I felt sick on Thursday - snot, cough. It’s gotten better, waking up Sunday morning - need to take some meds and drink some water.
In teaching tales…
I was observed earlier in the year and got the comments back. I have steps to take and a response to write up, but I feel confident about what my future looks like.
I did have a bit of a scare on Thursday morning, when I woke up late… later than I would have wanted, I don’t know what happened, but I was up at 5:50 and still made it on time. Spooky. Need to find my green alarm clock.
I’ve picked up the phrase, voices off, bodies calm. Don’t know. It’s important for the littles and chills the older levels.
I need to start using chair circles - that’s a Tuesday thing.
In my personal sphere, I’m out of town in 2 weeks and couldn’t be more excited. I slept well last night and feel on the up. Lots to do.
Well, I’m about 3 weeks into teaching full time as an elementary theater teacher.
It’s going well, I am excited for what the semester might hold. However I am having a hard time finding motivation when I get home. I think I should look around for exercise classes or just get outside because the daylight is dwindling away.
There has been a lot of change I my life since the last time I shared a post. I graduated college and spent a year working at a school as an elementary drama teacher and substitute. I saw a lot in the school I was based at, and applied to jobs doing similar things in different districts. I have found a new district, that is different but similar in the sense of community and their friendliness. I’m sure there’s a whole post to do on substituting and that experience. Or at least memories to recount. While trying to balance three buildings this fall, I am grateful for all that has lead me here.
Close friends moved away and I have new roommates. So far all good, but a definite adjustment to my steadfast friends. A new fridge arrangement and different faces.
A few things I’d like to focus on:
- my routines
They’ve gotten out of control, I’d like to have a sense of purpose in the morning before my drive to school.
AM - yoga, food, drive
PM - movement, cook, and relax
- who I am when I’m not at school
I am still a growing developing young person - let me get out there! Plans throughout the month to make myself feel like I’m not just a school teacher. I have plenty of friends in a similar boat (age, title) and it’s incredible getting to chat about what we are doing in the “me time” of it all. Others have found their side passions or hobbies. I have the habit of picking something up and then changing my mind rather quick. FIND SOMETHING THAT YOU DIG.
- Exercise
Did a hiit like class in August but nothing since… want to get back into running and strength - need to get my breathing back.
- Dietary Guidelines
Dairy free and Gluten free to feel better in my self - I don’t feel as foggy or gray when limiting this intake. Fresh fruit and produce and limited eating out. Tuesdays and once at the weekend.
I need to reach out to former teachers in the coming months about my journey and tips for behavior management or side hustles, etc. I have great supports and I’m excited to see what time holds. I’d like to start documenting my progress a bit more often - and think I might do write ups of classes I have because why not.
Probably a year since my last post... a few updates are due.
I did my junior year at college and learned a lot about education and educating using theatre. Specifically I took classes called: Drama as Education and Fundamentals of Education. They were awesome classes and I got to go watch a few classrooms in the Boston area. I also learned how to write out my own lesson plan, and work on a curriculum.
I smoke more now, I know that I maybe shouldn't share that but I thought maybe I should go more in depth because I forget to in my journal. Which is another problem, lol.
I won an award for having the Best Performance at my school - which was awesome. I was very grateful for my award and for the opportunity to have performed and work with that specific group of people.
I think that's it, I hope at least. I'll be back to write more soon - got somethings to talk about y'all.
Hey friends, this post is gonna have a few things that I heard over this summer that I want to continue to preach in my future classroom and in my mentality as an actor.
For younger students: Acting is Reacting
If you cannot change the energy on the stage, don't come on
That's all for right now, see you soon Future Drama Teacher :P
Just a note for myself that when rehearsal goes poorly or the director yells at you - that it's not about you. SPECIFICALLY WHEN YOU ARE WORKING ALONG SIDE KIDS - they just take it out on you because you are also an adult and they can lose it on you.
When I teach, I will understand that the first run through will be a mess, always be a mess. So when things don't go right - take a moment, discuss what went wrong, and what we will do better for next time.
Now let me get back to the chaos that is prepping for this show to show my director that I can do it.
this is probs just gonna be a thread but I wanted to get this written down somewhere so that I have it saved and don't need to go through so many notebooks to find my ideas lol.
- On announcement board
- have a quote of the day or of the week
- have a playwright of the month - and students who read a play of the playwrights can come in and get a prize (maybe - don't know how logical that is)
Other:
- Teach overarching theatre class (like theatre bfa) where you go into all areas of theatre :)
- Write letters to students after plays for hard work
- Build up play library - have one class a week designated or designate a week to reading plays
- See if students are interested in film acting - maybe take what you learned this past semester and note differences in stage and film
Saw this on pinterest, but it ORIGINALLY CAME FROM HERE - because all of the best things do ;)
A space in my office or somewhere in the room will have a bunch of plays clipped up - some classics, some new releases, some obscure (you get the gist)! And students can ask for copies or recommend some for the wall and they will be on a rotating schedule (due to season, month, playwrights birthdays, etc.)
Also just having a play collection written down somewhere could be a good idea
Hi there, this is gonna be a little bit of a personal post so if you aren't interested in that, keep scrolling...
CONTENT WARNING: Weight Discussion, Food Talk
So today I turned 20! Yay, can finally say the phrase, "in my twenties"! I think that this era of my life has been a little hyped up - not by anyone in particular but it's a phrase thrown around social media to a degree (usually on tiktoks about skincare or youtube videos that discuss what people learned in their 20s).
A little context before we begin, I am what medically would be considered as obese. For the majority of my high school years ( the second half of my teenage years), I always floated around 145-150. The summer before senior year, after a breakup and gaining a fair amount of relationship weight, I worked my butt off to get back to comfort - I think that the lightest I got to around 140. Fitness has always been something that my family is interested in - my dad runs marathons, my mom did HIIT workouts for most of my middle school experience, and my brother does soccer, cross country, and swimming. All around a pretty athletic family, except for the black sheep, me. I did soccer when I was younger but when I got to high school, I changed my focus to theatre and things that would help in career path. So much to my parents dismay, I only really exercised in the fall - running on the cross country team - where I wasn't the fastest but usually brought up the back of the pack.
At the moment (right now today), I am currently the biggest I've ever been in my life. When I weighted myself after being abroad for 3 months, I was at about 190. Which isn't a bad weight, but at 5'5", it's medically know as extremely overweight.
SOOOOOO, you can probably imagine that I was rather self conscious, felt a little unattached to myself because I was carrying a few extra pounds. I wasn't comfortable. I remember that I tried on a couple pairs of jeans that had fitted me quite snuggly in the fall semester and going into the winter. But this time, I couldn't button a single pair, one pair wouldn't budge past my knees! This was obviously a moment where I felt quite uncomfortable and rather disappointed in myself - for letting myself get to a point where my jeans from 4 months ago didn't fit.
Anyway, this story actually begins last year - when I turned 19. I had a friend from college in town and was acting like a tourist in my home town - WHICH WAS GREAT! (It really was an eye-opening experience and I think that I learned a lot about what I call home) But in my family, our birthday tradition is to open presents first thing in the morning. So that morning I woke up, went upstairs and my mom greeted me with two presents. I saw down at the counter and opened cards and such before grabbing the presents. I first one I pulled, the smaller of the two, contained a jacket that I had seen at New Balance the week before - light, florescent, "great for runs" said my mom. Next was the bigger of the two bags. However, when I tugged, it didn't move. With a quick glance to my mom, I immediately knew what was in the bag. A pair of 15 lb dumbells. Maybe a nice gift for a person who has a designated gym space at home or even someone with space to work out, but definitely not right for me. I also happened to be on FaceTime with my gran (mom's mom) who used the line, "Are you going to use them?".
This gift is what I think started a more unhealthy relationship with working out than I had had before. Over the next year, I would work out but often found myself over indulging in food or alcohol. When I got back home for Thanksgiving and Christmas break, I was judged and felt very unsupported. But when I got back from being abroad, it was even more evident that a change was needed. I felt eyes on me endlessly and had a lot of comments tossed at me. Mainly from my father. While most of them were harmless, usually amounting to, "I bet you feel better" & "you're looking healthier" - it made me realize just how others view me.
Flash forward to today. I am 20. With my mom out of town, my dad and my brother are my company for this celebration, and GOLDEN YEAR. I found that I was anxious all day. That I was waiting for the moment when I would open the same bag and be bombarded with weights, echoing the opinions of my parents. At last, the moment eventually came, after a dinner that my father had told me to stop eating at, I was anxious to get this over with and get to my bed to write about how I was one year older and one set wealthier. But the time came, two presents this year. I opened the big one first, expecting a set of weights, ready to give the same performance as last year.
But, it wasn't weights. It was a candle. And a dress. They were picked out by my brother (17 YEARS OLD!) and in the small bag was a pair of earrings that I had said were nice. I felt an overwhelming sense of joy and shock. I was shocked that not only he had remembered what I liked but got a dress that also had caught my eye. He also remembered another gift that my mom had ordered from Amazon which contained a workout set - something I needed but wasn't ready to attempt getting in person.
After that I brought the stuff down to my room, where outside my brother confessed/told me that he wanted me to feel special on my birthday and how he didn't want it to be fucked up like it had been last year. And I just broke down. He knew how much it meant to me. He saw how that gift last year had affected me and it broke my heart.
Hiiiii friends, just putting a little update in here because I wanted to put something out - but everything else I'm writing isn't fulfilling me. I have a few posts coming up, some show reviews and story times, but in the mean time - here's this post!
First off, I am home! I am back from my three months abroad - feeling ok feeling a little tired and rather exhausted to be back at home with my family (IM VERY TIRED)
Next, YOUR GIRL GOT A JOB! It's with the same performance group I worked for last summer, I was a stage manager there and I will be continuing that role this year!! I am very excited - I am in charge of two shows, Annie Jr. and Les Miserables - which is cray cray because I'm not the biggest fan of Les Mis ( >︹<) but by the end of the summer, I'll be singing a different tune!
Lastly, I saw the touring production of Oklahoma! and boy do I have some thoughts...
(SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT)
I loved this, I don't know why cause it was completely different from anything I had ever seen before - but I was also VERY CONFUSED
I think my favorite part was how they changed the music - they didn't like CHANGE IT but it wasn't golden age broadway that you'd expect
The production visually was beautiful - like WOW. Lighting and the set was crazy - the way that such a naked space could show so much was incredible
Another thing I really enjoyed from this production was the staging, it gave the story a better sense of community and made me really focus on the story
I also really enjoyed the use of the camera - it was a great addition to the revival. I think something else that was really cool was the scenes where there was no light or little to no light - I thought it was really very important
Speak soon, Future Drama Teacher °₊·ˈ∗♡( ˃̶᷇ ‧̫ ˂̶᷆ )♡∗ˈ‧₊°
this is probs just gonna be a thread but I wanted to get this written down somewhere so that I have it saved and don't need to go through so many notebooks to find my ideas lol.
- On announcement board
- have a quote of the day or of the week
- have a playwright of the month - and students who read a play of the playwrights can come in and get a prize (maybe - don't know how logical that is)
Other:
- Teach overarching theatre class (like theatre bfa) where you go into all areas of theatre :)
- Write letters to students after plays for hard work
- Build up play library - have one class a week designated or designate a week to reading plays
- See if students are interested in film acting - maybe take what you learned this past semester and note differences in stage and film
Above, John A. Arneaux, in a photo printed in the pages of his privately published edition of Shakespeare's Historical Tragedy of Richard III: Adapted fo…
You can still see Warde perform ‘Richard III’, by the way. In 1912 he made an early silent film of the play. It was restored in 1997 and given a score by Ennio Moricone. It’s on YouTube! A relic of a long-forgotten era in American theater.
this is probs just gonna be a thread but I wanted to get this written down somewhere so that I have it saved and don't need to go through so many notebooks to find my ideas lol.
On announcement board
- have a quote of the day or of the week
- have a playwright of the month - and students who read a play of the playwrights can come in and get a prize (maybe - don't know how logical that is)
Other:
- Teach overarching theatre class (like theatre bfa) where you go into all areas of theatre :)
- Write letters to students after plays for hard work
- Build up play library - have one class a week designated or designate a week to reading plays
- See if students are interested in film acting - maybe take what you learned this past semester and note differences in stage and film
In one of my last classes of the semester, we were asked to look 10 years into the future and see what we would be doing and what our ideal life would be like. So I just wanted to come on here and write a little bit about what I'd like my life to look like/some things I'd like to do in the future.
When I'm 30, I'll ...
- be teaching kids about theatre all over the world
- be in a happy relationship (hopefully with a baby on the way)
- inspire my students and get them excited about all aspects on theatre (teching, producing, dramaturging)
4 words or phrases to describe my life
1. creatively fulfilled
2. happy and healthy
3. driven
4. in the best place - mentally, physically, all of the above
Also some of the things I want to provide for students:
- Masterclasses or Talk backs with professionals in the industry who I have met at college (everything ranging from stage management to creative directors to celebrities if there are any :))
- Offer to take headshots (first need to learn how lol) and set up self tape area for those who want to audition for theatre schools
- Make students design playbills for class performances to show them what really goes into a production - full scale to classroom
It made me feel really sentimental about the semester and especially about the fact that I'll be turning 20 in a little bit over a month! Wow!
hiiiiiiii, it's been a while since I've come on here to write just a little and there's been a BIG reason and that is because I AM NOT AT HOME. And by home I mean school! I am currently studying abroad in the Netherlands! And am soaking up every moment!
Along with that I have not been able to enjoy any performances like in Boston, but I have tried and failed like 3 times to go see shows at the ITA here, and each time with no avail - something has been cancelled.
But I've been making the most of location and of the travel weekends we have, so very grateful for this opportunity. I have also been making a few new friends and that's been really rejuvenating and refreshing, because you sort of forget how to use those muscles when you've been friends with people for so long! However I do realize how obsessed with boys girls can be (I THOUGHT WE WERE GROWING OUT OF THIS).
UPDATES THAT RELATE TO THEATRE:
Sent emails to both, 1. the lady I am running two summer camps with this summer about coming up with a curriculum (got a response!), and 2. the lady who I stage-managed for last summer (still no response).
I am ALMOST finished with Directors on Directing by Toby Cole & Helen Krich Chinoy - actually let's say that i'm halfway done. ITS A LONG BOOK - and I have been reading it since last MAY
I have two required theatre classes that I'm taking here; On Camera Acting and Topics in Drama: Theatre in the Low Countries. They are going ok... I was having a hard time in the beginning with the acting class, just because it was so different from what I was used to and I really liked my professor last semester - so that was a little shock to my system.
That's all for today folks, speak soon - Future Drama Teacher ; )
RICHARD BURBAGE (lead actor and shareholder in the Lord Chamberlain’s Men): Well, the thing you have to remember is that 1599 was like the worst ye...
CONDELL: It played, but it was hokey. Whenever the Ghost was all, “Revenge his foul and most unnatural murther,” Burbage would crack up. He couldn’t stay in character.
BURBAGE: “Murther!” (chuckles)
SHAKESPEARE: I guess I felt like if people were coming for murther, you had to give them murther.
"In David Adjmi’s contemporary take on the young queen of France, Marie is a confection created by a society that values extravagance and artifice. But France’s love affair with the royals sours as revolution brews, and for Marie, the political suddenly becomes very personal. From the light and breezy banter at the palace to the surging chants of “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité!” in the streets, Marie Antoinette holds a mirror up to our contemporary society that might just be entertaining itself to death."
The entire show I was in awe, set, costumes, acting, lighting design.
As you can see above - the set was simple yet powerful and very versailles. And when the revolution takes a turn, the tops of each of the windows, placed either side of the stage, become cracked and are raised (as pictured below), as well as the middle doors turning and getting Liberty, Equality , Fraternity in french "spray painted" across them. Then comes the costume design and wigs -> goodness this is the craziest show I've seen ever and they worked perfectly with the period piece that the show was.
Overall I think this was my favorite school production that I've seen, the students were brilliant - and I can't wait to see what comes - because this has definitely raised my expectations!
Loving you and leaving you, Future Drama Teacher (｡☉౪ ⊙｡)
