Todd Wronski's long career in education includes certification as a secondary school teacher in the state of Minnesota. In the course of a career in theatre, Todd has on numerous times served as a substute teacher, and has directed plays for High Schools. He has brought together his experience in the college classroom, high school and junior high school classroom with successful approaches used in directing student and professional actors in theatrical productions to develop two workshops for secondary school teachers:

The Teacher as Actor

The challenge is daunting: 30 students--some sleepy, some all-too awake--with a range of abilities, backgrounds and functional vocabularies that would challenge the best performer. But perfrom the teacher must--five times a day, five times a week. And while the "performance is not artistic per se, the world of acting contains many tried and true ways to communicate with challenging audiences.

In this workshop, actor/director Todd Wronski leads participants through exercises which explore areas of performance including:

*First: Get Their Attention

*It's Not About You, It's About Them

* Actions, Tactics and Objectives

*Clarifying Desired Responses

* Winning!

The workshop is divided into three sections, each of which typically runs just under one hour, accomodating a short break in between each section (variable lengths may be prepared upon request) The first section in "hands on" workshop and introduces participants to a very basic vocabulary that professional actors use in rehearsing and performing. The second secion is lecture.deomonstration, where Professor Wronski leads participants through how these basic acting techniques can best be adapted to the classroom environment. The workshop's final section gets participants on their feet to apply and try these concepts through improvisation and limited role playing in which the classroom envionment is enacted by those who know it be

The Classroom As Theatre

Space makes a difference: how students (or audiences) respond to teaching (or performance) depends on many factors including the relationship of the audience to the performer, and how the "performer" uses the space. This workshop explores the ways in which the classroom creates an environment comparable to a theatre as well as ways in which teaching and learning can benefit from methods emplyed by theatrical profoessionals iin presenting work for audiences. Topics this seminar addresses include:

*Basic Seating Configurations and Their Implications

* Scenery: Creating an Environment for Learning

* Making Technology Support, Not Compete

*Establishing and Maintaining Visual Focus

* How Space and Time is Made Special

This workshop typically takes three hours (variable times available by advance request) and is divides into three sections of just under one hour each, allowing time for two short breaks. The first section is discussion based, and allows participants to share thoughts on classroom configuration, technological circumstances and other factors that affect the classroom environment. The second section is lecture/demonstration, where professor Wronski leads the group through implications raised by variableclassroom spaces and environments. In the final segment, participants experience how differing classroom circumstances affect WHAT material is best presented and HOW material is best presented.

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