I am offering a Middle & High School class for CHEER (homeschool group)   again for the 09-10 school year.   There will be a limit on class size.   I don't know what that # is,   yet, but after having 18 kids this year, I'm thinking I wouldn't want many more in one class!  

I am also going to offer a Drama 2 class.   This is for students who have already taken Drama 1 or have worked in at least one production with me.

CHEER members students... and I THINK there is a rule that you have to have been a member for one year.

Thoughts from other parents and one from me, because others seem to think I'm the fun one... but I'm actually a very hard task master in my own way.   I expect a LOT from kids... and they live up to my expectations with flying colors.   Don't assume this is a fluff class because its fun:):  The main suggestion I got was to stick with the syllabus or have a smaller class size... which I had already realized.  I had planned on a class of 8 - 10... and ended up with 18 students!  Ack!  I didn't know how to turn anyone away, and I just had no idea how much more time that would take... I was new at this:)  I had bought a curriculum, but then realized that most of the content for the kids to use/practice, etc was either boring as all get out, or entirely inappropriate for our students.  I had to kind of hash out a curriculum using bits and pieces and my imagination and several sources throughout the internet.  Next year should go much more smoothly for Drama 1... although I still can't promise to follow a perfect schedule, because sometimes, in the middle of a semester, or a course of study, I realize that more than half of the class just isn't "getting it" and I want them to get it, rather than just check of a list that says, "We did that".  Drama 2... I don't even think I'll make a dated syllabus.  I'll make a list of what we'll accomplish and the kids will have to be responsible for doing their work.  I have no way of knowing how long our projects are going to take this year! 

I greatly appreciate all of the support I received from you parents over the past year.  Thank you for your patience with me!

Byn...

and NOW for the other parents!

Eleora was in Drama last year [2008-2009]. I cannot express what a positive experience this has been for her. She was not exactly shy, but she did not have a lot of self-confidence. That is certainly not the case anymore! Your   encouragement and standards for excellence challenge your students to "step out of their boxes". When they work hard and succeed at something new, it does amazing things for their confidence and willingness to take on other challenges. Thanks so much for the love and energy you put into your classes.
In His Love,
Jannette

My son Ty has performed in two plays (Phantom of the Op'ry and Rapunzel) and
taken Drama 1 from Byn over the past year or so; he was never what you would
term a "shy" child, but there have always been times when he lacked
confidence or was hesitant to take on something new.   Both the plays and
Drama class have helped him immeasurably.   He has gained both confidence in
his own abilities and problem solving & improv skills to help him tackle new
situations.   He also completely adores Byn and appreciates how she pushes
him to do the best he can do!

Having assisted Byn in directing this year's play, I've seen how she
endeavors to work with each child individually - not necessarily to help
them be THE best, but to help them be THEIR best.   She has a unique ability
to draw out the performance and the confidence that each child as an
individual is capable of; she also has the ability to help them find
confidence and performances that they (and often their parents) didn't know
were in them.   Taking Drama with Byn isn't just a matter of learning "stage
talk" and memorizing some parts - it's a matter of giving your child the
tools they need to do their best in many areas of life.   Some things can be
learned academically; the skills she brings the kids through have to be
experienced and honed to be learned.   She provides a safe, fun, and
challenging place in which they can do this.

Jennifer

J* REALLY enjoyed Drama! She has always enjoyed doing plays and things and this helped her know a lot more of what to do when she does them! She always said that you always made things fun-like you were one of the kids, her more exact words!

The only suggestions I would have is to maybe stick a little closer to the syllabus. I bet it was really hard the first year to know how long things would take, so that will probably take care of itself for next year! It would help us left-brained moms know when to help them get what! :)

The second thing would be to try to schedule the extra performances, like this spring community service project, at least on Co-op days, if it can't be done during class time. Maybe if you helped guide the kids with their planning of dates? I know most people live in Tulsa/BA, but there are several of us that drive and that would help a lot!

But, like I said about the prom-thanks for all your hard work with the kids! Your heart for them really shows through! :)
Beth

Drama 1 Covers a lot of basic theater knowledge.   You can see the syllabus from the 2008-2009 semester 1 here   and semester 2   will be available soon, as I have it stored on a different computer that I do not currently have access to!   There have been and will be some changes year to year, depending on the class needs.

ALL drama classes are 1 hour and 15 minutes... sometimes we run RIGHT up to the 1:15, sometimes we get done a little early.

 Drama one is mostly one on one or practiced in class, except when students decide to work on an assignment together or as a group.   Those things that require partners generally don't take much time outside of class, unless you choose to.   Compared to my other kids classes, it doesn't seem like my students had any more 'outside of class' time until the last quarter when we do our final project. Drama 2 will be writing and performing a Christmas play that will require extra practices outside of class, however, as this is a new class, I am not sure what that will entail yet until we get into it.

We've done a children's program with the elementary class.   The kids helped with writing of the scripts, designing and making the props and costumes, practicing and back drops.   We've filmed almost all of it now, and I will soon have a dvd of our children's show "The Colorful Cottage"

We've done long term projects where the kids had to research some part of   the history of drama or theater and do a presentation.   They had to make it interesting.   I had some kids who learned an instrumental piece on their violins and talked about the time period or play that it came from.   One student built a model of a Shakesperean theater out of Legos, labeling each part of the theater.   Some students made posters with information, others dressed up as characters from famous plays and acted out a bit of it as well as explaining the background of the story.   Some students made masks or scrolls and told about Greek theater.   One girl made a gorgeous dress by herself and talked about the time period when that type of dress would have been worn.   It was an amazing array of projects!!

Our high school class is working on a big service project at the moment.   They have been divided into groups and assigned a Director in each group.   The director is in charge of assigning all the roles necessary for a production; a costumer, a props & set person, a public liason, a marketing person, etc.   The group together hashes out a story ~ a retelling of a fairy tale ~ and the director writes up the script.   They have been working together on their performances and will be performing at the end of the year, either for a nursing home or the library.   Its turning out even better than I expected!   These kids are great!

We had a stage makeup day, where we learned some different points of doing stage makeup and all the kids had the opportunity to do another child's makeup.   It was a blast... and a lot of those kids are really good with a paint brush!   They enjoyed getting to make up their friends:)

Here are a few results of our class!

Videos of Class snippets from this year:

I can't tell you whether your child would do well... I don't like to say that there is ANY child who is "too shy", but I need YOUR support as a parent.   That is the biggest roadblock I've found, is parents who are so scared their child is going to 'fail' or embarrass themselves, that they're too afraid to help push them out of their nest.   I understand, I'm a parent too.   You will have to be the judge of if you can support this class... and if you can do that, I firmly believe your child, no matter how shy, can overcome it.   They may not turn into the best actors on the planet, or even the most outgoing, but they can improve and grow and do things they never imagined.   (I'm a little passionate about this issue:)  

Although, I can say that I've worked with some VERY painfully shy children... or at least they were at the beginning of the year!   We play a lot of improv and ice breaker games at the start of the year.   It helps kids get loosened up and make friends within the class.   A HUGE part of "drma" is teamwork and knowing who you are working with!!   It is a great way to make new friends.   As far as being shy about performing or talking in front of others, I start of sloly, having them do a lip sync as their first 'performance'.   All this requires is for you to stand in front of people and mouth words.   And that is ALL some of my kids could do.   They were too nervous to do anything more.   One of my students was shaking so badly, but she did it!!   She was in the CHEER production, speaking part and all, just a few short months later!!!     I try to find what works with each individual child and I do NOT treat all the children the same.   I have higher expectations from those who don't have to overcome shyness first... but I do try to find a way to prod them slowly out of their comfort zone!!   Just look at Garrett Bogard:)   He was one of the shyest people I had met before doing the play last year... then you see him in "Rapunzel"   or even doing "Thriller" at dance lessons and you wouldn't know he's the same person.   His mother tells me often how much her shy children have changed over the course of doing a play and   drama class!  

None.   That's why I don't charge a fortune, I guess.   I have a love for drama and a love for working with children and young adults.   My main reason for teaching is to give me more opportunity to watch them grow, come out of their shells and learn to express themselves in new ways.   I have experience IN community theater, acting, directing, costuming, being a stage parent, etc.   Everything I teach, I've learned through my experiences and also my research.   In me, the only qualifications you're going to see is a love of what I do, and a passion for it!