Teachers, wake up!

No more Mr. Nice Guy.

It happens every year. Late August teachers plunder my free resources and monologues, which are teaching-tools in themselves, but they rarely purchase my 12 texts or guides or recordings. They will slap-dab a unit together with the dreaded end-of-term essay hanging over everyone, with maybe a speech learned by one eager student, and, “A job well done.” They won’t insist on daily out-loud performances, rather the droning on of a teacher with very little actor within them, despite what their partners may insist. Comic books and films may alleviate some pain, but no one, especially not the teacher, will actually try performing the text. Cowards, not even willing to encourage their more gifted students to the task.

Out Loud exploration cannot be done with unabridged or translated Shakespeare, but it can with SOL texts. It took Keith and I two years to create the series, to fix the brokenness of teaching Shakespeare, yet the lack of talent and courage among English teachers is our main impediment. Over the 13 years this website has been up, and especially when the texts were free, I had about 50,000 downloads. For that I received one generous donation and three thank-you emails. As a group your ingratitude astounds me, appals me, but then I am blessed/cursed with some talent. Not your fault, I guess. As Dogberry says, “Gifts that god gives.” But if you are too lazy to even employ your gifted students in this practice, why bother studying Shakespeare at all? Will never wrote for one scholar or pontificator, only actors and audiences.

TEACHERS
Few students will ever remember your voice,
whereas a scene or speech performed well,
might be treasured in the memories of many.