Juicy Hamlet Lessons from the Creators of The Folger Guide to Teaching Hamlet 5-Week Unit
Booking and details
Dates Wed, Feb 21, 2024, 8pm ET
Venue Virtual - Zoom
Tickets Free
Duration 1 hour
Participants in this one-hour virtual professional development session will explore Hamlet and the concept of identity. This session follows one of the foundational ideas behind professional development with the Folger Method, that participants should first experience activities as learners, and then approach it as educators. This session will begin with Folger Essential Practice, Tone and Stress, where participants will work on a granular level with Shakespeare and other authors’ language. Following this activity, Bessicks and Jochman will lead the participants in a Folger Essential Practice that pairs Ophelia’s songs from Hamlet and popular music like Taylor Swift. The session will culminate with the participants exploring parallels between Hamlet and the work of Chinua Achebe and Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche. There will also be time for discussion about how these activities function in a classroom with students. More importantly, Jochman and Bessicks will have demonstrated that these activities’ success depends on students experiencing language themselves and on their own terms, and not through tidy themes and teacher explanations.
Stefanie Jochman
Stefanie Jochman teaches 10th grade and AP English in Oakton, VA. She is a Folger Education workshop leader and served as a Master Teacher at the 2016, 2018, and 2021 Folger Teaching Shakespeare Institutes. In 2016, she earned the Golden Apple Award from the Greater Green Bay Chamber of Commerce, and she is a contributing writer to the Moving Writers blog. She enjoys traveling to literary destinations and being a devoted auntie. Stefanie is also a contributor to The Folger Guides to Teaching Shakespeare (forthcoming from Simon and Schuster, 2024).
Ashley Bessicks
Ashley Bessicks is a literacy coach who partners with school leaders and teachers with the goal of increasing student engagement and achievement. She was a participant in Folger’s 2014 Teaching Shakespeare Institute. After spending nearly a decade in the classroom serving Washington, DC students in grades 9-12, Ashley leads professional learning for educators in Baltimore, MD and across the country. A Buffalo, New York native, Ashley spends her time reading and exploring with family. Ashley is also a contributor to The Folger Guides to Teaching Shakespeare (forthcoming from Simon and Schuster, 2024).