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We are halfway through the spring semester with the starting gun a distant memory and the finish line not yet in sight. But the marathon goes on. What better time to check in on each other and see how we all are holding up! Join us for this PLC check-in to get the fresh ideas, collegial commiseration and positive feedback that just might get you to the end of the race.

If you struggle with tech or want to share your ideas for teaching tech, this is the event for you. Hosted by DTA Instructors Matt Webster and Karen Loftus. Recorded July 23, 2015

Learn from teachers who've been there, done that - the ins and outs of taking your students to festivals and competitions. What should students aim to get out of the experience? What pitfalls should you avoid? Turn it into a memorable, positive experience for all involved.

Technology is everywhere. Are you encouraged (or expected) to use technology in your classroom? Join this tips & tricks sharing session where we’ll discuss best practices for integrating technology in your classroom, sometimes in unexpected ways! Bring your best tips to the chat room so we can all learn together.

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.

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!

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!

When a student walks through the door of your classroom for the first time, they are looking for clues as to what kind of teacher you are and what kind of classroom you run. Whether they are expecting a serious Drama experience or unstructured "play-time", they will know within the first five minutes of the first day what kind of class this is, and what kind it isn't. And they will know it based solely on the tone you set on DAY ONE! So join us for this special PLC on setting the tone in your drama classroom, and be prepared for whoever walks through your door...

The days of putting up a poster in the hallway and expecting people to see it are long gone. People aren't looking at posters, they are looking at social media! Students are looking at their phones, parents are checking the theatre program Facebook page, and the public is looking for show information on the school website. No doubt about it: If you are going to reach people in the 21st century, you are going to have to do it electronically! So join us as we put together a panel of social media savvy theatre types and discuss Social Media as the number one communication tool.

As we face the prospect of not seeing our students again for the rest of the year, it is time to start thinking about how to retool traditional lessons for distance learning classrooms. For this PLC we'll be talking to Steven Stack, author of the DTA course The Empathetic Classroom to answer the question: How do you adapt something that was made for classroom instruction, into something suitable for distance learning? Check in for our tips and ideas!

As many teachers take on a new and unexpected challenge of teaching remotely, we will take this PLC to check in, share tips and tricks, and offer support to each other.

In this unit, students will decide on a topic they care about and write a short play within a designated time frame. They will mostly write on their own, using class to discuss and share how they are managing their time, monitoring their progress, and adapting their writing plan of action. The goal of this unit is not the final product but rather the self-management skills they apply throughout. In this unit, students will demonstrate their self-management skills by setting a goal, identifying a strategy to achieve the goal, creating a plan of action, monitoring their process, reflecting on what is working and what’s not working, taking personality responsibility throughout as they write on their own, and demonstrating an ownership mindset through self-assessment.

All students have something to say and a story to tell. They can relate to their personal stories better than anyone else. All students have a lot of material which can be used as part of an original monologue. In this unit, students will write an autobiographical monologue based on their personal expertise, memories, distinct point of view, sense of truth, and life experiences. Through the process, students will be encouraged to explore past stories, objects, and images and other personal material.

Every drama program should have a playwriting unit. Playwriting applies creative thinking skills and, through feedback and revision, critical thinking skills. Playwriting also allows students to engage in self-expression. It is a powerful act to take one’s thoughts, give them to a character, and have them said aloud. Playwriting can be a practical task-driven process that any student can accomplish, given the right parameters. This playwriting unit is broken into two parts. This unit is Part 1. Part 1 is a standalone playwriting unit for beginning writers. Students go step by step through the elements of the playwriting process, which culminates in a short scene, monologue, and character profile. All the exercises can be done synchronously in your class sessions or small groups through breakout rooms.

This unit focuses on the idea stage of playwriting. Before you start a playwriting project, take students through these lessons to provide students a step-by-step process for idea generation. When students are told they’re going to write a play, they often freeze. I can’t do it. I’m not creative; my ideas are stupid. The purpose of this unit is to give students a place to start and a way to move from finding a topic to creating an idea to writing theatrically on ideas. This unit is designed to reach as many classroom environments as possible and includes: standard in-class lessons, instruction videos, instruction handouts, and quizzes.

Every drama program should have a playwriting unit. Playwriting applies creative thinking skills and, through feedback and revision, critical thinking skills. Playwriting also allows students to engage in self-expression. It is a powerful act to take one’s thoughts, give them to a character, and have them said aloud. Playwriting can be a practical task-driven process that any student can accomplish, given the right parameters. This playwriting unit is broken into two parts - this unit is Part 2. You can continue the playwriting process from Part 1 by having students apply what they’ve learned through writing a five- to 10-page play. Or, if your students are familiar with the playwriting elements, perhaps they just do Part 2 of this unit. Students will write a first draft, revise, give and receive feedback, and read their work aloud. The unit assumes that either students have completed Part 1 or they already have a grounding in the playwriting form.

In this unit, students will gain insight into the day to day responsibilities of a working artist. This unit aims to illuminate for students that creative expression is only one element in a sustainable arts career, and attempt to address the essential question: How does a playwright turn creative expression into a career? The culminating project for the unit is a playwright submissions packet for a theatre company. This unit is delivered in hyperdoc format. What does that mean? A hyperdoc is an interactive tool that encourages digital learning. In this case, students are given a document on a subject, and there they can read articles, watch videos, do some independent research, and apply what they’ve learned. Because they’re working on their own, students are in charge of their own pacing. Before you start the unit, ensure you read the Teacher Guide first. It will give you clear instructions on how to distribute the hyperdoc format and make it easy for you and your students.

This playwriting unit offers lessons for students to complete a 10- to 15-minute play, instructed by professional playwright Lindsay Price. The unit includes class writing time as well as students writing on their own; in setting it up this way, the unit can be interspersed between other lessons. Students are challenged to apply themselves to write on their own - as all writers must do. Class time also focuses on giving and receiving feedback.

This unit provides an introduction to the process of playwriting in a practical step-by-step framework. Playwriting can be a practical task-driven process that any student can accomplish, given the right parameters. This playwriting unit will give students the tools they need to write their first short play and gain the confidence they need to write further. The culminating project for this unit is a three- to five-page play or extended scene.

Want a fun project that has your students collaborating and creating? In this unit by Annie Dragoo, students in groups will write and perform an original musical by adding modern songs to a traditional fairy tale story. The six lessons take students from writing their script, to choreography and planned movement, to rehearsing, performing and evaluation. The Rubric will focus on student performance. That means vocal delivery, emotional delivery, blocking/choreography, energy, focus, and characters.