Mr. McFeely

Mr. McFeely

I had the wonderful pleasure this weekend of meeting David Newell, better known as Mr. McFeely from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

Honestly, he may be the most sincere and kind person I have ever met. Immediately upon meeting me, he asked all about me and how I got to where I am and where I am looking to go in the future. He was genuinely interested in learning about me and helping me succeed. He told me to drop his name to get a job within five minutes of meeting me!

Additionally, the man has a steel-trap memory. He knew where I was from because he saw my area code. To be clear, I am not from the same city or even state as him!

I sincerely hope I get the chance to see him again. Speedy Delivery!

Fun Facts About The Bard

I have fallen in love with this show! It is basically a small group of highly talented British comedians and guests from around the world that talk about a specific topic. The episode here is all about Shakespeare and has some fun and interesting facts.

Beyonce – I Was Here – at the United Nations

Beyonce - I Was Here - at the United Nations

I am trying to post more regularly, but I lost my motivation for a bit when I found out that some of the greatest achievements of my undergraduate career have been undone. Some in under a year.

Needless to say, it was heartbreaking for me.

My boyfriend tried to cheer me up by telling me that I did do some good while I was there and the people I worked closely with will remember the hard work I did. Don’t get me wrong, I want to be remembered for working hard.

BUT, I also want to be remembered for making some lasting, positive changes on the organization I was involved with. I want to be able to come back to school and see the changes I started grow into something more spectacular. Instead, the people following me took a couple steps back.

I lost my motivation to work hard because it felt like it doesn’t matter; it will all be undone. I want to be remembered for doing something good for this world and that I did it all well (just in case some grammar sticklers were ready to pounce ;) ).

I want anyone to be able to see that I was here… Maybe this is my chance…

Fairy lore in Shakespeare

Reblogged from mymanwillyshakes:

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'Tis the season (for magic!) While this is not a Christmas themed post, Christmas is often referred to as magical, so here is some background on the magical history of Shakespeare!

Either I mistake your shape and making quite,
Or else you are that shrewd and knavish sprite
Call’d Robin Goodfellow…
Those that Hobgoblin call you and sweet Puck,
You do their work, and they shall have good luck:

Read more… 1,519 more words

Adds an excellent dimension to a Midsummer Night's Dream and is a great example of how the plays could be expanded in the classroom!

Consumerism and Christmas

It seems that the popular thing to do today is criticize Christmas for its consumerism driven nature. I think the people who make Christmas about consumerism and the people who criticize Christmas for being strictly about presents and shopping and things are missing the point behind Christmas.

Do we call Birthdays a consumer holiday? I don’t think so.

Now, I’m not saying that there are not some misguided people who make Christmas all about consumerism. I’m talking about the people who skip Thanksgiving to go shopping, or the people who trample each other for the best deal. That is where the critics are correct. These people are focused on WHAT to buy not WHO they are buying for.

To break this trend we need to focus on the spirit of giving. Especially with kids, they tend to love whatever they get. That is what Christmas is about: giving and receiving. The important thing to note here the difference between giving and receiving, and giving and receiving THINGS. We need to remind our kids and remember ourselves that it doesn’t matter what you receive, it matters that you receive. Be glad for whatever you get.

Some suggest that the answer is to give donations to charity instead of gifts. And for some people that is the best thing you can do. It is a great gift and helps to improve the world as a whole. But something has to be said for that moment when you see something as you shop around and think “Yes! That’s perfect.” And your face lights up when you think of how their face will light up.

It’s about the meaning and intention behind the gift more than it is about the physical gift. We need to remember that and teach our kids that idea: being thankful that the giver thought of them during the holidays.

Shakespeare, Shakespeare Stories, Shakespeare Collection, Shakespeare pack, Shakespeares childrens Books, Shakespeare box set, Shakespeare story, Shakespeare books

Reblogged from Snazal.com Blog:

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The Shakespeare Childrens Story Collection 20 Books Box Set by William Shakespeare. A Winter's Tale | All's Well That Ends Well |  Antony & Cleopatra | As You Like It | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Much Ado about Nothing | Othello | Romeo & Juliet | The Merchant of Venice | Macbeth | The Two Gentlemen of Verona | Timon of Athens | Twelfth Night | The Comedy of Errors | Cymbeline, King of Britain | Julius Caesar | King Lear |  Hamlet | The Tempest | The Taming of the Shrew…

Read more… 100 more words

This could be really cool to add to my library!

The Truth Resists Simplicity

I realize I have been absent from my blog for about four months now. All I can say for that is Grad School has been great, but keeps me very very busy. Have no fear though, I have been learning a lot about both children’s media and Shakespeare. Anyway, I wanted to return to blogging over break and responding to the events that transpired in Connecticut seemed like as good as a time as anything.

I am not here to pretend that there is one solution to everything that happened. I am not here to offer up an explanation for what happened because I can’t no one can. Anyone who tells you any differently is living in blissful denial. There is no explanation because, to quote one of my favorite authors and Internet celebrities, John Green, “The truth resists simplicity.”

It is so easy to think that better gun control, or better schools, or better health care could have stopped what transpired last week. But the truth is no one thing could have prevented it. We can never know why it happened or how it cold have been stopped. Maybe it couldn’t have been stopped. The important thing now is to focus on the kids and families affected by this horrible tragedy.

They need words of stability and encouragement surrounding them, not blame and cynicism. There can be no healing without kind words. That is why anger is not the last stage of grief.

Random Thoughts on Research

As I sit in my graduate classes learning about different research surveys, I try to think about my proposed thesis and what sort of research methodology I may employ for my thesis. I think I should definitely consider doing some in-depth surveys, but the question is how should I do it…

I thought of some in-depth interviews with current professionals in the field of educating children on Shakespeare. The benefits of this would be that I would know some of the current best practices and then speculate on how they could be applied to a multimedia project.

Then I thought maybe I could survey some soon-to- be teachers on their interest in using such a project. Not sure how I would exactly include this in the paper I have in mind, but it could be great for an audience research class.

Finally, it hit me. I have so many wonderful professional connections right here at school. They can tell me how to proceed! I wonder if any other students have had this epiphany ;)

The Question of Research

First of all, I apologize for the summer hiatus. There were some more pressing issues that I had to attend to, which took priority over blogging. I apologize. However, this did not stop my reading and research and I have a stack of books just waiting to be read, so the next few months should be very exciting.

Now, I want to talk about research. Specifically, what type of qualitative or quantitative research I could personally gather to put into my paper. I have begun my classwork as a graduate student and have listened to a couple lectures on research and statistics and how it will apply to my work. That is all well and good for those trying to observe and draw conclusions from trends seen in a specific audience, but what about me? How can I conduct more hands-on research for my project?

This raises some problems for me because the project would most likely require classroom testing, which would come after the proposal. Or, could I, as a new graduate student, find the resources and time to test my product? Would developing a program proposal based on educational theory be enough? Can I simply prove that there is nothing like this available to young students?

These are all questions I will have to address with my advisor and thesis committee. I suppose I could try to get access to a group of young students at the nearby elementary school and see if I can conduct at least one successful lesson. Or, I could conduct a survey displaying the lack of Shakespeare education and appreciation in today’s system.

Do you have any ideas? Let me know! I am always looking for extra help.

Everything I Need to Know I Learned from Shakespeare

I just picked up this book by Laurie Maguire and I already love it. And all I’ve read is the introduction!

 

Anyway, she talks about how all of the situations discussed in self-help books and how each one has been seen in a Shakespeare play. There is something to that idea. Shakespeare allows us to explore the good and bad in people and situations. Learning these plays and especially experiencing them from some sort of performance exploration allows us to understand how others may experience the exact same situation. This idea could be crucial to the emotional development of students.

 

What are some situations and characteristics you have experience through Shakespeare?