01e Portfolio Gaffga Wixsite Com

Leo Migdal

-Nov 15, 2025, 4:56 PM

Risk-taking is inherent to the work we do in theater class and productions. I love inviting students into opportunities to identify and challenge their comfort zones. Through ensemble building and modeling how to support each other, I create an environment that allows my students to take risks during auditions and performances, including monologues, storytelling, and group scenes. In order to give students agency I always preface new and challenging work by saying “If you feel uncomfortable about participating, you are welcome to simply be an audience member for the first part... “You have single-handedly changed our performing arts program with your dedication to care and excellence in the classroom and on stage. Kids trust you, respect you, and are inspired to take risks.” - Jay Parker, Middle School Director

We are accustomed to applauding after someone has finished a performance. I have instituted “Preshow Applause” in my classes, where students applaud students who volunteer (or are volunteered) to perform even before they go on stage. In this way, we celebrate the risk that the performer is taking by putting themselves in front of an audience. Wix is a website builder that lets any business or individual build their own professional website. By combining design tools and business solutions in one AI-powered platform, Wix makes it easy for anyone to create without limits and scale confidently online. I aspire to make everything about my teaching, whether it be a class activity, theater exercise, or rehearsal, student-centered.

What that means to me is that I consider the needs, interests, and skills of my students above the requirements of my curriculum or production. I consider my students to be collaborators as we explore units and encounter problems to be solved. My teaching is skill-based. I want my students to develop skills that will benefit them across disciplines. For example, in this monologue unit students develop the ability to speak in front of an audience, distinguish between inferences and text-based evidence, identify obstacles and determine actions for overcoming those obstacles. Improvisation and acting activities are full of critical thinking and problem-solving opportunities!

Once students are equipped with the skills that they need for success in a particular unit, I offer them open-ended activities which allow them to explore and problem-solve using those skills. For example, during our “Theater of the Oppressed” unit, we explore the dynamics of oppression through an exercise called “Forum Theater.” Students create a short scene that stops at the moment of oppression, and... There are no right or wrong interventions in this activity, so students feel free to experiment and take risks to solve the problem. As Town Council Advisor I have equipped the representatives with the skills and knowledge that they need to present and solve problems that they deem important to the student body. Whether the issue is the lack of “Chicken Finger Fridays” at lunch or raising money for the spring dance, they are successfully using Roberts Rules of Orders to work through their issues! I would like to bring a more project-based and design-thinking approach to my units.

Theater is such a perfect playground for both of these constructs! Wix is a website builder that lets any business or individual build their own professional website. By combining design tools and business solutions in one AI-powered platform, Wix makes it easy for anyone to create without limits and scale confidently online. Just as with the previous benchmark, calling back to my early days as a pastor-educator, my investment in students’ social-emotional health is intrinsic to who I am as a teacher. Students’ well-being is a much higher priority for me than their understanding of the subject matter in any of my classes or productions. In fact, I strive to connect each of our class units and theater productions to students’ higher sense of purpose.

Empowering active learning and independence are also deeply embedded in my approach. As I mentioned in Benchmark 1A, I strive to equip students with the skills and direction they need to succeed and then set them free to explore and discover as I guide them. My investment in our Advisory program is incredibly high! I value the 90+ minutes that the 6th grade team has for social-emotional learning, and I do my best to resource our team with what they need to make advisory a successful start to... I have had the privilege of attending weeklong advisory workshops with Development Designs and Responsive Classroom, and my investment in this PD is still paying dividends years later. [Click image to see 2022-23 6th Grade Advisory Plans.

Note that I am in the midst of still creating semester two plans.] Because I am inviting all of my students into risk-taking activities that require confidence and a supportive environment, I attempt to make my practices as equitable as possible. Some examples are listed here. I welcome every student by name and by making eye contact (a practice I started in advisory and have brought to my theater classroom). I use body language, gestures, and expressions to convey a message that all students’ questions and opinions are important. I arrange my classroom to accommodate discussion in both advisory and in theater.

We always start in a non-hierarchical circle formation to invite everyone to be equally part of the class. I use a variety of visual aids and props to support student learning. When possible I use Google slides to support lecture-based portions of my class. My teaching style is very relational. My first career in education was as a youth pastor. Just out of college, I didn’t know the first (or second) thing about teaching- but I had a sense of what I wanted students to know and experience.

So I developed a relational approach to investing in each student as I learned the pedagogy of my field. My curiosity about students opened the door for them to be curious about what I cared about. I still lead the same way in my teaching. Students' first concern is “Do you care about me?” and not “What amazing theater skill can I learn today, oh wise one?” One of my favorite memories of a positive and professional relationship with students were our lunch meetings for “Descendants”. Because I was pulling double duty as director and musical director on that show, I needed to schedule working lunch rehearsals for the leads.

Our rehearsals in the Kiva were half spent eating lunch and talking about life and half spent rehearsing. Over the weeks, it was clear that what was more precious for these four was the time to connect instead of rehearse. We were in the midst of a pandemic. A faculty member had mysteriously disappeared. So our rehearsals gradually became time not to sing but to commiserate, to be heard, and to listen. “You have an incredible aura that kids flock to - they see you as a role model who LOVES his work.

This sets a positive tone for our community.” - Jay Parker, Middle School Director In an email to another faculty member, a parent praised my work with her child. "It's…Stephanie's first time having such a close and amazing relationships with her teachers. She absolutely adores Mr. Gaffga for way more reasons than would fit in an email. We are so lucky that he is her advisor and teacher this year.

She was so nervous about theatre (she is reserved and doesn't love getting on stage) but it has been a phenomenal experience with Mr. Gaffga- in his class, it really is about learning and growing. It's not about putting kids on the spot and the shock value of theatre. He is really giving her an appreciation that I know she wouldn't otherwise have. She is learning that there is more to theatre than the acting." - Teri Forschner To the right is a Wix tutorial to help you get started.

Below are some helpful tips and tools for you to use as you build your ePortfolio in Wix. Debbie and Tara worked together to pull some instructions and resources together to help you tell you students how to get started on WIX using out WIX Template Site. Below are those steps, along with a short (two-minute) video you can include in the assignment for your students. If you have any questions or issues, email Tara (taracall@iu.edu). Getting started on your ePortfolio is as easy as 1) Open a free WIX Account first, before you download a template.

01e Portfolio Gaffga Wixsite Com

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