…which means I need a new reference.
Hmm… How about the players? That should work. I coached the troop; they performed the altered play; I saw Claudius’s reaction: now what?
Please consider this a status up-date–It’s not yet ready for prime time.
I had twenty prompts ready, each a modern-day equivalent of a major plot point in Hamlet. I also flipped all of the genders, as I teach in an all-girls school. This also allowed me to have some fun with names: Rosie and Gina; Aunt Claudette and Garth (sorry Garth Nichols!); Harriet… (The modern-day aspect aligns well with Michelle Ray’s fun retelling, Falling for Hamlet.)
After each prompt, I had asked the girls to tweet their responses.
In short, it was a blast. Absolutely hilarious. I think hashtagging is a new art form. (I’ll share the best shortly.)
I had students tell me it was the most fun they ever had in class. Other students, who missed class for a play rehearsal, could re-live the lesson for homework! And one said it was the most fun she ever had doing “homework”.
Here’s what I can conclude:
- Students were completely engaged–I have the tweets to prove it!
- It took them a little to open up, but then they quickly played off one another and the tweets began to flow fast and furious.
- When given the option, students will be profane… (more on this later).
- When I did a character map/plot exercise with them next period, they were ready–made it go a lot more smoothly.
The engagement and fun were worth the effort (no regrets; the plot/character reinforcement was valuable).
Stay tuned! I’m about to encounter Claudius in the chapel…
More to come!
I am so interested and curious about what this looked like and how it played out for your students. Would it be possible to show a screen shot of the feeds (you could black out your students’ names)?
I’m also thinking about Ruth’s latest post (http://cohort21.com/rutheichholtz/2013/11/27/if-it-aint-broke/) about using technology in thoughtful ways: what do you think Twitter allowed your students and yourself that wouldn’t have been possible before?
Hi Alan and Celeste,
I think that Alan is definitely on to something. To answer Celeste’s question, I think that Twitter is a unique language in and of itself, and through dynamic linking, #ing and @ing (see…I just made those into verbs!) students have to manipulate the meaning and that builds understanding and allows them to demonstrate their knowledge in novel ways – which is a great indicator of learning, and a great pedagogy.
Alan, I think you should check out what some of our students are doing as well: @cap_jul on Twitter. You may want to take this a little further with Fakebook too. Here is a great example from one of my students just last week: http://www.classtools.net/FB/1952-BBJk4a
You just have to give it a minute to load…
thanks for a thoughtful post, and to Celeste for her link to Ruth’s post!
garth.