Teachers, You Asked For It: New for 2019, Green Room Sessions
Posted on November 17, 2018
In our effort to better support our member teachers, the METG is rolling out a series of trainings and Professional Development offerings that will enhance your work as artists, as community builders, and as educators. We’re calling these the Green Room Sessions, in honor of the spirit of camaraderie and idea-sharing that fills the backstage of every theater. Often, as theater teachers, we work in isolation- these sessions provide us an opportunity to gather and connect, drawing on the amazing resources we all can be to each other. Unlike our 10-hour Masterclass Series, the Green Room Sessions are an a la carte set of options, meeting on weekends and weekday evenings, some online and some in-person.
The Green Room Sessions are organized into three strands: Practical Tech, Program Development, and the Art of Teaching. If you take all the Sessions within each strand, you will have 10 hours of PD accrued, which can be applied towards your PDPs.
Each of these sessions…
- Is led by an expert teacher from the METG’s membership- someone who understands what being a teacher is all about!
- Is designed to be as high-impact as possible- we know your time is limited!
- Runs at a member discount! $50 for each online session, $75 for each in-person session
The inaugural calendar of Green Room Sessions is below. Check the METG website and social media for more information as we roll out this exciting opportunity!
- November 28th, 6-8:30pm: Building Community Support
- Program Development strand
- This online workshop will teach you how to leverage partnerships with local businesses and groups, how to build parent support, and how to engage your school in support of your program
- December 8th, 1-3:30pm: Finding and Cutting Plays
- Program Development strand
- This online workshop will present a diverse range of sources for finding new plays, and strategies and hands-on experiences cutting a play for performance, with a focus on getting pieces festival-ready
- December 12th, 6-8:30pm: Fundraising and Finances
- Program Development strand
- This online workshop will present a range of approaches to fundraising for your program, as well as how to budget within your program, and how to ensure that your program is set up for long-term financial stability
- January 12th, 10am-1pm: Site Specifics
- Practical Tech strand
- This in-person workshop will provide you with tools and strategies for working in nontraditional theater spaces, and for transporting material to festival theaters when students might be used to working in a classroom or a gym
- January 19th, 3-6:30pm: Lighting 101
- Practical Tech strand
- This in-person workshop will give you the basic tools of stage lighting design, with attention paid to creating effects with limited access to quality instruments, and basic maintenance and technical support
- February 9th, 10am-1:30pm: Set Design and Construction
- Practical Tech strand
- This in-person workshop will detail the basic principles of set design, with a focus on small-piece construction, found objects, and working within limited budgets and limited technical capacity
- April 10th, 6-8:30pm: Reverse Planning Your Curriculum
- Art of Teaching strand
- This online session will help you kickstart your curriculum for the following year, with a focus on assessment strategies, standards, and best practices for engagement in the theater classroom
- April 24th, 6-8:30pm: New Plays, New Playwrights
- Art of Teaching strand
- This online session will introduce exercises and activities for generating new plays, as well as feedback modules you can use to help your students grow as writers and dramaturgs
- May 11th, 10am-12:30pm: Approaches to the Actor-Director Dialogue
- Art of Teaching strand
- This in-person session focuses on language you can use to help your students own the creative process, deepen their experience, and enrich their learning
- May 22nd, 6-8:30pm: Finding a Play pt. 2
- Program Development strand
- This online follow-up to our December 8th session will focus on how to pick a play that accesses and develops the skills and characteristics of your unique program
- June 8th, 10am-12:30pm: Approaches to Devising and Adapting
- Art of Teaching strand
- This in-person workshop will provide teachers with the tools and skills to integrate devising and adapting into their curriculum and extracurricular practice, with a focus on Viewpoints, Brechtian aesthetics, and contemporary theater companies around the world
We hope you join us for these Sessions, and that you take advantage of this unique new opportunity! These Green Room Sessions were developed specifically based on what members have requested over the years- if there are other topics you’d like to see discussed in future sessions, please let us know! Contact the METG’s Director of Education and Outreach, Alex Johnson, with any questions or comments at ajohnson@metg.org
