Boundaries

Drama classes are chaotic by design. A good drama class should be an active and energetic environment where students are exploring and creating with their peers. That means groups of students spending a lot of time out of their seats and speaking loudly. In other words… chaos! With that in mind, how are you supposed to control a drama class? Here are three classroom management rules you need to follow to keep the chaos to a minimum: 1. Have clear rules and expectations.Even the most chaotic classroom should have rules and expectations. But where do these rules come from? They come from YOU! You are in charge and you need to be able to envision and articulate how you expect YOUR classroom to function. You decide the level of activity and noise you are willing to tolerate, and then create the specific rules, guidelines, and expectations that students need to follow to achieve your vision. Once you have defined your rules and expectations, share them with your students at the beginning of each new semester — both verbally and in writing. That way students will know what is expected in your class from day one. 2. Have appropriate consequences.Rules without consequence are tigers without teeth. In order for students to take your rules and expectations seriously, there need to be consequences in place for when rules are broken and expectations are not met. These consequences do not need to be harsh to be effective; sometimes a quick, private word with a wayward student is enough to get them back on track. What is most important is that the consequences are appropriate to the offense. Minor offences can be handled with smaller consequences, whereas completely unacceptable behaviour requires more severe consequences. However, keep in mind that your consequences cannot supersede school or district rules, and more importantly, must respect local laws. Again, make sure your students know both the rules AND consequences for their behaviour in your classes. Repeat this information early and often! 3. Be consistent.The most important rule of classroom control is consistency. That means that you need to call out infractions every time you see them and apply the appropriate consequences to the student, or students, in error. You cannot turn a blind eye or practise favoritism, or your students will quickly realize that your rules aren’t fair, and therefore they do not need to follow them. Consistency is the foundation of a well-managed classroom and allows students to fully participate knowing that rules and boundaries exist, and apply equally to everyone. Additional Reading: Round-up: All About Classroom Management Ordered Chaos: Balancing structure and creative activity in the drama classroom Establishing Boundaries With Your Students

The following warm-up exercise is simple, but can evoke some powerful feelings and reactions. It’s a great exercise to help students develop their self-awareness and practice consent and boundary setting. It can be completed live in class, or virtually (click the link at the bottom of the article to download virtual instructions). In-Person Exercise Instructions:1. Students will sit in a circle. Have one student stand in the middle of the circle. 2. The student in the middle will turn to face any student in the circle, make eye contact, and say that student’s name. 3. The student they name will answer yes or no. Those are the only two choices, and there is no elaboration, explanation, or paraphrasing. Only yes or no. 4. If the student in the circle says yes, they will take the spot of the student in the middle and the student in the middle will take the empty spot in the circle. The new student in the middle will then turn to another student and continue on with the exercise. 5. If the student in the circle says no, the student in the middle will turn to someone else, make eye contact, and say that student’s name. That student will then reply yes or no. If they say yes, they will take the place of the student in the middle (as above). If they say no, the student in the middle will continue to call names until someone says yes and takes their spot in the middle of the circle. Continue playing for as many rounds as you wish. Simple, right? But the reactions that often arise while working through this exercise are varied and interesting. If time allows, debrief with your students about what emotional and physical reactions surfaced for them, or give them the opportunity to journal about their reactions. Here are some prompts: • How did you feel saying no to someone (emotionally, physically, or both)? • How did you feel when someone said no to you? • Did you feel pressure to answer one way or the other? Why or why not? • How does this exercise help you in drama class? • How can this exercise be applied to the real world? Some of the emotional reactions that commonly arise include worrying if they’ll be stuck in the middle for ages, feeling frustrated by being continually told no, feeling guilty for saying no, feeling obligated or pressured to say yes, feeling like they should give the same response as their friends, or feeling like they need to explain or justify their choice to say no. It can be surprisingly difficult to tell someone no directly! (Teachers, this is a great opportunity to remind students that “no” is a complete sentence.) Physical reactions might include breathing faster, avoiding or wanting to avoid eye contact, feeling tightness or tension in the body (especially the stomach), feeling itchy or crawly, fidgeting, or clenching the jaw or teeth. It’s also normal to not have any of those physical or emotional reactions, or to have different ones than those listed above. Encourage students to consider why they’re feeling the way they are. Note: It might be helpful to do a quick stretch, shake-out, or dance party to transition students into a different activity after completing this warm-up exercise, particularly if they are feeling tension in their bodies or uncomfortable feelings.

We’ve discussed ways to foster connection and establish trust with your students, but we also need to establish boundaries. Boundaries are necessary to protect ourselves and our well-being. Without boundaries, teachers can feel burnt out, unappreciated, resentful, or taken advantage of. Setting boundaries with your students demonstrates how you wish to be treated, how your classroom is run, and the expectations that students must live up to. Boundaries will vary from teacher to teacher depending on their personal preferences and needs, as well as the rules and policies of their school. The following three points are suggestions for where to start establishing your own boundaries for yourself and your drama classroom. Remember that you are one person with a finite amount of resources, physical strength, and mental capacity to do your job effectively. Setting boundaries will help you protect that. 1. Protect your personal life.Do not share personal contact information or your social media accounts with students (some teachers have teacher-specific accounts on which they only discuss school business). You may wish to make your accounts private or use a pseudonym for public accounts. Many teachers intentionally misspell their display names or use their middle names on their Facebook accounts. Don’t accept friend or follow requests from students, and don’t look at their social media accounts either (for example, Instagram lets users know who has viewed their stories). If you are teaching remotely, you may wish to avoid showing your home in the background. Use a virtual background or angle your computer so your background is a neutral wall. 2. Protect your classroom atmosphere.Establish clear classroom rules and expectations right away. Communicate them frequently and make them available for you and your students to refer to easily. You might post them in your syllabus and on your drama teacher website, display them on a poster in the classroom, or have students practice the rules using the “Act It Out” game. Let students know up front the consequences for breaking the rules, and follow through. Some teachers encourage contributions from students regarding rules and consequences — this allows them to take ownership of the classroom atmosphere. Model the behaviour you want your students to display by showing respect to your students. Be consistent and hold all your students to the same standard of work and behaviour. 3. Protect your time.It’s great to be available to your students outside of class time so they can speak to you, but set limits. Let your students know if you have office hours when you will be available in person, as well as when you will and will not respond to emails. You can put this information in your email signature (“I will respond to emails between the hours of 8 am and 5 pm, Monday to Friday”) or set an auto-responder message for when you’re out of school. Take time for yourself, away from your students. Take breaks during the school day. Step outside your classroom, eat your lunch, use the restroom. If you have a planning period, close the door or put on headphones and breathe. Use your sick days, paid time off, and all your vacation days guilt-free. (The Drama Teacher Academy has tons of great lesson plans you can leave for a substitute teacher.) You already spend a ton of time with your students. Taking breaks will allow you to rest, refresh, and come back to class feeling much better. Further Reading: • 20 Self-Care Actions for Drama Teachers • Safety Concerns in Distance Learning • Top 10 Classroom Management Tips for Drama Teachers

Working from home has become the new normal for many of us, and with it comes new challenges. The line between home life and school life has become increasingly blurred with distance learning. It can be hard to get into “school mode” when we can’t remember what day of the week it is. Read on for ten tips to help you balance home life and school life. 1. Create the mood. Establish a workspace that will help you get into the “school” mindset every time you sit down. It doesn’t have to be a full office; most of us don’t have that luxury. Even a small folding table and a particular chair can work. Just try not to work from bed – keep your bed for sleeping. 2. Protect your privacy. Many teachers are not comfortable sharing what their homes look like when they teach using video conferencing apps. Zoom offers the option to use a virtual background, which is a good way to keep your surroundings private. If your technology doesn’t support that, angle your desk or table so that your background is a plain wall, use a decorative screen behind you, or try hanging a sheet, blanket, or piece of fabric behind you. You may want to move personal objects or photographs outside of the frame of your device as well. 3. While on the subject of privacy, keep your personal social media profiles private and avoid “friending” your students online. If you have to use social media for your class, create a separate profile or account for school-related activities, using your school email address. Don’t give out your home address, phone number, or personal email address to students or parents. 4. Change your clothes. As drama teachers, we may have the opportunity to dress more casually than other teachers due to the physical nature of our classes. When engaging in distance learning, it’s tempting to take this even further and just work in your pajamas or other comfy clothes. However, save your comfies for when you’re “off the clock” and they’ll feel that much more relaxing. You also won’t be caught if you have to jump up suddenly during a virtual class! 5. Try to keep a somewhat consistent schedule. Block off hours for class time, prep time, rehearsal time, and office hours (for replying to student or parent questions/messages). Write your schedule down and post it in your home to keep yourself accountable and, if applicable, so that others in the house know not to bother you. Be sure to schedule yourself some breaks! 6. Write your office hours in your email signature (e.g., “I will reply to emails between the hours of 4 pm and 6 pm.”), and set up an email autoresponder for non-office hours. Don’t forward your school email to your personal email. Keep them separate. 7. Consider how much time you are devoting to extra projects. Taking on too much will lead to burnout. It may be necessary to make compromises. For example, rather than directing a virtual show plus leading online choir rehearsals plus running virtual improv group sessions, choose just one project to focus on for now. You may also want to take time for yourself and not take on any additional projects. If it’s too much right now, that’s ok. Make that decision and stick to it. 8. Do a daily check-in. It’s normal to be experiencing many competing emotions right now. It can be helpful to write down or journal about your worries to get them out of your brain. Do a daily check-in at the start of your work time: How are you feeling? What worries are rattling around in your brain? What do you need to focus on first today? 9. Do another check-in at the end of your work time: How did today go? What went well? What didn’t go well? If necessary, make a list of tasks that you’ll need to complete tomorrow. Limit the list to three things if possible. Once you’ve written them down, put the list away with your work things. You’ve written the tasks down so you don’t have to think about them until tomorrow. 10. Give yourself some commuting time. Normally you’d be travelling to and from your school; now you’re likely just travelling to and from your fridge, the couch, and the bathroom. If your normal commute took 30 minutes, use that 30 minutes to do something non-work related. Go for a walk, take a shower, stretch – whatever helps you decompress and transition from “work mode” to “home mode.”