In my classroom imagination is key…

As a student learns to trust their body/mind impulses I am always right there to support and cheer them on. I facilitate an environment similar to the way I want my siblings to feel when they are about to embark on a hard decision and asking for my guidance; not with hard and fast rules but with kindness. Not with an attitude of superiority, but an open heart.

In my experience, students respond to a teacher who guides them with curiosity and joy, refusing to allow fear to be the most important thing. Failing is part of life-you don’t need to be a teacher (or a big sister) to know that, but finding courage and grace to try again, now that takes some practice.

It is within my classroom that I hope my students practice these very concepts:
You are valuable even if you mess up.
You are not less-than because you don’t understand.
You are important just the way you are.
You are brave. (I know this because you stepped into the room.) And from a place of bravery-let us use the idea of “play” and develop a technique to help express yourself onstage, and ultimately in real life.

Acting is not easy. I value the students in my classroom who are courageous enough to ask questions and are honest with where they are in the process of learning. I believe that students who are motivated by a passionate teacher will be galvanized to uncover themselves in the art-form with truth and vulnerability. It is my job to be aware and empathetic of a student’s needs and to help guide them. I encourage my students to enjoy the exploration in the classroom, even though it may be rocky and full of imperfection. The process of learning is never straight forward, but through collaboration and willingness, new pathways can be made.

Overall, by the end of the semester I am hopeful to find a room full of more empathetic, connected and thoughtful people who will use these tools in their future. Perhaps it is lawyer who is following their impulses during a tough case, a financier who can collaborate in a board room with difficult clients, a nurse who can look into the eyes of a patient and be present during difficult news; and generally a person who can experience the world in many different ways just by imagining: “What if I was in their shoes?”