Mr. Chad’s Amazing Students

by Chad Dike, Teaching Artist at Widen Elementary School

I thought my last blog of my first year teaching for Theatre Action Project (TAP) would be best used to showcase my amazing students. Here is a story my Pre-K created in class.

Once upon a time there was a normal Pre-K Class.

And every day they drew on each other and painted Mr. Chad.

Until one day the school fell down because of a tornado.

And because of that the students turned into little tornadoes.

Until they got stuck in a tree

Then they had to jump down and the sky fell on top of them.  And because of that they decided to listen to their teacher and only draw on paper

And then they had a party, did the peanut butter jelly dance, and had cake!

Chad is a first year Teaching Artist for TAP and is finishing the school year at Widen Elementary in Austin.

Meet Mr. Monster

by Chad Dike, Teaching Artist at Widen Elementary School

Mr. Monster

Most of you out there in the blogosphere don’t know about my assistant teacher. He is an awesome facilitator and a really good friend to me and the students. His name is Mr. Monster. He has been teaching with me since October mostly in my Pre K and Kinder classes. That is until last month when he decided to make an appearance in my 4^th grade class. Ever since that day my students have not been the same.

My 4^th graders and I have been working on creating a performance piece about fighting:

- What it means to fight with someone
- How to deal with a fight, and
- How we feel about fighting in general.

At first they really just wanted to show people punching each other on stage, but we were working to get past that initial impulse. That was all until Mr. Monster came to visit. In his capable–well he doesn’t have hands but you know what I mean–these fight obsessed students have become new students.

So much so they decided to create their own monster puppets: Mr. Monster’s family, a pirate enemy, Super heroes and even their take on a couple of Muppets. When asked how these puppets would add to our performance about fighting, the answer was simple. “We will make a puppet show!” But how will that change our piece you ask? Good question. They are creating a piece about fighting with puppets specifically geared towards Kindergarteners.

How they have grown! The group that wanted to fight onstage now wants to send a message to other students in their community.

Finding Inspiration

by Chad Dike, Teaching Artist at Widen Elementary School

 What inspires me?

This is a hard question to answer in any succinct way. I am inspired by a lot of things. It just depends on the day, or even the time of day. For example, right now at 8:32 a.m. I am inspired by my coffee. It’s hot, wakes me up, and gets me ready for the day. I find it very inspiring.

But in reality, I am inspired by a myriad of objects, people, and places.

Here is a brief laundry list of some of the things that inspire me:

1. Good art
2. Smart and interesting people
3. The supply room at Theatre Action Project
4. A good conversation or argument
5. Books (mostly books for children)
6. My wife
7. Traveling
   AND
8. The kids…

And it is the last one, that inspires me when I am at my lowest. Their ability to play and imagine and their willingness to share that with other people can change the course of my day. When a student tells you a story, creates a tableau or just smiles, to me, that’s it. Its why I do what I do.

What inspires you?

I wish…. for more classes like this!

by Chad Dike, Teaching Artist at Widen Elementary School

As we entered the classroom we knew something was wrong.  We had been expecting a birthday party for our friend Horace, the elephant, his 12th to be exact. And what we found was a disaster. The chocolate mousse was merely a smear in the bottom of the bowl, the cheese sandwiches were missing the cheese, and the cookies were only crumbs on a plate. Someone had stolen the feast! But who?  It was up to us, a rag-tag group of 2nd graders to solve the mystery.  Was it Oliver the Pig? (clearly pigs eat a lot) Maybe Eric the Zebra? Or could it be , Kilroy the Mouse? The class set to work, dusting for finger prints and looking for clues.  The first was a note in code, left by the thief. The code could only be broken if you used the thief’s name. But how do we figure that out?!?! An especially sly detective noticed that the cheese was missing. Another detective discovered that the word ‘mousse,’ which was missing from their feast, looked a lot like ‘mouse.’ And then the mouse tracks on the back of the note told us the answer. KILROY!

 

This was my class last Thursday. The students became detectives to solve a crime and used cameras, magnifying glasses, and even some finger prints to find clues. I had a blast, the students had fun, and we used the 4 C’s to do it–critical thinking was imperative to solve the mystery, courageous allies worked together, creative artists went into role as detectives and a few confident leaders stepped up to the plate and took initiative.

 

When tasked with writing the last blog of the semester I felt the need to go back and look at my first blog post “I can’t believe I get paid to do this.”  After four months and over 100 lesson plans, that sentiment still holds true. My wish is for another semester full of creativity, discovery and fun!

Thank You Craft Projects!

by Chad Dike, Teaching Artist, Widen Elementary

I have taught a lot of 2nd graders in my tenure as a teaching artist, but I have never met a crew like my group from Widen.  (Remember the off the wall but fun kids I talked about last time?)

Thanks to the brilliant help of Natalie Goodnow, Artistic Associate at Theatre Action Project, and an extended craft project, they have finally found their focus!  Now I must admit, I have never been a huge “craft-er.” I can make some awesome paper plate hats or a treasure map, but nothing as extensive as a plaster and paint mask with young students till now.

What started as an “easy” mask making project, has now blossomed into a  mask/map/backdrop/model town extravaganza! The students have poured a ton of work into these masks and have begun creating a world around the characters.  This is even spilling over into the class culture, with the creation of “town jobs” (mayor, librarian, coach and teacher) with a corresponding duty in the classroom.

Suffice to say… Thank you craft projects!  You are almost always messy and take longer than expected, but you give my students the ability to creatively express themselves in a new and interesting way!