This year I was asked to step into the position of Interim Education Director, in the middle of a pandemic, as the school district of Philadelphia negotiated what the school year would look like amidst a public health crisis. Needless to say, I was nervous about taking on the responsibility of navigating how our program would fit into the unknown new world of virtual learning. Historically, we offered a learning experience rooted in personal connection, physical expression and feeding off the energy of a group in a shared space. How would this translate over screens? Could we achieve our goals? Would the students get anything out of the experience? These questions at first filled me with doubt but then, new-found determination. I turned to my team of teaching artists and together we devised a plan for how to translate our in-person programming to the world of Zoom and Google-Meet.
After a few months of planning, scheduling and getting approval from the school district, 1812 Education entered the virtual classrooms with students from Widener Memorial in November. For the past 8 weeks we have found new ways to connect with our students. I asked our teaching team to reflect on what have been the most surprising and delightful discoveries from teaching in this new format.
Katherine Perry has been teaching with me at Widener for the past 3 years and shared, “The digital classroom presents a new set of challenges for sure. Things take longer, and technology is always a fickle beast. One of the gifts, though, is being able to connect with students on a new level. We've been introduced to dogs, and cats, and a bird (this was a big surprise!), and family members - so often we don't get to meet the supporting characters in each of our student's worlds and it's been so fun to get to know them all more through the people and creatures that are in their lives. With some of our younger students we've known them for a few years and it's so interesting to meet them in their homes, see their artwork, and really just spend time with them. The high school class is an absolute delight. They have opened up in class more quickly than I think any of us expected. Of course, we miss being in the same room as students and sharing their energy, but the feeling of creativity hasn't really changed.”
Our other veteran Widener teaching artist, Anita Holland expressed that, “Every day with the students is a delight. It's great to see the students continue to grow. The students in the lower school are masters of imagination and exploring narratives.”
Tanaquil Márquez and Chris Davis have taught other residencies for us in the past but joined our Widener group for the first time to provide additional support. Tanaquil said, “What has been a delightful surprise is how we are able to connect with each other and stay present. This pandemic has most certainly thrown us an abundant amount of challenges, but it has encouraged us to check in with each other as humans. My favorite part of the day is when we have a mood board on the screen and we go around picking the mood that best fits us in the moment. This empowers us to share our feelings and understand one another more. A great way to stay connected and share space in our virtual setting.”
Chris reflected on how this experience compared to his experiences teaching under “normal” conditions in the past: “What surprised me was how much stayed the same. I still feel we as teachers were able to connect with our students in a real, tangible, way. And honestly, we laughed a lot. I feel like for the students it was a great environment to release their tension and have fun with some energetic and creative teachers. Throughout the term the students became more connected, despite the fact that they had never even met some of the teachers in real life! I feel like it shows that connection can happen in this digital age, and real learning is still possible. And during this time, it is more important than ever to work for, and with students as they navigate an ever-changing world.”
There have been new hurdles of technology that is unpredictable and out of our control. Screen fatigue is a new and real obstacle we are all facing. The disconnect of not being in the same room, breathing the same air makes conducting a theatre class challenging. And yet, we’ve found a way. As we explore the space of our tiny on-screen boxes during physical warm-ups, send videos of ourselves reading stories, un-mute ourselves to contribute to collaborative brainstorm sessions and more, we are making it happen. Every Monday I am filled with delight to see each face pop onto the screen and hear the voices of our resilient students adding to each conversation. While I long for the days when we can hug and high-five again, I am grateful for the ability to come together once a week in this capacity, connecting safely to collaborate and express ourselves in this new frontier.
May we all find creative, safe new ways to connect and create this holiday season!
Here is to a brighter, safer new year,
Emily Kleimo
Interim Education Director
emily@1812productions.org
Members of the 1812 Education team (Top row, l-r) Katherine Perry, Emily Kleimo, (Second Row, l-r) Anita Holland, Chris Davis.