The teacher that I took over from had a very different teaching style and created a very different program then I do. Her classes were very improv based. It has been driving me crazy because many of the students who started with her like to improv their way through everything, including scripted work. They aren't used to rehearsing and the shows we did last year proved it. I'm trying to train that out of them, but it is very slow going. Memorization is hard for them, as is any kind of formal language because they are not used to using scripts. I'm refusing to introduce improv to any of my beginning classes until they prove they can do scripted work.
Personally, I am not good at improv and do not enjoy it. I like watching it, but I do not enjoy performing it and never really thought about using it in my classroom. But I came into a tradition of doing improv shows and because my students loved them, I've kept doing them. In the process I've learned how to teach improv skills. I've discovered new performance opportunities for my students. So even though the program I took over has driven me batty, doing improv shows and learning how to teach a new skill has been beneficial.
This video has my favorite quirk of all time in it: Gradually turning into a parrot.
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