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Hail one and all,
I humbly ask for your patience
while this site is under development. Over the next few months many
exciting changes will be taking place. So check back often and please
participate in the evolution of Mainely Shakespeare because it will
be you, teachers of Shakespeare, who will make this site a success. |
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I am fortunate to have watched some outstanding
theater educators work with student. To these educators I am deeply grateful.
Early in my career I was successful in generating an interest in Shakespeare
in my students. Several of them participated in the Maine Summer Dramatic
Institute, an intensive Shakespeare performance program. My students emerged
from that program with a deep passion for Shakespeare. Interested in the
techniques that they used to approach text, I invited Henry Wishcamper,
the director at the time, to be a guest teacher in my class. Henry visited
the school often, working with students in my English classes, Shakespeare
classes and the Shakespeare Club. I learned more from him about teaching
Shakespeare than anyone. With a love for Shakespeare and students, Henry
found ways to engage students by challenging them in a non-threatening
way to explore both the text and themselves. Many of the activities contained
on "The Play's the Thing" interactive cd, I learned from Henry
and other theater professionals who volunteered to help us. The techniques
that I learned from Dawn McAndrews, Ed Kemp, Michael Howard, Kristen Linklater,
Peter Brown, and Antonio Rocha are inspirational to me as a teacher and,
in turn, inspire my students.
While on the subject of great teachers,
I would like to thank my high school English teacher, Larry LaPointe.
Without his inspiration I would never have become an educator. In addition,
Professor Kenneth Rothwell at the University of Vermont demonstrated to
me that teachers can be scholarly without being elitist. By reflecting
this philosophy, I have been able to pass on this love for Shakespeare
to my students.
I am also indebted to my colleagues for
their support. Dale Doucette, my department chair has always gone out
of his way to support my efforts in Shakespeare. I would also like to
thank Priscilla Doucette and Nancy Goldberg for editing numerous drafts
of materials that I have written.
On the technical side, I am grateful to David Grant, who first introduced
me to the idea of creating a CD-ROM and taught me how to use the technological
tools that I needed. Thanks also to Greg Landry, programmer and designer
from Port City Portland Maine Internet Consulting and Web Design in Portland,
Maine, who put all of these ideas together into a working multi-media
model and also developed of this website.
Thanks to my wife, Lisa, whose help as
an editor, cheerleader, time manager, partner, mother, and countless other
functions, enables me to complete the work that I do.
Lastly, thanks to my students, who not
only agreed to share their trials and tribulations on video tape for the
world to see, but also for their unbounded enthusiasm, passion and loyalty.
Your work makes this project possible. Your growth makes teaching rewarding.
Thank-you.,
Ted Tibbetts
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