improvisation in the lecture classroom

Traversing the terrain: Developing a personal approach to classroom

improvisation

Disclaimer:

Improvisation is:“the spontaneous selection and

combination of pieces of information to create a unique and effective

communication”

What it’s not

The widest definition

Model: A map of the terrain

Orienteering:

“a family of sports that requires navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain”

Recognition: strictures & expectations

Goal: focus, flow, attention, energy

Ethos: the zone

venues and clienteles

scope and amplitude

Learning styles

Needs:•focus & attention•the “present moment”•detail•wide-angle” & “zoomed-in” perspectives•consciousness:

shape/space/stance/breath/time/energy

Tools:•prompts•mnemonics•timelines•keywords•checklists•verbal formulae•vocabulary•physical cues•weaning from the linear narrative

Sources:•rhetoric•models•verbal poetry•comedy•theater•presentation technique•other communicative forms

Examples/exercises

A Formula•Critique•Experiment•Drill•Synthesis•Refinement•Repetition

I. Mapping exercise1. word-association2. movement3. graphic representation

II. Connotative exercise1. topic2. “student” responses3. adjectival & connotative call-and-

response

Disclaimer:Find your OWN way.