P811X

We are thrilled to have been asked back to P811X, a bilingual high school for students with multi-disabilities. Teaching artist Romy Nordlinger recently completed a Sociodrama residency where students and teachers used improvisation to approach such topics as respect, bullying, social behavior, friendship and anger and violence. Teaching artists Michael Piazza and Ana Holly are also at the school engaged in Creative Drama with additional classes after school.

P224Q

Teaching artist Lauren Gobes returns this year with another Sociodrama program made possible (in part) by the Queens Council on the Arts with funding by the Arts in Education Program at the New York State Council on the Arts. Three classes of special education students will use props and costumes while exploring social issues through improvisation.

This column is in memory of Carl Roye Jr., one of IDEAS' first student participants. He was a shining star who passed on too young.  Look here for inspiring stories of how IDEAS' programs touch students' lives and how students touch our lives.

During an IDEAS Sociodrama residency at a special education high school in the Bronx I was introduced to a student named Vickie. Her teachers told me that she had severe behavior issues. They warned me to be careful when she was in a dark mood. When Vickie was angry chairs would literally fly; anything near her would be kicked or pummeled as she screamed and wailed. Otherwise Vickie was strikingly quiet, even shy. She looked down a lot, not wanting to meet eyes with anyone. It took 3 weeks for Vickie to join the activities. In the first 2 weeks she sat out with her head down. She did not act in any of the scenes but was very attentive and it was clear she was enjoying watching, being part of the group. At the close we passed a handshake and her eyes contacted other eyes with a smile. In the fourth week Vickie chose to be the "lighting person" which meant taking responsibility for turning the lights on and off to set the start and end of the scene. The following week Vickie was sullen and withdrawn.  She didn't want to join us.  Suddenly she erupted into violence. Chairs flew, a teacher was hit in the face. The other students watched silently as she was pulled out of the room by three large men. Her anger was fierce and out of control.

With the residency ending soon I was relieved to find Vickie in better spirits the following week. Ironically our theme for drama that day was "Anger and Violence". Vickie watched my partner, Michael Piazza, and I with wide eyes as we improvised a scene where my character kicked a table, a chair and yelled with anger. The ensuing discussion concluded that it is ok to be angry and that we all get angry at times. It also revealed better ways to handle our anger. Many ideas came up: talking to someone, telling a teacher, counting until the anger calmed, breathing, or just walking away from the situation. When we asked the students to replace my character as the "angry person" but with some of our newly discussed ideas, to our amazement, Vickie volunteered!  We set her up in the improv and, as the role called for, when her character became angry she stopped, turned and walked away as was one of the suggestions. The whole class then acknowledged what she had done.  She sat silently, and smiled.  We applauded. At the end we discussed the scene, and this time Vickie became involved in the discussion. We asked her how she felt when she was playing the angry character and she said only one word: sad. Her sadness came from her occasional inability to do in real-life, what she had just done in character. Until now she could only express herself by being violent. This improvised scene helped show her that she did have the ability to control herself and shine in a  positive light.  

                                         Romy Nordlinger  

Face to Face

On February 24^th, 2011 Lisa Dennett sat on a panel with colleagues from the Arts in Special Education Consortium at the NYC Arts in Education Roundtable's annual conference Face to Face. The panel, Professional Development Models for Teaching Artists in Special Education Classrooms, discussed three models of successful training for teaching artists working in special education. Lisa highlighted IDEAS' shadow residencies, where two teaching artists shadow a more experienced teaching artist before taking the lead themselves.

Why Good Work Works

We are once again sponsoring the Arts in Special Education Consortium annual conference, supported by the New York State Council on the Arts, a state Agency. The annual conference will be held on Monday April 11^th with the subtitle Real World Application. The event is for all who have a vested interest in the arts for learning and teaching of students enrolled in special education.