Teaching improv to teenagers difficult? Let’s talk.
I started teaching teenagers when I still was one myself. At age 19 I got a (paid) job to teach students only a few years younger. I am now almost double that age, and let me tell you: teaching teenagers is not easier (or harder) when you are younger.
Teaching teenagers is just… Different.
One thing is certain…
Read MoreI know you. You want to do well, as an improv teacher. How do I know this? Well, you are reading this section on my blog. You want to keep getting better.
Your students are the same. They want to do well. But...
This wish to be ‘good’ can be the greatest enemy for improvisers. An improv scene can definitely be good (great even!).
At times, we need to remind our students (and maybe ourselves) that we need to be okay with the possibility of not being good. Especially for my fellow high achievers out there: get comfortable at being ‘bad’.
How? If the wish for ‘being good’ gets in the way of their play, let your students try to play bad scenes. Or introduce a fun game to stretch their comfort level with ‘bad work’.
Read MoreComing up with new exercises is a challenge for so many improv teachers. (Well, unless you always teach the same. But that is not me) This is why I started this section.
However, over the years I learned: keep it simple.
Your warmup game does not need 17 different rules. You can just play tag.
Your scene work does not need complex setups. Start with an inspiring suggestion (I never get bored of ‘a location’) and just play.
Especially when you teach something new, it actually helps…
What is great about improv, is that every improviser is different. What is difficult about improv, is…. that every improviser is different. When we are teaching a group of improvisers, we might run into this particular challenge.
We look around the room and we see how our students are different. For instance: some people need to learn to take initiative, others need to learn to give space. There are exercises to train ‘taking initiative’ and there are exercises to train ‘giving space’.
Read MoreWhether you are a beginning teacher, or already more advanced, it can be difficult to know: are my students even liking this?
This little voice in our brain is not just annoying: it takes us out of the moment, and into our heads. Exactly where we don’t want to be!
So how do you ‘read the room’? Be it the workshop space or the Zoom room.
The most important tip I have for you is this…
Read MoreIt sometimes sounds easier than it actually is: making stuff up on the spot. As teachers we can easily forget how for many our students the ‘just come up with something’ can be a huge task.
I have limitless faith in the ability of my students, but they themselves don’t always feel like that.
I know my hospital drama cast can list 7 names for medicines. But they block at the third.
I am confident my beginner students can find a character voice. But then they stay silent.
It is for those moments that I use…
Read MoreA common misperception amongst improv teachers is that when it comes to the topic of the class we have to be all-knowing. While actually, I don’t believe that.
Can we then come unprepared?* No, but the focus of your class should be on your students learning. And you can definitely do that without being an expert on the topic.
Let’s say you want to teach a class on fairytale characters…
Read MoreWhen faced with limitations, there are 2 things you can do. One is to think about how to work within these limitations.
Today I want you to consider a second option: going full-on in the direction of what is not possible. Because if improvisers can do one thing really well, it is to pretend a thing that is not there.
So how about next time when as a teacher you are faced with a limitation, lean into it. Play intimate love scenes at 2 meter distance. Set up a silent church scene while there are noisy constructions outside the workshop room. Climb onto each other in an online workshop.
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