Notes on storytelling and improv, great 1st day as an ADE

From now till tomorrow we are going to do intros and have fun!

Empire room is setup with G5s

Wireless access in all the meeting rooms

150 black badges tomorrow: ADE alums

We are authors, advisors, advocates

He who learns from one who is learning drinks from a flowing river

ADE Advisory Board
– Rae Niles (Segwick, KS
– Larry Anderson
– Elaine Wrenn
– Pat Conlan
– Gayle Berthiaume
– Carl Owens

you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink, unless you salt the hay
– don’t worry about being tired

Larry comments
– believes that the ADE week will change your life

Comments from Elaine
– tech coord in Echo Horizons, CA
– this really is like a family
– make connections and build relationships
– reach out to others

Pat Conlan
– consultant for NYC schools
– teaches teachers and students how to use technology

Gayle
– from Minnesota
–

Carl Owens
– professor and director of tech at Tennessee Tech University
– likes to iSight into his classes
– has a real passion for what he does

feels a little like a 12 step program?!

Now: Rebecca Stockley– The Improv Lady!
– works with Pixar team, works with 100s of them to try and tell a story
– next few hours we are going to do some experiential learning with improv theater methods
– she teaches improvinization to teach story, acting, team building, collaboration, creativity
– heart of her work is still people who want to do improv on the stage

excitement and fear have the same sort of physical dynamic
– teachers about tolerance for ambiguity
– teaches about how the journey is the important part, and the destination is not

In Japan she was challenged to think of what did not use language
– did ‘thank you game’

going to share some of this feeling of not being exactly secure on what you are teaching

Ask us: “What is our intention in being here?”

one of us wants to be a “passion scout”
– may your heart’s deepest desire meet a need in the world

stay in touch with your intentions and your feet will be light!

One word at a time story
– offer just one word at a time
– keep the story making sense
– be obvious
– honor the story that is being told
– share control

This is about giving and taking control

Activities with improv and storytelling
– Use “But Yes”
– Use “but no”
– alternate one person ‘but yes’ the other ‘but no’
– when both do ‘but yes’ you are scaffolding on each other’s ideas

When teaching improv, we have to teach people to fail and then let go quickly of that failure rather than hanging on to it
– we must practice release: letting go, rather than hanging on
– removes self-judgement
– learn to do the “failure bow”

Dolphin training
– 1 person in the group leaves so they cannot hear what group decides they will be rewarded to do upon return
– reward by saying “ding” as person gets closer to doing the desired behavior
– more training the group at being good rewarders than training the person
– we naturally tend to exhibit behaviors of checking our own work
– this game cheers people up

Play with groups of 3
– “it is impossible for anyone to learn that which he thinks he already knows.” – Epictetus

Think less, do more
– stick with real things for this activity
– another story game, this time a broken down hero’s story:

The Story Spine by Kenn Adams
– Once upon a time….
– Every day ….
– But one day ….
– Because of that …..
– Because of that …..
– Because of that …..
– Until finally ….
– Ever since that day …..

Optional: the moral of the story is…..

Honor the story structure
– now we will do limericks
– improv is completely disposible!

“Apple Camp” used to be camp and they had a 24 hour project

Projects, not homework
– kids don’t see projects as homework, projects have an affective link and emotional tie, projects can live in their heart
– they live on beyond the class\

What do we know about projects
– messy
– iterative
– creative
– powerful
– collaborative
– fun
– chaotic
– real world
– ongoing
– authentic

ADEs tend to be
– high achievers, leaders, etc..
– this can be a challenge when “leaders” form project teams

DRI = directly responsible individual