Surfing with the Bard | A Midsummer Night's Dream Study Guide | Teaching Shakespeare

The 1994 NEH National Institute on
Teaching Shakespeare

This page is dedicated to teaching Shakespeare through performance. Much of the information herein was gathered at the 1994 National Institute on Teaching Shakespeare. It is my hope that this information will help other teachers see the value of teaching Shakespeare through performance!

During the summer of 1994, thirty teachers from around the United States gathered at Simon's Rock College in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, for an intensive month of studying Shakespeare. When I left for Massachusetts, I had no idea that the adventure I was embarking upon would result in a new enthusiasm for teaching, a desire to enter into the realm of Shakespearean scholarship, personal and professional relationships that will last for years, and a grant for teaching Shakespeare through performance and technology!

This was all made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The NEH supports the children of this country by helping to provide educational institutes and seminars for teachers. Please help support schools, teachers, and -- most of all -- children, by writing to the President and your local Congressmen. If the politicians see the wonderful work done by the teachers who attend these institutes, I feel that their skepticism will be replaced by enthusiasm!

I plan on using this page to help promote teaching Shakespeare through performance. I will share ideas gleaned from the 1994 National Institute on Teaching Shakespeare, International Conference on Teaching Shakespeare through Performance, and my own classroom experiences. It is also my goal to use this page to share teaching ideas from other teachers around the world!

• Connecting the Mind and Body to Educate the Whole Person -- I wrote this paper after the 1994 Institute. It contains several ideas for teaching A Midsummer Night's Dream.

• A Midsummer Night's Dream Study Guide -- What began as a project with the Moscow Alternative School Center has developed into an on-going personal project. I hope that this site will help teachers and students from around the world.

• Ideas for Teaching Shakespeare through Performance -- My thanks to all of the teachers who have shared ideas with me over the years! Some of the following ideas are credited to their sources, but others have been passed down without a name for recognition. If you know the originator of any of these ideas, please let me know so that I may credit that person. If you have an idea you would like to share, please send it to amy@ivgh.com.

Please send mail to amy@ivgh.com.