Using Spoken Word Poetry to Engage Reluctant Drama Students

Episode 161: Spoken Word Do you have students who just don’t want to be in your drama class? How many of you are struggling to find a way in? In this podcast teacher Christa Vogt talks about self-preservation, changing expectations (not lowering them), changing plans, and using a spoken word poetry unit to reach her students. She started from scratch and wasn’t afraid to demonstrate the process. Check out her journey! Show Notes Sarah Kay Ted Talk Sarah Kay - Hands Daniel Beaty - Knock Knock Joshua Bennett - Tamara’s Opus Drama Teacher Academy Episode Transcript Welcome to TFP – The Theatrefolk Podcast – the place to be for Drama teachers, Drama students, and Theatre educators everywhere. I’m Lindsay Price, resident playwright for Theatrefolk. Hello! I hope you're well. Thanks for listening! This is Episode 161. You can find any links to this episode in the show notes which are at Theatrefolk.com/episode161. Okay, my friends, my listeners, everyone out there in Podcast Land! See? I go off in a direction; sometimes, it works – that one, not so much! Okay, I have a question for you. I have a question and I know a lot of hands are going to go up, heads are going to nod. Do you have students who just don’t want to be in your Drama class? Have you had students who just didn’t want to be in your class? I know you do. That’s always a question that kind of floored me because, I’m like, “Who doesn’t love Drama? Who doesn’t?” am I right? And I’m not right because there are tons of students out there who are in Drama classes and they don’t necessarily want to be there. Classes are flooded with those students and it’s a struggle to find a way in. So, let’s talk about that. We’re going to talk to a teacher, Christa Vogt, who used spoken word. She didn’t know anything about it, never done it, but took the plunge to use it to find a way in. Let’s hear her story. LINDSAY: Hello, everybody! I am speaking to Christa Vogt. Hello, Christa! CHRISTA: Hi, Lindsay! LINDSAY: How are you today? CHRISTA: I’m great. How are you doing? LINDSAY: I’m doing all right. So, tell everybody where in the world you are. CHRISTA: I am in the southeastern part of Virginia. I teach high school in Virginia Beach and I live in Norfolk which is just a neighboring city. LINDSAY: How long have you been a Drama teacher? CHRISTA: This will be my sixteenth year, but not consecutive. I took three years off after ’08-’09. Took a break and came on back. LINDSAY: Ah! Well, you came back! CHRISTA: Yeah, I did! I wasn’t sure if I was going to but I did. LINDSAY: Yeah, some people don’t. Some people go, “That’s been enough!” but that’s all right. Why Drama and Education? Why was that the bent for you? CHRISTA: Well, quite honestly, I was a figure skater for fifteen years. LINDSAY: No way? CHRISTA: I mean, I did the Disney on Ice, Star Wars on Ice – just performing. When I went to college, you know,