Cherry Award Summit on Great Teaching - Paul Normandin

True Personal Stories: Building Connections in the Classroom

This workshop will encourage educators (and students) to trust the process that allows us access to knowledge that empowers us to pursue our passions. By leveraging Dr. Jay Banner’s story of how he won the Cherry Award, which he shared in his acceptance speech, we will use tools from storytelling and improvisation to create a one-time workshop event. This event will share insight into the many and varied ways we can connect with our students through telling a story of how we became who we are. (We will also discuss the unsaid parts: who we were not when we started our journey.) 

The foundation of this effort will use an ice breaker exercise to bring the simplest story structure into the room. We’ll sooth some potential concerns that often stem from stage fright or fear of participation in group activities by using play and fun. We will add more depth to our foundation with an improvisation and storytelling group exercise that uses a more complex story structure: The Story Spine. We will bind all of this together using “Dr. Banner’s origin story” as the mortar between the bricks. 

By the end of the session, participants will share with each other events from their personal journey to success including some challenges they faced along the way. Participants will learn everything needed to use storytelling as a classroom tool.

Context and Ethical Considerations

By demonstrating passion for their discipline, educators give tacit permission for their students to share their enthusiasm. By sharing their challenges from when they were students or before, professors demystify their often larger than life characters, allowing students to relate and connect. It is important to remind our students that mere humans with passion and discipline can grow into great teachers. Demonstrating that commitment, fueled by their passion, inquisitiveness, and effort are often the difference between a 20 year old student and a 30 plus year old professor. 

A major consideration when facilitating interactive discussions about personal stories is creating a safe and supportive environment where individuals feel respected and empowered to share at their own pace. Meeting people where they are is a core tenet of storytelling. 

About Paul Normandin
Dean Emeritus, The Merlin Works Institute for Improvisation

Paul Normandin is an award-winning storyteller, a producer, writer, and founder of the Improv troupe In Our Prime. Paul is a Moth GrandSlam Champion and winner of the first Texas State StorySlam. He has a BA and MA from Texas A&M University in Speech Communication and retired as a Senior Planning and Project Advisor for the State of Texas. When not on stage telling stories, performing Improv, or writing sketches, he can be found playing Ultimate or in Rehab from Ultimate.