I went on my very first field trip today as a teacher.
My cooperating teacher was kind enough to suggest that I accompany the school on their outing to the Chicago Shakespeare Theater to see "Macbeth." The school goes to CST every year before the eighth graders read "Hamlet." Because both seventh and eighth graders attend, each eighth grader has seen at least one Shakespeare play before eighth grade. By the end of it, they have seen two and have read "Hamlet."
I really wanted to go so that I could more easily help the students make connections between what they saw at CST and what we will read together in "Hamlet."
But -- as much as I love Shakespeare -- I learned so much more on this trip. All of those little ins and outs of organizing a trip for students, thinking about what could go wrong, making sure everyone gets on the bus… I can't say I have ever felt that nervous before. I feel officially initiated into the realm of worrying about student safety.
But it was also good to start immersing myself into the school's culture, talk to the kids, and get to know my colleagues.
The play itself was pretty good. A little too abstract for middle school students. Perhaps even a little too abstract for me, in fact. I think, with "Macbeth" at least, some sense of the literal works well for the play. It is so very heavy, violent…and strange (what with the witches and all), that too much philosophisizing about it ruins it. Symbolism ought to be saved for the grad students in this case. Hopefully, when I show my students the film of "Hamlet" it will be easier for them to connect to it.
(Note to Self: Rent Zefferelli version of "Hamlet" to watch this weekend).
I really wish I could have taken them to the production of "Macbeth" I saw in London! That was such a phenomenal play. I went in to it not much caring for the play itself, but came out completely in awe (and terrified, thanks to the witches). The young adolescents at that play will always remember it, I'm sure.
I hope our kids always remember this play, too. Even if they were unsure of what was going on, they were able to experience theater! That's becoming a commodity for young people.
They have film, television, and YouTube. But, rarely does anyone get to see a play anymore. It's slightly ironic, really. Going to the theater was considered a cheap, "un-classy" form of entertainment in Shakespeare's day. The equivalent to our reality shows, maybe? Culture Gods forbid!
Before the play began, the actor playing McDuff gave our students some neat things to think about when watching a Shakespeare play.
He mentioned that becoming accustomed to Shakespeare was like letting your eyes become adjusted to a dark room. He suggested that kids don't focus so much on what the actual words are, but rather listen to the tone of the actors' voices and watch their facial expressions; eventually, they will be pros.
I thought this was good advice How else did I decide I liked "Romeo and Juliet" so well at the age of eight? How else did I relate to it as a fourteen year old teeny-bopper? Probably by watching the actors make the same facial expressions and sigh in the exact same way I did. I was grateful for that piece of advice and I hope to expand on that in the Hamlet unit.
But, ultimately, my favorite part of the day was the kids. They asked good questions, they were so well-behaved, and they got to know me…which will only make the upcoming semester smooth and hopefully full of learning.
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