We are absolutely past the honeymoon period of the year by this point, the point at which some of us start wondering 'why are we doing this?', hopefully before realizing that, as Theatre teachers, we probably have the best job on campus. (Apart from the science guys who like to blow things up, of course. But, we also get to blow things up. As long as there's a fire marshall and strict adherence to OHSA regulations, of course.)
The other major thing that tends to blow up for the new theatre teacher is the question of time management, or priority setting, or, because I like strong visual metaphors and have a curious love of capitalization, what I call Managing Your Spinning Plates. And it really does feel more like, in the first few years of this position, you are essentially trying your best not to create too much breakage. But if some of those plates fall, it's really okay. Sometimes plates just spin out of control and make this dreadful crashing sound, and we learn from it (hopefully!).
In the Western hemisphere referred to generally as North America and Europe, there is an increasingly burdensome pile of tasks for us to complete, and what works out as diminishing time to complete them in. As teachers in 2014, with the increased pressure of new Common or State Core Standards which are loved and loathed in equal measures and brand new, more rigourous demands on our students and on we, the educators, it can be hard to remember that yes, we too are human, and that without balance, the whole ensemble of our being is likely to fall apart. In plain English: there's a big pile of stuff on our desk, and we have less time to manage all of it.
What to do?
One of the most overwhelming things for a new Theatre teacher to realize will be just how much time you will be sacrificing for the good of your students and your program. Not to be patronizing, but this might be an easier task if you are a single, young twenty something without children or many friends. Many of us who teach theatre probably are not: I am a happily married male in my mid thirties with three children under the age of 9 (8, 4 and nearly 2). In my first year of taking the theatre position at my school, I had to work very carefully to ensure a balance between my personal and professional life, as I would like to stay happily married for many, many years.You know, 'til death, that sort of traditional thing. Insert smiley face here.
On top of your normal teaching assignments, which will probably include planning, grading, mentoring, duties like lunch or tardy room, and so on, now you need to factor in planning your direction for your plays, planning for Individual Event and One Act Festival and State participation, rehearsal times, buying stuff for your productions or classroom, fundraising (x6), "maintaining the inheritance" or building the program by perhaps starting a summer camp program, reading and rejecting and selecting suitable plays for production, dance choreography, music/singing rehearsals, working out how to work a lighting and sound board, and many other things that I've probably forgotten.
So here are some quick pointers that helped me, and may help you along the journey:
1. For utility, before this year started, I created a list of things I knew I had to take care of, the ones that had deadlines. This helped me immensely and it was satisfying as I crossed them off. 'Things' will have this nasty habit of mysteriously adding themselves to your lists, be warned. Physically putting it down on paper or appropriate electronic prompter helps unclutter your head, to keep it free for your creativity shenanigans.
2. Set strict limits on when you start rehearsals, and when you end. It means that everyone knows when you start, and when you end, with no exceptions. This protects your time and helps train your performers in real world practices. Being an avid people pleaser, I had to work hard on this one in order to protect my time for my family (see below), but by doing this it helped me focus my energies more sharply as we had a set time to complete it.
3. Plan out your calendar for the year before school starts. I'm not talking about your lesson plans, that is an astronomically difficult task even when you know the material inside and out, I'm just talking about the dates of your shows, what shows you're doing, and all that stuff. When you have your plays cast, make sure to create a rehearsal schedule right away, or your cast will get away with that wonderful teenage monster of plausible blamability and passive non-acceptance of responsibility: "You didn't tell me when I was needed, so I went to _____________ (insert name of local food joint here)" Ask me how I know this.
4. Exercise. Seriously, take some time to do at least a 30 minute brisk walk 3 times every week, because it will make the rest of the week way better. I need to do better on this one myself. Curse you, astonishingly accessible 30 minutes-a-day updated home exercise DVD programs that used to be 90 minutes a day for 90 days! Now I have no excuses!
5. If you can, and obviously if you have one, involve your family closely with your drama program. My wife does a ton of stuff for the program at our school, because she sees the value of the program to these students as they search for a place to belong. She's also way more organized and detail orientated (see below). We intentionally create a family atmosphere in order to ground our students and keep them tied in. Our own kids love hanging out with the teenagers, and have been in all but one of the productions we have done since the program started (they are looking forward to being 'Young' and 'Teenage' Fiona in 2016!). If your wife and family are involved, then you're building wonderful family memories together as you work together on something outside of you family. This will also protect your marriage from other shenanigans. It's a mystery, but its true.
5. Lastly, find people who way more organized than you, and get them attached to your program! Failing that, learn from them. Make connections to new people. Use the EDTA community, go to conferences, take students to college open days for Theatre and ask questions of the instructors - they are very willing to help you find answers as you seek to get better at your job and give your students something greater.
Hopefully, all these observations will result in a well-managed collection of happily spinning plates, rotating at high speed in near perfect unison, and all you'll have to do is run around and maintain it to keep them spinning. The hardest part is getting started; maintenance is a little easier. But once you start getting better at it, it becomes even harder to pull yourself away! So above all, make sure you step back every once in a while, and get some perspective. I love having theatre friends because they invigorate me, but I adore my non-theatre friends, because they really couldn't care what the difference is between a scrim and a Brecht, and that's a healthy perspective to bear in mind. To echo Polonius, "To thine own self be true!"
And invest in a dustpan and broom for the inevitable broken plates. :)