First couple days with Brad

These first days with Brad have been amazing!  I find myself asking so many questions and seeing everything in a new light.  For some things, I’m completely changing my mind about how I teach or view a principle, on others, my methods are encouraged and improved.  What is most interesting to me is how differently Brad can teach when he has a class for several hours per week.  He can go at the pace of his students’ curiosity, which can lead to better learning as new ideas and techniques are discoveries rather than instructions.  Students have more ownership over the material, and are less likely to forget.  This is not to say that other methods aren’t useful.  On the contrary, in a rehearsal situation, speedy instruction is often the best (or only) option, but it’s great to see stage combat taught in such a relaxed environment.  For the purposes of my grant, I’ll have to look at the methods that Brad uses and see how I can apply them to the steeper learning curve of rehearsal.