Office "work"?

Hmm, I seem to have gotten sidetracked.


moar funny pictures

This site is addictive. Here's where you can see my other lolz. The name? Ah, that's the one I use on my free e-mail account, in order to receive less spam. Joe Fish doesn't mind.

Summer Teacher's Workshop

Yesterday I took part in the first of the Lied Center's Summer Teacher's Workshops. Over 60 teachers gave up one of their few remaining vacation days to take workshops on integrating the arts into their classrooms. It was a great group to work with! I gave two half-hour sessions for small groups on using puppets in the classroom. It was tricky to compress my two-hour workshop--all we could really do was go over basic puppet technique, with some reflections by the participants.

In the afternoon, I attended a workshop given by Kimberli Boyd, whom I first met in the spring when she came out to train artists to teach. She's a Kennedy Center Master Teaching Artist, and it shows. Her workshop on using movement and dance to teach about the rainforest was a great example of how to introduce topics succinctly and build knowledge incrementally. Even though I've been giving workshops for almost 20 years, since taking the Kennedy Center training in the spring, I've been rethinking the structure, content and pacing of my workshops.

It was an excellent day, though exhausting. After the wine and cheese reception, I came home and lay on the sofa for a while. Good thing I don't have any performances today. It's nice to spend the day working slowly and steadily in the office.

Getting ready for Brazil

If you look at my calendar on my website, you'll notice that from September 26 to October 25 I'll be in Brazil. I'm filling in the visa forms today. I got the passport renewed in January, so I'm set.

I'll be telling stories to kids in English, with the help of puppets, harmonica and all the gathered improv and storytelling skills I can muster. I've been borrowing books and CDs on Brazilian Portuguese for a few months now, so I'll be at least a little prepared for the time outside the shows.

I was reassured this past week to read Megan Hicks' blog about her recent tour of Peru and Chile, through the same company. I'll probably write more about this when I've talked to Megan by phone.

Doing my best even in tough circumstances

Yesterday I had my sixty-first show of the summer. I still have two more performances and two short workshops next week. So much for my promise to myself that I'd do a maximum of 55 shows this summer. How did that happen?!

Out of all the shows, only a couple were a disappointment to me. No, I won't tell you which ones. One had to do with the venue, which was less than optimal (and moldy to boot), and another was a problem of a too-small audience in two senses: there weren't many kids, and some of them were too small to know that the performance was for them.

When the percentage of kids who are too small is larger than the percentage who are the appropriate age, the older kids lose out. If there are fewer of the tinies, it can still be a good show. It's also more of a problem when the show is made up of specific stories, without much leeway, such as Creepy Crawlies this summer. If I'm doing my Storyteller's Choice program, I can switch over to fingerplays and rhymes, as I often do at Wonderscope.

There wasn't anything I could do in these two cases this summer, other than do my best and hope that some of the listeners enjoyed themselves.

Now, before almost every show, I make a silent wish to have a good time. If I'm having a good time, and if I'm paying the right attention to how the audience is reacting, most likely they're having fun as well.