Shakespeare, the bard

This week I chose to read two articles/chapters from the Teaching Shakespeare Today text. I wanted to get two ideas of how different teachers tackle such a difficult text in a classroom. For me, I hated Shakespeare (I know and I'm an English Major... shame on me). I like the ideas of his plays, but hate how outdated they are. I know that most of our movies are based of some sort of Shakespeare play, but I always wished we could learn from them rather than from the original language. That's why I loved reading Manga! I thought it was so refreshing to read Romeo and Juliet in another medium but kept the language that it's known for.

The first chapter I read was called, "Getting to know a play 5 ways." In this chapter Rozett had many awesome ideas on how to bring Shakespeare into a classroom creatively. Three that I especially liked was the props manager, bringing it to Broadway, and hiring actors in the 1600's. In the props manager role, the students had to go through the entire play and make a list of all the props used ON STAGE not off, and write an essay about which were significant part in the play both visually and symbolically. The second idea, hiring, challenged the student to hire as little actors as possible (all men of course and boys) and made them describe how they would play more than one part successfully. Lastly, my favorite idea was bringing a Shakespeare show to Broadway. It allows the student to modernize the play, use recent language, and keep the same elements. For the teacher, these projects allow for different assessments other than a typical essay. These ideas are unconventional and have a little fun factor to them. All of the above make the students read every line closely and understand stage directions.

The second I read was called, "Introducing Shakespeare with First Folio Advertisements." This talked mainly about a starter to teaching Shakespeare. It encouraged educators to use background information to introduce such intimidating topics to students. I think that this is a very good idea because a lot of students ARE INTIMIDATED! It might make them feel better if we ease them into Shakespeare rather than just throwing it at them in the middle of the year for a unit. Another good point Pinti had was using visual aids while introducing Shakespeare, and how his picture is very recognizable. The arts create a positive public image, and using advertisments in this way with Shakespeare's quotes and picture justifiy this.

Kindles, and Blogs, and Phones, OH MY!

I think that moving the classroom to a more media based learning environment is one of the smartest things we, as educators, can do. It is our job to meet the needs of our upcoming students, and being aware of their hobbies, culture, and strengths is important. However, I do not think that this means facebooking our students their homework. It simply means bringing in the technology that our future students have grown up with into their learning, making them more apt to consolidate their skills together. I was impressed that 7th and 8th graders were skilled enough to make a movie trailer, because I do not think that I could do this task without being taught the different programs. Her english class reminds me of two different classes I took in high school. I was in Journalism and we wrote for the school newspaper. In that class we learned about the different types of media, and how they affect our daily lives. Then we designed our own ads that would go in the paper using Adobe indesign and photoshop. It was a really intersting class, but was difficult to add the artistic ability to my writing level. The other class that used different medias was my visual communications class. There we had to pick apart the designs of adds by fonts, colors, pictures, the line of "golden proportion", and how different age groups preferred different outlines for their particular products. I really enjoyed learning about all of the different forms of medias in that class after studying the basic elements of design. From there we did screen printing, lino blocks, and black and white photography. Back on task, I loved the idea of bringing the classroom to the modern era. Paper and pencil doesn't cut it anymore. I mean seriously, I love blogging for this class. It's much better than preparing a summary after every reading and it allows all students to be involved with each others work. I love reading what my peers have to say about the assigned readings, because I feel we all have a different opinion or take on them. Another reason why I am so forward with this idea is because it allows for a student centered classroom. Like literature circles, it allows the student to make choices and have freedom in their own learning. This allows them to feel like they are taking owenership to their education, and allows the teacher to take a stand-back approach to teaching. This allows the teacher to observe and interact personally with students rather than by lecturing. If, however, I was going to teach this class I would need some skills with computer and programming skills. It might be beneficial for colleges to manidate particular classes in technology, so that we are not so far behind when we begin teaching.

As for advertising... I loved how the author described students. Images are everything, even here at Ship. How many students do you see walking the campus wearing a Northface, Sperrys, Uggs, American Eagles Jeans, and a hollister or express tee shirt on. It's hard to find one student who doensn't own at least one of the items above. Have you ever wondered, myself included, why we buy the things that we do? I HAD to have a Nike backpack in middle school, or I refused to wear one at all. What sways our opinions? It's interesting to look at how much logos, name brands, and the ads that sell these items affect our daily lives. I guess I always wanted to "fit in" but be a rebel at the same time. I remember buying Converse sneakers because they were considered "punk" and I was going through a phase where I wanted to piss my parents off. If we bring these ideas into the classroom, I believe that it will make students more aware of the products they buy and how they can brainwash and manipulate us. Advertising is HUGE. The superbowl for example makes millions of dollars on pepsi products and beer for a 30 second commercial. Ads sell lifestyles, not products. If you want to be a "prep" you buy hollister because that is what the cool kids wear. I think that it's important for our students to see this trend and become more aware of it as they buy more items on their own with their own money in the future.       

 

Lastly, I can't believe that the average 14-24 year olds read only about four whole minutes a day. I mean, if that 18-22 year old range is in college (just using the typical college ages not to offend those who aren't in that scheme) they HAVE to read basically to understand the content. I read about two hours a day. TWO HOURS! I'm not part of that steryotype that calls us the "dumbest generation." Thats all I have to say about that. :)


*notice all the pictures I placed are relevant BUT ALL LOGOS! How many can you name??

re: Feed

Wow. If that is what the future holds, I'm glad that the world is "ending" in 2012. In all seriousness, I wasn't exactly thrilled when I began reading the first few pages, because of the language, but after the first 50 pages I was hooked. Feed is a novel that mocks the trends in our society by showing the glories and downfalls of the industry and internet. Wouldn't it be awesome to "mind chat" someone without looking at them or getting our your laptop? On the other hand, getting lesions and having my skin fall off isn't exactly what I call fashion. I loved Feed. It was refreshing to read, and it brought up a lot of interesting points about today's society. When is enough, enough? Is technology a good thing, and do the pros outweigh the cons? Although Feed is fiction, I believe there are a lot of common topics that could be discussed about the modern we live in today.
1. How does industry and advertising affect us as consumers? Hulu and other websites are offering ways to "personalize" your ad experience to better suit you. Is this a scary thought or what!
2. Global warming is a hot topic for politicans, but are the dangers really prevalent? How realistic is it that in Feed the temperature was usually over 100 degrees and that people were able to turn off the sun in their tubes?
3. Endangered species and the environment are often talked about in a biology class, but killing habitats and building factories was a theme throughout Feed. In what ways could this be reversed, and how do we encourage students to be proactive in a world that is constantly relying on fossil fuels to worry about other creatures on Earth?
4. The trends are constantly changing in Feed. Relating this to high schoolers might be interesting to see what they consider what trends that seemed "far out" and study different decades. For example the '60's was known for the hippies, and we could discuss how different movements in government, society, and pop culture influence these trends.
5. Facebook, Myspace, and other social networking sites are beyond popular. In Feed they discuss the access to anything in their own minds- what would be the advantage and disadvantages? Is this a downfall to the newer generation, or does it put them ahead of the game?

Although these are only five questions, I think they would bring up a lot of good debates among students because many of them hit home. Feed is a book that could bring up so many good topics, while also having a love story and teen drama to keep it interesting and fresh. I would suggest this reading to anyone.

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