Three Resources I Plan to Utilize

Hamlet, Facebook Style
I found this web site and immediately knew I would like to use it later for my teaching. I would use it after my class covered Hamlet, since it's relatively small. It is just a series of Facebook statuses, activities, and photos that tell the story of Hamlet. Students can relate to Facebook, as it is a highly popular form of social networking. It takes an important play like Hamlet and "translates" it into terms that kids can relate to. Not only that, but it is also humorous. People sometimes learn by relating lessons to their own lives, and this achieves this wonderfully. Students can develop competency in the English spectrum by solidifying their understand of Hamlet - an oftentimes daunting and overwhelming play. "Good teachers" use strategies to impart knowledge by breaking it down into terms that students can easily understand.

Grammar Cheat Sheet
I know it seems backwards to promote "cheating," per se, but I think it is important for students to know that if they are iffy about certain grammatical rules, it's okay to look them up! I would print out this sheet and pass it out to students at the beginning of the year, in conjunction with a basic grammar lesson. Then I would make a point to remind students to constantly look back at it while writing papers. While most students should have learned these rules, I have noticed time and again that students (even college-aged!) forgo these basic guidelines. Perhaps they never knew how to properly apply them. So, I would encourage students to use the guidelines and track their progress with them (after pinpointing their individual weaknesses). This takes into account that people learn by trial-and-error. This demonstrates that "good teachers" leave some wiggle room for students to learn, especially when they are applying it to their work. By trial-and-error, students will become competent in basic grammar rules that oftentimes go overlooked.

Wuthering Heights PBS movie
One of my favorite things to do is watch a movie version of a book after reading it. I like to compare my internal perception of the book with the way that movie-makers see it. It also helps to get a better sense of the time period in which the book takes place: the clothing, the hairstyles, the settings, the mannerisms, etc. I always enjoyed watching videos in class because it was a break from the "norm." My cousin recently read Wuthering Heights in her senior English class, and completely denounced it (much to my chagrin). I told her to watch the movie version, certain she would love it. I'm not sure if she watched it (most likely not), but I do believe she would gain a better appreciation for Bronte's masterpiece if she did. I won't be able to show my students movies for every single piece of literature we read in a year, but I will choose one that I think they will most likely struggle with. A "good teacher" employs different ways to understand a lesson. When viewing a movie, students can better understand what they read. Perhaps they didn't understand a section of the book; seeing it on screen will help them think, "Ohh, so that's what happened at that part!" It's also important to ask the students if they agree with the way the movie was made: should the filmmaker have left out parts that the students believed were integral? Why? Watching a movie sparks the interest of students, especially the ones who learn well by seeing things. Movies provoke emotions better in some people. Students will feel anger for characters, sadness, empathy, love. If the students don't do so well acquiring these emotions through reading, it will help them while viewing. It also gives students a more solid understanding of a particular piece of literature, so that will contribute to their competency.