Our second week at Henderson-Higher Achievement went well and there were definitely improvements from last time. We have yet to show them the physical script or have them read. With so many scholars (now approximately 25), it’s important to get to know them and create a comfortable environment.

When we arrived, we decided to get the kids moving and play a name game to refresh our memories. Last week’s introduction of having them sit in their seats and go one by one lost their attention quickly. We had them play “slap slap clap” and say someone else in the circle’s names. This way, the scholars were also able to learn the names of those in the group they did not know from different middle schools. Next, we asked if anyone could go around the circle and say everyones names. A few students were impressively able to do this!

After the name games, we showed the scholars another video summarizing Macbeth. It was a bit more lengthy and detailed, but they were able to retain more of the plot. I was surprised at how much detail they remembered from the plot the previous week. We described our section of Macbeth in greater detail and began introducing the various characters so the scholars could begin to think of roles they’d want to play. In doing this, Jessie, Bridget and I realized we might need to add characters, such as more murderers or porters. A few students offered to be trees as well.

In discussing the role of the drunken porter, we explained that there is a scene of knock knock jokes. We asked for examples and one student’s joke was a bit inappropriate: “Knock knock. Who’s there? An earthquake. An earthquake who? Your mom”. He was quickly asked to gather his things and he was sent home. I felt a bit guilty as we had asked the students for their best knock knock jokes. To finish our rehearsal, we played another round of bullfrog, which the scholars had really enjoyed from the previous week. Jessie introduced the game mafia, and it was also a hit.

In conclusion, I feel that we were able to maintain better control over the group this week. One strategy that worked was moving a student that was having a smaller conversation. When we separated them from their friends, they were able to focus and stay on task. I’m glad they are enthusiastic to begin looking at the script and casting roles in the very near future!

This week proved to be a lot more productive than last.  I would imagine a huge factor in that is the level of comfort in our students.  Last week it seemed as though they were warming up to us and the idea of their acting in a play as a whole, which is something I can absolutely appreciate.

I feel like our ability to effectively and comfortably communicate with our students saw a huge improvement between the first and second weeks.  It became immediately apparent that we would not be teaching the students Macbeth.  Instead, we’d be teaching them a really interesting tale about greed that is filled with “magic,” British royalty and action.  What I mean is that we’ve realized how important it is going to be to frame everything we do in a way that we think will interest or excite out students.

This week we added another very enthusiastic student, though we are waiting for a few more.  We’ve sort of rewarded those who have been committed from the beginning with the opportunity to choose roles before the others.  Framing the roles in a fun and interesting way is as important as our framing of the action in the story.  More than being interested with the plot and themes of the entire play, the students really only need to be interested in the role they are playing.  It seems as though they started to recognize this as a possible opportunity for expression and some freedom and they are growing more excited.  I am looking forward to what this upcoming week, and our newly added students, will have in store.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect when we walked into Boushall last Thursday. I have never worked with Higher Achievement before so I didn’t know how it was organized, and we didn’t know how many kids we would have. We had heard from the other Higher Achievement group that they had a huge group of kids, so we were all nervous to end up with thirty kids instead of the fifteen they had predicted we would have.

Our kids arrived, and we took them down to the art room to get started. I was surprised how enthusiastic the kids were when we told them we would be doing Shakespeare. Some of them had their reservations, but for the most part, they seemed to all be on board.

We got started with a name game to help us get to know them a little better. This started out really well, but the kids quickly lost interest in it and started to get distracted. They seemed to enjoy our more active game though even if some of them struggled to catch on. I think they appreciated the chance to be up and active after sitting for the last game.

Then we broke into groups so we could watch a summary video of Macbeth and talk about it. The kids were attentive and interested in what was happening, so I think small groups will be the way to go to keep them involved and focused. Overall the first week went well, and I’m excited for what the rest of this project has in store.

Over in the Villa, we are running low on volunteers. We are one of the smaller student groups, just the four of us. Even so, we match our actors 1:1, if they all attend. Despite our low numbers, I am not afraid of the final product being lackluster. I can easily see this group of students succeeding. Among the actors, there are varying levels of both talent and enthusiasm. Even so, I am certain that each of these students is very much interested in participating. Their interest makes our jobs so much easier.

Due to the small size of our group, I am able to discuss the students specifically:

Kurntz is a gentleman interested in playing a warlock. The role fits him, his height allows him to loom over the other actors in an ominous way that I think he will be able to use to great effect. He is prone to starting side conversations with the members of our group, but has had some truly insightful moments. After a viewing of the video summary of MacBeth, he began a discussion of what he saw as the central theme: that power corrupts and must be used responsibly.

Justin Long is the most personable of the group. He is quick to start a conversation (even if it often gets him off topic). He is enthusiastic and excited to perform. He has expressed interest in playing the role of MacBeth. I look forward to seeing him again, he could not join us this week.

Derek is a man of few words. However, he fully participates. He seems to be a genuinely kind person. He has expressed interest in playing the role of Banquo.

Christine is the newest addition to our crew. She joined this week and has proven to be experienced and professional. We would like her to play Lady MacBeth, but she is hesitant to accept the role. Next rehearsal, we will have a script to provide her with so that she can choose a role that she will enjoy.

Ultimately, even in those people who have claimed roles, everyone is going to have to perform multiple roles. With such a small group, we cannot afford to have one person be just a witch or just a murderer. It will be a challenge to model the script such that only 4 actors are needed.

This past week, I was able to meet the OSHER participants! I began by introducing myself, since I had not been at the first meeting, and asked each of the participants to introduce themselves. It seems like we have a lively group with varied interests and unique reasons for joining our project!

We proceeded to start casting. While the OSHER participants were hesitant at first to cast themselves, and asked whether we had any suggestions, we encouraged our group that self-casting would ensure that everyone was excited and confident about their roles. With this encouragement, participants began to call out roles they felt drawn to, for several reasons. One woman was excited about playing Lady Macbeth in the hand-rubbing scene. Others chose several smaller roles that they felt comfortable with. Since two of our members were not present today, we casted Judy as Macbeth, since everyone agreed she is our strongest actress, and Cynthia as several smaller roles, because she had expressed that she did not want many lines.

With everyone confirming that they were comfortable with their roles, we decided to read through our section of the play, having each person read their characters’ lines. I was surprised and encouraged by the emotion and the meaning behind the words that our actors were already applying to their lines. Although the read-through was a bit long, since we stopped a few times to discuss difficult lines and to do some basic blocking, I think it went very well for our first time.

Overall, I am very excited to be working with our OSHER group. They have a high level of interest in performing Macbeth and are skilled, educated men and women. I cannot wait to see the performance we put together!

Today, we had our third practice with the OSHER participants. At the beginning of practice we needed to print our scripts because a few people didn’t have them. Technology was not on my side today. The printer ran out of paper and the computer was being slow. Thankfully the participants were patient while the scripts were bring printed!

We had a new participant join our group today which was exciting. We had casted last week though so it required us to do new casting today. I was impressed how everyone was willing to be accommodating. I feel as though I am getting a glimpse into theater on how there are always moving parts and you cannot expect things not to change. We have not had a week where participants having changed so I am excited to see if this is our final cast.

Today, we did a run through with everyone playing their parts. I was very impressed with their ability to get into character and put emotion into their parts. Many of them got very into their part and started working on their acting. Next time, we will start blocking. We gave them the homework of familiarizing themselves with their lines and thinking about what kind of emotion they want to put into their part.

At the end of practice, we started to discuss what kinds of props and costumes we would like to use. This will be an ongoing conversation we have as we keep on working with the script. Right now, we have decided on capes, drums, and trumpet among a few other things. Everyone always has lots of questions and it is great to see them excited about the project! I am looking forward to starting to block our act.

After our first meeting with Henderson Higher Achievement, I look forward to following Monday night sessions with these students. Our first meeting definitely exceeded my expectations. I expected to be in a classroom with around ten students. I assumed it would be primarily girls and a few outgoing boys. I had hoped at least six of them would have had a slight interest in acting, while the other four would let the idea of acting grow as they watched their peers. However, I walked into the auditorium of Henderson to twenty five RAMBUNCTIOUS fifth graders. They were bouncing out of their seats. They would raise their hand and stand up and wiggle their fingers to try to reach their arm higher than the student next to them. I was so excited by their excitement. While I thought our biggest challenge would be participation, I now think it will be to calm them down.

The first thing we did with the scholars was introduce ourselves and show a video of Macbeth. They were really quick to catch a three minute animated summary of the story. We had students call out what they remembered from the play and we asked them to help us piece together the story. In a short three minute video, they concluded that Macbeth killed everyone to become the king, and that he was motivated by himself, his wife, and the three witches. I was shocked by how well they were able to come to this conclusion.

We played the name game with them next, which looking back was definitely not the best way to learn their names. To get through twenty five fifth graders, it is impossible to keep everyone’s attention. We were thankful to have the Henderson organizers with us to help regain their attention. I felt bad because they were yelled at and warned multiple times to be quiet or they would get sent home. We simply could have chosen a better way to do this that would minimize losing their attention. However, we told them that if they paid attention and got through the name game, we would show them the video of Macbeth again. We did, and it allowed them to further understand the story line.

The next thing we did with them was play Bullfrog. They loved this game! This helped show us who was going to be loud and take on a lead role, and who had no interest in speaking. The first time around, a handful of scholars just pretended to die, even though no bullfrog stuck their tongue out. We told them we were going to stop playing if they did that again and soon we had them playing four rounds.

We ended the session by wrapping up what we did with them, and told them to talk about the play at home if they were interested in sharing it. The next class session, we look forward to seeing who remembers the story and if anyone would like a bigger role. We will work at gaining their respect and controlling their behavior early on, and find more games to play that allow the scholars to come out of their shell.

Our first week at Henderson Higher Achievement was encouraging yet a bit overwhelming. We were greeted at Henderson by our site contacts, who lead us to the group we would be working with. To our surprise, we had 25 5th graders in our group. Despite the initial fear of dealing with 25 5th graders, towards the end of the hour we were encouraged by how enthusiastic the kids were about Shakespeare.

We began our session with one of the short youtube Macbeth videos. After watching the videos the children wanted to hear more about Macbeth (mostly due to all the death that occurred in the video). We then started asking the kids questions about what they picked up from the video, just to see what they were retaining. After the first video we played a name game in which we were able to quickly see some children were more willing to speak than others. We also got a feel of the group we were working with. Throughout this game we had to stop multiple times to settle the children down.

After the name game we watched the video again- as per the request of the kids. We told them to keep some things in mind and explained how we would only be doing a section of the whole story. We tried to get them to hone in on things happening in our Act. The children were much more respectful and quiet this time around, and we realized that we may need to be a bit stern with them.

Lately, we played the “bull frog” game with the kids. They absolutely loved this! Again, we ran into the problem of having over-enthusiastic/energetic kids. In fact, in the first round of the game the bull frog wasn’t doing anything and the children were just acting out dying by themselves. After we established the rules, the game ran very smoothly. It was a great ice breaker and a way for us to see what kids may want to have bigger roles.

Overall, the experience at Henderson middle school was positive. Our site coordinator said that the kids were most likely especially rowdy that day because they had not seen in each other in a while. She reassured us that them acting that way was not normal and they would settle down. I am excited to see how the rest of the days play out at Higher Achievement!

I was unsure of what to expect my first week at Henderson-Higher Achievement as a part of the Jepson Shakespeare project. Last year, I served as a study hall aid/mentor at Henderson but I knew this experience would be very different. It was comforting to see a few familiar faces of Henderson staff upon our arrival Monday night. Jessie, Bridget and I had an overwhelming group of thirty kids eagerly waiting our instruction in the auditorium.

We excitedly introduced ourselves to the group and began to explain the Jepson Shakespeare Project/what they would be a part of for the next few weeks. To get to know our scholars, we had them each introduce themselves by sharing their name and if they could be an animal, which they would be. This was a bit challenging as there were thirty of them and they struggle to listen to each other/have smaller conversations. After we were able to get through all of the introductions, we then showed the scholars a short summary video of Macbeth. They found it entertaining and began to ask a multitude of questions. I was surprised at how many characters they picked up and the depth to which they retained the main plot from the three minute video we showed. Afterward, we were able to point out the section of the play our group specifically would be performing. By showing them the summary and our part, they were able to start thinking of characters they would be interested in playing.

Next, we decided to have the scholars play the bullfrog game. They loved this game and had so much fun playing it. Even one of the Henderson-Higher Achievement staff participated. At first, they were a bit confused on the rules and a few kids (that were not the murderer) stuck their tongues outs to be funny. As the game went on, they were able to focus more, improve eye contact and use their acting skills to fake their deaths. It also inspired many of them to volunteer to play the murderers in Macbeth!

In conclusion, the first week went well. In the coming weeks, it will be difficult to maintain all thirty students on task. I don’t think they will listen to us all the time, but if we continue to use strategies given to us during the Higher Achievement orientation I know it will get easier. We were also told the scholars are still catching up with one another as the Higher Achievement program is a mix of different schools in the area. This will pass by next week or the following. I’m glad the scholars are excited and I’m looking forward to this coming week’s rehearsal!

Thursday night came quickly; a long workweek flew by Thursday night was here before I knew it. I was tired from a long week at school and to be honest did not have the energy to go entertain middle school students for an hour. I was predicting that the middle school kids would have no interest in Shakespeare; I thought they would behave poorly and I thought they would not listen to me. I knew I did not have a choice to skip the practice and I knew I could count on the kids being excited to see me. I hopped into Natalie’s car and we all headed down to Boushall Middle School.

I was so surprised when I walked into the building. Higher Achievement was so organized and when the kids arrived they were all so respectful. They all listened to the rules, were quiet when they were supposed to be and we nice to each other. After the welcome and introduction given by one of the head workers of Higher Achievement, we split up into groups and were assigned our 15 students.

Our 15 students were 5^th graders and were surprisingly so excited to be putting on a Shakespeare play. This took me by surprise; I was not expecting to have this much enthusiasm from the 5^th graders. We started off by introducing what we would be doing the next 8 weeks then played some icebreakers. Once we were more familiar with the kids and the kids got to know us a little bit more, we showed them the cartoon video of Macbeth. After watching this, the kids were even more excited. So many people wanted to be Macbeth and the girls jumped at being witches.

The hour flew by so quickly. Overall the first meeting was a success. I am relieved and happy that the kids were so enthusiastic; hopefully they keep this motivation going! The kids gave me so much energy when I was there, even though I was exhausted from the week. I am already looking forward to our second meeting with them.