...But instead of math it's improv.
I recently began teaching improv to kids at a school in Bucktown in their after school program. The program is interesting. The school paired with Columbia College to get over one hundred kids who have been signed up by their parents to stay after school and learn art or music or dance or theatre. So, since it is a program they've been signed up for by busy parents who want their kids to be more involved in things, most of these kids have only mild interest in what they've been signed up for. They do enjoy being there, but very very very few are yearning to learn how to improvise. Most of them don't really know what it is. They just know it's supposed to be funny.
Another thing about these kids. There are forty-five of them in our group. They've been split into three groups according to their age: 3rd graders, 4th and 5th, and 6th and 7th graders. That age difference is HUGE. These kids also don't have recess or gym class, so after school they are ready to explode.
First Day
My first day I was given the older kids first. Great! I love older kids! This is the age group that I taught theatre and improv games to before...at a suburban theatre camp...for nerdy theatre freaks. These were urban teens who wanted to be cool so bad that it pained me. I like them though and I know I really will. Alex kept acting out, but the second I said his name he would come straight to my side and participate. I can tell he likes comedy. When I was introducing zip, zap, zop he said to me "We're adults". To which I replied, "I do this stuff with adults, so show me you are an adult by doing it too."
Alex: Can we swear?
Me: Guys. If you can't even begin to play zip zap zop, then there is no way we would even get to the point where swearing would come up.
I love the 7th grade girls. Alejandra seems really shy, but like she wants to talk to me. She doesn't seem like she has a lot of friends. Harmony Star insists I call her Harmony Star, not Harmony or Star. She is the only white girl and kind of punkish. Destiny is fun, very tomboyish. Mahogany is a very smart girl who is full of personality and sass. She is a big ham and a ton of fun, but already I can tell she feels the need to always be in the spotlight. Brandon and Alex are the guys, very urban, and very sweet despite their initial attitudes. I am excited to see them next time.
I had a huge change of pace when the 3rd graders came to me. They all ran up to me, already wanting to hug me. They were excited about everything.
It's weird realizing I have an influence on them right now and that anything I say or do they will tell their parents. Good or bad. It's crazy to think how much everything affects kids.
Second Day
Again, older kids first, but this time I totally won them over. It was like they decided improv was cool and they were committed to learning how to doing it. I taught them yes, and and we did three line scenes to incorporate that. They loved it. I mean absolutely loved it. I was stunned. Even the shy girls were having a great time. Alejandra was really good at this as was Mahogany, but I knew she would be. Brandon was hysterical and made me realize that these kids are so different from how I was when I was their age.
Brandon's initiation: "I'm a pimp and I have three girlfriends."
See? Real different.
When we were done Alex asked me if we would do this again next time.
The third graders are the most fun. And very tiring. They love pushing each other for some reason. Christopher, a sweet and quiet little boy, gave me a hug the second he saw me.
I had the 4th and 5th graders for the first time and they were insane. I met my first hostile student- LaJayda. She did not want to do anything. I asked her to participate and she looked me straight in the eyes and said "No. I'm not doing it." So I left her alone.
Third Day
I was very excited to continue teaching the 7th graders more about yes, and. But there was a new kid. A "cool" new kid with a goofy mohawk haircut who clearly hit puberty before the other boys so he looked like a sixteen year old. This kid through everything off. Suddenly everyone was back to being embarrassed and too cool to play around. But if the new kid, Zen, decided to do something then they would do it to. Alex, who previously wanted to do stuff again, now hung out on the side trying to tell Zen "what's good". I'm definitely learning more street talk. I just hope everyone gets over this kid. I feel like shaking everyone and saying "he's not even that cool! None of you are! You are all gangly, oily thirteen year olds."
The fourth and fifth graders were amazing today. We did a really animated conducted story. The boy in this group is super violent and every time I pointed to him he murdered everyone in the story and made it a war. So then I made it a game that every time someone died in the stories I would make everyone let out a cry. They really enjoyed that and they really caught on to the stories, fully paying attention to each detail. It was a great way to end the day.
At the end of the day Alejandra followed me out and showed me pictures of her baby cousin.
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