Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and a lack of common sense

I just watched the BBC/TIME LIFE production of ROMEO AND JULIET from 1978..  A very young Alan Rickman played Tybalt.  Sir John Gielgud played the Chorus.  I was actually in a production of the play several years ago.  I have seen a number of film and stage productions.  It has been a while since I had seen any.  It was nice to go back to the play and view it again.  (What I write contains SPOILERS for those not familiar with the play.)
    One thing that strikes me that has not struck before about this play is that no one really uses their brain in the play.  Or if they do they do a bad job of it.  Everyone follows their passions.  Obviously, Romeo and Juliet follow their passions.  One day they meet, the next day they are married, and a couple of days later they commit suicide.  The quickness of their courtship may have been a plot device that Shakespeare used and then again it may not have been.  Shakespearian scholars debate this.  Nevertheless, they still follow their passions and don't use good common sense.  Granted, Juliet is only 13 years old and Romeo is a couple of years older than her.  I remember in a DICK VAN DYKE SHOW Rob (played by van Dyke) says the play is about two stupid kids who run off together and wind up dead.  That's funny but there is truth to that. 
     Other characters in the play either totally follow their passions or just lack good common sense.  Tybalt is a hothead in the Capulet family who wants to kill Monagues.  Mercutio (not a Montague) picks a fight with Tybalt for no good reason and of course gets killed.  Romeo enacts revenge on Tybalt and kills him (this is just a couple of hours after Romeo marries Juliet, Tybalt's cousin).
     Friar Lawrence who should be empitamy of wisdom makes some really bad decsions.  When Romeo tells him about Juliet he chides him saying, "Hey, you were pining for Rosaline and now you want to marry this girl you hardly know."  He marries them anyway thinking it will bring peace between the warring families, but it doesn't.  It just leads to tragedy. 
    When Juliet's parents want to marry her off to Paris the Nurse tells Juliet to marry Paris even though she is married to Romeo (who is now banished).  The Nurse knows she is married.  She goes to Friar Lawrence who gives her a draught that will make her appear dead for several hours.  Maybe Friar Lawrence, or the Nurse, or Juliet should just tell the parents the truth.  She takes the draught and everyone thinks she is dead, including Romeo because he never gets the message that this a trick.  He commits suicide so one can say he isn't thinking straight.  He kills Paris in a fight before he kills himself.  When Juliet wakes up and finds out what happens from Friar Lawrence  he doesn't stay with her to see if she will doing anything rash, which she does.  She kills herself, too.  Then to add salt and open wound one finds out that Romeo's mother died in grief that her son was banished.  The only good thing that happens at the end is a reconciliation between the fueding families. 
     Yes, it is tragic that Romeo and Juliet commit suicide.  What is more tragic is that almost everyone acts on their passions and nobody uses their brain, which leads to the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet but also the tragedy of Lady Montague, Mercutio, Tybalt, and Paris.  The moral of the story is that people need to match up their heads with their hearts.  Sadly, in reality, people don't often do that. 

Final thoughts

This was a good class.  It was a little daunting for me.  I have a love/hate relationship with technology.  (I hope a computer/robot rebellion never happens.  I've seen The Terminator movies and Colousus: The Forbin Project once too often.)  This gives me at least a better knowledge of technology.  There is some really good technology that can be implemented in the classroom.  There is still more that I need to learn.  This is a good start.  Maybe I will keep blogging.

Term list

These are terms that are important for understanding technology. These are terms I am getting familiar with. I have to admit I'm not as technologically literate as some but while taking this class I have become more so. I've also heard many of these terms used but have not totally understood what they mean. I am beginning to understand. I thought Source Code was a movie starring Jake Gyllenhall and Michelle Monoghan. That's a joke even though there is a movie with that title that stars those two actors. One will have a better understanding of technology if one actually understands the terms.

After watching the video about Web 2.0 I was struck that in some ways it will make the web more complicated. Yet, in other ways it may give people more freedom to be creative on the web. Obviously, it is very good for sharing photographs on the web. Maybe people can use it to blog more and create more elaborate and better websites. The fact that the web will be less corporate based and more democratic based might be good too. On the other hand we may get more and more advertisements on the web which may have its drawbacks. Like anything Web 2.0 has its good points and its not-so-good points.

*Aggregation: Using mulitple ethernet network cable/ports in parallel to increase network efficiency.

*avatar: The graphical representation of the user or user's alter ego.

*blog: Short for weblog--a type of website or part of one. They are maintained for an individual with regular entries of commentary, description of events, or other material such as graphics or vide.

*cache: A component that transparently stores data so that future requests of that data can be serve faster.

*captcha: A type of challenge-response test used in computing as an attempt to ensure that the response is generated by a person.

*cloud computing: The delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as utility over a network.

*Digg: A social networking sight.

*hash tag: Short messages on services such as Twitter that may be tagged by including one or more hash tags: words or phrases prefixed with symbol #.

*HTML: Stands for Hypertext Markup Language. It's the predominate markup language for web pages.

*Podcasts or webcasts: A series of digital media files (either audio or visual) that are released episodically and are downloaded through web syndication.

*tags: A non-hierarchal keyword or term assigned to a piece of information (such as Internet Bookmark, digital image, or computing file).

*Tweet: A post on Twitter. Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text based posts, known as "tweets."

*Web 2.0: Is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information, sharing, interoperability, user centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web.

*wiki: A website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinking web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language.

*source code: A text written in a computer programing language.

RSS Feeds

I haven't commented on RSS Feeds yet, so here we go. They are good tool for a teacher to use. If I am teaching Shakespeare I could use an RSS feed to link myself to various sights focusing on Shakespeare and his plays. If I am teaching Hamlet in one class there would be a number of feeds I could use to analyze the play on my own. If I find and interesting link I can send it to my students. This would go for any subject. It can be a good resource tool.
I could have my students there own RSS feeds for class. They could find links that are related to what we are studying. There are good uses of an RSS feed.

Final Project Menu

This project is for a high school English literature class doing group presentations on the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. They will be using various technological tools such as Powerpoint or Prezi, the smart board, and youtube.


Content objectives

Content Standards

Technology Utitlized

Assessing Students

Lesson Structure

Survey

Content Objectives

The object of the lesson is for the to show their understanding of the five acts of the play Hamlet. Each group should show a comprehensive understanding of the Act they were assigned to give the presentation on. They should be able to understand the play and analyze it. The technological tools they are using should help them in their understanding. By creating a powerpoint or prezi presentation this should enable them to clearly discuss the one of the various acts that has been assigned to them. By picking a scene and showing a video version of that scene they can discuss the scene and explain it to the class.

Content Standards

The students through their presentation should reflect the following as stated by the CA Content Standards for English and Language Arts.


Reading
GRADES NINE AND TEN
Comprehension and Analysis of Grade-Level-Appropriate Text

2.3 Generate relevant questions about readings on issues that can be researched.
2.4 Synthesize the content from several sources or works by a single author dealing with a single issue; paraphrase the ideas and connect them to other sources and related topics to demonstrate comprehension.
2.5 Extend ideas presented in primary or secondary sources through original analysis, evaluation, and elaboration.
2.6 Demonstrate use of sophisticated learning tools by following technical directions (e.g., those found with graphic calculators and specialized software programs and in access guides to World Wide Web sites on the Internet).
Expository Critique

2.7 Critique the logic of functional documents by examining the sequence of information and procedures in anticipation of possible reader misunderstandings.
2.8 Evaluate the credibility of an author’s argument or defense of a claim by critiquing the relationship between generalizations and evidence, the comprehensiveness of evidence, and the way in which the author’s intent affects the structure and tone of the text (e.g., in professional journals, editorials, political speeches, primary source material).
3.0 Literary Response and Analysis
Students read and respond to historically or culturally significant works of literature that reflect and enhance their studies of history and social science. They conduct in-depth analyses of recurrent patterns and themes. The selections in Recommended Literature, Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve illustrate the quality and complexity of the materials to be read by students.
Structural Features of Literature

If the students can cover all this in their presentation or an act from Hamlet they have succeeded in their assignment. Part of my grading will depend how well they do on this. The students will also be graded on the ISTE Standards as listed below.

ISTE Standards
1 Basic operations and concepts > Students demonstrate a sound understanding of the nature and operation of technology systems.

> Students are proficient in the use of technology.
2 Social, ethical, and human issues > Students understand the ethical, cultural, and societal issues related to technology.
> Students practice responsible use of technology systems, information, and software. Legal
> Students develop positive attitudes toward technology uses that support lifelong learning, collaboration, personal pursuits, and productivity.
3 Technology productivity tools > Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.

> Students use productivity tools to collaborate in constructing technology-enhanced models, prepare publications, and produce other creative works.
4 Technology communications tools > Students use telecommunications to collaborate, publish, and interact with peers, experts, and other audiences.

5 Technology research tools > Students use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources.
> Students use a variety of media and formats to communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences.


> Students use technology tools to process data and report results.
> Students evaluate and select new information resources and technological innovations based on the appropriateness for specific tasks. Critical thinking - knowledge, evaluation, synthesis, application
6 Technology problem-solving and decision-making tools > Students use technology resources for solving problems and making informed decisions. Webquests

> Students employ technology in the development of strategies for solving problems in the real world.Critical thinking - knowledge, evaluation, synthesis, application
this chart was cut and pasted from http://cnets.iste.org/docs/NETS_S.doc. It is a personal homeworkaid. J. Garfunkel

Obviously, the students need to have a good understanding of how technology works do to this assignement. In fact, there is a good chance they might know it better than some teachers. One reason to have them work in groups is because if one does not understand a certain aspect of the technology most likely another student will. The student who understand it can teach the student does not.

Technology Utilized

The technology utilized would be facebook, youtube, the smartboard, and powerpoint or prezi. This should make the presentations interesting for both the students doing it and the students watching it. I will find it interesting and rewarding watching my students use this technology. It should also help them deliver a good presentation.

Assessing students

The students will be assessed on not so much how well they do the project but how they understand the play. In their presentations were they able to analyze the scenes that they show from youtube on the smart board from Hamlet. Through the powerpoint or Prezi presentation were they able to cearly summerize and analyze the Act of the play that they are presenting.

Lesson Structure

The project is to have 10th graders read Shakespeare's Hamlet. Divide the class into five groups and have each one discuss the five acts of the play. The students are to show clips of a scene or monologue from the act from a film version of Hamlet. They will get them off youtube and show them om the smartboard. It can be any film version.
The students would then do a powerpoint or Prezi presentation describing the overall act. What is the main action goin on during the act? How do the characters develop? Why does Hamlet forstall in killing Claudius, at least until the end of the play? These are some of the questions that they need to discuss during the presentation.
I would also want the students to use create their own Facebook group. I still would want them to meet on together but they could also get together on line if they could not meet for some reason or another. They could also share ideas in their group on line. If one of the students thought of a good idea for the project outside of when the group met then he or she could share it in the facebook group.

Thoughts on Prezi

I think Prezi could work well as a tool. I would need to learn how to use it. The one demonstration that Colin gave us was not enough for me to learn it. If I can learn how to do it I might be able to use it. Since I am getting a credential in English I could probably use it in some way for that subject. If the students were to read John Steinbeck's THE GRAPES OF WRATH, which as most know deals with a family fleeing Oklahoma during the Dustbowl and the Great Depression and coming to California thinking it's the promised land. Unfortunately, not so. I could do a Prezi presentation showing the route from Oklahoma to California during the 1930's. How the family would have traveled. It could also include pictures of the harsh reality of that time period. In the prezi presentation I could also show how President Roosevelt and the government responded to the crises of Dustbowl and the Depression. How certain organizations like the CCC were created to deal with unemployment and poverty.
Prezi makes a good tool. If one of my students wanted to do a Prezi presentation that would be fine with me.