When Shall We Three Meet Again?

Just thought it worth mentioning that today is the one year anniversary of Julius Caesar Day, probably my favorite day of the whole institute.

I once again reinforce your creativity and generosity and quote the sage words of the man who sat near Michael, Sharon, and I at the Tom Chapin concert on the evening of this magical day,

"You guys are very good!"

the horror!

I just put down a deposit for a new apartment-- my first apartment of my very own, where nobody will live but me. The scary thing is how freaking much the rent is. I've looked all over LA and you can't get a decent one bedroom in a safe area for less than $1100.

I hate living in LA.

But on the bright side, I can now offer my couch to anyone who'd like to visit Our Fair City. As soon as I buy a couch, that is. =D

Want to Reminisce?

I am linking this post to the first of my blog entries from the institute in honor of our one-year anniversary. You can browse the rest of July, 2006 there, too.

Enjoy!

-Amanda

Relive the adventures here.

Newest Members

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I introduce to you the three newest members of my previously one-member family.

Fanfare! Applause!

Keep your fingers crossed that I can pull these little guys through to adolescence.

-Em

P.S. I know they look like rats... but they're kitties.

The Simpsons do Hamlet

woohoo!

Voice work

For ten years I taught Communication Applications, a required one-semester course with no advanced level or follow-up class. I had a group of kids for an 18-week semester (or a 12-week trimester at my last school) and then I never saw them again. Now I find myself faced with the situation of seeing my students every day for the whole school year, and the possibility of having the same students in various classes of mine for three years.

Honestly, I'm a little worried about finding enough stuff to do. A whole year with the same group without repeating stuff? I'm trying to figure out how to spend the class time each day. I was considering the possibility of doing Bob Davis-style voice and body work once a week. Maybe Mondays would always be the day where we put the projects and assignments on hold and just work on the basic fundamentals of Linklater voice and body.

The upside is that I would be training them to be higher-quality performers later in their educational careers. The downside is I think middle school kids might hate breathing silently on the floor once a week.

What do you think? Will it hold their interest, or will it make them dread Mondays?

What to do?

Here's the newest choice to make: Do I teach weekday 5th grade theatre, 6th grade theatre, or both? I will be teaching Reading 6 for 4.5 hours each day, and I have to be on campus from 7am-5:15pm. Will teaching two extra hours of instruction burn me out, or bring enough joy into my life to rejuvenate me? I will also be teaching at least one quarter of a Saturday class which will, of course, be Theatre.

My schedule:

7-9 Prep
9-10:30 Reading 6c
10:30-12 Reading 6b
12-1 Lunch
1-2:30 Reading 6a
2:30-3:30 optional elective (6th)
4-5 optional elective (5th)

Any advice you have for me is welcome. Love!