Going Back to Teaching in Person
On July 31, I will be going back to teaching improv in person. The last time I taught in person was March of 2020. It's been a long time.
The world has changed and so have I.
I have learned a lot by teaching on Zoom and I look forward to continuing to do so.
I am one of the fortunate ones. I got to keep teaching what I love to do online. I survived and at times even thrived. I am grateful that I got to work with some of the best improvisers all over the country who taught me a lot.
One of the things that I enjoyed about teaching on Zoom, is that I had to approach teaching with a beginner’s mind, which means that I had to look at things as if I was seeing them for the first time. It was stressful at first, learning both the technical and the artistic side at the same time, but after asking for a shitload of help from other teachers, I eventually thrived.
Through teaching online, I became a better teacher. I learned to be more patient, more positive, and more compassionate to my students. I started looking for what the students were doing right and stop trying to fix them.
The students kept telling me how important it was for them to be able to continue to take improv classes, even though they couldn’t do it in person, and how much they looked forward to class every week. It became more than just teaching improv — it became a way to give people the human connection they craved as they stayed isolated in their homes.
Going back to teaching in-person classes and workshops seems new to me, and I am sure as I get closer to the date, I will get nervous, just like I did when I started teaching on Zoom.
And while I’m really looking forward to it, I’m sure it’s going to be emotional on that first day back in person when we do our first warm-up game together. It’s been a long time, and I’ve really missed you all.
I hope you can join us. I would love to see you in person.