Drama Teacher Learning Centre

Starting a new term with a new group of students can be concerning for even the most experienced drama teachers. Will you like them? Will they like you? Will they understand or connect with the material you’re presenting? Will there be behavioural issues or attendance concerns? It’s easy to become jaded, so let’s work on letting that go or avoiding it altogether. Let’s look at our new students with a sense of curiosity and excitement — because beginning drama students are awesome, and here are a few reasons why!

Name games are a great start-of-term activity, especially when you’re working with new students. It’s a fun way to break the ice and for students and teachers alike to learn everyone’s name. Knowing, correctly pronouncing, and using students’ names demonstrates respect and care.

Drama teachers understand that we must plan our curriculum around the standards established by school boards, administrators, and other leadership. But whenever possible, it’s wonderful to incorporate the strengths and interests of your students into the assigned curriculum. That doesn’t mean letting students dictate every moment of drama class, doing an entire semester of only improv, or trying to find a show with 30 starring roles. It means that you’re showing care for and interest in your students, that you’re listening to their thoughts and opinions, and that you’re being flexible, adaptable, and thoughtful in your lesson planning. You aren’t just doing the same thing year after year; you’re continually growing and evolving your approach. It can also help you to reach out to and connect with students who are reluctant to participate or who aren’t taking drama class by choice. Making those connections and showing students how aspects of theatre can relate to them personally can make their drama class experience much more pleasant. These are all key ingredients in a recipe for success.

There are some days when your students are just not feeling their best. They’re tired, they’re dragging, they’re feeling “off.” So how do you combat these low energy (https://www.theatrefolk.com/blog/may-madness-day-17-low-energy) times? Try these 10 warm-up exercises, tips, and ideas to get your students feeling refocused, rejuvenated, and re-energized.

Welcome to our video series, Calling All Theatre Teachers! In this series we’re going to answer questions that drama teachers have about stepping into a theatre program.

There are many different ways to analyze a scene (https://www.theatrefolk.com/blog?q=analysis) for classroom study or performance: verbing, marking up the script, identifying subtext, making lists, and more. Some of these methods are easy and fast-paced, while some are more challenging or tedious.

Ready to add a little mystery to your drama classroom? We’ve put together a list of plays full of secrets, twists, and unexpected turns that are sure to captivate your students.

Pacing is one of the invisible hands of good teaching. For many teachers pacing is a difficult skill to master,