Lady Revised

I just realized I never shared this poem
which saddens me

i wrote it a long time ago in my 292 class
it was modeled off of Tennyson's Ulysses
in the idea that it is a dramatic monologue
and goes against the common interpretation of the character

or so i remember

thus i present:

Lady Revised

Within these dark kept chambers I roam,
My ever thoughts through which I comb.
And know and know- it was not I
Who planned this death that here does lie.
For in the room by which we rest,
My dear Macbeth did plan this quest
Of murder to gain the throne
Of which the sisters did atone.
And when I could not commit the deed,
By my dear husband, Macduff did bleed.
And now my hands blood soaked they lie
Beneath the remorseful tears from each my eye.
To have power o’er a kingdom, I disgust.
Yet with this rule, I may adjust.
For threads of gold may be quite nice,
And Arabian perfumes do entice.
Thus with this power of the throne,
I shall make this sin to me unknown
And the thoughts left in my mind to obey
When “Out, damn'd spot! out, I say!”

Final Learning Outcomes

I really feel that I have completed all the course outcomes in some way or another. I will thus do what I can to expand on how so i completed this. 

• 1. Gain Shakespeare Literacy
• We read at least 6 plays that I counted with a quick count. I specifically looked into Macbeth with my research paper. I went and saw all three Shakespeare plays on campus as well as watched many movies, etc at home. We looked at a huge covering with Shakespeare now on the internet especially.
• 2. Analyze Shakespeare Critically
  
  
  I feel like this happened in class mainly. There were several blog post, however, about history, character analysis, etc.
• 3. Engage Shakespeare Creatively
  
  
  I would say the incorporation of Shakespeare into my lift definitely fulfilled this one. Also, I did some fun creative projects. I wish there would have been more avenue for this creative side though. 
• 4. Share Shakespeare Meaningfully
  
  
  First all I have to say is BLOGGING! I also got my husband and mother more engaged in Shakespeare probably than they ever would have. My high school sister went to The Comedy of Errors with me and loved it. I also participated in several meaningful conversations with professors and school teachers about Shakespeare. 
• 5. Gain Digital Literacy
• I would say I was already digitally literate. However, I was able to learn exactly how Shakespeare fits into this new digital world. 

It was a great semester. I really enjoyed the class, and I am sad it is over! There arent too many things I would change about the past semester; however, I would definitely consider taking a class similar to this again! 

Final Project!

We have finished our final project. huzzahhh!

We wanted to make a presentation that would encourage the use of technology in the classroom.
We felt like this was a really hard thing to say how to do (especially since none of us are professionals), so we more focused on the idea of planting an idea in teachers' minds (ah Inception!) so that they would make the important decision of incorporation.  We decided to talk about why it needs to be done and examples of how it has been done.

Our Prezi can be found here as well!

Let us know if you have any suggestions or comments!

Segment:Shakespeare on the Web

Here is my segment video for the final project

others like us

there is a lot of discussion about this
idea of incorporating teaching and technology

this presentation  looks like it was for an "FLC" conference
i have no idea what FLC is outside of my home town college 
but it just shows examples of how teachers have
incorporated technology into their classroomm

this presentation looks at Shakespeare in Bit and
is almost like a review  for it
however they are kinda encouraging the use

This prezi is an overview of the use of a Prezi
in a classroom. just to show ideas to others

4teachers.org is a website to show teachers
and help them integrate technology into their classroom

There are tons of articles about why you should
teach with technology too 

all very interesting!

one thing that really jumped out at me was,
"It's not about technology integration anymore. It's really about how to be a better teacher by using the best tools."

as far as things go right now

I am still waiting back on a few people
as far as exactly what we could do with our presentation

i emailed around trying to find out about
submission dates and etc

over all everyone seemed pretty enthused
and acted excited and interested

but i will keep you on track with what i hear

as far as our final project
we are completing a Prezi
that will be simple for teachers
to quickly look through

we plan on having sections that deal
with three topics all pertaining to that of technology
1) why
2) examples
3) benefits

we are working on making videos to go with each of the sections

Final Project Trailer

This is just a catch trailer for what we are doing!
Yay!

Updated Video

I felt that my video was pretty good
for the technology and things that I have

I went back through and added text and links though

I feel that if we are going to do more with these videos
we all need access to better technology
and make them more uniform

Lost Labours of Love

as i mentioned in this post
i was very excited to go see the play
of Love's Labour's Lost

Overall I really liked the play
I thought they did a terrific job of
adapting it to the stage
and adapting it into the 40's era
(it made me wish i was in the 40's)

As for my thoughts and critique on it

the first thing was that is was way too long
i felt like it dragged on
and they made some of the scenes
unnecessarily long and boring

i thought that this was interesting and
semi related to my final project topic

the cast did a good job drawing in the audience
and making everyone engaged
but had they just shortened the play
and made thing a little more accessible
that it would have made things better

i felt like that there were a lot of
"non shakespeare folk"
that where asking their shakespearean friends
"what just happen, what is going on, etc"
and then people explaining the entirety
of the play as they were leaving the theater

this leads me to the idea that no matter
how accessible and exciting and hip
your content may be
you still cant tackle huge boring things

even as a "shakespeare folk"
i felt like they talked really fast
and sometimes it was hard to follow
one thing that made things hard to follow
was that i was unsure who some of the cast was supposed to be

some people in our class mentioned
this may just be because we were
 looking and knew the characters better

I asked my husband what he thought
and his smartypants self said,
"it was kinda racy for BYU"
(he's a BYU hater)

over all i thought it was a good production
the set was amazing
the live band was amazing
it was pretty awesome production

my sister is in town
and i almost want to go again
so she can go

Shopping Market Study

So i tried to brain storm all of the prospective audience outlets
of where we could post or present our project

I think something that could be an actual presentation would be best
but i suppose we could do a written submission

Dr Burton suggested Classroom 2.0
They have a call for submissions for their book and also for a virtual conference they are hosting

NCTE takes submissions for journal articles, this is probably a little more formal than we are looking though

UCTE/LA every year they have their conference where teachers present ideas. I attended last year and it was great. we could definitely probably present there and it would be a very appropriate situation to do it at

Central Utah Writing Project has workshops that they do through out the year as well as during the summer. they are more gear towards writing but being as the officers are all our english teacher professors, we may be able to pull something

Secondary Solutions has a blog about teaching that we may be able to submit something to

readwritethink  is a website that takes lesson plans that might be good to submit our ideas to

We also could try to get something with Folger Education  either their blog or their teachers' cite

We could maybe present to one of the BYU classes here on campus
Or there is club/interest group  that i have been trying to facilitate that we could

i think i have exasperated all my teaching ideas.

If all else fails we could just do a you tube video!

The Comedy of Errors

I am planning on and excited to go see "The Comedy of Errors"



Wednesday Mar 28, 2012 7:30PM tickets are only $3 !

Education for Everyone

I am taking a social problems class right now
and for extra credit we could watch
a documentary about education

I watched Waiting for "Superman" on Netflix

Now i am already passionate about education
but this more just supported those feelings
it was a really moving film

i strongly urge you to watch it

But one of the things i wanted to talk
about was how this is semi applicable to
my Shakespeare and what I am looking into now

One line that stood out to me was about
these charter schools --called Kipp Academies
Their big "slogan" that the man described their schools as doing is  

"closing the achievement gap and shattering
the myth that some students can't learn"

This article talks about Harriet Ball
the woman who helped to inspire these charter
schools by the way she taught
in the article it is is described as
"a 'multisensory, mnemonic, whole-body teaching technique'
designed to 'propel at-risk students toward excellence,'
 though she insists her method works for all children.
In simpler terms, she calls it Rap, Rhythm, and Rhyme."

the way i saw her approach was just
making the material accessible for students!
-breaking up the material

I want to look more into her
suggestions that she had given
and maybe work them into our "Shakespeare-ience"

but over all this film was so moving
especially the last half hour
i seriously got choked up

it is so sad to me that all of the students
want to be in these good schools
and they want to learn
but they dont get chosen for the "lottery"

i really hope to see our education
system change in my life time
and when i am a teacher

that way everyone can have an education

This film completely renewed my wants 

to be a teacher (not that they were fading).
It also helped me remember 

the importance of being a good teacher.
Half way through I was starting to question

 if i still wanted to be a teacher because

 it is such a huge responsibility and challenge, 

but by the end it just strengthened my wants.

Just thought I would share :)

and it was semi relevant 

Coming soon to theaters....

Here is my video!
definitely rough

but it wasnt too time consuming
--i only spent 5 minutes between take one and this take (5)

I kinda feel like a valley girl

i dont know how i came out so enthusiastic 

but it works!

lodge you in the field!

Elizabeth E Schuch 

I agree with everyone that

i am enjoying this play tremendously

i am so excited to go see it on the 24th!

which have you seen the pre production pictures?
and the video?

theres also a study guide

looks fabulous!

i found this article that discussed

the relationship between men and women

in the context of this play 

now that ive looked at this and found this

i would have loved to look into this

for a research project

its is intriguing!

i also found this activity 

that has students act out 

the "Winter's Song" poem from the play 

i love this activity because it focuses on 

what i have been looking into with my research

this idea that students should look 

more in detail at smaller chunks of the play

and this is exactly what it is doing

and it is a really hands on activity which is good too

project blue print

first off i am going to direct you to Mallory's Post about what she is thinking

we are wanting to create a two part project
in my mind i see it as a hook/ trailer with videos of students
talking about what they want and why

and then part two i see as this "Shakespeare-ience" idea
where we would come up with a "how-to" of sorts
or even i would love to create a really fun protype lesson plan
that acts as a how-to and example for teachers

yay!

Peer Reflections.

I chose to read Alicia's and Mallory's paper.

First for Alicia's
This was easy for me to think about
because i automatically connected it to my own paper
as far as reaching out to new level sources
i think it would be a great thing to work into
this idea of the importance of integrating technology
to create a Shakespeare-ience

aside from that there are a lot of teacher forums
that accept paper and thoughts and topics

i specifically looked on Edutopia for further research
they have a whole section
about Integrating Technology into the Curriculum
--why, how, what, and examples
its really a cool site!

As for Mallory's ---I had no idea this is what you were looking into!!!
i guess now that i think about it i guess i kinda knew
but when i first looked at your paper i was like WHAT!? haha

This is a really interesting idea
it reminds me of a post i put up a while back
it was mid research paper so i didnt get to look at it
but it shows this idea of all the different ways and places Shakespeare is being taught

this is a whole class taught on the transnational Shakespeare
(finding other interesting classes at all these different universities
just makes me want to transfer and be a student for life sometimes)

-oh and now i see you found something else from the same guy
still cool though

this discusses the ideas of the Shakespeare brand name
by looking at google results
-very interesting

i dont know if i am completely missing the point
but it also reminds me of an activity i saw
when i was researching for my own paper
about having Shakespeare penpals
and one student pretending to be Shakespeare
or one of the characters

just thoughts

but i love what you posed on your blog about your ideas
for where to take this paper from here
by encouraging professors to move forward
and your money analogy was awesome

i feel like there is a good connection
between the three of us
that we could blend into making this idea of a Shakespeare-ience
by combining this idea of a need for technology
an over arching global Shakespeare
and the manner by which to approach it all

i dont know if i am just pushing my wants and ideas
but it seems like a fabulous idea to me!

obsessed.

some times i feel like i can take
things that i really like to "a whole nother" level

like this shakespeare class

we have had a love hate relationship these last few weeks
because of the research paper
but things are better now

and i bought tickets to Love's Labor's Lost today

and i shouldve picked up my The Comedy of Errors too
but i didnt realize they were so close together!

so excited!!!

i also want to go to the Utah Regional Ballet-A Midsummer's Night Eve
which is a ballet based on Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream
but tickets are a little more spendy :/

the "final"-ish paper and post post.

I present to you the final-ish paper




I say final-ish because i knew what was wrong with it
and what needed to be done better
i knew that i had way too many things to talk about
but you also get to that point
where you are just done
you dont want to look at it again
or you are so far in that it isnt worth it to change things

it is funny
because the other girls in class were discussing how
it feels so good to be able to go in a know what the teacher is going to say
that way you dont have a huge let down when the teacher is like
this sucks.

overall i was very pleased with my paper
--even though as for content there is some lacking
i think the process went well
and i got everything done in a timely manner
---not the night before!!

Dr Burton and I discussed a lot about my topic
i feel that there is definitely discussion that needs to be made with this

We had the idea of making what he coined the "Shakespeare-ience"
this kinda goes into the idea of like the "Shakespeare in Bits"
some sort of format where you are having a Shakespeare Experience
rather than just reading the play
--something that teachers every where could use
to make learning Shakespeare awesome.

this needs a lot more brain storming of how to do it...
i envision maybe a choose you own adventure type
or i really wish it could be a whole body experience
like step into this machine.
lets go for a ride.
a shakespeare ride.

(side note. I just googled "experience learning"
--i think this may be some potential in looking into)

I am excited to do something new.
i hope that it can be very hands on
and creative...
that is sorta what i thrive on ha

more on my tweethis.

So i reposted my thesis on Facebook and got some more response

take a look here

it is always so interesting to see people's thoughts

i feel a tad too far to incorporate these things into my paper but this is interesting to see!

"Shakespeare in Other Worlds"

I found this really cool wiki that is collecting how Shakespeare is being taught around the world in differewnt countries
Here is the wiki: Teaching Shakespeare around the world

and here is an article more about the project

looks really interesting
i will have to read more into it after all the madness has passed

word processing success and thoughts

I love the point you get to when you feel good about your paper
you have enough material
the ideas are flowing well
everything is coming together

i have really enjoyed this research paper
i feel that it has come together well and is working well

like i said before, i just wish i had started writing sooner
i wish there was an easier way to do research papers
that didnt require so much lengthy composing too

maybe short blog posts research papers? like a series?
but that gets away from the typical research paper

where education is moving away from traditional requirement
i do hope that having to write long papers phases out as well
before i graduate haha

but overall
this has been good
and not so last minute like i typically do!

so bravo Senor Burton.
i think you have overall crafted a good process for writing research papers

things to keep in mind when i start teaching

yay!

thats all haha
just my thoughts

tweethis results.

As i have blogged before, I posted my shortened thesis on Facebook and Twitter

I didnt have as much response as I was hoping
but at least I was expecting a lack of response
(I wont go into why haha)

As far as Twitter... I didnt get any response
I was expecting that because I dont use Twitter
but I did have an English teacher start following me!

(as well as some random porn fake accounts...)

But on facebook I had a couple responses
I had one teacher who commented on how she always tries to find ways to spice things up
I also had another teacher comment that he felt ALL teaching needs to be modernized

That just got me thinking about how while this paper focuses directly on Shakespeare
There really is this over all problem with the teaching techniques that are happening in schools everywhere
and while the government has mandated new core curriculum and instated the no child left behind,
I wonder if things are really changing?

I have had some people say to me "well i love Shakespeare;  I had a great experience"
and that makes me sad because i feel that people are blind to what is happening in our schools
people are blind to the fact that there are a lot of students struggling
and even if it isnt A LOT or an huge statistic

shouldnt every student be able to succeed?

I think people need to be careful about making blanket assumptions that they had a good experience so it must not be a problem -- and this applies to everything!

alright



i dont know how i got off on that haha

but I am noticing a trend that everyone seems to be at the same place with our papers
-- i see that place as a place of needing more time. more hours in the day. more bodily energy.
more time to allow the papers to develop and come together more.
just too many things in too short of time.

I feel like now I spent too much time on social proof and trying to bring everything together
when i should have been spending more time on the actual paper writing

dont you wish you had a  time turner sometimes....

rough rough draft. in progress.

I decided that there was no reason for me to stay up all last night
and stay up all tonight to finish my rough draft.

Not only would it produce a very low quality paper, but I like to sleep

and as i posted earlier, i am currently stuck in a non word processing rut
so i will slowly work on it and let it come to me instead of me force it

so i invite you to comment and watch my progress-- you might even see me typing live...  (thats scary now that i think about it)

just dont judge me haha

you will have to have to click the "here" link in the viewer below or you can view and comment here!

to comment with in the text, right click and click "comment"
Thank you!

Updated note: This now shows what I turned in as my final draft.

****to post your own draft into you blog like mine:

1. go to this site, paste in your Google Doc URL
2. cut and paste the "For an embedded viewer, use this HTML tag instead:" 
3. paste that html into your blog post
4. AND! you then have to change your options on the right of your post creator to "Compose mode: Interpret typed HTML"

If you have questions, email me :)

more woes.

friends.
I feel like I am in a rut.
Maybe it is just writers block or the apathy of put everything down into words.
but yes.
i feel like i have a lot of info and everything but no brain power to word process.
Thought I would share my woes.

wish me luck

Phase 2 of Research Paper. Progress Report.

<regurgitate>

Progress Report: Phase 2 of Research Paper

I'm required to document my research and writing process for the Shakespeare research paper I'm doing this month. According to the assignment instructions, here are the components I must include. If I have met those requirements, I have included a link to a post or posts that document my efforts for that component:

Phase 2
Performance Analysis: 1
Annotated Bibliography: 1
Digital media and online resources: 1 2
Social Proof (contacting): 1

</regurgitate>

My working thesis right now is:

The teaching of Shakespeare in secondary schools needs to consist of scaffolding the learning, active learning strategies, and breaking up the text so that modern day learners may more readily access the traditional materials in a world of new age learning.

I feel really good about where I am with my research and ideas.
I just feel like i need more time.
I need to pull it all together more into words, and the idea of the final being due in a week makes me panic a little.
I cant believe how fast the time has went! Next week is March!

I still need to just move forward in putting everything into words.
Having a draft due tomorrow will definitely help that in being forced...

but i want to talk about the three thing i state in my thesis
hopefully this in enough
i might work in a paragraph on technology

as me and Dr Burton were briefly discussing I think I will explain my arguments and then use examples with textual analysis

But I posted my (super shortened) thesis on Facebook:

We will see what happens....
my last post didnt generate a lot of response

I also posted on twitter but i dont follow anyone or do any tweeting...
so we will also see what happens!

yay!

annotated biblio

the only bad thing about going to the library as an english major is that instead of coming back with one book you come back with this:

The hard thing for me making an annotated bibliography is  that I still have so many sources that they need trimming a lot.
and then as i keep slowly getting emails back from people they keep leading me towards more sources
a while back i said i needed an outline and i think i still do hahah

Sources:

Grierson, Sirpa. Personal interview. 16 February 2012.

Dr. Grierson gave me some great suggestions. She stressed the importance of making Shakespeare real with the students and trying to bring to life how Shakespeare was in his time. She suggested the use of videos to show the Globe theater and set up the play to experience it in the three levels that were experienced by the different classes. That way you are making Shakespeare more relevant to the students. She also suggested to break the text up into "big chunk, little chunk" (breeze over a big chunk, focus in dept on a little chunk) as outlined by Kelly Gallagher so that students are not overwhelmed with the who text of the play. One thing that was interesting that she stated was that when she studied Shakespeare as a child in Canada she danced and sang and they worked completely hands on, so that was very important to her  in her suggestions to me. 

Salmone, Ronald E., and James E. Davis. Teaching Shakespeare into the Twenty-First Century. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1997. Print.

I found this book after searching in the library for "Shakespeare and teaching." I believe that the original book that had the call number for was not what I was looking for, but this was close by! Even though this book is a tad older (reminding me of this), it still has some great ideas and discusses the idea of bringing Shakespeare alive in the classroom to engage reluctant readers. The last section is more modern.

"Teachers Set Free: Folger Education and Other Revolutionary Approaches to Teaching Shakespeare ." English Journal 99.1 (2009): 13 February 2012. National Council of Teachers of English. Web.

I believe I ran across this after I one of the articles I had looked at before was taken off of the website I originally found it on. Now I know this is a whole journal, but it is a WHOLE journal just about teaching Shakespeare! So I am having a hard time narrowing it... By my final paper it will be narrowed. This issue is awesome because it talks all about the ways to teach Shakespeare right now. 

Goodwyn, Andrew. English in the Digital Age. New York, NY: Cassell, 2000. Print.

I found this when looking for "teaching 21 century" in the library. This search also generated the five extra books I brought home. The thing I found interesting about this book is that it specifically brings up the problem of teaching Shakespeare and other traditional materials in our "digital age." 

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. New York, NY: Washington Square Press, 1992. Print.

This is my original text that I am using. I feel it is one of the most commonly taught plays in schools, and it is also one of my favorites. 

So like I said I also have 5 other books.  And then I got an old book of teaching activities specifically for Macbeth. The other 5 books I found when looking for teaching in the 21st century. I am not sure if I will use the other 5. Three of them are about teaching with ICT. One is about adolescent literacy and teaching reading, and the last one is about teaching today and advocating changes in the curriculum. The last one is probably most likely that I will use.

My working thesis right now is:

The teaching of Shakespeare in secondary schools needs to consist of scaffolding the learning, active learning strategies, and breaking up the text so that modern day learners may more readily access the traditional materials in a world of new age learning.

I know this will change, but thats my quick idea.
The hardest thing i need to address is that I had one of the people i emailed email back and suggest i was over generalizing so  I need to figure out how to state that. She said that she felt there wasnt a problem in teaching Shakespeare so that is something I more need to think about

but more on my emails back later.

Scotland, PA

first off.. spoilers. i do warn you where and when they are over though.

I watched Scotland, PA
I ordered a copy of the DVD

I love this movie
it is just so funny to me

but it is a modern adaptation of Macbeth from Sundance Film Festival

it is pretty much the story of Macbeth set in modern times
at a 70's burger joint
it is really genius and one of my most favorite movies

I think that this was a really interesting to take this story and make it into a modern interpretation
the writer did an interesting things in keeping with the plot line but changing little details to make it interesting

First i love the way they incorporated the names in with "mac" and "banko"
it is so funny when the stoner hippy fortune teller is talking about seeing someone named "el banko"
i like how the adaptation found a way to keep the witches by making them into these like stoner people
the sons also were written in really well to match their characters in the play with one son who wants to be in a band and the other who wants to leave and go do play stuff

One thing I wanted to look and mention was the casting of characters
because i think that this is such a big part of film adaptations
First off, i loved Maura Tierney
i grew up watching her in ER and she does a really good job at Lady Macbeth
I also feel like the other characters are played very well
Mac and Pat's chemistry works well for what you expect out of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth

this is where the spoilers begin.

I love the incorporation of the famous "out damned spot"
it is so funny and ironic the way they work it in with Pat's burn on her hand
and how she tries to get it to go away but cant
and then she finally cuts her hand off

end spoilers. that wasnt so bad

I liked the transfer of the plot from a kingdom to a burger empire
i feel this is ironic in how Mcdonalds almost owns America these days
it surprisingly works well for the plot

the film is rated R, so this definitely gives it an edge
you couldnt ever use it in a classroom
but perhaps parts of the scenes or get it editted
it really just has some sexuality and language

but that was one of the other things i wanted to bring up and talk about
is how Shakespeare is till made accessible for adults
many people watching this movie may have not read Macbeth in 10 years
so this is just a small thing to get them back into the play
that why i really like this film is because it is so updated and accessible for people like me

i think that if adults are more into Shakespeare
there is a better chance for children to get into Shakespeare
because it will be cool and popular and the thing you cant wait to do when you are old
.....just like alcohol in a way haha and all things "adult"

Digital Media: Shakespeare in Bits

So I previously mentioned that I found Shakespeare in Bits

which is an awesome company that is making these interactive programs for Shakespeare!

It is funny because I had mentioned it in my last post and the creator commented on the post giving me his information to get a hold of him directly!

I went ahead and downloaded all of the trials.

and i love them! i think that is it such a cool thing for students to use!

you should really download it for yourself just to see how cool it is 

here are some screen shots of the Macbeth version

Each play has an animated clip and text to follow along with
the text in annotated with  important things students may need to know
it also has note on the acts and a synopsis

It also has an analysis section with all sorts of key important things for students to know

there is a "cast" section that goes through each character and gives you important details

this is also great for a play like Macbeth where everyone is name Mac-blahblahblah

with in the cast section there is also a character interaction section 

i absolutely love this creation.

in a future classroom where students will probably have Ipads or tables or computers

a teacher could use this to make the text interesting and approachable

and also be able to use all of the text rather than having to trim it!

I then think the teacher could supplement this with hand on activities. 

go download it now!! and tell all your friends :)

i emailed the creator and am anxiously awaiting a reply because this is so awesome!!
another one of those things that makes me want to go teach shakespeare right now.

contacting people.

So I have been working on contacting all of my people.
This is basically what I have been emailing them --of course updated to fit them:

"Hello,

I am a student studying to become an English teacher in Utah at Brigham Young University. Currently I am in a class studying Shakespeare. I am doing some research and looking into the methods that are used in teaching the bard. I am looking to and making an argument that Shakespeare teaching needs to be changed from the current and traditional way that is being used. I have read many of your articles from the Folger blog and have even discussed you on my class project blog (pinatara382.blogspot.com). I feel that you have some great insight into this topic and some very valid ideas and topics.

My thesis I am working towards is that the teaching of Shakespeare should be more of a spiral or scaffolding approach and needs to be much more hands on. I have heard this idea that when teaching a play a teacher should breeze over a big chunk and then focus in on a little important chunk. I also think that teaching Shakespeare needs to be updated with working in the 21st technology we have. I think that teachers could almost teach everything with in the curriculum by simply deeply exploring a play so that students are very comfortable with it. Right now I feel that teacher just breeze over a play to say they read it with out working with students to really get into it to an extent. Otherwise, if teachers do not implement these ideas, I feel that Shakespeare study in schools may completely fade out because our new age brains can't seem to handle the current methods of just simply reading it.

Would you be will to share some insights towards my working thesis and ideas if you have a moment to spare? Or even if you have some good sources that I may be interested in I would gladly welcome that as well. I also encourage you to take a look at my blog as well if you have time and feel free to comment there if anything jumps out at you.

Thank you so much for your time and effort. I look forward to hearing back from you!"

So far I have met with Dr. Sirpa Grierson in our BYU English teaching department.

I have emailed:

Mike Lo Monico who writes on the Folger Shakespeare Education blog and has mention many things concerning the change of teaching Shakespeare

Christy Desmet who is a professor of Shakespeare for over 25 years AND!!! she teaches a class at her university specifically for educators called "Shakespeare in the Classroom"!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so excited when I realized this!

I also contacted many of the authors from the NCTE English Journal, Vol. 99, No. 1, September 2009

I have stumbled across Dana Huff's website many times and saw she had a page all about Shakespeare so I emailed her

I found this really cool Shakespeare in Bits program that is an interactive program that students and teachers can use to read Shakespeare. I tried emailing them, but I dont know if I will get through to the creators.

I am excited to hear back! It is really nerve racking though!

love and luck.

I love when you accidentally stumble upon a wealth of awesome things that are exactly what you need.

case in point

English Journal, Vol. 99, No. 1, September 2009
a whole issue all about teaching Shakespeare

i now am working through contacting like 20 people instead of the few i had

Also when I met with Dr Grierson she gave me some great ideas and pointed me in a few directions and also gave me the link to her own personal wiki with Shakespeare teaching articles!

Great digital media sources!

Phase 1 of Research Paper. Progress Report.

Let me give you some copy and paste regurgitation....

however, don't get me wrong. 

i love an opportunity to be lazy

and when everything is made so easy

thank you Dr B.

Progress Report: Phase 1 of Research Paper
I'm required to document my research and writing process for the Shakespeare research paper I'm doing this month. According to the assignment instructions, here are the components I must include. If I have met those requirements, I have included a link to a post or posts that document my efforts for that component:

Phase 1: Feb 6-11
Exploration: I have done a lot of this... 1 2 3 4
Textual Analysis: 1
Social Proof (finding): 1 2

Phase 2: Feb 13-18
Performance Analysis
Annotated Bibliography
Digital media and online resources
Social Proof (contacting): 1 2

Phase 3: Feb 20-25
"Tweethis" statement
Posted draft with peer interaction
Evaluation of a peer's draft

</regurgitate>

So I am focusing on the use of outside sources in studying Shakespeare
the importance of not studying in isolation
i want also want to focus on how Shakespeare has become a "folklore" of sorts in our society
and how much there is able to learn and engage from the studying of others adaptions

As far as what is working well, I am really enjoying working in the small groups
I almost feel like we should be taking it to a next level rather than just "reporting"
so we need to maybe work more on our papers together or im not sure

I could work more on my structuring and really deciding what I am doing
so perhaps an outline and a plan

i wish i would have started rereading the text sooner
because when i started working directly with the text
it got my shakespeare analytic juices flowing
rather than my broader teaching ideas

from this point i want to start looking at adaptations
and how they are insightful to specific parts of the text
also i want to contact my people i have scoped out
and then after i get it all laid out
i want to approach some teachers and see their thoughts

unsex me here.

i have always been fascinated with Lady Macbeth
There is just something that I love about her

one thing that I particularly like about her is her strength
and while it may be for the bad and everything
i seem to like powerful woman roles

and women who are too submissive in literature
seem to bother me to an extent

its funny because on netflix it gives suggestion based on what youve watched
my husband always makes fun of me because it will suggest
"romantic comedies with strong female lead" or something like that

but i like this womanly strength in her in particular for teaching
because i think it gives something for female students to grasp onto
and the fact that there are there two side of Macbeth that appeal to both student genders
this may just be my own feelings but i will run with it

i wanted to look at the transformation and character of Lady Macbeth

in high school i looked in her use of "witchcraft"

and this time i was thinking about how interesting it that she specifically asks "unsex me here"
so she doesnt want to be a woman and have all of these womanly feelings
i would think that her reasoning for this is
so she wouldnt feel bad about not killing Macduff because he looks like her father

i also wonder if she was wanting and wishing that she could be king for herself ?

i always get this feminist feeling for from her
and this may be completely off and out of no where
but i wonder if she had postpartum if she had just had a child?
(which i just did a quick google search on and there is a lot out there on this idea. man i love when i have brilliant thought that i find out are completely justified ---note to self. look into this.)

the thing I wanted to point out and that i found interesting
is that if lady macbeth was not as motherly and womanly as she is
and if she was able to be unsexed
that would change much of her interactions

first off she would have probably not encouraged Macbeth to kill Macduff
I think it is a rather motherly thing to be really encouraging
and i find it interesting that she specifically parents him
like why did you bring back the evidence you shouldnt have done that

secondly she would have probably killed Macduff herself
and she wouldnt have been so "loving" or more like convincing to Macbeth
to go and do the deed and get over his feelings

so really her wanting to be "unsexed" would not have been a good thing for the point of the play

the only positive outcome that I could thing of
would be she might not be so guilty as to kill herself
and it is interesting that she really results back to those feelings about her guilty
and its a very motherly and sensitive thing that she does
that also completely goes against her beginning feelings
in the play of being so powerful and manly

so her transformation
she starts out very manly and strong
then she shows hints of her womanness in wanting to change
and  being motherly like to Macbeth
yet being very strong and expecting of him to be a man
and specifically stating that she would do it if he didnt look like her father
---that is such a stab like well i am more manly than you
but then she breaks down to this weak almost little girl type in her guilt

so yes. Lady Macbeth is one of my most favorite characters
in all of literature. her and Penelope from the Odyssey
who is also a very strong woman

maybe that says something about myself?
...on that note im not planning on killing anyone though haha

phonebook notes

Dr Burton Suggested we make an annotated contact list
of the people we wanted to use for our social proof
so those people we wanted to contact with our ideas and see their opinion.

I dont remember what brought me to these sources
but these are my ideas:

i just put a shout out on Facebook to my friends for their thoughts
so we will see what I get....

on this forum there are several teachers and several professors
if you look at the look at bottom there are people
who talk specifically about the teaching with inclusion of pop culture

I found this interesting article about teaching Shakespeare with YouTube
of course after I read the article, I think it would be interesting to contact her

this author talks about how she has personally used modern interpretations to teach shakespeare
i think it would be interesting to talk to her about her success and if she thinks it should be a standard

this harry potter fan discusses how by studying Queen Hermione from A Winter's Tale gives insight to Hermione from HP as well as my original comparing Macbeth and Harry Potter
I would love to discuss her feelings if she felt like it is beneficial to look at Shakespeare from this view

This article about Teaching Shakespeare through Film and TV highlights the importance of why the text should not be just read as well as may offer other good sources

Kelli Marshall is lover of pop culture and Shakespeare and I want to see her thoughts on intertwining the two

Mike Lomonico posts for the Folger Education blog often specifically about teaching Shakespeare to students I would be interested in his thoughts because from the impression i have gotten he seems to encourage directly using the text
there is also some twitter conversation there with him that might be interesting to get involved with

After I have some solid research and ideas and have contacted these people above
i would love to run this all by some actual teachers and people focused on teaching
ie from my previous post

• teacher of teachers
• -Prof Wing -teaches introductory teaching classes
• -Dr Grierson -teaches reading comprehension
• department chair in a high school
• -Tara Henderson
• high school teachers that tend to be less traditional
• -Chantey Webb
• -Kellie Miller
• -Michelle Wennerstrom

Any other ideas?

and ps. i feel weird asking questions at the end of my post but i feel like that draw out some feedback 

paper narrowing

so in the mornings when i am getting ready for school
i normally will quickly scan through my social media feeds
on my phone and i have made a rule i cant get on the computer
well this morning I had to break  that rule when I found
this article comparing Macbeth and Harry Potter
let me tell you how excited I was

So what I have decided to focus more on is
learning Shakespeare through modern interpretations
not only may it be more engaging for students
but it also is able to show a lot of things
like how influential Shakespeare is in our society
to the point where his tales are almost ingrain into everyday life

so for example, with Macbeth
comparing it with Harry Potter -a story that most students would know- teaches a further understanding of motive and should help students to better see another way into understand complex characters
looking at art renditions should help to teach character analysis

So I want to show the importance of Macbeth in particular
not being taught in seclusion of just Shakespeare and the text
and more being taught in the context of Shakespeare is in everything

and I dont know how I would quite tie this in
but i have thought a lot about what Bri is looking into
with how Shakespeare is so much folklore
and how Shakespeare was the pop culture of his time teaching the folklore
and how our new pop culture is teaching the folklore of our time being that of Shakespeare
so she is moving backwards with that idea and i am looking forward

What do you think?
Does it sound better than my mess before?

Can you think of any other important things?

Teaching Our New Age Brains

I am trying a new thing of posting from the app on my phone so if anything is weird in this post take that for the explanation

first off I feel like i should officially introduce my research paper
it will be a non traditional approach. see more details here
there are a few of us that are looking at things related to education

What I am interested in looking at is the benefits in incorporating different formats for a better  comprehension of Shakespeare and looking with Macbeth specifically

I have talked a lot about the idea of scaffolding teaching. To explain this in more depth --scaffolding is the idea that your pedagogy should build on each other so you.should start with easy ideas and build baby steps on top of the easier ideas with harder ideas to create a complete learning experience

As i was talking to my class peers I was reassured that this is definitely something important because our new age brains require different ways of learning because we are so.distracted. we also talked about how it is important to include multiple modalities or multiple ways for students to learn because not everyone learns just from reading

so that "socially proved" my idea that i want to look into how Shakespeare and Macbeth provide perfect content for our new age brain's requirements I want to look into infographics that Profe Burton suggested, as well as art and character development, actual performance and perhaps other things

The main thing I am worried about is making this more of a research paper rather than a complex lesson plan.... what do you think? Do you think it is not research material or is there a way you see I should tweek it?

research paper woes.

I keep going back and forth on what I want to look into
i think a lot of it has to do with seeing what everyone else is doing
and i must still not quite fully understanding the details of the assignment yet

What i have come down to is looking into
the importance of Shakespeare being taught correctly through scaffolding
for students to leave with valuable things all in one unit

i have the idea of looking at how Shakespeare
being taught in schools by scaffolding the material
has greater benefits for students in many ways like:
reading comprehension
learning history, folklore
seeing Shakespeare's influence in our world

and i want to use Macbeth as my play

I feel like there are a lot of people I could talk to about this

My list I have thought of so far:
teacher of teachers
-Prof Wing -teaches introductory teaching classes
-Dr Grierson -teaches reading comprehension
department chair in a high school
-Tara Henderson
Shakespeare enthusiast?
Folger Shakespeare blog writers
-there have specifically been bloggers that talk about scaffolding
Students in high school

Shakespeare's Hamlet as a Diagram

I am so excited!
I heard back from the graphic design artist on etsy that I talked about in this post
and I got a response back from her!

As she described herself on her Etsy description

"I’m a graphic designer and photographer living in Stockholm, Sweden. After a little more than a decade focusing on commercial work, I have opened my mind again towards the artistic side of myself. I’m educated at Forsbergs School of Design in Stockholm, Sweden, and I also hold an MA with Distinction from Central Saint Martins, London, UK."

So I have been interested in adaptations
and have considered this for my research paper somehow
but when I found this piece I was interested in her work with the play
and how she made it
and her take on it

My original letter was:

"Hello,
I am studying English at Brigham Young University in Utah. Currently I am taking a class about Shakespeare. We are studying Hamlet specifically right now. As I was doing some research about the play, I ran across your diagram and was interested in it. For my class, we have been looking into unique adaptations and modern usages of Shakespeare. If you have time, I was hoping that you could answer some question to help further my research for my class. How did you go about creating this diagram? Are you a big fan of Hamlet or what drew you to using this play in particular for your creation? How is the diagram organized? (it is hard to see what exactly it all is in the pictures) How did you decide what to include?
Thank you so much for your time! I look forward to hearing from you!
-Tara"

She very promptly replied:

"Hello Tara,

I did it over ten years ago as a school project. Then I had it in the drawer for several years before I thouht it was too good to stay there. I’m not sure I remember all thaughts I had when I created it, but I borrowed the play from the library, read it, and made my interpretation of it into the diagram format. I’m not specifically any Shakespeare fan, it was more that I wanted to find a story that a lot of people are familiar with. At the moment I work on a new piece, just made a first draught to turn Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita into a diagram, at the same time my contribution to ”The Sketchbook Project”:www.arthousecoop.com/users/wah/artwork
Hope this anwered your questions… Good luck with your Shakespeare studies!

Helena"

I think her response shows how much Hamlet transcends and how important Shakespeare is in literature.
I think it is very cool that
she specifically chose it because wanted something popular that people would know
so that goes back to showing how import and transcending Hamlet is

and if you want to take it another level how important and transcending the stories
from the "Saxo Grammaticus’ History of Denmark or as it is properly called Gesta Danorum"

So this is what I am think about working into my paper somehow
I am struggling to figure out how though
and what
and how
haha

i obviously just struggle some times


but with all of that i thought that her adaption was cool
and even taking it back to teaching as always....
if students were looking at the diagram or even creating one for themselves,
this type of visual could be so helpful for students in grasping plot line!


I also would have posted this all sooner
but, i was in Moab for the weekend.

However, i found something really cool
and I wish I could have looked at it more
but check out these beauties:

(if you click on the picture, it makes them larger!)

while i wish i could remember the dates on them
they were old book in a rare book store
that had been bound hundreds of years ago
with print of the folios in them

they were so cool!

if i only had the money to buy them.

that just add to the many thing i wish i had the money to buy

but if you are ever passing through moab
you should stop in and see them
whether they are anything special or not
they were cool!

and on a super side side note just for your interest
they have a replica first edition book of mormon
that was made to look exactly like a real one
and some guy brought it in a tried to sell it off as an original one
so that was also cool to look at.
$500 to own but cool.

Shakespeare's Hamlet: The (not really) Manga Edition

I chose to look at the manga version of Hamlet for my comic book

while i am not a huge comic book reader,
i thought it was really cool.
and i think the art is very well done and beautiful
---i do wish it was color

I was really excited to purchase a copy
just to have in my future classroom

i could see students loving something like this
and perhaps
I think it would be a wonderful first approach
for students to read Shakespeare

we are back to scaffolding
you could have your students read the comic version first
they get used to the story
get used to the language
see it in a format they already like
and see the pictures with the language
and then students could read the actual play
you could even structure this scene by scene
and you could work in the audio book even.

have students read the comic
listen to the audio book
read important scenes alound

this may take twice as long in a classroom
but i think if students were enjoying Shakespeare
and understanding it
then it would be worth it

and they would all think you were the coolest teacher.

i love this idea

and where many teachers may be dreading it,
this makes me so anxious to get out and teach
and teach Shakespeare!

Hamlet Blitz. Life Blitz.

I have been horrible about posting this week.
I am fighting a sickness I think, and my birthday is Saturday.
So between the two and the increase in homework,
I have found myself not blogging

however I just wanted to show two really cool things
i found when we did the Hamlet Blitz in our class on Wednesday
(the top of the document talks about what it is)

The first is just cool
and it is probably just because i am an english major
and like quirky things

this shop on etsy makes "novel soaps for a BA(th) in literature"
i just thought it was so cute and quirky
and i wish i was as clever as her
you have to go look at her facebook page too
and look back at the past soaps
because she is so funny (english major humor)
and clever! love it!

BUT! the big cool find that i am looking more into is this:

this print is Hamlet put into a diagram form

it is hard to see it all in the small picture 

but i am going to email the seller for more information

i wish i had an extra $230 to buy it 

but it looks like a really interesting and creative adaptation

so! cross our finger to hear back from the creator

also, I emailed Elizabeth E. Schuch --the painter of all of those wonderful water colors

i just asked her about her process and the use of the plays in her creations

but still waiting on her to email back as well 

so! double cross our fingers

Hamlet: Shakespeare Appreciated. Unabridged. Dramatised. Commentary Options. and teaching students.

As i stated before, I am listening to Hamlet through audio book format
Thus far I began by listening to the commentary version

I thought the intro was interesting
i would have preferred had the intro just been the history
rather than "well Shakespeare's father just died and we just missed Julius Caesar"

I continued to listen to the play with the commentary for the first scene
while i enjoyed what the lady has to say
i find the commentary distracting.
i had a hard time focusing on the plot and what was happening
also an extra three hours is a lot more time to dedicate to listening

perhaps a recap and interesting info blurb at the end
of the scene would be better for my mind

i do have to try really hard to focus on the play
otherwise my mind wanders
i am sure that following along with the text would be helpful

after i have listened to a scene
i like to read a summary on Sparknotes per say
so that i can solidify what i have read.

i think this is how i would like to teach my students Shakespeare:

1. give students a brief overview and background of the text
2. read aloud or listen to one scene at a time --perhaps focus on important scenes by listening and then reading/ acting aloud
3. read summary of the scene
4. discuss important information about the scene
5. repeat with each scene until the end 
6. reread the summary/ overview of the play 
7. discuss important facts of the play 

I think that this would instill a really good understanding of Shakespeare for students
It has the important aspect of scaffolding to harder content
and it also has multiple modalities for students of all learning types

its funny when you you come to a place in your major
when you start to look at everything through your "major eyes"

its okay
i love it.

The Merchant of Venice: Back to High School Edition

So I had the intention that I was going to experience The Merchant of Venice as a high school student
I am not sure how I was going to do this or what I was thinking when I originally thought of it, but I got completely distracted.

I did find some great resources for teachers!

Judith Elstein created a complete unit for the Merchant of Venice
I like how much she scaffolds the lessons
The students rework the play several different ways
and also in very hand on ways
It was interesting that for one of the activities
she had students cut apart a book of the play
and then paste the pages to wall
and high light things through the entire play
i think this is really interesting
and would work very well for visualizing everything
but i think it would be over whelming using the entire text
it would however make students very comfortable with the actual lines

Folger Shakespeare Library has a huge
database of resources for teachers
they have all sorts of activities and resources
it looks like a great site for teachers
and they also have a Folger Shakespeare Education Blog

I have been watching for something good to chime in on
so hopefully I will be able to make some good conversation
in the bear future to report back on

Anyways! these look like great resources that
I will have to remember when I have my own classroom!

The Merchant of Stratford?

I have just gotten back from BYU Young Company's production of "The Merchant of Venice"
Over all I really loved the adaptation
It was an adaptation for children
They preform at BYU
and then they travel and perform it for schools as well
They had the children sit down on the floor
and also had children play some of the minor parts like Nerissa

The play was held in Margetts Theatre
This was a very interesting set up
They called it a "round play" if i remember correctly
because it was a big room with tier seating set up on all four sides
and then in the center there were floor seat with "aisles" for the actors to walk
so the audience was all around
in the four corners, props were kept and costume changes and everything took place
so there was no backstage either

this set up worked particularly well for what the play was trying to accomplish
being a child's adaptation, the cast was trying to get the audience and the children
as involved as possible
the only down fall that i noticed was that
at times i felt the actors had to go out of their way to get around the children on the ground
which made it feel awkward because of the lack of space

this was bearable, but what was not is that i felt lines got lost
some lines would not get spoken loud enough
when the actor had their back to my side
so the "round" set up made it hard to hear at times
or i could also be deaf....

Like I said, I really enjoyed the play
I thought they did a wonderful job
and it makes me wish I had children of my own to bring to it

to make it a children's adaptation
they changed a few thing about the original script

to start off the actors asked the audience
what they wanted the names of things to be

so they changed: