Marc Raia
B.A. Communications, John Carroll University
Teaching Philosophy
IMPORTANT SKILLS I WANT TO TEACH MY STUDENTS
Most importantly, I want our students to believe in themselves. Theater work allows us all to learn to collaborate, to support, to risk, and most importantly, that we are only as strong as we are unified as a team. An ensemble. While we are experiencing all aspects of theater work—acting, directing, writing, technical theatre—we are also developing and establishing the life-long practice of supporting and believing in, not only those people with whom we are working most closely, but also ourselves. This is a skill I hope and believe our students will take into the rest of their lives.
TEACHING METHODS THAT REACH THESE GOALS
The Seven Hills theater classroom is active and student-centered. We utilize group theater exercises, pair scene work, individual monologues, student-driven critiquing, and student-directed pieces to allow our students to own their work. Our students learn through doing. As art is a very subjective thing, they also learn that there is rarely one right answer or one way of seeing or doing things. We frequent the gray area. We are also very fortunate to be doing this work in the Schiff Center with fully functional lights and sound!
MY FAVORITE PROJECTS
This is an evolving list from Theatre I through the Advanced class: Uta Hagen’s object exercise, the two-person generic scene, our staged-reading and viewing of Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons,” our collaborative unit with a Seven Hills English class on August Wilson’s “Fences,” Shakespeare, Sam Shepard’s plays, both annual field trips and student matinees, and finally, the advanced acting and directing class productions.
WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT TEACHING AT SEVEN HILLS
What I like best about teaching at Seven Hills is that we are all pursuing excellence by embracing the values upon which this school is based—respect for diversity. Kindness, caring and compassion. Honesty and integrity. Fairness and justice. Personal responsibility and accountability. Commitment to community. These values drive all the work we do with our students. That’s what I like best.