informal education
Confession: I did not WANT to teach creating writing and theater 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 you create environments that:
Here's the thinking that guides my approach to creating learning environments:
- meet people where they are
- hold difficult stories without silencing them
- honor different experiences
Here's the thinking that guides my approach to creating learning environments:
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Learn from your students.
As a guest teaching artist in Chicago Public Schools with PlayMakers Laboratory for more than 10 years, I was constantly outside of my culture, outside of my geography, and at times teaching in my second language. Our curriculum hinged on listening to the community and adapting our goals (self expression and enthusiasm for literacy) to the students' world, not the other way around. Does that model work? Here's what we've seen across 50,000+ students:
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Crack yourself up.
Kids are young, not stupid. They'll smell pandering, bland content a mile away. I wrote and hosted award-winning reading comprehension software for Compass Learning through a company that would become the much-beloved Jackbox Games. Teaching, writing, and designing for kids invites you to do your most joyful, silliest, ridiculous work. |
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Be in love with what you teach.
I create from love. That shows in every project I work on. It's pragmatic love, it's strategic love, it's detailed 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. |
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