Teaching 

REFLECTION ON TEACHING

2012-2021

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As we walked through the world of zoom teaching and Covid this past year, I was nervous. I suddenly felt like I didn’t have a road map. A million questions filled my head as I attempted to figure out how to teach acting in a way that would feel personal while instructing online. Next came the question of how to teach acting in person with a mask and plexiglass barriers. 

 

I honestly felt like I could not see or hear my students last August when I entered the classroom with my mask. It was the strangest concept. I felt separated from them and I believe they felt this way too. We discussed it, journaled about it, and found ways to engage outdoors so that the students could feel honest connection. There were moments when I felt blocked as I tried to lecture over the hum of the air handler or project with a mask and yet I believed in the safety of my students. There were moments of the ridiculous when we had to put Movement Masks over regular masks…that provided for a hearty chuckle.  

 

I teach my students to choose love in the scene. In other words, choose the positive. Isn’t that like life? I am in the business of molding truth tellers and I believe what we are doing is missional; that each of these students was given specific gifts by God and therefore called to hone their talents to the best of their abilities and honor God in that craft shaping. These are heart matters.  

 

As I instruct our students, I ask them to play high stakes and trust the action; trust the moment. I think I read students well as I watch and critique their work. I think I have gotten better in taking time in class, planning for unexpected moments to sort out questions, and to really coach a technique.  

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I am not afraid to admit when I do not know the answer to a question and seek to research the answer.

 

One challenge I have faced over the years is time management. I work diligently to stay aware of class and rehearsal time in order to release my students accordingly. I am much more successful in staying on course by honoring my semester calendar, and thus honoring my students’ time. 

 

I strive to be more transparent as a teacher and faith-artist as I grow. My personal experience has taught me the importance of that. I believe giving myself permission for failure has allowed me to try techniques and styles that might have seemed too daunting before. Some projects have feverishly flopped and some have supremely succeeded. 

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I love the lightbulb and "aha" moments and wish we could luxuriate in those longer some days. I love having coffee with my students and processing the deep layers of art. I think I am better organized and more realistic about my class calendar since going up for my T&P in 2012. I better trust the plan and recognize that I can not adjust or coddle every student. I better understand tough love and sticking to the schedule. Schedules can make or break you and a consistent plan is important. Adam Hester taught that to me. It actually allows students to feel safe which in turn creates a trust that is paramount. We ask much of our students. We ask them to be authentic, open and vulnerable. We ask them to be risk-takers so we must hold up our end as well. We must be map makers and star gazers while providing a compass through the technique. 

 

As I reflect on my coaching of acting classes in the past, I recognize that the emotional cool down process at the end of class or rehearsal was lacking. I liken it to running a race and not giving your body time to walk the track and rehydrate. I would coach a student with a warm-up, get them to a heightened place and then send them on their way to bible or math class. It was insensitive, but I do not think I fully understood the importance of the decompression work. Even in grad school in the late 90’s we were not trained to take this necessary time. I think with better sensitivity to emotional wellness, the field of theatre is doing this more successfully. I have really worked over the last six years to actively embrace this in class and rehearsal. Simply building in decompression time to a schedule has made such a difference and it builds trust.

 

Emotional wellness is so important. I spend more time than I would like to admit communicating and collaborating with the director of the counseling center. Everything we can do to support our students I and move them towards healthy balance is important. I have added a mantra at the end of my classes over the last two years. We drop over rag doll and as we realign and breathe the students repeat after me; "I am present, I am free, I am safe." The repetition allows the students to emotionally come into the space. The breath calms them and allows the students to recenter like in yoga class.

 

This year I have added the W Inhalation warm-up and/or cool down. As as you draw the imagined line in the air, exhale as you draw the w up, inhale, exhale. You focus on drawing your imagined w and the very exercise centers you. I additionally have added the five senses exercise often used by therapists. State five items you see, four items you can touch, three things you hear, two things you taste and one thing you can smell. This is just another easy way to recenter, move through circle of intention and enliven the senses.

 

This summer, as I was brought in to work as associate choreographer for Matilda in Dallas, I was struck by the thoughtfulness of my former students whom I had the privilege of working with. The director, Matt Silar, was an ACU Directing student many years ago and was brought in from Chicago. I witnessed a rehearsal space that was set up for authentic safety. He did simple things like choosing a word of positivity and slapping the floor each night to start and end. He told me quietly it was his way to pray. If an actor got emotional, he took the time to check on them without making them feel awkward. I sometimes try too hard and can make people feel more self-aware by going on and on in my emotional check-in. The simply and direct action of slapping and calling positivity or addressing a student situation and then releasing it was a good teaching reminder, and I will bring that to the classroom this year. 

 

Our Shakespeare Festival often provides more open time to teach as the students have the gift of only focusing on the the learning process without the pressure of other classes. We had the benefit of bringing in an alumna, who now serves as a Union Stage Manager on Broadway consistently. I have had the blessing of going backstage after several of her shows in NYC and observing her at work. She is the very reason we were given Actors Equity Association status as a Shakespeare Festival this year. This is like going D-1 and I am so proud of this. When we closed the Festival this summer, she requested a post-mortem with Adam Hester and me. Those can be tough, because you might be told you are not hitting a mark or need to shift in some way. These conversations tend to stir up vulnerability especially after closing a show. Again, I was thankful for her integrity and honesty. 

 

There were areas she suggested we might change to better align with a professional theatrical house. She felt we needed to trust our students more in the stage management position, to provide more freedom in the schedule and give more rest in the process so the students do not burn out.  She stated everything I want our program to be and yet it was hard to hear we could be better.  I have put my pride away and have come to realize I need to apply these areas. I am going to implement these both in my directing work, in the classroom and encourage our faculty in these basic concepts. 

 

The process of teaching theatre builds compassion, empathy and care. That can be transformational for a young actor especially when they understand how the truth they reflect resonates with the audience. So many of our students arrive emotionally broken. Theatre is often their healing place. I spend a lot of time coordinating with Tyson Alexander, the Director of the Counseling Center, contacting SOAR, and praying over my students. I often have the privilege of listening. They are beautiful humans who just need to be seen and know they are treasured. As I have visited with other Chairs in Oklahoma or at Texas State, they say the same thing. Their students need to feel seen and loved. Sometimes this is truly the most important part of our teaching. 

 

I often remind my students that I am a co-learner with them. I re-read the assigned plays each time I teach a class and am always surprised by the passage that I see in a new light. Words are so important to an actor. The choice of inflection and subtext attached to it directs the action. I have learned how important it is over the last several years to show my students how to learn by learning alongside of them. Research is important in the world of the play. I tell my students that dramaturgical study is like excavating. Illuminating moments are everything, when a student utilizes the research to unearth a psychological character need or drive, it can unlock the entire motivation of human action and impulse. 

 

What I love most about teaching is that I get to help encourage a healthy physiological journey. I am instructing students to trust a technique, a scene, or a director so I am also called to trust. I have certainly learned over the years that I do not have all of the answers and it is important to own that, dig deep and discover the answer with the student. This is a calling and I believe it is ministry. I believe I am shaping artists. I pray that I am providing a way for people to identify and see themselves in the character and the circumstance.  I pray that I am leaning into the very mantra we state, "Running, Falling, Standing." God is using me and our team of awesome faculty to TRANSFORM ARTISTS. I am grateful for this work. It is exhausting and invigorating and soul fueling. What a blessing to be a part of this journey of teaching here at ACU.