Learning Outcomes
Yeah, I think that I've increased my Shakespeare literacy with this class. My major experience with Shakespeare before was rather limited--I hadn't even seen a real Shakespeare play. But since then, I've read four new plays and seen three performances. I've been examining his works for critical elements and themes, and feel like I can confidently discuss his plays.
I definitely feel like, as the semester has progressed, I've been posting more and more in depth analysis of Shakespeare's plays, making comparisons to mythological and, at times, modern parallels. I'm not super-crazy outgoing in our large class discussions, but in out smaller groups, I'm definitely talking.
How have I been engaging Shakespeare creatively? I think that a lot of my blog posts can answer that question. I try to find fun and interesting pictures to enhance my blog and make it more entertaining. Even though I didn't create the pictures in almost all cases, I think I used some of them very creatively. And I've always been able to relate what we are learning back to something that I enjoy.
I think that I may be lacking in the sharing department. I haven't been super consistent with my blogging and lately I've been blogging very late. I'm also not super fantastic at finding the time to post on the blogs of others. However, I do find Shakespeare seeping into my everyday life, and that I've started making references to it to my friends and posting lines that I particularly enjoy on facebook, which opens up the avenue of explanation and elaboration to the people that I talk to.
Self-Directed Learning
Hahaha, measuring learning, something psychologists have been trying to do for centuries.
Well, I definitely feel like the way this particular class is set up, we have to become self-directed learners and be responsible for our own learning. We are given nothing really other than a schedule and a day to have the play read by, but we are not told how to interpret it or think about it. The blogging itself requires that we delve deeper into the text and learn for ourselves what we think a particular line is supposed to mean or how we might envision it. I think that comparing blog posts is a logical way to try and measure our learning in this class, and, if you compare my more recent blog posts with my older posts, you'll find a significant change in thought quality.
Collaborative and Social Learning
I think that Cassie has done a really good job of posting consistently and commenting on other people's blogs. She's certainly the person that has commented most on my blog. Keelan has also made a few comments that has helped forward the point of my post. Brittni doesn't comment much, but she is rather animated in our small group discussions and always has something to say.
I also really like the small group format when we come to class. I don't feel like we interact a lot through our blogs, but I love just having a group to start immediately discussing Shakespeare when I come to class. It's rather fantastic.
Like I said earlier in this post, I reference Shakespeare in social situations, which is way fun because people either ask me to explain it, or just think I'm a genius for knowing random Shakespeare quotes.
Looking Ahead
So I'm actually way excited to get this whole final project thing going. What it seems like so far is that I'll pull some people who want to participate in a production of Shakespeare in non-acting roles. I have two other people from outside of class that are working with me towards the performance of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged. If you haven't seen it, it's hilarious. But it would be fantastic to get some people from class involved so that the three of us could focus on learning our lines and getting our blocking down. We were thinking of having a prop master, a costume designer, and a general techie/lighting person to help out the other two and be in control of lighting when we do the final show. It's rather exciting :P
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