Drama And the Adolescent Journey: Warm-ups And Activities to Address Teen Issues

Adolescence is a tough time for secondary students as well as for you, their teachers and support professionals. Being no longer a child, but not quite an adult, teens need a safe, enjoyable outlet that engages them and gives them a chance to talk about their feelings. Drama can be that outlet, and in "Drama and the Adolescent Journey," you'll find ways to use dramatic enactments to help adolescents make a successful transition to adulthood.

In "Drama and the Adolescent Journey" you'll discover a variety of drama activities that start students on a journey toward greater self-esteem and maturity. Teens will learn to situate their experience within their own lives and within the world at large. With a strong research base beneath them, Linda Nelson and Lanell Finneran demonstrate both why and how drama can help students enjoy their journey, show them ways around the roadblocks they may meet, and offer them a sense of how far they've come and where they'd like to be going. In addition, they offer crucial strategies for success with: understanding the developmental and behavioral changes of adolescence selecting content that truly engages adolescents and addresses their needs structuring drama activities to give teens the best possible support managing the activities and attending to the practical concerns of teaching with drama. Give teenagers the gift of self-knowledge. Read "Drama and the Adolescent Journey" and find a great new way to guide them through one of life's toughest times.

Linda Nelson is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Wyoming and a Registered Drama Therapist. She has taught at both the high school and college level, served as a secondary school counselor, and coordinated the educational program for teens in a private psychiatric hospital. In 2000 she was awarded the Bob Porter Service Award as the outstanding secondary school counselor in the state of Wyoming.Lanell Finneran is a certified secondary special education teacher and Registered Drama Therapist, Board Certified Trainer. She has taught for over twenty-seven years in both public and special day-school settings, including fourteen years at Southard School-Menninger, served on the NADT Board of Directors, is a current member of CEC, NEA, and NADT, and is an adjunct faculty member in drama therapy at Kansas State University. Lanell has received numerous awards, including USD #497 Secondary Teacher of the Year Award (2005), Kansas Educator of the Year in Arts and Disabilities from Accessible Arts, Inc. & the Kansas State Board of Education (2001), and the NADT Service Award (2001).