Welcome, Charlotte! Best job in the world, right here! Congratulations!
To chime in/amplify what others have said: Take deep breaths, and don't worry about everything being super perfect from day one (day two, twenty, ninety-nine...) because there is an overwhelming amount of everything to learn, but the great thing is that if you're patient and willing (and certainly you sound willing!), all that will come with time.
Focus on acting/performance and improvisation material, initially. Add in the technical stuff as you learn your way around the job and its requirements. I second the post about Bob and Marti Fowler's Practical Technical Theatre curriculum, it is absolutely priceless. Pricey to buy, but there are ways around that (grants, school improvement funds, other educational slush funds).
You asked specifically what people do or how a class actually runs, which is a wise starting point. I also second the use of Drama Teacher Academy; it has 20+ modular courses on a wide range of topics, including a great course on Shakespeare that I used pretty much verbatim in my classroom with some success. The layout of these courses and how they are taught will give you a good bead on how to structure your class time. Many theatre teachers come from English, so the felt-need to structure theatre like an English class is understandable, but is not recommended for most theatre classes, to an extent. There may be days where the English classroom set up is entirely appropriate, such as class readings/analysis of scripts or teaching theatre history, but in general, and I speak for myself here, my theatre classroom has little in common with the set up of my English classes (a large part due to the mandated curriculum we had to teach, but that's a subject for another time).
Depending on what time of year it is, a 'typical' Theatre 1-4 has looked like this:
Layout: Classroom is the stage of the school's auditorium, so no chairs, and everybody joins the circle
1. 7 minute physical warm up (allowing everybody own space) followed by 5 minutes vocal warm up in the circle
2. Quick check-in (every third day)
3. Introduce topic for the day (Theatre history, a script, a performance skill...whatever we're following in the curriculum) with notes as needed/responses logged in drama journals
4. Working as a class or in groups on the topic of the day.
5. Check-in at end of class
When we go into production mode, then the class becomes rehearsal time. We still do the warm-up, and then break into relevant groupings to work scenes before eventually turning it into a straight run of what we've got, then adding tech elements and getting ready for production night.
I've attached a curriculum plan for what I attempted last year in my Theatre 1-4 classes, and this year I'm going to try and follow it more closely, making sure I arrange my time a little more wisely...! Several of the modules are from Drama Teacher Academy.
One more thing to note about DTA is that they are rolling out a whole year curriculum for Theatre 1 classes very, very soon, so even more incentive to check them out!
Lastly, try your best to attend the EdTA conference in Las Vegas this September, or your local state theatre teacher conference. That will also be an incredibly helpful resource of new things to try out.
Really, the difficulty you're going to have is sorting out all of the wonderful suggestions you've been given by all of these knowledgeable and awesome peers, and working out where to start. I'd highly recommend picking one or two things rather than try every single thing all at once, otherwise you might fry your brain. There is so much choice about where to start, so start with your strengths first, and then build from there.
Check out blogs on EdTA, as some of them have ruminations at length about what it means to be a first year teacher, with more expansion on certain elements (show selection, juggling your responsibilities, etc.) that may also be of use, if not a source of comfort.
One final shout out to Gai Jones' 'Raise the Curtain', which could realistically form the basis of several years worth of curriculum!
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Phillip Goodchild
Theatre Arts Instructor/Assistant Department Head of English
Ruskin FL
Original Message:
Sent: 06-15-2016 09:13
From: Charlotte Kauffman
Subject: newbie seeking HELP!!
I am a brand new Theatre Teacher!
Let me be VERY specific. I am a brand new English Teacher, with ABSOLUTELY NO THEATRE EXPERIENCE, that is now teaching Theatre! I accepted my position and began teaching English, Theatre 1 & 2, as well as sponsoring my school's Drama Club the last 9 weeks of this school semester. So I now have 9 weeks of experience... I will just say, I made it through and am looking forward to PLANNING for a successful school year in the fall.
My school has a great set up for theatre (black box, court yard with a small auditorium, regular auditorium, fully stocked wardrobe room and such). Unfortunately we have had a bad run with Theatre for one reason or another. Oh and I use a regular classroom(small) 90 minute blocks but can book our black box or auditorium when I need it... 2-Theatre 1 classes (20-28 students), 1-Theatre 2 (10 students).
This past 9 weeks I have used the books (Stage and the School) that our school has, BYU's database and other internet resources to help me teach them something ... but I would like a solid plan for next year. I have learned so much already and am willing to take the summer to learn what I need to. I am volunteering at our Governor's School for the Arts, high school Theatre Camps, going to a Shakespeare in the classroom workshop and.... well that is where I am reaching out to this community.
If anyone would mind sharing what they do for their Theatre classes! I mean anything and everything.
I don't even know what the structure of a Theatre class looks like (bell ringer? structured lessons all the time? testing? exit tickets? you can see I am trying to structure like an English class here).
I don't know what the pacing is for Theatre 1 versus Theatre 2. I have no clue how to pick a one act for the VTLA or begin executing the practices and such. I have no idea how much time to block for practices! I have no idea how to help get my drama club to their goal of VTLA competition in the fall, a Shakespeare production at some point (with two other high schools in our district) and a production in the spring.
I have some knowledgeable students in my drama club but I need help in figuring out how to take this proverbial bull by the horns!
THANK YOU for ANY and ALL help!!
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Charlotte Kauffman
English & Theatre Teacher
Chesapeake
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