How Improv Transforms Teaching: A Midland Train-the-Trainer Workshop

Improv as a Teaching Tool at Midland’s community classroom offers instructors a practical immersion in spontaneity, communication, and curriculum design. Located at 5501 Jefferson Avenue in Midland, Michigan, this three-hour Train-the-Trainer workshop brings experienced educators together with improvisers Karen Stobbe and Mondy Carter of In the Moment to practice techniques that unlock empathy, perspective taking, and classroom adaptability.

The session opens with short, movement-based warm-ups and listening drills that break down the barrier between instructor and learner. Facilitators model how to structure low-risk exercises that build trust, then guide participants through scenework and status games designed to teach emotional support and rapid feedback. Activities are deliberately scalable—useful for a five-minute break during a lecture or for a full-day teacher-training module—and you’ll leave with concrete exercises you can adapt to your subject, age group, and learning objectives.

What sets this offering apart is the dual emphasis on craft and curriculum. Karen and Mondy bring more than eight decades of combined improv and teaching experience and they coach attendees not only in performance skills but in lesson design: how to sequence exercises, scaffold challenges, and create assessment rubrics that measure engagement and social-emotional learning. A month after the in-person workshop, participants are invited to a follow-up Zoom to share outcomes and troubleshoot classroom implementation—an uncommon piece of post-workshop support that turns isolated learning into community practice.

Midland itself provides an easy backdrop for a professional development day. The meeting point at Jefferson Avenue is accessible from local lodging and sits within Michigan’s inland lake region, offering calm river views and quiet streets for reflection between sessions. This workshop appeals to theater educators, experiential trainers, K–12 teachers, and corporate facilitators who already have some improv or instructional experience and want to translate play-based activities into pedagogical tools.

Practical details are straightforward: the core session lasts three hours, the minimum age is 18, and a suggested $10 donation at the door supports the hosts’ programming. Bring a notebook, flexible clothing, and an open attitude; expect interactive learning rather than lecture. If you’re ready to lead with confidence and creativity, this workshop supplies a shelf of ready-to-go exercises plus mentorship and a peer check-in that keeps your new practices alive. Whether you teach in a classroom, a community center, or onstage, Improv as a Teaching Tool reframes spontaneity as a reliable method for connection and learning.

Registration is available through the listed booking link; the hosts recommend arriving early to sign in and to complete a brief intake activity. Expect small-group breakout work and opportunities to observe peer teaching. This format favors hands-on practice: come ready to try, reflect, and iterate. The Zoom follow-up creates a peer accountability loop that boosts long-term adoption and retention.