Oh, for a muse of fire
As a senior English teacher I have the distinction of being the last of a long acquaintance with school literature for my students. Many, if not most students, come in with a surly attitude about English. My goal is to get that frown turned upside down. While I don’t resort to extremes, I have been known for some surprising antics to liven up class. I inject movie clips, silly voices, and theatre activities into the lesson plan.
I enjoy teaching English because I’m actually a librarian at heart (budget cuts). To infuse the love of books is a mission, not a vocation.
At the end of the month my students will have studied a handful of sonnets, examined three Shakespeare plays, watched one live performance of Hamlet, analyzed two of the Bard’s speeches, and have performed one of the speeches from a play. They will be so full of Shakespeare at the end of this unit they will leak iambic pentameter onto their desks. This might cause consternation with the custodians, yet it is all part of my mission to turn these Bardihators into Bardinators. I would be Bardilating even if it wasn’t Shakesyear.
My extra effort Barding might be paying off; I think I might be making headway. We began with Taming of the Shrew, a farce that they could relate to because of Ten Things I Hate About You, and then we went onto a tragedy. I surprised them with Othello, a complicated study of villains and heroes and racial issues that resonates with my students even after 400 years it was first performed.
We moved onto my personal favorite: Hamlet. We explored the first eleven lines together and they realized Shakespeare’s language does not present the barrier they thought they would encounter. We prepared for the climatic duel of act five by going outside and learning stagecraft fighting with duct-taped yardsticks.
I teach the same lesson six times, slightly modified, due to being the only senior English teacher this year, so my Shakespearience becomes even more enriched over the years because the math computes to a lot of repetition of knowledge. I’ve always said the best education I’ve received is from teaching.
As for students and their absorption of English? I wonder how much impact I will have. Will students fondly or disdainfully remember my efforts to interject the muse of Shakespeare’s fire into their lives? Will there be Renaissance Man moment, when they will recite a few lines or carry the meaning of a studied play with them into their future life? I hope so.
For now, my librarian-teacher heart will continue to thrill when students make comments like: “I really like this. I really like digging into this Shakespeare stuff.”
My fire is amused.
image: pintrest
Pam Webb 
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Thanks!
Oh, I want to be a fly on the wall in your class. You sound like the amazing-est teacher.
However, wouldn’t a “Bardinator” be a cyborg sent from the future in order to kill Shakespeare? So kids wouldn’t have to study him in English classes centuries later?
And would such a Bardinator say something cool like, “Hasta la vista, Bardy”?
Bardinators are devotees with style and mix up our partings of sweet sorrow with “I’ll be back” as in returning for more pentameter. By the way–what are your conspiracy theories about who took Bill’s brain?
His brain is missing? Does he still need it at this time?
Actually they discovered his brain box wasn’t with his body when they scanned the crypt.
The bardinator took it, I’m sure.
Cyborgs! Thou art meddlesome irksome knavish baggage of creeping lunacy.
Or Superman did it. Cryptomighty clepomaniac.
I’m so delighted to see a teacher giving such careful attention to Shakespeare! Having a good Shakespeare professor was instrumental in my appreciation of his work.
Keep up the awesome work!
Thanks! I had zero Shakespeare in my K-12 and college years–I must maketh up for lost time.
You brought me back to my own high school days and reading Hamlet in 11th grade English. Definitely wonder what my teacher was thinking back then and hope she had at least 10% of your passion for teaching this classic to us.
The more I teach Hamlet the more I understand it. To be a cheerleader for the Bard is not a question, it’s a vocation. Thanks for dropping in.
Reblogged this on Richard the Teacher and commented:
Language vs. literature: The great debate
You sound like a brilliant teacher! If I were your student, I would remember these classes, and the Bard, fondly. I would want to explore more. I would call this success!
Thanks for the confidence booster. My enthusiasm often wears on my regular students who try hard or is that hardly try (?)to get interested in “dead white writers.”