A recent substitute teaching assignment had me in a 6th grade science class. During my lunch break and before my afternoon classes I was in the Teacher's Workroom, which also doubles as their lunchroom/lounge. In striking up a conversation with one of the other teachers and an assistant they ask me who I am subbing for. When I tell them, they both share a look at each other and then the teacher says to me, "Good luck with that B5 class, they are horrible!". I just smile and say something along the lines of "Really..." which of course opens up the conversation to various anecdotes of how bad these kids are. I kept the smile on my face while I listened, but inside I am thinking "great, just great..." I had already figured out that with the students at this particular school, bringing out Senior Chief was just the thing. My limited experience as a substitute teacher had also taught me that expectations expressed were usually met. I decided that since I was warned that I was about to face potentially the worst behaved class ever that I might try a different tactic with these kids. The result was nothing short of amazing.
Minutes before the class was to begin, I opened the door and I stood in the doorway. Now as you all know, I am not an imposing figure by physical size. The first kid, a boy, walks up and without saying a thing tries to walk by me. I put my hand on the door frame and say "Excuse me", which stops him in his tracks, "I did not invite you into my classroom yet." This stunned him and other students that were walking up and watched this exchange. Now that I had his attention (as well as the others), I asked him if he was ready to work and was going to behave in my class. It took him a beat, but he finally verbally answered in the affirmative, at which point I gave him further directions so that he would be ready once class began and I invited him into the classroom. I repeated this process with every single student of this class. Once in class after I introduce myself and take attendance I proceed to fully explain what we are going to do and what my expectations were. I gave them a simple choice, to participate or not, with then understanding that like with all choices, there would be consequences for their choice. Regardless of their choice, the work that I was going over with them still had to be completed by the next class. Also, if they chose not to participate they were expected to sit quietly and not to disrupt our class or anyone else. The last consequence for not participating was that I would be letting their teacher know of their choice.
So, let's recap a bit. I instilled a bit of discipline before they even walked through the door. I communicated exactly what we were going to do, what was expected of them, and that they had a choice to participate or not. Results? Only one student chose not to participate, but complied with the behavior expectations fully. The other students were engaged, enthusiastically participated and truly understood the concepts being taught. The teacher's aide I had in the class with me could not believe these were the same kids. Now, this class was broken up by their lunch break. Before we walked out of the room, I once again gave them my expectations for their behavior in the hallways. No issues what-so-ever. When we came back from lunch, I stopped and stood in the doorway again. Before I could say anything, the first student in line politely asked if they may enter the classroom. the rest of our time together was productive and without incident, the class that was supposed to be the worst, turned out to be the best.
Like math, discipline works.
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Friday, March 20, 2015
Observations from a Rookie Actor
I have been professionally acting for a little more than a year now. I am far from being an expert as an actor or in the knowledge of the industry/business. However, in the past year I have learned a lot of things. Through observation, through trial and error, and by the experience.
Acting may seem like this very glamorous job and lifestyle, but the truth is, for the masses of working actors it is work and the lifestyle is nowhere near the glitz and glamour portrayed. Here are just a handful of those lessons.
You will not get the job more often than "booking it". Acting is "living truthfully". One has to "be in the moment", open and vulnerable. At the same time an actor has to be "thick skinned", because until you have elevated yourself in the industry to the point that you are offered roles outright, you are going to have to audition, or at the very least have your head shot and resume submitted for consideration. Like a baseball player, you are not going to hit a home run or even get a simple hit every time your are submitted or audition for a job. Looking at my success rate of booking jobs in the past year, I had about a .250 batting average. I booked approximately 1-in-4 jobs, that's a 25% success rate, which in turns means I had a 75% failure rate. Still, as a rookie, I think I did pretty good.
A good head shot is critical. Not a selfie, not a school picture, not a corporate professional portrait. What I am talking about are head shots, taken by a photographer that knows how to take head shots. I was fortunate. I was guided to an amazing photographer named Melissa Blue . There are several good head shot photographers here in the Hampton Roads area, but Melissa is IMO the best. She has an incredible eye and a knows how to bring out various aspects of her subject's personalities. That, and she is just a very pleasant and professional person to work with. The importance of a good head shot was driven home when in less than 24 hours after getting my head shots to an agent, the agent was able to book me for one project and get me an audition for another. Good head shots will not guarantee getting a job, but they will definitely help at possibly getting you "in the room" to be seen by the casting directors, producers, director, etc.
Be prepared. At the professional level whether on set or on stage, time is of the essence. The time to learn your lines is NOT when you show up on set or in the rehearsal studio. On set you might get a chance to rehearse the scene, but don't count on it. You character has to be ready. For the stage, rehearsals are for rehearsing, letting the Director try different things, not for to still be memorizing your lines. Getting "off book" as soon as possible will make the rehearsal process/performance more spontaneous and enjoyable. I like to tell the story about the time I showed up for the very first rehearsal for a musical I was cast in and the gentleman who had the lead role showed up 95% off book..AT THE FIRST REHEARSAL! I was amazed and terrified. Since then I have made it a personal goal to memorize/learn what I need to as quickly as possible, even for auditions. It makes a difference. I had a producer once tell me in an audition that he couldn't believe I managed to have two scenes (two different characters) worth of lines memorized...I booked the job.
You start to watch people more, view movies and TV with a different eye. Because acting is about relationships, about listening and reacting, as an actor looking to refine his/her craft you begin watching everyone more closely. Trying to read them. Noticing subtle facial expressions, body language and movements. Someone once said that to be a good actor you have to convince your audience that you're not acting. As an actor with that in mind you start watching other actors and how they accomplish this feat. I had the pleasure working on the House of Cards set and getting what I considered to be a free acting master class. Just watching two actors do take after take of a particular scene (different camera angles, lighting configurations, or because the director or the actors wanted to try something different). I caught myself totally mesmerized in watching these two actors work. It was worth the exhausting day and minimal pay.
Just a couple of lessons, so many more that could be discussed, so many more to be learned. I am off to a rehearsal, to learn lines, or possibly to an audition...such is the life of an actor.
Acting may seem like this very glamorous job and lifestyle, but the truth is, for the masses of working actors it is work and the lifestyle is nowhere near the glitz and glamour portrayed. Here are just a handful of those lessons.
You will not get the job more often than "booking it". Acting is "living truthfully". One has to "be in the moment", open and vulnerable. At the same time an actor has to be "thick skinned", because until you have elevated yourself in the industry to the point that you are offered roles outright, you are going to have to audition, or at the very least have your head shot and resume submitted for consideration. Like a baseball player, you are not going to hit a home run or even get a simple hit every time your are submitted or audition for a job. Looking at my success rate of booking jobs in the past year, I had about a .250 batting average. I booked approximately 1-in-4 jobs, that's a 25% success rate, which in turns means I had a 75% failure rate. Still, as a rookie, I think I did pretty good.
A good head shot is critical. Not a selfie, not a school picture, not a corporate professional portrait. What I am talking about are head shots, taken by a photographer that knows how to take head shots. I was fortunate. I was guided to an amazing photographer named Melissa Blue . There are several good head shot photographers here in the Hampton Roads area, but Melissa is IMO the best. She has an incredible eye and a knows how to bring out various aspects of her subject's personalities. That, and she is just a very pleasant and professional person to work with. The importance of a good head shot was driven home when in less than 24 hours after getting my head shots to an agent, the agent was able to book me for one project and get me an audition for another. Good head shots will not guarantee getting a job, but they will definitely help at possibly getting you "in the room" to be seen by the casting directors, producers, director, etc.
Be prepared. At the professional level whether on set or on stage, time is of the essence. The time to learn your lines is NOT when you show up on set or in the rehearsal studio. On set you might get a chance to rehearse the scene, but don't count on it. You character has to be ready. For the stage, rehearsals are for rehearsing, letting the Director try different things, not for to still be memorizing your lines. Getting "off book" as soon as possible will make the rehearsal process/performance more spontaneous and enjoyable. I like to tell the story about the time I showed up for the very first rehearsal for a musical I was cast in and the gentleman who had the lead role showed up 95% off book..AT THE FIRST REHEARSAL! I was amazed and terrified. Since then I have made it a personal goal to memorize/learn what I need to as quickly as possible, even for auditions. It makes a difference. I had a producer once tell me in an audition that he couldn't believe I managed to have two scenes (two different characters) worth of lines memorized...I booked the job.
You start to watch people more, view movies and TV with a different eye. Because acting is about relationships, about listening and reacting, as an actor looking to refine his/her craft you begin watching everyone more closely. Trying to read them. Noticing subtle facial expressions, body language and movements. Someone once said that to be a good actor you have to convince your audience that you're not acting. As an actor with that in mind you start watching other actors and how they accomplish this feat. I had the pleasure working on the House of Cards set and getting what I considered to be a free acting master class. Just watching two actors do take after take of a particular scene (different camera angles, lighting configurations, or because the director or the actors wanted to try something different). I caught myself totally mesmerized in watching these two actors work. It was worth the exhausting day and minimal pay.
Just a couple of lessons, so many more that could be discussed, so many more to be learned. I am off to a rehearsal, to learn lines, or possibly to an audition...such is the life of an actor.
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