying a lot for them!

I had my first official observation on Monday, and I am humbled and incredibly grateful to say that it went very well. I got good feedback from my supervisor, and was encouraged to stay in the field of education. That was definitely good to hear - it is an unbelievably hard job, but to think that what I'm doing is worth it? To think that I am making a difference? That's big.

This week I had a student bake brownies for me, to thank me for coaching her for an audition (she got top 3!!) and I had a student tell me that she turned down an offer to sleep through first period, before her 9am dentist appointment - she didn't want to miss Theatre I because it's her favorite class. WOW.

And so, all in all, this has been a good week. (What? It's only Wednesday? Phew!)

..Wait, but I really just realized it's only Wednesday. Woah.

This weekend we have the North Carolina Theatre Educator's Conference, and it will be great to reconnect with some of my teacher-friends, and I'm THRILLED to be able to introduce my students to my friends!!!!! Seriously, proud momma over here.

This is a good job.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
[Psalm 136:1]

Day..? In which I receive brownies

Welcome to my Office!

Day 18, in which we make several break throughs

Today was good.
In fact, this whole week was good.
But today, my theatre 1 students committed to their movement. They had fun. They were LOUD. And they loved stage combat.
Today, my tech students improved on their tool test. One of them figured out how to read a tape measure, after trying to convince me that he couldn't do it.
One of my theatre II students who had been testing the waters with me since the start of the semester spent over twenty minutes with me talking about his future, acting, the business, and how to proceed (he is a senior in high school).
I coached two seniors for their musical theatre competition tomorrow, and they grew SO MUCH in the hour of practice. I think they had some awesome realizations, and I believe they are going to do a great job tomorrow.
Today was a good day.

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
[Ephesians 4:15-16]

Day 17, in which I realize that Open House Day is a long day.

As I'm going on my 12th hour at school today, I received this photo of my sweet baby Holmes! After celebrating his 1-year Adoption Anniversary yesterday, this was just a really awesome gift... I love this boy! Look at that sweet dirty face!

Day 16, in which I experience success

Today began with Theatre I (as my days here often do).

This is a joke, because the schedule always starts the same way, but I don't want to say that my days always start with Theatre I, because, you know, once you say something is certain, it almost immediately becomes uncertain, reminding us that the amount of things we know is infinitely smaller than the amount of things we don't.

Anyway, today began with Theatre I, in which I was beginning to teach THE SLAP. Woah, I know, you're thinking why would anyone decide to teach 28 freshmen (mostly freshmen) to slap each other? Well, it's on my teacher's plan, so there you go.

Going into this, I was most certainly nervous because, uh, liability? I'm not even the real teacher! Well, we started with the basics (in-distance, out of distance, in-distance, out of distance, etc etc etc) Then we moved on to the knap, and then the victim's reaction to the slap. Of course, some students were goofing off, and some were not really paying attention, but I believe most of them were engaged or at least having fun! This is good.

And no one got hurt. This is even better.

After my lesson, my teacher told me that she thought it was my best one so far, because the students' energy was better, and they were engaged the whole time - not that they weren't necessarily before, but they were more actively involved, and more free to be loud! This was nice.

So I'd say that was a success - a bit of organized chaos, but a success.

Then, during homeroom I found out that the 8th grader who I had been coaching for an audition received a callback!! This is very exciting. He had been struggling, because he seems to love performing, but has a hard time releasing his inhibitions and just getting crazy! Well, his father asked me if I would be willing to help out, and I really enjoyed both of the times that we worked together. I am really proud to hear about his callback, which is always my first goal in an audition - beyond that, as long as he does his best this afternoon, I think he should be very pleased! I should be finding out the results soon - stay tuned!

Aside from that I don't have much new news - it is only 10:00am and I am writing this during my planning period, because it's hard to do homework. I'm caught up on all of my stuff as far as teaching this week goes, and I'm just working ahead for next week.

Procrastination is a habit that really does die hard.

I hope everyone has an awesome rest of the day! Did you know that I've been up and moving for 4 1/2 hours already? I bet some people are still sleeping, and will probably still be sleeping for another 2 hours! Woah.

God is always good.

Day 15, in which several students share their hearts.

Today was a great day.
Let me say that once more,
Today was a great day.

Today I had my first student cry. She was afraid that she wouldn't do well on her project, because her partner wasn't pulling his weight. I encouraged her to advocate for herself, reminding her that we cannot control other people, but she can let the teacher know what's going on, and just do her best on the things she can control. I was so proud to see her walk back into the theatre, find her partner, treat him with kindness and patience and get back to work. Honestly, I think she handled the situation with more maturity and grace than I could have, and I was so encouraged by her spirit.

Today one of my students told me that he was so excited for his friend, because this afternoon was going to be his first audition ever - however, when 4th period came around, this student said that he was no longer auditioning. We asked him why, and he said "well, my dad is kind of a... man's man... and he will only let me audition once this year, so I chose the musical."
First of all, I am proud of my student for following something he loves, and is passionate about - that's pretty awesome. It can be difficult to hear things like this, fathers believing that the arts are 'feminine', and I don't know the whole situation at home, but I am so glad that my student is still in theatre class, is still auditioning, is still working hard and pursuing what he loves. While the news about the dad was hard to hear, this remains encouraging. I told my student that he should invite his dad to audition, too. I hope his father will see the productions, and see how well his son is doing. And I hope that maybe then, he will change his mind.
And, my heart is full to think about the other students in the class who are so supportive of this student, and upon hearing about his dad, nobody said anything, but everyone had looks of pure compassion, and some nodded, understanding. This is a great group.

Today another one of my students was talking about how his father would help to build the set when he gets back, and he spoke with so much pride and love, that I was truly captivated, just by this simple statement. I could kind of tell that he wanted to talk about it more, so I asked him where his dad was, and he answered -
Afghanistan.
Wow. I was definitely not expecting to find that in this little old peak of good living. That is dangerous, adventurous, wild at heart. I asked my student when his dad would be home, and he said December. I hope it's before I leave.
I told him about my camper this summer whose father surprised her by picking her up at the end of the week, and I just wish I could share with you the look on this boy's face... I think his dad really means a lot to him, and it was so sweet, and so touching, and so strong to witness this. I have been truly blessed.

You guys, I love my students.
Truly.

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 

rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name, 

 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 

 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

[Philippians 2:1-11]

Student teaching, a summary.

Reflections on Week Two (Three?)

I've officially completed my second week with students. This was only a three-day week, so it was relatively easy, although that definitely discouraged me from being productive in my planning and work time at school. In fact, today is a teacher workday and my co-op has allowed me to work at the library closer to my house so that I don't have to drive 30-minutes to the high school, and yet, it is 11:00 am and I'm not even out of my pajamas yet.

This week I took on the full-responsibility of teaching Theatre I. This is a big job! I have learned very quickly that student teaching becomes very real, very fast. Work seems to pile up, and it can be overwhelming having to focus simultaneously on the day-to-day operations of each class, while also looking forward to next week, planning those lessons to submit a week in advance, and planning for the focus week of my impact project, which will take place in October. It can be a lot to handle.

And yet, the job remains rewarding. I love working with students. One of my awesome Theatre II's showed me his monologue after school yesterday. I had helped him to find this piece, and he came back saying that he loved it... the monologues are not even due for another few weeks, and he already has his mostly memorized, and has been working on it at home - how amazing! I was so encouraged and inspired by his commitment and enthusiasm. This makes the job worth it, these moments.

Yesterday I also stayed after school to coach the band teacher's son for his middle school audition again, and since we had a meeting for all students interested in participating in school productions this year, some of my students had to stay late to wait for their parents to pick them up, rather than riding the bus like they normally would. So, there were 4-5 students left in the auditorium with me when I was helping R. They kindly agreed to participate in our physical warm-up, and were very happy to do so, and they watched R's work and offered him some really valuable feedback. They encouraged him, reminding him that he is learning things that they are learning in 10th or 11th grade, and he is only in 8th! And on their way out, they told him that he would do a great job at his audition next week.

My students are awesome.

And so, lessons from a student teacher:

• The work is hard
• The time commitment is huge
• You will get tired
• You will mess up
• You will forget things
• And you will be thankful, because it's all worth it.

“Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. [Matthew 14:29]

Day 12 (Week 3, Day 2!)

I have learned a lot this semester about the way that the Lord leads on paths of righteousness, paths that will bring glory to His name, should we follow them, and should we hold steadfast to His promises. I had a really really challenging summer - but I got through. This is something for another blog, but I know for sure that I was serving a greater purpose. Now, I am so, so thankful to be in a place where my heart feels secure. I am thankful to feel like I am on a path toward a meaningful future. I am grateful to feel the energy of what is to come. I am in-waiting for the conversations, the "aha moments", the overcoming of fear, the struggles, the joys, the growth. I am ready, I am waiting. I am thankful.
He guides me along the right paths    for his name’s sake. [Psalm 23]