Igniting Your Personal and Professional Growth

Describe one or two, specific learning experiences from your fellowship. In words, show us this experience and explain why it was powerful.

For me, the most powerful experience of the entire trip was visiting the Globe Theatre and seeing the play Much Ado About Nothing performed live. It has been my favorite play since I was a little girl, but nothing prepared me for the sheer power that came with seeing it live in a replica of the original Globe. It brought the play to life in a context that I could not have otherwise imagined and helped me better understand some of the choices that were made in the writing.

What did you learn about yourself? What did you learn professionally?

Professionally, seeing the way that materials are presented and the areas of emphasis from another country were eye-opening. While I always strive to teach things in the context of their authors and time period, getting to see those places myself helped me to improve my own understanding. Personally, I fell in love with several of the cities and towns that we visited purely for their rich history that, due to the young age of our country, can't be found here.

What were some unplanned or unexpected experiences or outcomes of your fellowship? Or, how did the fellowship you crafted differ from the actual learning experience?

Although careful planning helped us to visit almost all of our planned locations, the locations around even just London that are connected to literature were overwhelming. While I knew academically that being in a large and historical city would be drastically different from what I was used to as a teacher in a rural area, nothing could have truly prepared me for reality. I learned more than I could have thought possible while being keenly aware that there was still more that I missed.

Impacting Your Classroom, School and Community

Outline specific plans you have to implement your fellowship and reach your student goals.

Every year before teaching Shakespeare, I do an introduction to the history of the English language, Tudor England, and Shakespeare's life. Thanks to my fellowship, I will now be able to include more context including pictures of locations that still stand today like Shakespeare's home and cultural landmarks like the stone circle in Keswick. These concrete examples will help make the material more real and meaningful for my students.

What is one way you can leverage your fellowship to create one authentic learning experience for students? (e.g. hands-on learning, projects, community engagement)

To help cement my students' understanding of the culture, I plan to have my student do a virtual tour of Shakespeare's home as well as create a journal based on daily life in Tudor England. By putting themselves in the shoes of an average citizen in that time period and using pictures and educational books from my personal experience, they will gain a much deeper understanding than I could provide before.

How, specifically, will your fellowship extend beyond your classroom? (e.g. families, school-at-large, afterschool groups, surrounding community, colleagues, etc.)

I plan to put the students' journal entries on display for other students and their parents to enjoy. My fellowship partner and I also hope to be able to convince other teachers of Shakespeare to collaborate with us on a Shakespeare festival. This could include all grade levels and incorporate a wide variety of plays and projects that could be displayed in a central location and used as an outreach to the community.