Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Improv and Education and Museums -- the Art of Doing





is:
Specializing in improv, presentation, movement and theatre classes and workshops, The Engaging Educator strives to help educators work towards a primary goal – education that engages both students and teachers to the top of their potential.
As educators, we spend hours worrying about what to say to our students. How often do we worry about HOW we say it? Our communication and presentation skills are just as important as any fact. Students pay better attention when we are interesting and the job is more fun when we enjoy ourselves.
In a classroom, at a residency or in a gallery – we work with all educators to make them the absolute best they can be.


Improv(e) Your Teaching."

It neatly summarizes how improving listening skills and using movement can stimulate thinking and learning in educational spaces, such as schools and museums.

Cover
Improv's emphasis on listening to the other person -- using the response "Yes, AND..." -- was in fact my key takeaway from Tina Fey's autobiography Bossypants.

"Yes, AND..." works really, really well in meetings, conferences, and VTS in front of an object....

Sometimes the most creative educational work comes from outside the school, such as the museum or the comedy club.

And we can learn a lot from multiple modalities.

Thanks, Jen!

Monday, April 1, 2013

A Passover Thought


Passover_Seder_Plate by Sheynhertz-Unbayg from Wikimedia Commons

I had a great conversation today with a colleague as he ate sardines and matzoh for lunch.

He made the point that a full Passover seder (the traditional one, hosted on the first or second night of the holiday) really got at the essence of the flight from Egypt: take whatever one had -- no time to allow the bread to rise -- and subsist on what was available.....

"Experiential learning in a nutshell," I said.

He agreed.

What other events, religious observances,  items of culture embody significant experience?