Teaching Shakespeare in the 21st century

I am really trying to venture outside of my teaching "comfort zone" and innovate a little.  Maybe it's because it's the end of the year and I have used all of the tricks in my hat and the students don't want to see things twice.  Frankly, I'm the kind that doesn't want to *do* the same thing twice.

And we are reading Shakespeare.  Nothing excites me more than teaching Shakespeare (Seriously, sign me up to teach a seminar course--I am a nerd for Shakespeare!) and nothing causes more groans from my students than Shakespeare.  It takes skill to teach.  And passion.  Tip:  If you hate Shakespeare, don't teach it.

As a student in 8th grade and up, we read it aloud in class, assigning parts and cold reading it.  So, as a new teacher, I did the same.  OK OK, for ten years I did the same.  What kind of torture is that?  Listen to a 10th grader try to read a contemporary of the King James Version of the Bible with no prior understanding of what is happening.  Well, when you put it that way.  I'm sure William Shakespeare rolls over in his grave every time this is done.  And really, the kids aren't getting anything out of it.  Nothing.  So why are we doing this?  Right--because they won't read it at home.

Some of my teacher friends have attempted to overcome this difficulty and the language barrier with the No Fear Shakespeare.  Those are cool, but I don't want them to miss out on what a master Shakespeare was with the English Language.  So, here is what I did:

The students read the No Fear version at home.  No books?  No problem.  Sparknotes.com has them all on their site for free.  And watch your students' faces when you tell them to go to Sparknotes for their homework.  The objective:  Know what happens in the play.

Then I divided my class up into partners and assigned them a scene from the play.  I had some groups of 3 and had to give some groups more than one really short scene.  The point:  Divvy it up.

Here is a link to my site with the details of the project:  https://sites.google.com/site/normansoar/home/project-information

Then I gave them time and left them alone.  And I said "yes" to their ideas as much as I could.

Do you know what they did?  They impressed me.  Like impressed to tears.  They got excited, they worked hard, they did amazing things, they taught me about websites I didn't know existed.

You see, when you give them a little instruction, clear expectations and autonomy, they exceed our expectations.  And then I realize that if my job is to make students copy what I know how to do, then I am not really helping them meet their potential.  I am helping them reach mine.

Autonomy in the Classroom: What does that look like?

I have been reading Daniel Pink's book, Drive which mostly presents findings about what most effectively motivates people in today's working world (hint: it isn't reward or fear of punishment).  While he mostly puts his findings in the context of corporations and the business world, he is aware that these ideas have relevance to education as well.

After some background that is worth reading for yourself, he gets to the challenging part: when tasks are creative and require problem solving (OK, that's just about everything I have my students do), one key motivating factor is autonomy.

Are you scared yet?  Overwhelmed?  Confused?   I have to admit that I am, but a little excited too.

I know it's true.  I know that if I give my students choices and allow them to express their individuality, I will get more from them:  they will be more motivated to work, not just for the grade but for the learning.  I might be able to *gasp* get them to want to learn!  I want to do this!

But what does it look like?  How does one have 37 students (times however many classes) each on an individual learning plan and doing their own thing?  How does that not look like chaos and how is that not a grading/management nightmare?

Here is a list of things I have done that I think approach or maybe even achieve autonomy:

•    Assign an essay where they can choose to agree or disagree with an idea or statement.

•    Assign a project where they can choose the topic and the mode of communication (song, poem,    blog post, short story, speech, monologue, etc.) 

•    Choose from a list of projects to complete. 

Is it me, or do these seem too safe?  Maybe it's because I have been doing this for more than 11 years and still don't feel like I am giving enough autonomy.  I'm still not seeing all the passion and motivation I would like to see.  I'm still working on what autonomy looks like and have some ideas I will post about later.

For now, what does autonomy look like in your classroom?  What can you share?