Every teacher should take an improv class

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I know what you're thinking... improv is comedy, its slapstick, its juvenile.  Teaching is serious business. 

Well yes... and, here I go breaking an improv rule, NO!  "Why" you may ask.  Because the basic rules of improvisational comedy teach you basic rules for human relations.  Many teachers often work in some form of a "Professional Learning Community" or "PLC" , whether its a content area PLC, a grade level PLC, interdisciplinary PLC, or your school site staff as a whole, you should want to improve the way you relate with one another to be a role model for students.  (See this website for great PLC tips and professional development www.allthingsplc.org) .  

Before I continue with how improv comedy can assist teachers with their roles among each other and with students, I'd like to focus on just how important teachers are to role modeling to students.   To prove this point, I did my own experiment.  I interviewed three different principals, all who do not know one another, to talk about the role of teachers to students... that's right, the key word for this blog entry is, you guessed it, RELATIONSHIPS.

Check out what they had to say

Notice something?  Notice not one principal started with the role of the teacher in delivering content.  The role of the teacher, at the nucleus of teaching, is how you interact and role model for your students.  You may be thinking "How am I a role model, my job is to teach, they should get their life lessons at home, not from me." 

Slow down, let me ask you this.  Do you agree that young people are impressionable?  That young people are constantly defining the world by the input that they receive daily?  Their paradigm of what it means to be an adult is a composite of the adults they see?  

If you said yes to all of those questions, you're on the right track and following me.  If you said no, well... I hope you're looking for a new day job. 

So if teachers are role models, think about some not so nice behaviors you've displayed in front of your students.  Don't think I'm pointing the finger at just teachers.  Counselors, Admin staff, and all adult presence on a campus count. 

If you've ever talked badly about a fellow teacher or administrator in front of your students...shame on you.  Do you allow bullying?  Do you allow students to call each other names?  No, I bet 99% of us have some classroom rule that speaks to respecting others.  Displaying your lack of friendship in front of students counters this lesson.  Believe me, children watch and they wait for you to contradict yourself. 

Okay, I'll step off my podium and get to the fun stuff. 

I became interested in improv comedy after reading this great book.

On page 84, Ms. Fey outlines how Improv can help you "Change your Life...", after reading her rules and now learning them at this wonderful place you see above, I can now see a connection to improv comedy and the world of teaching.

Okay so on to the connection.


Here are some basic ways Improv Comedy and Teaching should be connected and why teachers should follow the rules of Improv comedy.

1. AGREEMENT:

In Improv the most BASIC rule is to agree with your partner.  Because I'm not an improv teacher, I'd rather let you see this short clip to explain how agreement works in improv:

How does this game help teachers:

Well first lets start with staff morale.  A staff that knows one another works better with one another.  I believe that.  As teachers, we are always so engrossed in what happens in our classrooms that sometimes we forget that we have teammates.  I know when I taught, because I was so used to being in my room most of the time, I really didn't know how to connect with other teachers during conversations that didn't involve students. 

"Yes, and" can help you move conversations along.  That's the most tangible way it can help. In the larger sense, lets look at it from a whole group perspective. "Yes, And" means you respect the contribution of others.  You notice in the video the interaction between the two improv teachers.  The first guy says something and the second guy agrees.  He respected what his partner created, he respected his contribution.  This makes improv comedy funny and special.  Not one time did you hear the guy say "NO, that didn't happen."  Have you ever been told no?  Or have you ever had someone disagree with your contribution as soon as you said it?  How did it feel?  Did you feel respected, acknowledged, as if you're a valuable part of the team?  I'm guessing not.  I've had that feeling before and it doesn't feel good.  Even if you think an idea your fellow teacher has created is the dumbest idea ever, respect their contribution.  This leads to higher morale overall.  This also goes for students.  I sincerely hope you are "yes,and"'ing your students. If a student says something incorrect when a question is posed, try to say "well I can see why you'd think that, thanks for throwing that out there...I was thinking more along the lines of..."  This way a student feels worthwhile for contributing, but doesn't feel like an idiot in front of peers.

2. Make Mistakes

There are so many issues in the realm that is Education now.  Serious issues.  What are you doing about it?  To be just a little more blunt, what are you doing about it at your school site?  Do you sit back and complain, sit back and do nothing, or are you not afraid to go out there and do something crazy? That's where this rule comes into play. 

In my improv class, the first day I was so hung up on doing things the "right" way that I didn't really have the gut busting good time I wanted when I signed up for the class.  Mistakes lead to innovation.  Mistakes mean that you've taken a proactive approach to create a solution to an issue.  In improv comedy, people make mistakes all the time and we usually laugh HARDER because of this.  I'm sure laughter isn't the response you want to invoke in Education when creating solutions to serious issues but you can't be afraid to step out on stage and fall.  I'll let you in a little secret:  your principal worries about this too, constantly, probably more times than you.  Be brave, be very brave, but if what you say or do isn't well received (hopefully your fellow teachers have read rule number one) then so what, you tried. And trying and seeing something through in this business is what leads students to success... it also is a great example of tenacity... remember the role modeling thing? 

3.  Always be present, always be in the moment...

If you saw an improv show, a good one anyway, you'd think it was scripted, but its not. Why?  Because the actors are listening intently and don't come to the stage with filters that can hold them back (remember number two), or with an agenda.  An improv show will not work if an actor says "okay, tonight is the night I tell this killer frog joke, I'll insert it somewhere for sure."  You just can't do that.  You have to let things emerge on their own... that's how you become "present." 

This isn't a bunch of hippie mumbo jumbo either.  It helps.  How you may ask.  First it helps with not filling in gaps.  You can't create a story that simply isn't there.   Your mind may take you places... to judgements, to assumptions, to conclusions that aren't factual at all.  When you remain present in  your interaction with students and fellow teachers, you are free from the ills I just mentioned. You are free to let in truth.  If a student says "I didn't do my homework."  You may assume he or she is lazy, or judge the student's motivations or parents, or conclude that they are simply going to fail.  The truth may be that they had to babysit their younger sisters or brothers and didn't have time to do it. Or the student doesn't have a stable home.  We have to remain present.  Don't create stories where there aren't any.  We have to wait for what has yet to come.  By remaining present and removing filters, you can look at what issues emerge for you.  Is it really about the student not doing their homework or do you view it as a challenge to your authority, the student being a rebel, or thinking you're not a good teacher so they chose not to do your assigned homework and that makes YOU look bad?  Its not about you, its about that moment.  Remember that.  Keep that with you.  

Follow these simple tips and you may be able to improve staff relations. 

If staff relations are so hellacious that there is no hope of improvement, sign everyone up for an improv comedy class. 

Google "improv classes in X" to find one.