informal education
Confession: I did not WANT to team-teach creating writing in Chicago Public Elementary Schools in my 20s.
But I took the gig and it changed my life.
But I took the gig and it changed my life.
When we create environments that:
Here's the thinking that guides my approach to creating learning environments:
- meet people where they are
- celebrate different perspectives and learning styles
- lead with passion, not judgment
Here's the thinking that guides my approach to creating learning environments:
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Learn from your students, learn from your fellow teachers.
Teaching as a guest artist in Chicago Public Schools was a profoundly humbling experience. I was outside of my culture, outside of my geography, and at times teaching in my second language (Spanish). Our curriculum hinged on listening to the community and finding ways to adapt our goals (self expression and enthusiasm for literacy) to the students' world, not the other way around. Image: Playmakers Laboratory: teacher and performer |
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Crack yourself up.
One of my favorite teachers used to say, "kids are young, not stupid." They'll smell pandering material and phoning it in a mile away. Teaching, writing, and designing for kids demands that you do your smartest work, and invites you to do your most joyful, silliest, ridiculous work. Image: Compass Learning: writer and VO host |
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Be in love with what you teach.
I create from love, and that shows in every project I work on. It's pragmatic love, it's strategic love, it's detail-oriented and process-focused and outcomes-oriented, but make no mistake: there is love. A non-negotiable part of my process is finding a way - find some kind of on ramp or access point - to fall in love the show, the space, the subject.
It's a vulnerability and a superpower, and most importantly, it's infectious. Image: University of North Carolina School for the Arts: puppetry master class, |
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