The Art of Teaching
We all have memories of our favorite teachers from childhood,
the ones who appreciated us and helped us discover our own strengths.
Every day I strive to make connections with children, to teach them effective ways
of expressing all the different things they are feeling.
Whether I'm teaching disability awareness or how to write a play, there are certain messages that resound throughout my lessons: that, as different as we are, we all have feelings; and we all need constructive, nonviolent ways of expressing how we feel.
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Here's some information about the organizations I've worked with:
KIDS PROJECT NYC Public Educator,
2001-Present
For 25 years, the Kids Project has used drama, song, and puppetry to increase children's understanding of people with disabilities. We offer age-appropriate programs for students from pre-K to junior high. Our organization is funded by grants from the city and state of New York, and recently won an award for public service in New York City.
Since 2001, I've been a member of the
Kids Project's Queens team; I've also presented disability-awareness programs in
the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn.
The Great Neck Arts Center is a non-profit organization
devoted to the visual and performing arts. Since 1996, it has been
affiliated with the Kennedy Center Partner in the Arts Institute. GNAC
serves not only Great Neck but also the surrounding communities.
I teach
a variety of drama programs for the Great Neck Arts Center, for students ranging
from kindergarten to eighth grade.
City Parks Foundation is the only independent, nonprofit
organization to offer programming in parks throughout the five boroughs of New
York City. CPF's Education programs connect
teachers, students and families to local parks by providing hands-on activities
that meet specific community needs and public educational standards.
I am
the Site Coordinator for CPF's Literacy and Health Program at the Passerelle
Building in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. I have developed my
own literacy curriculum for the children who go to that site after
school; I also help supervise other activities such as homework help,
arts and crafts, and tennis lessons in the spring.
Junior Levels is a nonprofit youth center housed in
the Great Neck Library. It has offered free arts workshops for students in
fifth and sixth grades for over thirty years.
I have led workshops in Playwriting and Musical Theatre
Writing at Junior Levels. At the end of the process, students present
their original plays at the Junior Levels Showcase, which is a free event open
to the community. I was also co-teacher for the Camp Junior Levels
project in Summer
2006.
TASC TEACH AFTER 3 Section Instructor, Spring 2005-Spring
2006
The After School Corporation (TASC) provides grants, training, and technical assistance to more than 130 community-based organizations in New York; its mission is to ensure that all children will have access to free, quality after-school programs by the year 2010.
I worked as a team leader in TASC's Teach After 3 program, training after-school teachers in the skills they need to do this important job. STUDIO CREATIVE
PLAY Drama Specialist,
Winter 2006
Studio Creative Play is a non-profit organization
dedicated to inspiring holistic creative enrichment and expression, and artistic
visibility and promotion to all age groups.
I work with the
three- and four-year-olds at Studio Creative Play, encouraging them to make
believe and act out the stories we read together. I have also visited with
the two-year-old group, supervising their singing and painting
activities.
The Creative Center is a community of artists, cancer patients and survivors, trustees, donors, and friends who are dedicated to bringing creative arts to people living with cancer.
Each year I lead a four-week
workshop at the Creative Center, where participants
explore the basics of songwriting and share work with one another. We
examine a range of song forms, and practice writing in each form. My
songwriting workshop was discussed on
Get Connected with Christine
Nagy, a public affairs program on 106.7 Lite-FM.
Founded by Barbara Zinn
Krieger, Making Books Sing commissions new musicals for young audiences;
meanwhile, its education branch works in classrooms to help students develop
their own musical plays.
As a teaching artist with Making Books Sing, I have
led twelve-week residencies with students (K-5) to create original scripts, with
music and lyrics, based on favorite books they've read in the
classroom.WINGSPAN ARTS After-school Teacher, Fall
2004
Wingspan provides innovative after-school arts workshops for school-aged children. In the fall of 2004, I taught an eighteen-week course called Songs On Stage, where second- and third-grade children worked together to write original scenes and songs. Click here to see pictures from one of our rehearsals: 1 2 3 4 5
CHILD'S PLAY TOURING THEATRE Performer, Summer
2004
Since 1979, Child's Play Touring Theatre has adapted the writings of children into funny and vibrant material for performance. Child's Play maintains a troupe of professional performers who travel around the country and perform material by children, for children.
In the summer of 2004, I had the pleasure of working as a performer with Child's Play. I joined the company for the Connecticut leg of its Northeastern tour, and including a performance for the
Westport Country Playhouse.
SPIRIT OF BROADWAY Teaching
Artist, Winter 2004
Following the production of my play Benjamin Starling at the Spirit of Broadway Theatre, I visited with the fifth graders from Nathan Hale Elementary School who had seen the play. I led an interactive workshop where I had the opportunity to talk with the kids about playwriting, and answer their questions about the writing process. The students spent some of their time in groups, discussing ideas for original plays; afterward, we came together and talked about their ideas. Pictures: 1 2 3 4 5
NYU HIGH SCHOOL SUMMER PROGRAM Assistant Teacher, Summer
2001
In the
summer of 2001, I worked as a student teacher in a musical theatre writing
course for high school students. The program was offered by NYU's Graduate
Musical Theatre Writing Program, where I earned my MFA.
BIG APPLE TUTORING Tutor,
2000-2001
Latin I-V, Writing (grades 6-8), Spanish I-III, Social Studies, Maths I-III.
Since 1998, the Encores! education department has sent teaching artists into New York City public schools to help students write original songs and learn about the history of musical theatre. As a teaching artist, I worked with high school and junior high school students to develop original song lyrics. I also participated in a teacher training workshop.
Alphagram offers an innovative line of products that help children learn to read, using an approach that blends phonics with whole-language learning. Alphagram products are designed to be particularly effective for children with dyslexia and other learning disabilities.
As an assistant at Alphagram from 1999 to 2000, I met with professional educators at the International Dyslexia Association and other conferences. I also served as editorial assistant for the first edition of the reading textbook
Ready, Set, Read!
