Educational Improv Works

How does the brain improvise? We asked a rapper, a jazz pianist and a comedy duo to find out. Scientists have discovered that our brains are shaped by creative behaviors. We explore the secrets of improvisation, with GoldLink, pianist Jason Moran, and a comedy duo from Upright Citizens Brigade.

Young Americans are the loneliest, surprising study from Cigna shows And, believe it or not, social media usage is not correlated with loneliness but face to face conversation is an antidote if you're socially isolated.

The Troubling Ways Schools Treat Troublemakers "Rather than use classrooms as an opportunity for young children to imagine and to practice a better way, we prepare them for the world we have now instead of the world we want."

This article offers great analysis of what we need to do to create a healthier climate in our schools ... it notes that the first step is to improve the quality of relationships among the students and the adults at the school.

A healthy school climate thrives on better communication, closer connections, and true inclusiveness — to help shut down the isolation, bullying, and harassment that can lead to violence. And as the article notes, a better school climate not only affects students' mental and emotional health, but also boosts academic success.

This is one of the reasons we believe so strongly in teaching the tenets of improv: because it's difficult to feel isolated and alone if you're sharing these core rules.

TENETS OF IMPROV:

• Listen in order to receive
• Always make partners look better
• Build on what's given
• You can't be wrong
• Keep moving forward
• Focus is a consequence of caring
• "Yes, and" (never "no, but")

Here's How To Prevent The Next School Shooting, Experts Say Hundreds of organizations and experts are calling for a public health approach to school-based violence.

EIW founder Tim Clue writes: I've already talked about the health benefits of a later school start time for students, as recommended by the AMA and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Now there's research that looks at the effect on academic achievement, and even the economic impact of starting school later so kids can get more sleep:

"But more sleep has been shown to lead to higher academic achievement. They found that the added academic benefit of later start times would be equivalent to about two additional months of schooling, which they calculated would add about $17,500 to a student’s earnings over the course of a lifetime."

Now that's what I call making money in your sleep!

The Economic Case for Letting Teenagers Sleep a Little Later We’ve known for a while that adolescent sleep cycles and high school hours are misaligned. But this is not just a health problem.

One teacher wrote: "I did not feel I was leaving my job. I felt then and feel now that my job left me. It is with deep love and a broken heart that I write this letter."

This is an important read about why talented, dedicated teachers are leaving the field — and how we need to do better by them.

Teacher resignation letters paint bleak picture of US education As teacher resignation letters increasingly go public - and viral - new research indicates teachers are not leaving solely due to low pay and retirement, but also because of what they see as a broken education system.

This is the kind of program we support and admire.

Shakespeare & Company, a theater company in Lenox, Massachusetts, works with the courts to get youngsters who run afoul of the law sentenced to perform works of Shakespeare onstage as an alternative to community service or juvenile detention.

Building confidence, involvement, and a sense of accomplishment changes lives.

For juveniles sentenced to Shakespeare, the world's a stage PITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP) — For some juvenile offenders, their choice is straight out of Hamlet: to act or not to act. Shakespeare & Company, a theater company in L

In his latest blog post, EIW founder Tim Clue shares his thoughts about what our educational system could learn from the gentle Baltic nation of Estonia.

Educate Like an Estonian? | Tim Clue's Blog In Estonia, schools are seen not just as a way to teach children the basics of reading, math, and science — they’re a means for making students better citizens.

The skills that improv teaches, including the freedom to experiment with language, are important at every level of education — from pre-K all the way up through college and beyond.

It's always a thrill to bring together old friends who come from separate worlds. But it’s rare when worlds collide with so much purpose and fun.

In the center of this photo is my high school buddy Bill, who is referred to by his U of M students these days as "Dr. Gehring." Bill is a psychology professor and among other accomplishments, he discovered the particular brain wave that occurs when you make a mistake. But I know him better as the smart kid who sometimes might lift up an elbow and let me cop a peek at a few answers on the Chem test. (I didn’t tell that one to his students.)

On the left is another dear friend and actor extraordinaire, Antoine McKay. For you Empire fanatics, Antoine played Bunkie Williams. Bunkie lost his life (and thus Antoine's job) during season 1. Antoine and I forged a unique bond after he was gracious enough to travel with me to the DOJJ in Richmond, VA, as part of our Educational Improv Works (EIW) program. By sharing the restorative powers of improv, Antoine helped a group of disadvantaged young men find hope and a stronger voice in an otherwise hopeless environment.

Back to Bill Gehring: This semester he's heading up a class for freshmen that focuses on offering insights and tools for managing the dizzying stressors dumped on college students of today. Boy, am I glad did my graduating in the '80s and '90s. Way cheaper, heavier books. Anyway, Antoine and I recently submerged these poor freshmen in a 90-minute boot camp of improv’s best practices and life takeaways (aka best of EIW).

Antoine, as always, was amazing, while I was simply there to cheer, lead, and head-nod — and probably didn’t even do that very well. It’s difficult to maintain focus when you’re caught in a Wonder Years/Quantum Leap moment of gestalt goo. I'm thinking, Won’t these kids be able to tell that I’m not an expert, I’m a goof who snuck through the system? I see Bill adjust the camera — he wanted to record the session. Not sure what he’ll end up with. And I'm not sure how I managed to cheat off a valedictorian all those years ago ... and still end up with a C on my report card. But I’m sure that I’m proud of my friends.

Penny wise and pound foolish, as the old saying goes. Tim Clue, our program director, says: "This is a crisis and we need an intervention ... what will it take to make it happen?"

Black And Latino Students Lose Out To White Peers. And It's Getting Worse. Six decades after Brown vs. Board of Education, a U.S. agency finds we still have a two-tiered education system.

Our founder Tim Clue, Speaker and Comedian recently spoke at the Transitions 2016 conference at Lynn University in Boca Raton. The focus of the event is one that ties in nicely with our mission here at EIW: empowering learning for students of all kinds, including those who learn differently. So it was a great opportunity to share ideas with a terrific group of educators who are working to open students' minds and hearts.

As Tim said during his keynote address: "We need to worry less about teaching kids what to think, and get excited about teaching kids *how* to think. Help them find their best brain."

Tim also shared some of EIW's exercises with the educators in attendance and got a huge response — lots of great positive feedback to help energize us as we move forward.

Thanks to on Twitter for sharing this photo of Tim (right) at the event, with author and fellow speaker Dr. Harold "Hackie" Reitman (center), along with one of the educators in attendance.

More info about Transitions 2016:
http://events.lynn.edu/upcoming-events/2015-2016/transitions-201