Shakespeare+in+Action!

I had had no interest in Shakespeare’s plays until I saw the performance of Shakespeare in Action at Central Commerce Collegiate Institute, which was one of my host schools in Toronto. It was a performance including some tricks, talking and the remaking of Shakespeare’s plays. The group was promoting the reading of Shakespeare’s masterpieces which students usually find boring and difficult to understand. They tried to use some skits to relate Shakespeare’s classics to some current issues and TV programs like Gossip Girls, as students tend to be more into topics that are familiar to them. The performance was so amazing that I began to consider making friends with MacBeth! I want to share another drama lesson also. It was actually an English class. As soon as I stepped into the classroom the teacher told me that the class would be doing a recitation task. At that time I was thinking of something boring because I promptly associated the term “recitation” to a dull process of memorization. Nevertheless, the class was so lively that I was completely indulged in it. What happened was that students were told to act out a scene from MacBeth after they had recited the parts. Many of them did a great job. The reactions of them strongly convinced me that the class enjoyed the lesson so much, just like me. To be frank, I am always imagining that I could create such a gratifying environment for my students. I hope that I could bring in all the fabulous strategies and activities I learnt in my host schools and this class to my classroom. The students will love it!

Kate Wong