Pam Webb

a writer's journey as a reader

Archive for the tag “teaching”

26 Dec 2022
4 Comments

Bard Bits: Getting the Point


Shakespeare is known for his wordplay. He is less acknowledged for his swordplay. He could act, direct, write, and he could wave a sword quite well. Shakespeare’s audiences liked to be entertained and the Bard aimed to please. His plays had a combination of drama, comedy, and action. One audience pleaser was a swordfight.

These days theatre doesn’t depend on one brilliant person to create play wonderment. There are many essential components such as costume and set design, directors, producers, actors, sound, and choreography. Choreography usually involves dancing. It can also mean another kind of fancy footwork: sword fighting. A fight director’s goal is to make the audiences believe the characters are trying to smite one another. The smiting has to be convincing without injury. This is tricky stuff, as I learned.

When I studied Hamlet at the Folger Shakespeare Summer Academy a few years back, we, of course, studied the play’s text, and we also studied the great duel in the last act by studying how to fight with swords. Actually we fought with wooden dowels. And yes, it was lots of fun and really cool.

We stopped traffic in Washington DC. That’s saying something.

When I brought my new understanding of Hamlet to the classroom I brought back how to stage fight. It became a high point to the curriculum. There was a rumor that my AP students signed up for my class because of the opportunity to bash one another with my duck taped yardsticks. I tend to think it was because of my other teacherly attributes. Nevertheless, those who signed up earned the caveat of learning how to stage fight.

At the end of the unit students would pair off and after demonstrating the basic five moves they would create their own routine. Swordplay helped students understand how Shakespeare created tension in the last act of Hamlet, at least that’s how I justified the inclusion into the curriculum.

No injuries during our sword fights. Can’t say the same for the swords. A few causalities. Thank goodness for duct tape.

After learning the basics of stage fight students readily joined in and were invited to show off their “homework” to the rest of the class. For myself, I better appreciate fight scenes, especially sword duels, having somewhat been there, done that. Shakespeare knew how to keep his audiences interested by throwing in some action to the plot. And I learned that getting students up moving about (bashing each other under supervision) goes a long way into keeping my classroom audience interested in the curriculum.

Shakespeare knew how to get to the point of his stories–keep them on the edge of their seat. Same goes for teaching.

Posted in education and tagged , , , , ,
29 Jul 2022
4 Comments

Reader Round Up: June


Though school had a smidge more to go, I was already in vacation mode. And this June marked the beginning of an endless vacation as I shut the door to my 20 years of teaching and embarked on retirement.

Summer has always been my read, read, read season. No lesson plans, no assignments to grade, no researching to add sparkle and sizzle to standards and their expectations, and of course, there is the lounging in bed early and late with a good book. *

Summer is a great big “Aah!”

Any hammock aficionados out there?

Starting out strong with nine books, I bogged down in the middle of June when I took on Lorna Doone, which took the rest of June and into July—but it was worth all 700+ pages.

Two ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ reads:

The Wanderer by Sharon Creech

5 star read

Sharon Creech’s novels continually provide riveting portraits of family dynamics. The Wanderer is another exploration into a family mystery. Like Walk Two Moons, a young girl is a captive narrator with family members delving into her past while journeying towards her future.
In this story, Sophie is part of a crew sailing to England to visit with her grandfather “Bompie.” Although adopted, she sees herself immersed with the lives of her two cousins and three uncles, yet the closer they sail to England the more she realizes she has a past family that must be acknowledged.
Sophie’s lyrical journaling is intertwined with her cousin Cody’s off-the-cuff observations creating a unique journey story.

Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear

5 star read

The third book in the Maisie Dobbs series finds Maisie taking on three cases that push her to her limits of emotional, physical, and personal belief capabilities.
Two of the cases lead her back to her war years, causing her to revisit France, forcing her to face past “dragons.” She relies on Billy, her valued assistant, to sleuth the London case as her investigations take her deeper into her own past while searching the past of two former soldiers.
A layered plot, surprise twists, and full characterization create a more than satisfying read.

Four star ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ reads of note:

The Clearing by Heather Davis

4 star read

For fans of Tuck Everlasting and The Time Traveler’s Wife. A book that flirts with the possibilities and impossibilities of time pockets.
Amy moves in with her great aunt Mae in order to restart her life. Moving from Seattle to a small town takes adjusting, especially when there is mist in the clearing beyond her aunt’s house that divides the time between the 21st century and 1944.
An interesting premise that works fairly well, although the ending is a bit muddled.

The Worst Night Ever by Dave Barry

4 star read

If Dave Barry wrote a book for the juvie crowd it would be funny, right? It would be implausibly plotted, right? Hyperbolic humor, right? That is exactly what is found in The Worst Night Ever.
Although the second in his “Worst” series it reads as a standalone. It begins with Wyatt becoming a target for the menacing Blevin twins and moves toward an espionage recon rescue of a ferret to thwarting an evil plot involving killer critters.
At times darn right silly, often times snortfully funny, Barry writes a fun story for the middle school set.

The Fallen Architect by Charles Belfoure

4 star read

This murder mystery comes from the angle of a architectural point of view. A prominent architect is blamed for the collapse of a theatre’s balcony which kills over a dozen people. After serving a prison term of five years he tries to rebuild his life after everything has been taken from him: status, family, home. Plus, he is reviled by the public causing him to change his name, appearance and occupation.
A unique and somewhat refreshing approach to the murder mystery genre. A bit heavy on the emphasis of the variety theatre history, which slowed the plot down at times; however, plenty of colorful characterization and plot twists make for a satisfying enough read to seek out the other titles.

The Eyes of the Amaryllis by Natalie Babbitt

4 star read

With magical realism leaning towards a fairy tale, Babbitt creates a thoughtful story of everlasting love. When the Amaryllis disappears mysteriously during a storm, the young captain’s wife and son grieve differently. The son runs from his grief to live inland while his mother grows old in her seaside cottage watching for a sign from her beloved captain.
Enter in a visit from the granddaughter who is pulled into the grandmother’s need to know whether her true love, her lost-at-sea captain-husband still thinks of her.
The grandmother believes nothing is impossible, and once again Babbitt spins a story that makes readers willing to believe the unbelievable, just as she did in her classic children’s tale, Tuck Everlasting.

*This feeling usually lasts through July, until Staples, Target, Wal-Mart and the consumer world decides its time to get ready for school–while it’s still clearly summer vacation for most of America. Minor panic begins to set in as I align and adjust and realign and readjust my curriculum, class website, and start diving into district emails. August sees a big dip in reading.**

**Not this year. The <delete> button is a marvelous coping mechanism for retired school teachers. I look forward to bypassing back-to-school frenzy and continuing on in my Book Bingo adventure.

Posted in Reflections, reviews and tagged , , ,
14 Jun 2022
25 Comments

Ya Dah!


Monday marked the closure of my teaching career. A rounded off twenty years of teaching: 19 in the classroom with 1 year as the credit recovery coordinator.

Our school holds a retirement breakfast and each principal or supervisor says a few words about their retiring staff member before handing over a handsome plaque. My principal did say a few nice words then stumped me with an obscure Shakespeare quote. With a reputation as the resident Bardinator he must have thought I would be able to quote what play it hailed from. If I had known there was going to be a pop quiz I would have studied the night before.

WHEREOF WHAT’S PAST IS PROLOGUE; WHAT TO COME, IN YOURS AND MY DISCHARGE. —The Tempest, 2.1 (missed this one, so distracted by Ariel and Caliban)

Our vice-principal, who handles most of the disciplinary issues, decided a mild roasting was in order. He declared me the most prolific behavior referral writer among the staff, keeping him busy (isn’t this called job security?) and handed me “Webb’s Greatest Hits”—a thirteen page document of all my discipline referrals over my classroom tenure. (Isn’t this just doing my job with dedicated zeal for behavior modification?)

Post breakfast meant turning in my phone, keys, and final farewells. Being homeless, since another teacher was moving into room with gusto, I left. Basically my teaching career ended before 10 am. That’s a ponderful thought: you can take away a teacher’s room but there is always room for teachers.

I spent the rest of the day reading, napping, finding a place to put away my accumulation of classroom stuff acquired over 20 years. That’s a very different post.

Over the past week people kept asking how it felt to be retiring. I had a different reply depending on the day. After all, it wasn’t over until my grades and keys were turned in. On this last day, the reality of leaving the career I inadvertently was herded into washed over me when a former student, now our study hall supervisor found me after the breakfast and said, “I’m sad you’re leaving. I’m happy for your retirement, but sad you’re leaving.” Yes, that’s exactly how I feel as well.

As how to spend the first day of retirement? It’s my birthday—so I’ll do whatever I want. It’s Flag Day to boot!

Happy retirement! Happy Birthday! Happy Flag Day!

This is an extra special birthday
Happy Flag Day!
Posted in celebrations, education, humor, memories, Reflections, school and tagged , ,
25 Apr 2022
2 Comments

Bard Bits: Belated Birthday


I was fully aware of Shakespeare’s birthday last Saturday. In fact, I duly noted the event by checking out the Globe Theater’s production of Julius Caesar.

2015 version at the New Globe

I also noted that the library has added to its collection a variety of Shakespeare productions. A present of presentations.

In May my sophomore students will begin their unit in studying Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. My teaching approach is to include a bit of historical background in order for them to understand why:

a)Shakespeare wrote the play (Queen Elizabeth I had no named heir and the kingdom could be thrown into chaos)
b)the main character dies in the third act (is Caesar the main character?)

Prior to the Globe’s 2015 production the only available version was Charlton Heston’s epic film where Jason Robards plays an overly stoic Brutus. Even I dreaded the Julius Caesar unit having to show this verson

Then along came the Globe’s filmed HD production. Whew! Students were able to experience watching the play as a live audience watched the play. Seeing the audience participation absolutely helps students in better understanding Shakespeare’s lines. Until the Globe’s production, it was difficult for students to understand that the tragedy of Julius Caesar was imbued with humor. My students realized that they could laugh even though tragedy was prevalent and Shakespeare intended his audience to laugh to break the tension. He knew how to sell tickets. His plays have plenty of the mainstays found in Elizabethan life: life/death, love/hate, food/sexual repartee and humor in the face of the tragic.

The Globe’s version has the traditional opening of Marcellus and Flavius chastising the plebeians for celebrating Julius Caesar’s triumph and the actors play up the punnery and rivalry between the classes quite well by interacting with the audience. Billy Bard would no doubt be pleased.

From the lively opening the play revolves around the conspiracy towards Caesar. And this Caesar has a bit of acerbic wit. He knows how to lance his speech with tone when presenting his lines.

This Caesar knows how to roll out the wit when needed

The usually dour Brutus even gets a laugh when reading the fake news that Cassius slips into his windowsill.

Nothing breaks the tension like a clog tapping poet when Cassius and Brutus are at odds while camped at Sardis.

What’s really noteworthy about this production is that the actors were Elizabethan garb under their togas. This provides more authenticity as they are dressed more in the style found in Shakespeare’s day.

Bromance squabbles are awkward

Overall, a thumbs up production.

Happy belated birthday, Shakespeare.

Posted in Reflections, Shakespeare and tagged , , ,
19 Dec 2021
2 Comments

The Amazing Days of Christmas Break: Day One


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The Amazing Days of Christmas Break: Day One
Posted in celebrations, holidays, Reflections, Seasons and tagged , , , , ,
15 Dec 2021
1 Comment

December: Read a New Book


In case you missed it in September, you can also decide to read a new book in December.

Reading is next to breathing—it comes naturally

Then again, it doesn’t have to be a designated month for me to read a book. And if I haven’t read it yet it’s a new book to me.

Having librarian experience, both paid and volunteer, for over fifteen years, creates in me this urgency to promote reading. Now that I am in the classroom I promote reading to my students with having them read the first 10 minutes of class. Their reactions range from groans to smiles. There seems to be a firm indication that reading is either in terms of endearment or terms of endurement among teens I have encountered in the last few years.

Anyone have a study on how reading fares among our youth?

As for me—I began to seriously get into reading in fifth grade, prompted by my teacher (Hi, Mr. Cassidy) and have increased my passion for holding words upon pages (no thanks Kindle—gotta turn those pages, feel that paper).

In fact, I just hit my reading goal of 101 books for the year just the other day and I still have time and inclination to keep going.

How about you? Do you have a reading goal? Have you read any new books lately?

Posted in Book Boosters, literature blogs, Reading, Reflections, Uncategorized and tagged , ,
24 Jun 2021
1 Comment

Bard Bits: Overcoming Shakespism


Up until teaching Shakespeare to my high school English students, my exposure and awareness of Stratford Upon Avon’s poet/playwright had been limited to the usual reference of Romeo and Juliet being a play about two teenagers who have a tragic romance. I saw it as a film in junior high. It was rated “M” for mature audiences (being a 13 year old counted as mature then). Certain scenes were embarrassing and I doubt we were mature enough to handle the morning after flesh flash of Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey. Plus, I had a really difficult time understanding what they were saying—were they speaking English?

That was then and this is now. At present I’m the resident Bardinator at school, being the advisor of the Students for Shakespeare Club and being known for my Shakespeare zeal. We’ve brought Shakesperience to the high school several times, I’ve helped with our own drama club’s version of Romeo and Juliet, designing sets and watching my son contribute his thespian skills, and I do my best to engage and interest students to embrace Shakespeare, nudging past groans when studying his works. My appreciation for Shakespeare has nudged me to leave my usual homebody mode to travel cross country to Washington DC to attend Folger’s week long Hamlet academy. I’ve gone beyond the usual Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar school curriculum offerings and have introduced students to Othello, Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, and provided background Bard Bits.

How and why did I go from a Shakespeare illiterate to Shakespeare informed?

First of all, I had to overcome the language barrier. Reading Shakespeare wasn’t working so well. Watching well-produced film adaptations, such as Kenneth Branagh’s Henry IV helped tremendously. Shakespeare is meant to be performed, not read.

Secondly, the more I taught Shakespeare (teaching the same material year after year does have an upside), the more I understood what I was teaching. And if I understand what I’m teaching I can teach the material better to my students.

Beyond teaching the plays, I began reading about the man who wrote them. Since there is so little solid biographical information about Shakespeare, I began researching and became more and more intrigued. Who was this guy and did he really write all these plays and what was theatre like in Renaissance England led to other aspects such as learning more about Queen Elizabeth I and other aspects of that time period.

And I branched out to other plays, learning all about one play before committing to another. The benefit being that Shakespeare’s language was no longer puzzling to my ear, it had become a melody of written expression.

My dream curriculum is to teach a course that is all Shakespeare. We would of course study selected plays and sonnets, but also play Bard Bingo (it’s fun, really), create Flash Mob scenes for the community (field trip!), stage fight (sword fights and Hamlet are a natural), and put on a Shakespeare night for the school—best scenes talent show. I think I would call the course, “Shakespeare Then and Now” or maybe “Shakespeare—the Undiscovered Country.” At least a dozen students would need to sign up to make it a go, then again it could become so popular two sections (or more) would be required as Shakespism transforms into Shakesthusiasm.

I can hope.

Do you suffer from Shakespism or are you a Bardinator or maybe somewhere in between.

Posted in education, humor, language, Reflections, Shakespeare and tagged , , ,
08 Jun 2020

Looking Forward to Looking Backward


A backwards glance takes a back seat for now

Today is the last day for the 2019-2020 school year and I officially begin my summer break. Usually I stay in “teacher mode” and work on lesson plans and revise units while it’s all fresh in my mind. I do this until June 30th and then allow myself to take July off and slowly ease back into school mode around the middle of August.

That’s the plan, anyway. This year the usual has changed. I am ready to embrace summer break without any hesitation, and will not give school much thought until August rolls around.

This year beginning mid-March business as usual changed. We scrambled to create distance learning curriculum and adjusted and adjusted some more as we rode out the school year. Who would have thought two months could feel like a lifetime.

School officially ended May 29th for our school district. Graduation took place in the school parking lot with families in cars and grads socially distanced. There was a reduction in pomp due to our circumstances. The ceremony ended minutes prior to a spring rain storm. How fitting.

I spent Sunday posting my grades from home and Monday will be spent wrapping up my classroom for the summer. I usually celebrate the end of the school year with reflective euphoria. I dwell on victories and successes of teaching and tuck away the ritual of student farewells.

I haven’t seen the majority of my students since March 18th and briefly said good-bye to a handful of seniors who ventured into my classroom. Sans hugs, I wished them a masked farewell.

This has been a weird end to a school year that started out with such promise. I look forward to looking backward on the 2019-2020 school year. Right now I am numb, weary, and a bit heartsick at not only how the school ended but how our nation is troubled by the pandemic and violent protests.

I usually spend part of my summer break traveling and visiting friends and family. That won’t be happening. This saddens me greatly.

I am blessed to live in a small town, a tourist town. And yet, that brings its own set of concerns as the outside will permeate our little bubble dome of safe haven and possibly bring infection to our fair city.

With all the closures, hard times, and scary events clouding my daily life, I do have something to look forward to: the good news is the library is opening up a day after my birthday. Best present ever!

Any other teachers, parents, or students have reflections on the end of the school year?

What good news do you have that brings some sunshine to your cloudy days?

Posted in America, education, Reflections, stress and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment
30 Apr 2020
3 Comments

NPM: The Hand


April is National Poetry Month and my plan of sharing poems of significance to me fell to the wayside as life happened (or didn’t happen).

Emily Dickinson’s “Hope is a Thing of Feathers” was the first post, and now I am ending the month with Mary Ruefle’s “The Hand” as a tribute to students, teachers, the general education community. I miss being in the classroom.

The Hand

The teacher asks a question.
You know the answer, you suspect
you are the only one in the classroom
who knows the answer, because the person
in question is yourself, and on that
you are the greatest living authority,
but you don’t raise your hand.
You raise the top of your desk
and take out an apple.
You look out the window.
You don’t raise your hand and there is
some essential beauty in your fingers,
which aren’t even drumming, but lie
flat and peaceful.
The teacher repeats the question.
Outside the window, on an overhanging branch,
a robin is ruffling its feathers
and spring is in the air.

This poem is a poster that I place prominently in my classroom, to remind me, and to remind my students, that we all have something to share, yet if we don’t make that effort to speak out no one will know what we had to offer.

This poem has even greater meaning for me since I am now separated from my students and I am unable to hear their voices and we are unable to share our ideas with one another. Distance teaching provides learning, yet it’s in a vacuum since I am unable to interact with my students. They might be gaining knowledge through the lessons I send out to them; however, how are they receiving that knowledge, what it means to them is somewhat lost. Electronic response is not the same as seeing that hand raise and hearing their voice.

Yes, I miss being in the classroom. I miss my students.

Posted in education, national poetry month, Reflections and tagged , , ,
28 Dec 2019
6 Comments

Milestones


One aspect of ushering out the year of previous is reflection. The year of 2019 has been one of changes—some sad, some significant, and some ongoing.

Among these changes are milestones. A couple worth mentioning:

WordPress has informed me that I began my journey with them eight years ago. In dog years, which is somewhat equivalent to blog years, that would be nearly sixty years of contributing and sharing my thoughts with others. Thumbs up!👍🏻

Goodreads notified me that I’ve read 139 books for the year, up four from last year. And I should have 140 read by this weekend. Woo hoo! 👏

I applied for a part time librarian position at our local high school in 1999 and twenty years later I am in the classroom having become a certified English teacher, expounding on the merits of literature, language, and composition. Whew!😅

In 1992 Highlights for Children published a story of mine, “Marvin Composes a Tea.” It was awarded their Author of the Month and is the title-lead story in a Boyd’s Mills Press anthology. Although I thought my author career had started with a flourish, and I anticipated dozens of published books by now, twenty-seven years later my picture book Someday We Will: a book for grandparents and grandchildren was accepted by Beaming Books. A little later than expected, but happy nonetheless! 📚

And a very significant milestone is that my mother turns 93 at the end of 2019. Having survived Hitler’s war as a teenager in Germany, she has also survived cancer, a heart attack, and has buried three husbands, a son, two brothers, her parents, and keeps forging on. Yup, she’s feisty and tenacious of life. So happy birthday, Mom!🎊🎁🎉

I’m looking forward to 2020–difficult to avoid that 20/20 comparison of seeing life with a clear focus.

How about you, what milestones happened for you in 2019?

Posted in Blogging, celebrations, memories, Reflections and tagged , , ,

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