New Drama/ Drama Tech Teacher

[Cari]

Hello, all!
I am a new drama teacher that will also be teaching a section of technical drama this semester. I will be working with middle and high school students.

I am very nervous to begin this job! I have never directed a production before. We're starting with a one-act version of A Midsummer Night's Dream featuring only high school students, but in May we'll be doing an all school production of The Music Man. Eeek! I'm so nervous!!!

Any encouragement, advice, and links to helpful resources would be much appreciated. I can't wait to become an active member in this forum. You guys know your stuff.

 

[derekleffew]

Welcome Cari. You certainly have your work cut out for you, but you've come to the right place for help. I've replied to the other thread about a band teacher teaching HS tech. Feel free to start a new thread with specific questions whenever issues arise, after using the search feature and looking in the wiki, of course.

"Ask what you want; answer what you can."
--V. McQ.

 

[gafftaper]

Welcome to the Booth Cari, There are several teachers around here. Post your questions in the Education forum and we will try to help. Or you can always drop me a personal message.

 

[RickBoychuk]

I used to be a consultant working for school boards with high schools. I worked on hundreds of high schools over the years. If I may be presumptuous, I can tell you the number one problem out there with high school situations.

The person leading the way (let's say the drama teacher who is directing the school production) attempts to do "greater that X" of work with "X" of resources. And sometimes "greater than x" is in multiples, not fractions. With this equation everything suffers; safety, the production, housekeeping, the director.

Brian was a director/drama teacher. This one year I saw Brian in September and then again in May (after the production). In September he was bright, refreshed and eager. In May his eyes looked like piss holes in the snow.

I would council these teachers to assess their resources and plan accordingly.

I can go on on this point for a long time. There is one more important point. Few of the students involved with a production will ever go on into a career in theatre. Almost all will go on in a career in something else.

The thing that suffers first with the "x" equation above is housekeeping. Having inspected some 600 high school stages, the most common failing was housekeeping. The stages were deplorably filthy.

All of your students, no matter what field that they enter later in life, will benefit from the discipline of good housekeeping practices.

Furthermore, those students that enter the theatre profession will benefit most from good housekeeping skills. Those skills are the foundation of good work habits. All else follows from them. Your students will be favored to be hired.

Take your time in your first few years. Build the habits in yourself and in your first cohort of students. I will bet that x resources in year one will grow to be multiples of x in the years to come.

My apologies for being preachy.

 

[nnason]

I've been directing kids from ages 3 to 18 for the past 7 years! Email me at [email protected] if you ever need any advice, questions, show selections, etc.