This afternoon we had our first meeting with our students! I was excited about going into it because I love working with kids, however, it was nerve-racking because there were so many unknowns. We logged onto Google Meet and were greeted by one screen with 5 students sitting in a classroom. We started with some casual introductions which revealed our first technological issue. It was extremely difficult to hear them and I was unable to pick up on all of their names. Additionally, because they are all in one room and we are just a few faces on a screen it proved to be difficult to maintain their attention. There was a teacher there with them who was helping us to keep them on track, but it was challenging.

We began working on the project by showing a video to help explain the plot, this seemed to confuse them. From there we decided to relay the plot of our Act through casual conversation. This helped the students learn about the plot, however, they were still confused. They asked lots of questions and were very engaged. This is exciting because I think they will be very active participants in this project.

They were very interested in how and why the actors worked so long ago. They asked questions about what the play was like during Shakespeare’s time and what the actors were like. This reminded me of the conversations we have had as well as the podcasts that discussed England during Shakespeare’s time. This meeting made me very excited to begin working on this project, but it also made me aware of some of the challenges we will face, such as technology. Obviously, it would be nice to be with the students in person, however, we are doing the best we can and I am excited to see what comes out of it!