InterPlay with Ruth Schowalter

 Sustaining International Sisters Share “What They Know” After spending time in breakout rooms naming the different women in their lives who were mentors to them, international sisters told a story about one of their mentors. Then we spent time writing in the chat box what we know about being strong women. We are changing the way people perceive the strength of women one assertion at a time! Happy International Women’s Day! This what we know…   I know that   I know that kindness and generosity can change the world. I know that this time together is important. I know that spending time together makes a difference. I know that being strong makes a difference. I know that making new friends makes a difference. I know that listening to our bodies - goes a long, long way.... I know that every bad thing in your life looks a bit better after you've shared it with someone. I know that patience is important. I know that laughing together makes a difference. I know that nature has ...

ONLINE CLASS PHOTO. For our final online Total Body Communication class, students were asked to wear hats and sunglasses for a class photo. Here we are! Like magic, we assemble for class, two-dimensional square after square, we build the class body. Students pop-up on screen as if they’ve traveled through a Harry Potter “portkey” or the “Floo Network.” And, they can “disapparate” just as easily either unexpectedly because of a bandwidth failure or purposefully by “cloaking” themselves when they turn off their video cameras. This class is “Better Speaking: Total Body Communication,” and I am the lecturer implementing Applied InterPlay to teach this class for internationals studying English at the Georgia Tech Language Institute. Total Body Communication is about teaching both the whole student body – the individual’s body (mind, heart, body and spirit), and the class community comprised of those student bodies. Can the student body(ies) be engaged online through the ethersphere...

In life, "we are not asked if we will play. That is not an option. Play we must. The option is how." -Anthony De Mello  How will we “play” the ins-and-outs of our lives? We have choices. Daily, I repeat this mantra – WE HAVE CHOICES –   to the international students in my class, "Speaking English Improvisationally," at the Georgia Tech Language Institute. During our 36 hours of class time over a two-month period, we explore how to communicate authentically through improvisation activities. We have within our reach at any moment a vast range of communication options available when speaking in English.  As literally and figuratively “players” on a world stage, I invite these international professionals and students to "play" around with both their physical and vocal range to see what they can discover about who they “might be” when they are speaking English while living and participating in American culture. As most of us know, each language an...

Using InterPlay in the English Language Classroom A license to play in the classroom! Imagine these teaching objectives for an elementary English as a Second Language class called “Talk More”: 1) Help students find more comfort and ease when speaking in English. 2) Increase students’ sense of English language efficacy and communication confidence. This past May, being given the permission to use “pure”  InterPlay  in a 3-week intensive English “Talk More 1” course consisting of 18 hours of instruction, thrilled me! I would engage the “whole student body” – body, mind, and heart! This kind of “whole body” engagement was going to be especially important in this unique class comprised of students from two distinctly different cultures – six Panamanians and six Japanese! I expected the students from Panama to have more expressive ease than students from Japan, but I didn’t know how this 50/50 combination would blend the differences, allowing the students a give-and-take ...