Category: Teaching & Education
-
A Year on Zoom
I finished teaching my final drama class today via Zoom. As I waved goodbye and wished a happy summer to the final stragglers who lived through a year on Zoom, the magnitude of the year hit me. I taught an entire cohort of students and I met them only once in person. The bizarreness of…
-
Frodo Is Becoming Obsolete
I started teaching drama and acting right about the time that Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy was finishing up. Nearly everyone had seen it, and almost universally raved about it. The characterizations of the film provided the perfect example for me when I attempted to illustrate for my young actors what it means…
-
No Self-Consciousness Allowed on Stage
The drama classroom is often times a microcosm of life. We spend a lot of time talking about humanity, genuineness, and authenticity. These elusive words, when manifested correctly on the stage, can bring to life a performance which can penetrate deep into the audience’s consciousness. That’s the magic. From where do we reach in order…
-
Ten Months in the Making: A New Beginning
It was in December 2016 that I accepted an offer to teach drama in Saudi Arabia. Ten months later, in September of 2017, I am finally set to have my first class. Tomorrow. This is a huge shift in many ways. I had a terrific position in Malaysia, a position which had few limits on…
-
It’s not the words. It’s the emotion behind the words.
I was working with one of my actors on a pivotal scene in our upcoming play. She gives a short speech which spurs on some tremendous societal changes. Yes, it’s a few lines of dialogue which changes the story dramatically. It’s the crucial point in the play. The actor had not been getting it. The…
-
Cool Your Jets, Teachers. I know I have.
Between my writing and dramas and other pursuits, I do this regular thing called my day job where I teach for a living. I really do enjoy it. I’ve been doing it in various settings for the past twenty-two years. I’ve noticed one thing that’s changed about my approach to teaching the last couple of…
-
Education is Wasted on the Youth
One of the great lines from the classic movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” is when a man on his front porch, after listening to a long, meandering conversation between George Banks and his girl as they stroll down the sidewalk, stands to his feet and shouts: “Why don’t you go ahead and kiss her?” Disgusted…
-
I Moonlight as a History Teacher
I suppose there’s a fair dose of irony in that headline, since teaching is my full-time job, and I do love it. But it is hard to turn off the writer, and it’s not even possible. (at least for me) So as I was re-writing my US History syllabus for this year, it struck me…
Author Mark W Sasse 