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Yes, And... Jump start classroom community with this proven Improv technique

It's hard to imagine that in a few weeks, students will come bounding back into classrooms for the start of the new school year. Teachers tell us that the first day of school is both exciting and challenging as students adjust to new faces and surroundings. So MashPlant Studio asked our friends at The Second City - America's legendary comedy theater - how they overcome similar challenges in forming a new comedy troupe to create a new show.

"That first day of rehearsal is just like school", says veteran Second City director T. J. Shanoff. "You've got all these different personalities - some who know each other, some who don't - and you've got to get them all onto the same page quickly, so they can start collaborating. So, I jump start the process with "Yes, And..."

"Yes, And..." is the time-honored technique used by improv actors to create a supportive space for creative collaboration. It's a simple process of using acceptance and agreement to build on an idea. Accepting the offer of someone's idea or thought validates that person and builds trust. It also gets everyone listening to each other. "The practice of "Yes, And" is the best tool I know for developing an instant sense of community. It makes everyone's ideas equally important. And as soon as that trust is there, all the awkwardness melts away, the collaboration starts, and the fun really begins." Here are a few suggestions from T.J. Shanoff on how to jump start classroom community using "Yes, and..." techniques:

"One Word At a Time" - Everyone circles up. The Teacher can ask a question, like "What are you most excited to do this school year?" One person starts with a word, then each person adds a word to create a dialogue. You've got to really listen and be present, because the word you might have thought to add three people ago might not make sense when the sentence comes to you!

"Yes, And" - Everybody pairs up with a partner . One starts a conversation by making a declarative statement - "I'm a rock star from the planet Zenon!". The partner then has to start their response with, "Yes, and... I hear there is a great club scene on Zenon!" And so on - keeping the conversation going to see where the "Yes, and" process takes it. (There is no wrong answer - except, "No, you're not!"... which doesn't move the scene forward. But try it both ways, just to demonstrate.)

"Yes, Let's!" - is a group version of "Yes, And". Everyone circles up - and the first person makes a declarative statement. "We should go to the soccer game!" Then everyone in unison adds, "Yes, let's! Then next person adds, "And at the soccer game, we should root for our school" - and the group responds, "Yes, let's!" - And so on... thorough agreement, validating and building on everyone's ideas. By the end, the exercise results in riotous good fun and the pride of collaboration and a true sense of classroom community.

#Classroom #Teacher #First Day Of School #MashPlant #The Second City #Comedy #T.J. Shanoff #Yes And #Improv #Trust #Community #One Word At A Time #Yes Let's

Here's the new #TeacherSpotlight video we featured in this week's @MashPlantStudio newsletter. Read and share the archive here.

#TeacherSpotlight #MashPlant #Studio #ArtsEd #EdTech #Elearning

Hillary Schroer – Teacher Spotlight Interview

Biography:

Named one of the top 20 young music educators in Illinois at the 2006 IMEA Young Leadership Conference, Hillary was one of MashPlant Studio’s first adopters. Since beginning her teaching career 9 years ago after receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Augustana College, she has taught students ranging in age from Kindergarten through 8th grade. She received her Master of Arts in Music Education from Boston University in 2008. Hillary is currently in her second year teaching 7th and 8th grade music in Winnetka, IL District 36.

Interview:

1. How do you use MashPlant Studio?

I used MashPlant for a few of my classes this year, one of which was a music technology class. Each of our projects actually used MashPlant throughout each trimester. Two of the projects where MashPlant was absolutely integral were our Virtual Choir, based off of Eric Whitacre's project, as well as a collaboration with the movie maker teacher in our school. (That class) wrote and directed silent films and then we scored them afterwards. I also used MashPlant with some of my performing classes. It was a great tool to be able to give students instant feedback on playing tests in my piano and guitar classes.

2. How has using MashPlant Studio changed the way you deliver instruction?

The ability of MashPlant to allow me to give instant and accurate feedback to all of my students really changes the way I go about teaching my class. I don't have to provide a litany of instruction at the beginning of a class period and students can work at their own rate. It's a really great tool that effortlessly differentiates for your students. So if one student is farther along in the project, you are able to go in, give that student feedback, give them another enrichment assignment to go on with, give them suggestions on how to improve their project; whereas if another student is not as far along, you can monitor their progress, see how they're doing,give them hints and helpful tool to be able to be successful with the project, or be able to alter your way of explaining the project to that student so they can achieve the end result as well.

3. What do your students think/say about using MashPlant Studio?

My student's absolutely loved using MashPlant. I used it as a tool to teach them how to provide feedback as well. The ability for me to provide feedback is great, but the ability for them to be able to look at other people's work as well as their own, and be able to analyze and evaluate what is good work and how that can actually be attained and improved. Being able to recognize that in someone else's work, being able to recognize that in someone else's work, and at the same time being able to recognize how it improves. They loved being able to watch other people's projects go up, especially those students who had class at a different time period, so that they might not have been able to talk during school about that project, but when they were online they are able to see what someone else had done. They also appreciated getting feedback from someone else besides me, so that was a great way for the students to interact. They love that format. It's way more exciting and interesting to be able to log into MashPlant.

4. How has the MashPlant Studio social media experience changed the learning environment of the classroom?

The fact that MashPlant is set up like a social media site is a great hook for middle school students to get interested and involved, no matter what the subject material might be. Because they use social media so often outside of school; to be able to bring that into the academic environment can be a really great way to make students excited to be creative in your classroom. It's also a great way for teachers to execute social media. MashPlant provides you with not only art teachers, music teachers, social studies teachers in your building, but now you have a whole social media group for yourself as a teacher. You've got tutorials you've got other people posting ideas, you've got several ways to rethink projects and make adaptations. You're really growing your whole base into a world-wide group of teachers and artists to use in your projects instead of just having your local resources, which really is invaluable.

5. Why do you use MashPlant Studio?

I use MashPlant and will continue to use MAshPlant because it is, frankly, ridiculously easy to be able to use. It's a tool that is great to use with my students and for myself and it is able to be incorporated into my classroom and into the lessons and units I already have effortlessly. All you have to do is have your students be able to login and it takes it from there.

Most of my students, since they have been on computers since they were born, are able to do all the applications with MashPlant instantly without really being taught how to do it. It really is a logical format and an easy way for me to be able to work things out and be able to to post. It's a great tool that you don't actually have to do a lot of thinking about in order to make it work for you. A lot of times when we implement different software of programs that are pre-boxed, it becomes difficult to make it fit with what we are already trying to do. MashPlant has made it so easy that it's just a natural fit into all of my classrooms.

6. Why would you recommend MashPlant Studio to your colleagues?

I would absolutely recommend anyone in any teaching field to try MashPlant and see how it works for them in their classroom. I've used it all last year in several of my classrooms and I still feel like I'm just touching the surface of all of the different applications and tools that it has to offer me. I can't wait to start new projects and figure out how to use it in cross-curricular projects with other teachers as we start the new school year this fall.