How I met the Learning Outcomes

Here are the learning outcomes as met by me :)




Gained Shakespeare Literacy:
I feel like in this area we did a lot as a class to target increasing our knowledge in terms of breadth, width, legacy and performance. I really enjoyed that we focused on all of the aspects of being a literate 'Shakespearean.' In my own studies, things that helped me accomplish this learning outcome were:
 a) do the assigned readings
b) look-up some of the unfamiliar references and also allow myself to experience the aesthetic qualities of his work without it
c) I listened to one play on tape before reading it
d) I switched the order sometimes and would watch a performance before reading to see how that impacted my learning
e) tried to learn about Shakespeare's personal history and the social context of his work
f) looked at how his works are still incorporated in our culture today (pop culture references, word etymology, movies, books, graphic novels, etc...)
g) I thought about how to teach Shakespeare to others.
I think that this last option was the most influential in helping me grasp a greater handle on Shakespeare literacy, because it made me want to see what was available so I could find the most interesting and effective ways to teach it to students.

Analyze Shakespeare Critically:
I feel like the requirements for this outcome were met in the papers we wrote and the research undertaken to complete them. I learned that Shakespeare has a lot to offer within its own context, nothing added. However, I think looking at Shakespeare in depth and analyzing the text was the most engaging for me when I added a context to it. I thought it was really fun actually to analyze Shakespeare in a rhetorical way so that teachers could see what they can do in their own classrooms.
I also liked how we analyzed Shakespeare's works as they were first intended to be observed: through performance. It was interesting to note the differences between live performance and recorded performance. It also helped to add clarity and additional meaning to the text itself. I had never really critiqued a performance medium before, so this was a fun new challenge and helped open my eyes to additional ways of teaching that enhance abilities of students in reading and writing.

Share Shakespeare Meaningfully:
I liked that we took the Bard from paper to having a meaning for people beyond the page. I thought it was cool to begin our research through things like social networks. I never knew that my friends knew so much about Shakespeare. I also didn't know how little teachers at the High school level know about rhetoric. It really helped to guide my research process in a way that felt authentic. I wanted teachers to know that Shakespeare was not just a poet or a playwright, but that he was a master rhetorician too.
I thought it was also helpful to structure our paper process in the blog format, because it kept us accountable, on top of the work and also linked us to a network with lots of useful information for finding information on Shakespeare.
Lastly, I liked that we had to have an outlet for this paper. It was really intimidating to me to say hey, I want to know if I am good enough to be published, but it also made me want to revise my paper more than if it was just for my teacher (sorry Professor Burton). It kept me more accountable and more invested in my work.

Gained Digital Literacy:
I felt like this is where I grew most of all. I will freely admit that I am technologically-impaired. This is actually an area that creates a little bit of anxiety for me going into a classroom of my own someday, because I am SURE my students will know more than I do. However, I felt like this class afforded us some great opportunities to experiment with new mediums for learning and teaching. The whole blogging idea as a way to assess and communicate was awesome and built some classroom community. I learned about new social networks and places to look for information. I learned about mediums for teaching Shakespeare (film, recording, parody, live performance, art, etc.) That I would not have known about without the requirement to put myself out there and see what others thought about my topic.
I also am excited for other people to see what we have been working on as a class. It is cool to think that something that I have slaved over will actually see the light of day and could actually benefit someone else in their own research.