Monday is a professional day with a focus on team building. I loathe team building, which is sort of funny because when I took my hiatus from the world of education I used to get a lot of contract work going into corporations and leading team building activities. The idea of team building appeals to me in theory -- I just find it exhausting to spend a whole day rah-rahing about things that do not really interest me. Monday the staff is going to some kind of obstacle course. It's like I can break myself in half, mentally, and see both versions of myself at once: me at 26 rocking the obstacle course and being the best damn cheerleader in the whole wide world because I am so so so excited about life. And me now, hiding the yawn behind my hand and peeking at my watch, counting how long until I can go home.
I was wondering how I could get out of this when I was phoned by the district and asked to put on a workshop for elementary school teachers who want to "infuse Drama into curricular teaching". Perfect.
I'm not exactly excited about this either, giving a workshop. I do not like posing as an expert, and I definitely do not like being the centre of attention in a roomful of people who expect me to say something intelligent or useful. (I used to act in a theatre company that once performed in a stadium in front of 2500 people and was less anxious about that than I am about giving workshops to groups of 30 people. It's weird, I know, but it's completely different.)
So I don't really like it... but here is the math:
Staff team building goes from 8:00am-3:00pm = 7 hours.
The workshop is from 10:00am-12 noon = 2 hours.
I can be bored for 7 hours or I can be in a state of high anxiety for 20 minutes followed by an hour and 40 minutes of habituation. This wasn't an impulsive decision. It's less painful to give the workshop.
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3 comments:
I would think that the workshop could be fun. "Hey peoples, I am an expert on drama. I watch 'All My Children' and 'The First Wife'!"
I don't know which I'd have chosen, but at least with near-anonymous boredom, your inner life can sustain you. You could even make surreptitious notes about the idiotic things other people say and share them here.
Go for the kids. That's what I say. Kids need drama. Teachers are a funny breed, admittedly. I can say this as I was one. And, of course, you will walk into the school and instantly sense a dire need for team building activities. I think Heart (above) has a very good point, because there will be idiocy aplenty. I should not disrespect my former profession in this way, and I should think it is very different over there. Or possibly not. :-)
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