Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Romeo and Juliet Essay Post

Romeo and Juliet
      When studying Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the freshman students at Grosse Pointe South High School in Michigan, and Van Meter High School in Iowa, created a production of the play.  This production was used as teaching material instead of the “read and test” curriculum.  Instead of reading the play and being tested on it, the students were given the opportunity to create their own version of the play.  The students used this opportunity to their fullest.  This way of teaching the story of Romeo and Juliet has many advantages over the traditional technique.  One advantage to the production is that it encouraged the students to learn how to use social media materials that they will have to know how to use in the future.  The production was also superior because during the-hands-on experience, the students actively learn the material, whereas some students may otherwise skip over the reading that is assigned for homework.  Also, the production is more practical because it is fun for the students, and it creates the memories that students will want to keep for the rest of their lives.  Most importantly, the production has the most value to the students because it teaches life skills that will be needed, such as organization and how to be independent.  Recreating the Romeo and Juliet production contains much more value to the freshman students rather than using the traditional curriculum of reading and testing.
            While creating the Romeo and Juliet production, the students involved were encouraged to use technology that they may never have used before.  For example, all participating students were required to maintain a blog that was updated weekly.  The purpose of the blog was to let the students give progress updates to the rest of their classmates.  This allowed the students to interact with each other about how their role in the production was coming along.  Some students were also assigned to create Facebook or Twitter pages.  This would help to know in the future when a company is looking to fill a job and they can easily access a person’s information from one of these social media networks.  Some students also used Skype.  This experience could be helpful in a future job search when a potential employer wants to conduct an interview using the Internet.  This production is of value to the students not only because students learned how to use different social media tools, but also because it was a “hands-on” experience for the students.
            Creating the Romeo and Juliet production was very helpful to the students because it was hands-on.  This means that instead of just reading the material and being tested on it, the students were actually given the opportunity to participate in creating their own production.  Since the students are creating the production themselves, it is critical that they know the material.  In order to fulfill their part in the production, the students had to know the subject matter.  If this were not the case, then the student would be letting the entire class down because of their lack of knowledge.  If the curriculum was not taught as a hands-on experience, it is inevitable that some students would slack and not read the assigned material.  Just reading the material is not enough for the students to fully understand what it is that they are being taught.  In order for the subject matter to stick with the students, a hands-on experience is necessary.  One advantage of recreating the production is that it is a hands-on experience for the students, but another advantage to the production is that it is fun for the students to take part.
            The Romeo and Juliet production created memories that will stick with the students for the rest of their lives.  From a student’s point of view, creating the production was much better than sitting in the classroom and reading.  The production allowed the students to have a chance to get out of the classroom.  Many students preferred this method of learning the play because it allowed them to focus more clearly on what specifically their job was.  The out of classroom learning caused the students to look forward to completing their jobs.  The students wanted to complete their jobs in order to have the opportunity to watch the final product.  The students have fun working with their friends, and this will create the type of memories that will last a lifetime.  In addition to creating great memories, the production also prepares students for the real world.
            Most importantly, this project is of more value to the students because it prepares them for the difficulties of being on their own and finding a job.  This production taught the students organizational skills because if they were not organized, they would have no chance of completing their jobs.  Organization is important because as the students grow older, if they aren’t organized, they won’t be able to function in a secure job.  This project also taught the students independence.  The students were relied on to complete their job.  If it wasn’t completed, there was no one to blame but themselves.  Independence is important because as the students grow older, they will not be able to make excuses and expect someone else to take the blame for their faults.  This production also allowed the students to lead, rather than having the teacher in control.  If mistakes were made, Mr. Provenzano was not at fault.  The students had to figure out what to do in order to make their mistakes right.  The students completed all of the work on their own.  This is important because in real life, no one will be able to fix your mistakes except for you.
            All things considered, the Romeo and Juliet production was a more effective way to teach the students than the traditional read and test curriculum.  The students were given the chance to create their own version of the play.  The students used this opportunity to their fullest.  This way of teaching the Romeo and Juliet criteria has many advantages over the traditional technique of teaching it.  The first advantage to the production is that it forced the students to learn how to use social media materials.  The production was also superior because the hands-on experience forces the students to truly understand the material.  Also, the production is more practical because it is fun for the students.  It creates the memories that students will remember for the rest of their lives.  Most importantly, the production has the most value to the students because it teaches the students life skills that will be needed for the remainder of their lives.  Recreating the Romeo and Juliet production is of much value to the freshman students because it teaches them many different skills and programs that will be helpful throughout the rest of their lives.
         

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Final Thoughts

We are putting the final touches on the Romeo and Juliet project.  Overall, it has been a very good expierence and I am glad to have been a part of the production.  It has been cool to witness the process of putting together a production like the Romeo and Juliet movie.  My job in this production was to create advertisements for the movie.  It was interesting to expierement on which type of ad looked the best and most professional.  It was also cool to see which type of the ads attracted the most people and which was the most popular.  I would suggest repeating this project sometime in the future.  It was a break from reading books and taking tests in the classroom.  I like the interactive aspect of this project.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Print ad #4

I just created a new ad for the Romeo and Juliet production.  I tried out a new website that creates a mock movie ad.  This website allows you to put the title of the movie, the actors names, a quote from or about the movie, and it will put the picture of you're choice in the background.  I chose this type of ad because I wanted to try out a more professional looking type of ad.  Im excited to see whether this more professional ad is more succesful than the ads that are more "out there".  I think this ad will work well because when people see the ad and it looks like an ad that would be in a real theatre, they will think that our production is put together really well.  I'm excited to use this website in the future.  I am also looking forward to making other new discoveries like this in the future.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Print ad #3 Visual

Print ad #3

I have just completed my third print ad for the Romeo and Juliet production.  For this ad, I tried to use a more authentic style to attract people's eyes.  I used more types of bland colors so that it will look like the authentic and traditional Romeo and Juliet play that people know.  I used the play's prestige to help advertise our play.  People will see that it is Romeo and Juliet and will want to come to it because they have never seen the famous play.  I also made this ad with a picture in the middle to attract people's attention.  The quote that I used is one of the most famous in the play.  It is from the balcony scene, when Juliet says "Romeo, Romeo, where art thou Romeo".  This quote Is one of the most famous quotes in the entire play.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Print ad # 2

I just created my second print ad for our production of The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.  I used glogster because I had a goal in mind to try and make the ad stand out more, so it will catch people's eyes.  In my add, I tried to use text boxes that will seem to jump out at your eyes.  I also incorperated vibrant colors so it will look interesting, and so that people won't just pass over the ad without considering looking at it.  I used the quote "Love is a smoke made with the fumes of sighs."  I think this means that with love comes consequences.  This is shown in the production, because Romeo and Juliet's love ultimately lead to both their deaths.  In my ad, I also made sure to include the show date, a catchy picture, and some of the important actors' names.  I hope this add is succesful!