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Getting lesson plans is easy. Adapting them can be challenging. Join us for a conversation on modifying and shaping existing lesson plans to meet the needs of your classroom.

How do you encourage students to delve deep into difficult, perhaps ugly characters, characters who do and say things your students normally wouldn’t? We’ll be talking about character and script analysis, separation of actor and character, and we’ll learn how to recognize the external nature of the work. How do we prepare our actors and our school environment ready for challenging roles?

Your show dates are booked, your cast and crew are hard at work… all you need now is an audience! The question is, how do you get it? Join us for a discussion with seasoned pros on how to market your show, learn unique ways to get the community involved, and walk away with tools that will help you make your production a sell-out.

Spring is still in full swing, but it’s already time to start looking to the fall. Believe it or not, this is the time for choosing plays, and to start adjusting your curriculum for your next group of drama students. It’s never to early to get organized and start checking things off of that to-do list for next year. This will be a discussion of the do’s and don’ts of planning ahead.

It’s spring and it’s burnout season for drama teachers - shows are in full swing, assessments are looming, and work/life balance is almost impossible to find. Join us to talk about how to avoid burnout, keep your eye on the prize, and learn some tips and tricks to make sure you find time for YOU during this busy season.

As the year that just finished rides slowly into the sunset, (or mercifully falls off a cliff!) this is the time to take a minute and reflect on the highs and lows of your classes and productions from this past year. What new things did you try? What worked? What didn’t? How can I make it better and what are my goals for the coming year? Join our panel for a discussion on the process of looking backwards and moving forward.

The new school year is looming large on the horizon. It’s time to check the standards, examine your curriculum and write some lesson plans. But how do you make sure that those lesson plans actually advance your curriculum and meet the standards? This PLC will examine how to create and execute a curriculum that meets both the needs of your classroom and the requirements of standards.

Join us for a discussion on Creating the Ensemble-Based Classroom. We'll have course instructor Gai Jones live to answer your questions about this DTA course, and about how this type of classroom can work for you and your students!

Summer has flown by and any day now your students will be coming through the door. Are you ready for them? Is your classroom?? Believe it or not, much of the success the coming school year will depend on how you set up your classroom now. Discipline, organization, concentration and classroom management all hinge on a well planned classroom space. Whether you teach in a classroom, a theatre, or something in between, this is a PLC that will help you put your best space forward!

How did your latest round of auditions go? Smooth sailing or full of choppy seas? This PLC will dive into best practices with the audition process whether it be for your spring musical or your next classroom production. Bring your best tips to share in the chat room.

Does your lizard brain make itself heard loud and clear? Do you sometimes feel like you’re living in your very own version of The Play That Goes Wrong? Or The Class That Goes Wrong? You are not alone. Let’s get together and discover how to plan for and even embrace failure. Failure can be a good thing for both you and your students!

Your show opens in a week, but your kids aren’t ready, or worse still, they were ready a week ago! How do you keep them focused and fresh? How do you push them over the finish line? How does this seem to happen every year?? Join us for a conversation about ways to manage your rehearsals late into the rehearsal process so that everything comes together just right in the end.

Reflection is a fundamental component of teaching. It is also a cornerstone of running a successful program or production. It can be hard to ask the tough questions once the year is over and all you want to do is just forget it all and move on. But that post-mortem is where the real learning happens! When you reflect on the successes and failures of the previous season or year, you bypass future mistakes before they have a chance to take root, and sow the seeds of a successful new year. So join us for the Year End Post-Mortem: What did you try, what did you skip, what worked, what didn’t. It’s time to build the foundations of the new year on the ashes of the old.

The new school year is a few weeks in, and we are using this PLC to count down the most important preparations you can implement right from the beginning. From setting up your classroom, to setting goals/rules/responsibilities, to the best games and activities to engage new students, this PLC will prepare you to blast off to a successful new year!

As the fall semester comes to a close it's a great time to take a quick look back at the recently concluded term, and take note of what went well and what could be improved next time. From discipline, to curriculum to productions, there is always something to learn and a new semester is a great time to either continue full speed ahead - or press the reset button! Join us for a review of the semester that was.

The only thing worse than a problem student, is a problem parent! Whether they are being woefully unsupportive, painfully overeager, or anything in between, it is a challenge to dial in the exact amount of parent involvement that will benefit your program. Join us for a conversation about dealing with parents so you can solve any problems BEFORE they start.

Drama teachers often face a difficult dilemma: There are times when you need to be two or three places at once, and you need back up. But where can you turn for help? How about your class roster! Never underestimate the power of a dedicated student leader. By delegating duties and assigning responsibilities to your trusted students, you give yourself some breathing room, and you give them valuable leadership experience. Join us for this PLC on Student Leadership and set up your back up.

You and your students want a good story and script, even if you have to write it yourselves! But what does that look like? Who's in control? How would that work? How exactly do you devise new work with students? Join us in this PLC on Devising to learn the ins and outs of generating new works with your students.

Another school year comes to an end and that means it's time for the annual house cleaning we call a Postmortem. Why do a Postmortem? Because - The past is prologue and the future is closer than you think! Join us as we talk about the good and the bad, the do's and the don'ts, of this last year. We'll do it with a handle on the past and an eye to the future.

Summer is in full swing and we would all like to recharge our batteries for the coming school year. Everyone could use some inspiration to prepare for a successful new year, but where do we look? Conferences? The library? Broadway? The possibilities are as varied as our free time and budget, so put on your summer yoga pants and jump into this conversation about finding inspiration, both artistic and academic, that will propel you into a new year.