Back to School Advice

I always get excited when school starts. I remember when I was in grade school and how excited it felt laying out my NEW back to school outfit the night before as well as my NEW backpack full of freshly sharpened pencils, paper, notebooks and brand new folders. It was all mine! My path was clear and after a quick kiss to Mom and Dad, I was off. There was a buzz in the air as the new year began.
I felt the buzz again this week - but in a different way. We toured my daughter's T/TH preschool tonight and next week she and her brother will be at their respective "schools". We've had college girls nannying for the past year and a half so I want to arm the kids with a good transition plan. I know that both of them "panic" when I leave them with a babysitter these days and definately want me with them. I hung out with Marie Vukin this week (our Project Play Director) and she gave me very helpful advice:

• Use a calendar to mark the dates when kids will be going to school - this makes time concrete
• Read the book The Kissing Hand and follow what the characters to in the book to ritualize the good-bye
• Create a special greeting when you see each other
• Pinpoint something that will excite her/him about going to school (i.e. "When you get there you're going to have time to play dress-up!")
• Let child know when you will be picking her/him up (i.e. "After lunch, you'll take a nap and then I'll be there to pick you up.")

I am so excited to have Project Play apart of Trike. Marie is a remarkable resource for our community and I'm thrilled that she will be teaching the Baby Buds class (0-36 mo.) Monday's from 10:30-11:30am and the Great Pretenders class (3yr-6yr) on Wednesdays from 10:30-11:30am. If you are interested in taking one of these classes but M/W does not work in your schedule -please let us know. We are interested in your feedback so that we can offer classes at the time when you can come. I know that we are already planning on a Saturday 4-week class for those parents who work full-time during the week.

Happy beginning of school to all the Moms and Dads out there. I'll be bringing the kids to Marie's Monday class - can't wait to see you there!

Morning News Article about WAC Arts With Education Institute

Click on the above title to get you to the Morning News Article. Richard participated in the Institute and accurately describes what it was like to be there!

I have been involved in professional Theater for Youth since grad school. When I graduated in 1995, I always knew that I wanted to be an artistic director of a professional theater for youth - like my mentor Scot Copeland of Nashville Children's Theater.
I continued to follow that path at First Stage Children's Theater in Milwaukee. Then I took a job at Seattle Children's Theater as the Director of Education Outreach. There I learned how to manage a budget, hire staff, develop curriculum and train teaching artists and classroom teachers.
When I moved to NWA 4 1/2 years ago - I brought both my loves (Theater for Youth performances and Arts in Education) with me. I see the two intertwined - each guiding the learner to other for deeper learning. This week-long workshop with Sean and Melanie filled in the missing pieces for me:
How do I help audience and learners understand the process of the art form so as to feel deeply connected to the end result - whether a theatrical performance or a "last day sharing" in an 8-week class? ...DOCUMENTATION
How can I as a teaching artist continue to bring Arts Integration (and that style of classroom learning) into a Theater Training Program?...READING/LITERACY
How can I help students and audience members reflect on their experience?...THINK/FEEL/TRANSFORM REFLECTION QUESTIONS
How can I make a more permanent commitment to the growth and development of our students at Trike?...PORTFOLIO
How can we create a theater-wide culture of cooperation and individual growth?...SEAN LAYNE'S ARTS BASED CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT TAUGHT BY ALL TEACHING ARTISTS IN DRAMATIC PLAY AND THE CONSERVATORY

Very exciting!

Exciting Academy Class Updates!

"You cannot teach humans anything. You can only help them discover it within themselves." --Galileo

Last week, a few of the Trike Team (myself, Virginia & Justin Scheuer & Megan Mayo) attended Walton Arts Center's AWE (Arts With Education) Institute. Sean and Melanie Layne, both national workshop presenters for The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Art's Partners in Education tour, taught the week-long training. Walton Arts Center offers AWE each summer for local teachers to learn new ways to incorporate arts into their existing curriculum. As a result of this engaging, kinesthetic, inspiring week of learning, the Trike Team and I have solidified a "Trike Academy" class methodology.

Elizabeth Murfee writes about the benefits of arts integration in Eloquent Evidence: Arts at the Core of Learning. Trike also believes that:

• The arts are serious and rigorous academic subjects. They are an essential aspect of human knowing.
• The arts have far-reaching potential to help students achieve education goals.
• Reading, writing and math skills can be enhanced through the arts.
• Creativity is naturally developed through the arts.
• Student engagement and persistence improve with an arts-based curriculum.
• High-risk students are engaged through the arts.
• Understanding of one's self and others expands with arts education.

Basing our instruction in these beliefs, we have decided that each of the Trike Academy classes will include:

• Portfolio for each student. We want students (and their families) to be members of Trike for a very long time. Portfolios are one way we can "invest" in each student. This folder will hold a copy of student work while they are taking classes at Tricycle Theater for Youth. Portfolios will be made available to students and parents at all times.
• Documentation of process. This will help show the outside community, the students' process during a particular class or project, make the learning process visible for students and create a tangible memory to share with others.
• Reflection. Done at the end of each class, students will take the time to really think and ponder about what they have experienced.
• Integration with other core curriculum. In addition to meeting National Arts Standards, we want to bring in reading and literacy objectives as well. We also thought that it would be fun to create full-on arts-integration curriculum during our week-long summer camps (Science/Drama - Wizards and potions) (History/Drama - "Magic Tree House) (Art/Science/Drama - Still Life paintings) etc.
• Arts Based Classroom Management. At AWE, we learned a technique from Sean Layne that takes the foundational elements of acting such as concentration, cooperation, and collaboration and creates a structured process that will become the basis for establishing a cooperative learning environment. Through this process, we see students establishing a sense of self-control, accountability, and team building in the classroom. This Classroom management style will be used in the Dramatic Play and Conservatory classes.

Registration opens AUGUST 15 and our first class begin SATURDAY, SEPT. 27. Once we begin, I will have images to post and more documentation to share.

Check out our upcoming classes at http://www.triketheater.org/

AND REMEMBER - WE PLAN TO BEGIN PRODUCING A FULL SEASON OF THEATER FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES IN THE FALL 2009.