Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?

I felt nervous all day today, but I ended up having a lot of fun. All classes today started reading Romeo & Juliet. 6th hour is finally on track with the other hours. GRAD testing somehow got them a couple days ahead last week, so I was scrambling by the end of the week to find them something to do. I had them do a fun discussion activity on Friday called Constructive Controversy, though, which was fun.

Mr. Leisen continues to teach 1st hour, so I got to see how he dealt with introducing the play and directing the kids as they acted out Act 1, Scene 1. He started the class by having them copy down an important quote from the scene they were going to read ("Peace? I hate the word as I hate hell, all Montagues and thee") and got them started on a list of important "Shakespeare Lingo." Then he started handing out parts (and swords) for the opening scene. He took the part of Sampson and led everybody around, pausing to explain things sometimes. I started to get nervous because there were so many things to remember to point out, not to mention the responsibility of organizing six boys holding swords.

By second hour I was nervous, but luckily I teach 2nd and 3rd hour alongside Mr. Peterson, the special ed teacher, who is brilliant and has taught the play at least as many times as Mr. Leisen has. So during those hours I got to watch how Mr. Peterson organized the reading, and I played the role of Prince (which meant I got to bust up the fight and yell at everybody). I helped them get their notes started and jumped in here and there. We also showed the video clip from the Baz Luhrman version of Romeo & Juliet, which was fun (although by the end of the day I was SO SICK of Jamie Kennedy). It's actually starting to get a bit dated (pink hair is not cool anymore), but it's still a great example of modernization so it was fun to talk about.

While the HP class continued to read The Merchant of Venice during 4th hour (which I do not teach) I had a chance to continue the tedious process of applying for teaching jobs for the fall. I finished 3 applications today (Shakopee, White Bear Lake and El Colegio Charter School), which brings my grand total up to 10 districts. Honestly, this whole job application process has me totally lost. And sick of filling in tiny boxes.

I spent 6th hour basically team-teaching with Mr. Leisen, which was helpful. I played Benvolio that hour and Mr. Leisen continued his role as Sampson. 6th hour has some great actors, so Peter took over my role of Prince with great ferocity. All in all, it was fun to run around and do some acting. I don't think we'll get up an act out tomorrow's scenes, but for Wednesday (when I'm being observed) Mr. Leisen has everyone dancing for the party scene. He doesn't make them kiss, though.