Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Romeo and Juliet Persuasive Essay

Romeo and Juliet Persuasive Essay
            This project has forced the students to understand the story of Romeo and Juliet by doing something other than reading.  Approaching this story in a verbal and physical manner was very fun and easy for the students to understand and grasp onto. By using methods such as blogging for communication, organization for easy work, networking for the sharing of ideas, and teamwork for fun and fast ways to complete the project, the students were able to pull off a great educational film. Although there are a wide variety of opinions on the importance of studying The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, a group of students from both Grosse Pointe South and Van Meter proved that there is a fun yet educational way to study Shakespeare’s work.

By using tools such as Kidblog, the students learned how to communicate ideas. Depending on the job of the student, the blog would have had to be updated every so often. In both of the schools the students would create a blog to tell what they were doing in the project, what they wanted to do in the project, and build off the thoughts of others.  The students learned how to manage their ideas so that they wouldn’t forget them, this showed responsibility. The blog really helped everyone participating in the project because it showed an easy way to get things done and in an efficient manner. Some of the students would prefer blogging over writing because of the time that it takes to complete it. It didn’t take the students a long time to complete a blog, which benefitted the students and allowed them to work more on the field they were in for the project. Blogging helped the students in many parts of the project because of its communication factor, but this project has also bought out another factor that helped the students, and that is organization.

Organization played a huge part in the process for making the Epic Romeo and Juliet project. The students had to really focus on their organization because basically if one thing in the project wasn’t there, then it could potentially fail. Each student had a chance to choose which field they wanted to work in. Once the spots were filled, it was the job of the students to manage the work that they do. The students were graded each week for the ethic of their work and how much they did. The key factor in getting a good grade in the participation was being organized. Without organization, the students wouldn’t know what to do when it came time to film. Working with another high school in a different state wouldn’t flow smoothly if no one knew what was going on. The organization factor encouraged the students to manage their time and work properly. It gave them a taste of what’s to come in the future. It was very important that each c student knew how to organize the things that they were doing for the project so that everyone would eventually fall in the same successful place at the end.  Organization has helped each student in this project by forcing them to manage what they were doing, another piece that the students learned to do was network.

As the students communicated via internet for most of this project, they learned how to network with one another even though half of the students for the whole project were in a different state. To network is to cultivate people who can be helpful to one professionally, especially in finding employment or moving to a higher position. Networking pushed the students to learn more things from other people outside of their school. This skill is very important for the future of the students because as they get older and embark on their own field of work, they would have to know how to network. The things that were shared by the other high school in Van Meter were ideas that some of the students in Grosse Pointe South probably wouldn’t have thought of. Networking was also an important part to this project because it gave both groups of high school classes to get to know each other and that helped them to become more comfortable with one another. Networking in life can get you very far, especially in today’s society. People are getting more into the technological things in order to communicate. Networking has become much easier for the students to wrap their minds around and it wasn’t really that big of a challenge. With networking, the students reached out ideas in an easy manner. One more thing that played a part in the importance and completion of this project was teamwork.

In this project, it was very important for the students to learn how to work together as a team. Working as a team can be hard for some people and it was a challenge but all of the students participating in the project overcame it. In this project there were multiple students in each field of work and each person was responsible for communicating with each other to get the task at hand completed. This teamwork method was well put together; some of the students had people in their group who demonstrated leadership so that the group could finish whatever it was that they were working on. Teamwork will have to be used in the future lives of the students depending on what they go into. It is a method that allowed everyone in the project to move at a fast and efficient pace. Using teamwork opened the students’ minds to other people’s thoughts and ideas. It showed each of the students how to work collectively and sometimes it would get people upset or irritated, but the people in the team helped to keep one another on board.

            At the end of this project the students realized that they could find educational value in what they were doing. The students incorporated methods that would help them in their everyday life. They used things such as blogging in order to keep track of their thoughts and ideas. They also used organization to make sure that everything was in the right place and at the right time. The students also gathered ideas by networking on the internet and demonstrated ways to help each other out. Helping each other was a strong demonstration of teamwork, which the students had while working together to get the project done.  Although there are a wide variety of opinions on the importance of studying The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, a group of students from both Grosse Pointe South and Van Meter proved that there is a fun yet educational way to study Shakespeare’s work.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

ITS A WRAP!

From brainstorming, to pressing record...this experience has been one to remember. I believe that this project really brought out the best in everyone. I think that this project has been really fun and we learned alot. It wasnt easy being an actor in the process because I had a lot to work on constantly. There were an amazing amount of ideas that flowed from everyone and I think that it played a big part in our succes. I would not want to do this again, because to me it seems like a ONE TIME deal. I think that we kinda set the bar for other freshman classes around the world that will be watching this. I enjoyed it and I cant wait to see the finished product.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

hmmm

So this week has been pretty interesting. I believe that Act III has been and still is really interesting. From not pressing record, to not knowing our lines...it has mostly been, in MY opinion a mess. I say mostly because we have infact got some things done. Dispite our continuous need to stop and start because I or anyone else was foolin around, we stuck through it and we still are. I cant forget that this is a Freshman Highschool adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, so though it is kinda stereotypical to say that we are imature at this age, it is still true. I think that we can mature just a little bit more as a group. I stress the word "group" because this is a team effort project, and if one person fails to do whatever, than it comes back to us in the long run. No one is solely responsible for screwing up if we do. It happens, and we all should support one another to keep going.

We have come a really long way with this project, but we cant stop and think that we're the best english group in the entire world, we have to keep our heads in the game and keep going. I believe that the encouraging level has really gone up! People are actually stepping up, and stepping in. We havent been totally succesful with having everyone where they are supposed to be and when they are supposed to be there, but people volunteered and stepped up to the plate. Those are the kind of attitudes that continue to make me want to stay in this project. I am very lucky to be working with the people that I am working with, i wouldnt have asked for anyone better. I love you all! Keep it up

Thursday, March 31, 2011

What are my goals for the next couple of takes?

I think that as a main character, my stakes are quite high and I have to leave them there in order for the play to work out for myself and for everyone else. I like to experiment when I'm acting, just to try out different things, so I think that one of my goals would be to try many more ways to play around with my character to make him stand in and out at the same thing. Romeo to me is a striving, loving, dedicated person who just wants to love the one for him. I need to show that more when I am being filmed or else I'll feel as if I'm letting myself and other actors down. If, I have the chance, I want to sit down before we start filming scenes and talk to the actors in the scene to see if we can just disect and digest what is going on in that particular scene.

I also believe that I can be more ontop of my lines for the next few weeks. I think that I should at least be an example for others because I have been trained in this background. I believe that if i step back from the leader role into more of a helping role, then things may flow a little better. Encouraging other people will have to be another thing for me to work on. Maybe instead of just pouting off in the corner because we cant get through a scene, I could help actors and directors or whomever to get a little more done. I dont think that there are any obstacles in my way that are telling me to quit or to throw a tantrum or anything when things dont go right, because nothing is ever going to go 100% right but there is nothing that is saying we cant get close. My goals are set in stone, and I am ready to move to the next thing! Let's do it... :)

WHATS NEXT!!?

So, we have been doing some really good stuff with this project, and im always ready to do the next thing. I think that everyone is starting to get the gist of whats going on in the project and becoming more open to do things. We have set in stone what needs to be done and those things are getting done when they need to be...so if we as a GROUP keep that up, we will hopefully finish this with time to spare. I still think that we can encourage eachother more just to keep the positive spirit going and to keep everyone wanting to do the project. I am excited for everything that is ahead and what we will be accomplishing and I think that it will all run smoothly! Let's keep up the good work everyone!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

I am resigning

I am afraid that I ahave to resign my position as director. I have come into some conflicts with directing and being Romeo at the same time. I will of course still help anyone who needs help with this project, but I will have to ultimately leave it up to Riana to run the show. I hope that I have done everyone well as a director up to this point, and I thank everyone for allowing me to direct you so far. Thanks to Riana for standing next to me and helping me out I' m more than sure that she'll do an amazing job. Also, I want to thank the big guy in charge Mr. P.! Thanks for trusting me with the position. I know that everything will flow smoothly, and I'm still excited to do Romeo. This gives me more time to focus on my character and develop a good relationship with my co-artists in the project...expecially Juliet <3 . So thanks everybody...that is all.

Project So Far

This project so far has been kinda stressful for me. As a director i handa have trouble telling my friends what to do, but eventually the are going to have to do what they are sypposed to do in order for things to run smoothly.  I think that if everyone can stay on task and still have some fun at the same time, this project can and will be awsome. As Romeo in the project, I am excited and very nervous. I am still memorizing my lines, which is really boring, but the sooner that gets done, the sooner I can actually play with them and add some character and stuff. I am not going to give up on myself, my friends, or this project as a whole. I believe that all of us are capable to continue working on this project until the very end! Keep up the GREAT work everyone.