{"id":1160,"date":"2020-10-28T10:47:09","date_gmt":"2020-10-28T14:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/notes\/?p=1160"},"modified":"2020-10-28T10:47:09","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T14:47:09","slug":"falling-in-love-in-a-time-of-fear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2020\/10\/falling-in-love-in-a-time-of-fear\/","title":{"rendered":"Falling in love in a time of fear"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This post started with a straightforward mission: Thanks to an Innovation Grant from the Educational Foundation, I&#8217;m organizing an (optional) <strong>improv theater workshop<\/strong> during January in-service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In order to help promote this virtual workshop, I wanted to share some research by UNC Chapel Hill professor Keith Sawyer, author of &#8220;The Creative Classroom: Innovative Teaching for 21st-Century Learners.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Very intellectual stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But then I read <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/advice\/2020\/10\/21\/biology-professor-explains-how-improv-training-rescued-her-classroom-opinion\" target=\"_blank\">this recent Inside Higher Ed essay<\/a><\/strong> by an award-winning biology professor, who explained why attending improv classes made her a better teacher, a better listener, and a better partner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In her essay, this professor credited <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Rd06mzZ7Omk&amp;feature=youtu.be\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a TEDx talk by artist Rebecca Northan<\/a>, who inspired her to sign up improv classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"A Useful Epiphany: Rebecca Northan at TEDxYYC\" width=\"1150\" height=\"647\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Rd06mzZ7Omk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>And now I&#8217;m a little emotional after watching the video, so I will share the big takeaways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fear holds us back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fear makes us cranky, negative, terrified of failure, and disconnected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fear makes us say no, in an attempt to feel in control and safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Does any of this sound familiar?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you find yourself in the fear zone, try these techniques of improv instead:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Be positive<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Say yes, and see what kind of adventures you might go on.<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Embrace failure &#8212; it&#8217;s the fastest way to learn something.<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Inspire your partner &#8212; light them up! Focusing on the other person helps lift your own fear.<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The title of her TEDx Talk is &#8220;A Useful Epiphany,&#8221; and Rebecca Northan&#8217;s big epiphany is this: <strong>We do all of those things naturally when we are in love<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, she believes improv can help us be more creative and be better teammates &#8230; but mostly she thinks it can help us love human beings better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The biology professor who wrote that Inside Higher Ed essay used improv to fall back in love with teaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How might learning the techniques of improv help you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ll post more details about the workshop as we get closer to winter break. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the meantime, here&#8217;s a summary from the in-service agenda:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Improv for Creative Teaching and Learning<\/strong><br><em>This playful, improv theater workshop will help faculty and staff strengthen VWCC&#8217;s creative culture by experimenting with the research-backed techniques of &#8220;guided improvisation.&#8221; According to Keith Sawyer&#8217;s &#8220;The Creative Classroom: Innovative Teaching for 21st-Century Learners,&#8221; highly creative educators listen to students; are empathetic; welcome humor; and view failures as learning opportunities, all of which help create a more inclusive, joyful environment for students. The workshop will be facilitated by Ami Trowell, creative director of Big Lick Conspiracy, Roanoke&#8217;s professional improvisational comedy troupe. Ms. Trowell will lead participants through improv games and exercises, honing skills in creativity, spontaneity, risk-taking, collaboration, active listening, and play. This workshop is funded by a Virginia Western Educational Foundation Innovation Grant.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I hope you will join us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8212; Stephanie Ogilvie Seagle, October 2020<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This post started with a straightforward mission: Thanks to an Innovation Grant from the Educational Foundation, I&#8217;m organizing an (optional) improv theater workshop during January in-service. In order to help promote this virtual workshop, I wanted to share some research by UNC Chapel Hill professor Keith Sawyer, author of &#8220;The Creative Classroom: Innovative Teaching for&hellip; <a class=\"continue\" href=\"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2020\/10\/falling-in-love-in-a-time-of-fear\/\">Continue Reading<span> Falling in love in a time of fear<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"","author_link":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/author\/"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Falling in love in a time of fear - Grants Development &amp; 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