[SML] Student workers (was: Aggregrate hours for majors?)

[Blackfaer]

So I am now on my third semester teaching high school students our craft, and one thing I have noticed is how many students want to skip the boring parts. Teaching students that part of the job is setting up chairs and platforms for the boring lecture is part of the job is important, more now with the generation of instant gratification than ever before. Most of my students are gung-ho to run a console but do t want to mop the stage. Lessons aren't always about skills, sometimes they are about attitude and expectations. For that reason I think practicum hours are undervalued teaching tools, not an excuse for labor savings.
-Mark Thomason

On Nov 13, 2015, at 8:37 PM, nathan best via Stagecraft <stagecraft at theatrical.net> wrote:

> In the three college theatre programs I have been involved with (two as a student and 1 as a staff member), stagecraft students were required to work a certain number of hours per semester. I never saw this as a opportunity for free labor, but more as an opportunity to practice what was learned in class. A stagecraft class of 15 people meeting for 3 hours a week isn't really the ideal place to practice what you've learned, especially if the class has to cover several topics over the semester such as basic lighting, sound, set construction, etc (one of the programs I was in didn't really give me the opportunity to have a separate lighting or sound class outside of an independent study). Say it takes an hour to go through nailer safety and how to assemble a broadway flat. Great, you may have 6 people who instantly get it, 4 who sorta get it, 4 you lost at some point, and one person who is terrified of the nailer. Then you have the required time outside of that class where maybe you can go over with small groups of two or three in a little more detail than you were able to in the class, or get that one person more comfortable with the nailer by having them help a more experienced student build a flat. The students can get a few more hours experience with tools and techniques that sometimes limited class time doesn't allow. There is definitely a huge difference between learning in classroom and actually practicing what you've learned. I think required hours outside of class time can be huge bonus in many cases (at least for me).
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> Nathan B.
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