All the Classroom's a Stage

Rose Burnett Bonczek is a theater educator, director, and consultant with over forty years’ experience in the field. She is coauthor of Turn That Thing Off! Collaboration and Technology in 21st-CenturyActor Training(with Roger Manix and David Storck), Ensemble Theatre Making (with David Storck), and One Minute Plays (with Steve Ansell).Michael Flanagan has taught theater and directed at colleges and universities for over twenty years. He is also a former English and general education professor and a former college administrator in departments of retention and student success, where he has used theater to revise curriculum in freshman seminar, English literature, speech, and other academic disciplines. He currently teaches Drama at Houston Community College.

• PrefaceAcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter 1: Theatrical Concepts Applied To The ClassroomChapter 2: The Teacher as Performance ArtistChapter 3: Creating The Story—Abandoning The Traditional LectureChapter 4: All Of Your Classroom Is A StageChapter 5: Your Students As Your Acting PartnerChapter 6: The Educator As DirectorChapter 7: Your Stage In Action: Using Theater To Teach WritingAppendicesBibliographyAbout the Contributors

In All The Classroom's a Stage, coauthors Flanagan and Burnett Bonczek, both experienced theater educators and directors, provide fantastic suggestions on how instructors can improve their teaching craft by applying principles and exercises common in the world of theater. While these suggestions are primarily directed toward those teaching in colleges, universities, and other institutions of higher learning, the lessons are applicable to teachers of all levels. The theater principles and exercises explored in this volume are a great way to reinvigorate classroom practice, engage with students collaboratively in the education process, and improve the knowledge and experience of emotional intelligence for both the reader and the students with whom they work. The creativity of the processes covered will also help instructors reconsider how they convey information to students and perhaps experiment with methods that are less traditional but more effective. The writing is approachable, fun, and enjoyable. In all, this is a fantastic work that this reviewer highly recommends to anyone attempting to teach in any subject. Highly recommended.