So here's what I learned, Janelle edition:

Gain Shakespeare Literacy:
I would say that I definitely gained some breadth and depth of Shakespeare's works in this class. I read and learned basic knowledge about a wide variety of Shakespeare's plays that I was really unfamiliar with (such as Henry V, The Winter's Tale, and King Lear). I also gained a greater depth of knowledge about plays that I was already familiar with by reading them, watching them, and discussing them (such as Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, and A Midsummer Night's Dream). I most enjoyed gaining Shakespeare literacy in terms of the performance and legacy of Shakespeare. Watching the plays on both stage and screen was definitely the easiest way for me to access the language and the ideas of Shakespeare. I'm actually hoping to watch more of the 'at The Globe' performances over the break because I loved them so much. Being a pop culture junkie, I also loved recognizing and thinking about the ways that Shakespeare carries over to our modern world. I probably shouldn't have been surprised by how many lines from Shakespeare plays I noticed as I watched other television and movies over the semester... but I was.

Analyze Shakespeare Critically:
For me, analyzing Shakespeare critically came most from our class discussions and from the articles that I read for my research paper. It was really cool to see what current teachers are saying about Shakespeare and the teaching of Shakespeare, and it really helped me to read and analyze A Midsummer Night's Dream more closely-- I had to, after all, consider how I could actually make this work interesting and meaningful to students. I also really enjoyed our discussions in class about performance analysis. Those really helped me to watch the plays and performances more critically, but not in a bad way. I was able to find more value in the productions and critically analyze what performances are worth watching, which I think will be really valuable to me as a teacher.

Share Shakespeare Meaningfully:
I LOVED this being a focus of our class! A few people in class throughout the semester mentioned trying to watch Shakespeare performances with others and having negative experiences... I had nothing but positive experiences! I never watched a production alone and probably watched Shakespeare with at least 10 different people (outside of the class) over the course of the semester-- mainly my roommates and some guys in my ward. Sometimes I had to explain some things, sometimes we had to google some things, but it was always fun and interesting... and I was surprised by the awesome insights that some of my friends had to share! I've already written many paragraphs on the cool experiences that I had sharing my Shakespeare research online (through Facebook, Goodreads, English Companion Ning, etc.) and meeting with a few professors, but I really just can't stress enough how much that process changed my overall paper for the better. It was amazing to see how much people around me were interested in learning about the things that I was learning about-- I wish I had had this experience before reaching my senior year of college... it would certainly have changed the way that I approached (and will now approach) research. I loved spending time researching things that interest me (usually a bit less scholarly than Shakespeare... I mentioned that I'm a pop culture junkie :) and it's so cool to think that people might actually want to hear about the things that I'm learning/reading about. And that they may have information and ideas to contribute. What a novel idea.

Gain Digital Literacy:
I'm really involved in the digital world, but it had never occurred to me to get my research out there (unless it was required as a class project that only my classmates would see). This has really opened my eyes to a new way of approaching the Internet... not just as a way to just find information that has already been gathered (although that's a good start), but as a way to create new information catered to my own specific needs. I'm really involved in the digital world... but I was a little behind the times, and I actually just started a Twitter account yesterday after seeing all of the cool research ideas that it could open up. :)

This Is It:
The ideas that I will most take away from this class are: 1. My students CAN enjoy Shakespeare. 2. Performance and production are some of the best ways to enjoy and experience Shakespeare. 3. The digital world is not just for sucking out information, but for contributing and enhancing information.
I'm happy to report that I'm actually excited for my Shakespeare knowledge to keep growing as I watch more performances and work at teaching Shakespeare in memorable ways. Yay for lifelong learning.