I was teaching TAP’s “World Theatre” curriculum at a school in Round Rock, in which we take the students on imaginary adventures around the world. In each lesson, the teaching artist leaves the classroom, puts on a costume piece in the hallway, and then re-enters as a “Teacher in Role” tour guide. I’m not sure how I got the idea, but when I re-entered the classroom as our tour guide, and the students asked me where Miss Natalie was, I told them that I was pretty sure I had seen her in the hotel, relaxing in the hot tub, eating chocolate cake and strawberries! The students laughed, and we proceeded with our lesson, doing narrative pantomime explorations of the Great Coral Reef. At the end of the lesson, I said “Hey, I have an idea! Let’s draw some pictures of all the fun things we did so that Miss Natalie can see, and she’ll be jealous, and then next time she’ll come with us instead of being boring and hanging out in the hotel!” The students drew lots of pictures of the beach, the ocean, the coral reef, etc., and a couple wrote things like “Sorry you missed all of the fun!” One drew a picture of me in the hot tub! I couldn’t stop laughing.
Natalie Goodnow
TAP Artistic Associate
