FIPP Activity Report
Name: Professor Pieter Jan Van Niel, PhD
Date: 9/17/10
Department: Theatre Arts
FIPP Partner: Marilyn Briggs
Section #: 9580
Activity/Strategy: Constitution
Category: Classroom Expectations
Introduction: Theatre 1 (Introduction to Drama) presents an overview of all aspects of theatre--theory
and criticism, play scripting, acting, directing, technical theatre, etc. As such, a great deal of material
needs to be covered quickly and succinctly. Since the class is structured around jigsaw applications, it is
imperative that students attend regularly and come prepared to present and to work. Also, since all the
classes are highly enrolled (50, 42, and 35 presently), class behaviors are extremely important: late
arrivals, getting off-task, interrupting others, being rude or offensive, and the like cannot even begin to
happen. Moreover, I work to have an open, encouraging, protected, and empowering learning
environment for all students--whether facile learners or not--and it is vital that the class learns to
function as an interactive supportive gestalt. The created Constitution resulted from student group
work; debating of the values of including different concepts and phrases; agreement on the importance
of behaviors such as respect, courtesy, class engagement, honesty, preparedness, cooperation, etc.
Set-up & Supplies: Chairs rearranged into groups as needed; groups moved to discrete parts of the
classroom in order to work independently of other groups; groups brought forward agreed upon items
they thought important for inclusion; class discussion debates settled the items. Poster board and
magic markers are being used to create large versions of the 8x11 versions each student gets; the large
versions will be hung on the class room wall.
Directions: The class groups must come up with one or two items the members agree will be important
in the constitution; the groups present to one another; the class debates, settles on, and organizes the
articles; volunteers put the constitutions together; each class member gets a copy.
What worked well? The groups enjoyed creating and empowering themselves, taking responsibility to
use the need for cohesiveness in order to get lazy students to class and keep them involved. The class
debates on what to put in or leave out were energetic, confronting, and exciting; the consensus that
resulted left everyone satisfied with having been an important part of the process. They have often
turned to the constitutional items and articles (you need to get here on time, don't keep interrupting,
respect that person's ideas and culture, etc.) to keep each other on task and the class healthy.
What would you change? I would make some kind of clever award (a gift certificate to a local eatery)
for the person who articulates the large poster and designs the final product.
Would you use the activity again? I will use this activity in every class from now on. I don't have to
have the "late paper pleadings" anymore, since the students have all agreed in the constitution on an
absolute schedule of penalties and cut-off dates. They police each other's classroom behaviors.
Student learning and/or changes observed after implementation of activity/strategy: Students are
more willing to confront difficult learning topics since they have others to help; more able to encourage
one another to do necessary work, to arrive on time, to not be absent; more comfortable with
presenting to the entire class; more excited about taking responsibility for getting at learning matter;
more fun with the natural social structure of the group; more able to stick to clearly defined demands.
FIPP Activity Report
Name: Professor Pieter Jan Van Niel, PhD
Date: 9/17/10
Department: Theatre Arts
FIPP Partner: Marilyn Briggs
Section #: 9581
Activity/Strategy: Constitution
Category: Classroom Expectations
Introduction: Theatre 1 (Introduction to Drama) presents an overview of all aspects of theatre--theory
and criticism, play scripting, acting, directing, technical theatre, etc. As such, a great deal of material
needs to be covered quickly and succinctly. Since the class is structured around jigsaw applications, it is
imperative that students attend regularly and come prepared to present and to work. Also, since all the
classes are highly enrolled (50, 42, and 35 presently), class behaviors are extremely important: late
arrivals, getting off-task, interrupting others, being rude or offensive, and the like cannot even begin to
happen. Moreover, I work to have an open, encouraging, protected, and empowering learning
environment for all students--whether facile learners or not--and it is vital that the class learns to
function as an interactive supportive gestalt. The created Constitution resulted from student group
work; debating of the values of including different concepts and phrases; agreement on the importance
of behaviors such as respect, courtesy, class engagement, honesty, preparedness, cooperation, etc.
Set-up & Supplies: Chairs rearranged into groups as needed; groups moved to discrete parts of the
classroom in order to work independently of other groups; groups brought forward agreed upon items
they thought important for inclusion; class discussion debates settled the items. Poster board and
magic markers are being used to create large versions of the 8x11 versions each student gets; the large
versions will be hung on the class room wall.
Directions: The class groups must come up with one or two items the members agree will be important
in the constitution; the groups present to one another; the class debates, settles on, and organizes the
articles; volunteers put the constitutions together; each class member gets a copy.
What worked well? The groups enjoyed creating and empowering themselves, taking responsibility to
use the need for cohesiveness in order to get lazy students to class and keep them involved. The class
debates on what to put in or leave out were energetic, confronting, and exciting; the consensus that
resulted left everyone satisfied with having been an important part of the process. They have often
turned to the constitutional items and articles (you need to get here on time, don't keep interrupting,
respect that person's ideas and culture, etc.) to keep each other on task and the class healthy.
What would you change? I would make some kind of clever award (a gift certificate to a local eatery)
for the person who articulates the large poster and designs the final product.
Would you use the activity again? I will use this activity in every class from now on. I don't have to
have the "late paper pleadings" anymore, since the students have all agreed in the constitution on an
absolute schedule of penalties and cut-off dates. They police each other's classroom behaviors.
Student learning and/or changes observed after implementation of activity/strategy: Students are
more willing to confront difficult learning topics since they have others to help; more able to encourage
one another to do necessary work, to arrive on time, to not be absent; more comfortable with
presenting to the entire class; more excited about taking responsibility for getting at learning matter;
more fun with the natural social structure of the group; more able to stick to clearly defined demands.
FIPP Activity Report
Name: Professor Pieter Jan Van Niel, PhD
Date: 9/17/10
Department: Theatre Arts
FIPP Partner: Marilyn Briggs
Section #: 9582
Activity/Strategy: Constitution
Category: Classroom Expectations
Introduction: Theatre 8 (Introduction to Acting) presents an overview of all aspects of acting--theory
and criticism, approaches, styles, improvisation, technical and training aspects, how to create and refine
a character, etc. As such, a great deal of material needs to be covered quickly and succinctly. Since the
class is structured around jigsaw applications, it is imperative that students attend regularly and come
prepared to present and to work. Also, since all the classes are highly enrolled (50, 42, and 35 students
presently), class behaviors are extremely important: late arrivals, getting off-task, interrupting others,
being rude or offensive, and the like cannot even begin to happen. Moreover, I work to have an open,
encouraging, protected, and empowering learning environment for all students--whether facile learners
or not--and it is vital that the class learns to function as an interactive supportive gestalt. The created
Constitution resulted from student group work; debating of the values of including different concepts
and phrases; agreement on the importance of behaviors such as respect, courtesy, class engagement,
honesty, preparedness, cooperation, etc.
Set-up & Supplies: Chairs rearranged into groups as needed; groups moved to discrete parts of the
classroom in order to work independently of other groups; groups brought forward agreed upon items
they thought important for inclusion; class discussion debates settled the items. Poster board and
magic markers are being used to create large versions of the 8x11 versions each student gets; the large
versions will be hung on the class room wall.
Directions: The class groups must come up with one or two items the members agree will be important
in the constitution; the groups present to one another; the class debates, settles on, and organizes the
articles; volunteers put the constitutions together; each class member gets a copy.
What worked well? The groups enjoyed creating and empowering themselves, taking responsibility to
use the need for cohesiveness in order to get lazy students to class and keep them involved. The class
debates on what to put in or leave out were energetic, confronting, and exciting; the consensus that
resulted left everyone satisfied with having been an important part of the process. They have often
turned to the constitutional items and articles (you need to get here on time, don't keep interrupting,
respect that person's ideas and culture, etc.) to keep each other on task and the class healthy.
What would you change? I would make some kind of clever award (a gift certificate to a local eatery)
for the person who articulates the large poster and designs the final product.
Would you use the activity again? I will use this activity in every class from now on. I don't have to
have the "late paper pleadings" anymore, since the students have all agreed in the constitution on an
absolute schedule of penalties and cut-off dates. They police each other's classroom behaviors.
Student learning and/or changes observed after implementation of activity/strategy: Students are
more willing to confront difficult learning topics since they have others to help; more able to encourage
one another to do necessary work, to arrive on time, to not be absent; more comfortable with
presenting to the entire class; more excited about taking responsibility for getting at learning matter;
more fun with the natural social structure of the group; more able to stick to clearly defined demands.
FIPP Activity Report
Other activities being utilized:
1 Hand-out of all expected theatre student behaviors; learning focus points; mission and practice
statements; reality-based theatre approach taught in my program; expected attitudes. The same
materials are also included in each syllabus. I have done this for many years.
2. All kinds of group work. I have done those for years.
3. Self-reflective statement that will also culminate in an end-out self-reflective statement. A
shortened version of the essay is written by the student in each respective syllabus; also space for the
end-out one-liner.
4. Each class begins with music that the students are now picking; each class ends with a "what I
learned" quick statement from each student.
5. Students take notes and date them; they then do a reflective entry in their journal.
6. The journal is emphasized and utilized as a learning tool: two kinds of journaling are encouraged-each class day learning entry and pure outside class observation entries and reflections.
7. One-on-one counseling sessions are structured at the end of each learning unit, but many have
already begun.
8. The calendar and activity maps are being utilized by some students.
9. The self reflective statements had a "picture of me" follow up that the students enjoyed the most
out of all the activities. We will use affirmations later in the classes.
10. I have committed to be on time to each class and to meet and exceed all office hours: I am
absolutely and unequivocally succeeding closing out my third week, and I will never cease these
commitments--students love to drop by and see me just to say hi, and students in the Y area know
they can get help and answers from me even if they are not in my classes.
Future plans:
1. I plan to use the late paper and professor stories later on. I also have some of my own.
2. My partner and I are going to visit each others' classrooms at least twice during the semester.
Theatre classes are developing skits to assist ESL learning activities; we plan to get some of the ESL
students involved in the skits. We plan to video those activities.
Submitted,
Pieter Jan (PJ) Van Niel, PhD, Professor of Theatre/English/Speech