In the November TIOS workshop, we will explore practices and approaches for embedding social emotional learning in devised theater with youth. The practices will also have applicability in more traditional approaches to theater education. Together we'll identify and discuss how we might already be joining these practices and how we can more intentionally name and share that with students. Dr. Quenna L. Barrett will share frameworks she uses for devising projects and how SEL is weaved throughout, and will invite participants to share their best practices and challenges in their work as well.

Quenna Lené Barrett is an actress, director, and theatre educator, who develops programs that amplify teen + community voice and hold space to rehearse, tell, and change the stories of their lives. She is a company member with ICAH’s For Youth Inquiry company, Associate Artist with Pivot Arts, co-curator for Theatre of the Lake, and serves as the Associate Director of Education at the Goodman.​

She has organized with the Black Youth Project100 and #LetUsBreathe Collective, and is a company member at the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health For Youth Inquiry, where she where she directs and performs participatory plays supporting the sexual health and rights of young people. Quenna is a Chicago native who received her BFA in Drama from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and a Masters in Applied Theatre from the University of Southern California, and is currently pursuing a doctorate of education in Educational Theatre at NYU Steinhardt. 

Continuing to build the world she wants to see/live in, she is developing a practice of poetic performance, and is currently re-writing the Declaration of Independence as a Free Street artist-in-residence.

Recent performance and directorial credits include: Re-Writing the Declaration with Free Street Theatre and NYU Steinhardt (Director), Don't Go with Sojourn Theatre Company, Ctr Alt Delete and ob•li•ves•cence, The Theatre School at DePaul (Director); Free Street Theatre's 50 in 50 (Director); Black Lives Black Words I Am...Fest at the Goodman, Eclipsed at Pegasus Theatre (Assistant Director), Radio Golf at Court Theatre (u/s), The Green Book at Pegasus, This Boat Called My Body and First with FYI (Director), Theatre Unspeakable's Moon Shot and American Revolution, and Cor Theatre's Late Company (u/s).

A close reading of the drama education literature will uncover that though there are many books that explicate drama content and teaching methods, assessment is generally given a small sliver of attention—a status-quo that invites disruption: how can we plan instruction and deliver content if we don’t have a firm foundation in how we will measure student growth and learning? Drama teaching is sometimes disordered and messy; assessment in the drama classroom is often the same.

In light of that, in this interactive workshop, I will propose a back-to-basics approach to assessment in the drama classroom that:

• provides a brief overview of drama content we might consider and the role that theatre standards play in crafting curriculum.
• provides an refresher on learning objectives and how to generate them.
• provides overviews on summative assessments, diagnostic assessments, and formative assessments (presented in the order in which they should be planned, not in the order in which they are typically employed): what they are, how to craft them, and how to use them for learning.
• promotes reflective practice—which is to say, teacher’s self-assessment practices to enhance teaching and learning.

Key questions we will investigate include:
• Why do we assess and why might we assess in this particular way?
• What are the challenges and successes of assessment in the drama classroom?
• How much autonomy do we want our students to have in our classrooms and how will we provide space, time, and support for that to manifest?
• How can we adapt these methods for our learning context

Interested in collaborating with ElevAATE as a writer or editor? Join us for a TIOS workshop to learn more. Editor Carolyn Marie Wright will provide an overview of the writing and editing process and share her journey on the editing team from the relaunch of then-named Incite/Insight in 2018 to the current digital platform now-named ElevAATE. There will be a brief writing prompt activity with time for sharing. We will end with a Q & A.

ElevAATE is a space for folx working in the intersection of theatre and education to share online resources and engage in dialogue together. Featuring lesson plans, reflective practice, interviews, opinions, and case studies, this resource is free and open for all to benefit.

In solidarity with AATE’s Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression goals, the ElevAATE editing team promises to dedicate online space and provide visibility to BIPOC/GM artists, scholars, teachers, and citizens in the AATE digital platform.

Questions? Comments? Just want to say hello? Email [email protected].

Carolyn Marie Wright hails from upstate New York and is currently based in Phoenix where she serves as Theatre Director & English Teacher at Brophy Prep and Artistic Director of Humanity Play Project. Proud member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, AATE, and Arizona Theatre Company’s Cohort Club.

with Jamie Macpherson
Tuesday, June 1st at 7pm (EDT)

What do the top 5 most produced shows in high schools across the U.S. have in common? Why, moments of intimacy that are central to their plot! In the professional world, we are seeing a shift as more theaters are hiring Intimacy Directors for their productions, and drafting up policies for rehearsals. But what about when it comes to working with young people? What does this work look like for classroom teachers and youth theater programs? What about in virtual spaces during the pandemic?

Join us in this workshop as we explore consent, self advocacy, and physical storytelling, with a special lens of how this work applies to TYA specifically. Leave with tools to incorporate into your classroom and rehearsal spaces to promote the wellbeing and creativity of your students and production teams!

Jamie Macpherson is a Chicago-based Intimacy and Fight Director who specializes in working with young people. Jamie has worked at such institutions as the Lawrence Art Center (KS), Macalester College, Augsburg University (MN), Arizona State University, and the University of Chicago. She is a member of the Society of American Fight Directors and received her MFA in Theater for Youth from Arizona State University.

AATE TIOS National Core Theatre Standards Workshop
with Jim Palmarini
Wednesday, August 25th at 7pm (EDT)

In 2014 AATE and the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA) collaborated to create new, grade-by-grade PreK-12 theatre standards. The two nation theatre education organizations were part of a larger coalition of national arts groups that came together to write standards across all arts areas, using an overarching structure built on the four artistic processes of Creating, Performing, Responding and Connecting. The National Core Theatre Standards have since been adapted by 39 states, with multiple other states expected to follow. This session, presented by EdTA Policy and Advocacy Advisor Jim Palmarini, will offer a comprehensive overview of the standards’ structure and their applicability in the classroom and onstage. We’ll also have an open discussion about how they validate theatre as a rigorous academic discipline and serve as a springboard for creating curriculum that both classroom educators and teaching artists can use to build and measure student learning in theatre.

James Palmarini is director of educational policy for the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA) and a member of the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards Leadership Team. As EdTA director of educational policy, Mr. Palmarini serves on the Arts Education Partnership Advisory Board; the Washington, D.C.-based Arts Education Working Group; and EdTA's Advocacy Task Force. In 2012, he led or participated in four presentations about the new National Core Arts Standards with Americans for the Arts, Arts Education Partnership, National Guild for Community Arts Education, and Educational Theatre Association. He tweets regularly at @edtadvocacy and blogs occasionally at schooltheatre.org/advocacy.

Creating a Universally Designed Drama Classroom
with Fran Sillau
Wednesday, September 22nd at 7pm (EDT)