Romeo and Juliet
Performing Romeo and Juliet proved to be important to the students for many reasons. The organizational traits that the students learned were very significant. They had to work together to achieve a common goal which is a very helpful skill to have learned. Vigilance when reading this play improved their attention to detail. The technology tools used will play a key role as they move through their student careers. Essentially, all of the skills that the students acquired from performing this play will prove to be vital later in life. There are many ways to learn about Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, but performing an in-depth reenactment was the best.
Organization has played a major role in the completion of Romeo and Juliet. Each student had an individual part in this production; some were actors, directors, writers, or advertisers. These different jobs brought responsibility to each student because if they did not put the required effort into their work then the play would not have turned out successful. Another great element about this project was that it was student run. This really helped the students develop leadership skills. The fact that this project was student run also made it more fun; they had a say in what they wanted to do. Many of the students from South had to talk back and forth with the students from Iowa to decide the details for the production. This organization played a key role in the success of the play, but everyone working together was much more important.
This production took a great amount of collaboration between the students from Michigan, the students from Iowa, and the teachers. If everyone was working toward different goals, nothing would have been accomplished. Since everyone had the same end point in mind this project ran very smoothly. All of the students were in close communication with one another. From this the students developed outstanding skills in communication; an attribute that every student needs to master for future success. Successful long distance communication also allowed the students to share ideas and make this production greater than one class could have done independently. Everyone worked really well together to finish this production and make it superior. The group working together as a whole played an important role, however the student’s ability to demonstrate great interpretation of the play proved to be of utmost importance.
This production took in depth reading and analysis from all students involved. To start off, the class had to rewrite Romeo and Juliet and translate it into modern language. Some students were actors for the play and this took time to memorize lines and rehearse. Some were advertisers and they had to make posters for this production. They had to fully understand the play in order to portray the most authentic photo descriptions of Romeo and Juliet. Some students were writers, the job of these was to read the play and translate it into modern language. There were many writers and each of them was assigned a certain act in the play, but in the end the writer’s interpretations had to flow together. Not an easy feat. All of this interaction with the play helped the students learn more about Shakespeare and his writing style. Interacting with Shakespeare’s writing is one of the main reasons this production was important, but the technology tools that the students learned how to use enhanced the end product.
Technology has been a great help in finishing this production. Many tools were used to help the students from South communicate with the students from Iowa and perform their multi-faceted jobs throughout the project. A few of the websites include Blogger, Wiki, Skype, Flickr, and Turnitin.com. Blogger is a website where students can blog. The class used this website for each individual job; the students could share what they were planning for the upcoming week. Wiki is an organization website. Here the schedule for filming and the link to all the blog websites were housed. Skype was another application applied during this project. On Skype, video calling is shared between two or more people, this was a great help in communicating face to face with the Iowa students. Flickr is a photo sharing website. Turnitin.com was used to reply to “discussion questions.” These were questions about the plot of Romeo and Juliet. These technology tools will help each and every student later in life by enhancing their electronic knowledge.
The students gained a great deal of knowledge from this production of Romeo and Juliet. They obtained organizational skills from this play being student run and having great responsibilities. The communication skills that the students learned will be very important later in life; any job they have will require them to interact with others. Everyone involved learned intimately the language of Shakespeare thus helping them understand and analyze him and his work. Technology skills proved important as the students learned how to navigate many different websites and applications. Overall this project helped the students learn numerous skills that will help them as they move through their educational career and life. There are many ways to analyze Romeo and Juliet, but performing the play proved most successful.
