Design and Technology Teaching Artist Oct 2024-Jan 2025

The Play Group Theatre, White Plains, NY

• Collaborated with the Design/Tech and production team to develop and implement the D/T

curriculum for the season by co-teaching weekly classes.

• Oversaw students in the booth and/or backstage during Main Stage technical rehearsals and

performances.

• Created a space for learning and creative development for students in grades 6-10.

My main goal as an educator is to provide a welcoming and affirming environment that empowers students to feel comfortable growing and learning. I feel that if I can empathize with my students and understand where they are coming from, I can better support them in meeting their educational needs. I strive to spend the transition periods and the first minute or so of every class checking in with each student. Even if I don’t get a response from every student, I wish to establish authentic connections with responsive students and learn more about their circumstances and well-being outside of the classroom. 

I maintain high expectations and rigorous instruction in the classroom by providing frequent attention and prompting to my students. When teaching students who have struggles maintaining focus and attention, I make sure to circulate around the classroom to redirect and guide them towards productive class participation. I strive to engage with students directly and to call them by name, validating their identities. Having the students repeat my instructions out loud can help them to internalize directives to better maintain the classroom’s high expectations. I reinforce these expectations by establishing norms for peer critiques that emphasize respectful communication and consideration of student expression. I want to make sure that each student feels emotionally safe during the vulnerable process of sharing personal creative work. Taking risks through performance in a supportive environment can help increase student confidence. Under the right circumstances, students will be better equipped to focus on aspiring to an advanced quality of work and will feel strong ownership and pride towards their accomplishments. 

I implement an inclusive curriculum and assessments by providing multiple access points for my students to relate to and participate in for assessments. Connecting a school community’s involvement with curriculum inside the classroom can have a large impact on student engagement. Theatre invites collaboration, especially when it's presented with the values of empathy and civic understanding. After internalizing the expressive storytelling of marginalized voices, students can feel encouraged to analyze and interpret the dominant narratives in theatre works. This sets the stage for students to explore their own identities and creatively share personal experiences through their own art. I facilitate inclusive assessments for my students by providing them with classroom materials in various languages and font sizes. I pay attention to my students’ needs in order to incorporate accommodations that equalize all students' opportunities to access the curriculum. 

I engage in ongoing professional learning by frequently reflecting and revising my instruction according to feedback from my students, fellow teachers, and my supervisors. The use of research into supportive classroom practices, insight from other teachers into their experiences, and observed behavior from students help me to review my lessons and adjust to better fit student needs while furthering dynamic theatre education.