Paula Davidoff

Paula Davidoff is a teacher, writer, and mother of five. Her storytelling is a natural extension of all of these roles. She began telling stories in special education classes to encourage fluency in reading and writing but soon realized that people whom she met in every walk of life, regardless of their ages or needs, were aided and inspired by tales in the oral tradition. She has gone on to tell stories to audiences of all ages in schools, libraries, adult education programs, hospitals, and prisons. Paula’s repertoire includes folktales from around the world; ballads from England, Ireland, and North America; and mythology from Ancient Greece and Ireland. She has led storytelling and writing residencies for kindergarten through grade twelve, and she works as an artist-in-residence with the NJ State Council on the Arts’ Writers Project. Paula received her B.A. in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College. She studied classics at Columbia University and education at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Paula writes, “I would like to leave every student with the impression that story is a very important element of life and every teacher with higher expectations for their students than they had before I came. My own writing and work with story has taught me that language not only helps us describe and understand life, it has the power to change life. I teach because I want other people to understand it too. I want my students and their teachers to see that hearing, reading, and writing stories can help them understand and control their lives.”

Performances:

Hecate’s Daughters: Myths and Stories about Sibyls, Hags, and Mermaids

This is Grimm: Stories from the Collected Tales of the Brothers Grimm

The Spirit of America: Songs and Stories from our Past

Workshops (for Students and Teachers)

Writing Workshop: Story becomes a starting point for writing projects

Conflict Resolution Workshop: Stories illustrate behavior and begin discussion about dealing with conflict.

Teachers become Tellers (two hours for up to 15 teachers)

Storytelling: Classroom performance and discussion