When we were accepted into the summer residency, we didn't know what to expect from the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. We knew we didn't know what we didn't know we didn't know. Ya know?
On Monday, we were appreciated the difference between a straight lecture about a collection of still life paintings from the 19th century and a participant-driven conversation concerning a sculpture from the Great Depression. Much of what we've heard so far has merely confirmed what we, as experienced educators, already understand. Our methods in the classroom are a consistent attempt to engage our students, and we avoid lecturing whenever possible.
The richest part of our Monday involved methods developed at the Kennedy Center. Our afternoon was spent learning strategies for using improvisation and theater games to explicitly address classroom discipline. Sean Layne of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts developed the program.
On Monday, we were appreciated the difference between a straight lecture about a collection of still life paintings from the 19th century and a participant-driven conversation concerning a sculpture from the Great Depression. Much of what we've heard so far has merely confirmed what we, as experienced educators, already understand. Our methods in the classroom are a consistent attempt to engage our students, and we avoid lecturing whenever possible.
The richest part of our Monday involved methods developed at the Kennedy Center. Our afternoon was spent learning strategies for using improvisation and theater games to explicitly address classroom discipline. Sean Layne of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts developed the program.
Sean Layne has taken the foundational elements of acting such as concentration, cooperation, and collaboration and created a structured process, which can become the basis for effective classroom management every day. This engaging step-by-step approach empowers students to take ownership of and be responsible for their own behavior. In this workshop, teachers learn how to help students build the skills necessary to establish a sense of self-control, accountability, and teambuilding in their classroom.
The strategies make sense and fall into my wheelhouse (though I reserve the right to personalize the methods to make them work for my students. I plan to introduce some of these in the first days of school and continue their use throughout the year. In fact, the skills involved here will sit nicely with the other theater games we already use. In a couple of weeks, I will even present my own professional development sessions to Joplin teachers. Titled Give and Take, my sessions will focus on games that involve students developing skills of taking and yielding the floor with their classmates.
Another part of our Monday training included having groups of students create tableaus - a technique of teaching that allows students to use their imaginations and collaborative skills to respond to a wide array of curricular needs.
Another part of our Monday training included having groups of students create tableaus - a technique of teaching that allows students to use their imaginations and collaborative skills to respond to a wide array of curricular needs.
Led by Sean Layne, drama educator, this course begins teachers’ journey with tableau, a creative, controlled, low-risk drama technique. Tableau helps students apply and expand their knowledge and understanding in subjects across the curriculum by asking them to take on the roles of people or objects to create living pictures.
A part of our training also included watching a thunderstorm move through while sitting in a room with three solid walls of glass. This was quite a rain maker, and it ended up flooding significant areas of the outdoor portion of the museum.
As it rained, and before dinner, Mrs. Mouton and I were able to visit the museum without groups of fourth grade children in tow. We just wanted to get a better idea for where things are located (understanding, of course, that exhibits change often). My favorite galleries are the 18th century pieces in the first room. That is the location for famous works that depict George Washington and other famous figures, as well as landscapes and cityscapes, of the colonial period.
