Putting Together A Tech Theatre Unit

Episode 178: Putting Together A Tech Theatre Unit Drama Teacher Josh Hatt does not have a background in Tech Theatre. In fact he shied away from teaching it for years. But when it became part of his curriculum, he dove in with both feet. It was a great experience and now he’ll never shy away from tech again! Listen in to learn how he developed his eight week unit exploring lights, sound, costume, make-up and staging. You too can teach tech! Show Notes Drama Teacher Academy Blank Scenes Example Mary Poppins as a Horror Movie The Shining as a comedy Episode Transcript Welcome to the Drama Teacher Podcast brought to you by Theatrefolk – the Drama teacher resource company. I’m Lindsay Price. Hello! I hope you're well. Thanks for listening! This is Episode 178 and you can find any links to this episode in the show notes which are at Theatrefolk.com/episode178. Today, we are talking tech and putting together a tech theatre unit. Hands up, how many of you fear tech? How many of you avoid including it in your program? Well, our podcast guest today was in the exact same boat as you. Now, he is a total tech convert. So, let’s get to it! LINDSAY: All right, I am speaking with Josh Hatt. Hello, Josh! JOSHUA: Hello, Lindsay! LINDSAY: All right, tell everybody in the world where you are right now. JOSHUA: I am starting my second year at an international school in Shanghai, China. LINDSAY: I love the internet. Not always! We had a little difficulty connecting but we’re here now and I think it’s amazing. It’s evening where I am and morning where you are. JOSHUA: Yes, it’s Friday morning. It was funny because I was trying to coordinate what time we were doing this and, now, I’m back and I’m twelve hours ahead of you guys. So, we’re like, “Okay, Thursday night at 8:00.” I’m like, “Wait, what does that actually mean for me? I don’t remember.” LINDSAY: Twelve is pretty good, though. You know, it’s when I get the most trouble when I’m even dealing with coordinating Mountain time and Pacific time. It’s like, “Okay, you are this time, I am this time. We’re all good.” So, this is your second year at this school. Just how is that going? What is it like to teach in an international school in China? JOSHUA: It’s amazing. We work at an American school. And so, it’s not much different, honestly, than any of the international schools as far as curriculum-wise. I’ve done the MYP curriculum before. This school, they do a lot of common core. It’s incredible and, because it’s a private school, we’re really lucky. I luck out. I get to work in this beautiful two-story black box theatre and I get to take little sixth, seventh, and eighth graders through a little dramatic journey through there. It’s magical. We kind of joke all the time. I was like, “I work at Disneyland! This is amazing!” LINDSAY: You know what, that’s a pretty fun description of teaching theatre. I love that! JOSHUA: It’s amazing. LINDSAY: I’m very excited, actually, about what we’re going to talk about today because I know that this is something that teachers are asking us and pleading with us all the time – how do I do tech theatre? How do I teach tech theatre? The fact that you’re doing it with middle school students, I think,