Are you the lone theatre teacher at your school? Do you feel isolated and rarely interact with other teachers on your campus? I would like to encourage you to step outside your theatre space/classroom and make some new teacher friends. I was always the last car in the parking lot and felt I needed to spend all my time working on the current production, lesson planning and getting ready for the next thing. I was convinced I did not have time for anything else. I was wrong! I was invited to serve on a leadership committee and got to know some teachers outside the performing arts arena and found the time spent with these teachers was beneficial to both me and my school. I had a lot of students involved with student council and Links so I was able to support these groups in a minimal way which proved to be beneficial to both me and my students. Once I got involved in "other" activities, I engaged with teachers, who like me, wanted what was good for students. At first, I listened to them talk about various students and realized we they had many of the same students I had. When I struggled with a student, this group (we ate lunch together) would share ideas or experiences they had with the student or a similar student. On the leadership committee, content teachers looked to me to share ways to make curriculum more interactive and hands on for students. Teachers started coming to the productions, volunteering to help when I was overwhelmed and willing to listen when I was frustrated. It was surprising to me how nice it was to make connections with people that I initially thought I had nothing in common with. Get out there! It is a little scary at first but go eat lunch with some other teachers, volunteer to help with a student council or other event your students are involved with or serve on a committee to help your school. You don't have to give up too much time but the benefits you receive will be numerous!
Hope this encourages to take a small step out of your comfort zone and into your school community.
Linda Phillips
Arizona Thespians
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Linda Phillips
Arizona
AZ
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