Shakespeare Magazine ~ An Interview with Ted Tibbits

An Interview with Ted Tibbetts
by Chris Shamburg
Educational Technology Department
New Jersey City University

Chris: What in your background lead up to this?

Ted: Dismal audition in a graduate school production. I was studying Shakespeare in graduate school from a literary perspective, and I decided to audition for a play. I totally botched the audition, but I got a minor part anyway. As part of the production I got to the text in ways that I couldn't do otherwise. It seemed like it would be a great way to teach it.

Chris: Where did you get the idea for a CD-ROM?

Ted: I was doing workshops and almost inevitably afterwards a teacher would say, "My students wouldn't do that! Do you have a videotape of your students?" I was discussing it with a friend of mine, and he said that video was passé, do a CD. So here it is.

Chris: You do a great job with the putting the text descriptions, video, and other material together. What was your guiding idea?

Ted: When I read some activity descriptions, especially theater activities, I have a difficult time figuring out what it’s supposed to look like. We're such a visual culture, too, and some ideas sound so crazy that people do need to see them.

Chris: Where did the individual activities come from?

Ted: I got the initial inspiration from a variety or sources: Henry Wishcamper, Maine Summer Dramatic Institute, Dawn McAndrews, Shakespeare Theatre, and some of them I made up or adapted myself. All of the activities have evolved and developed with the feedback from other teachers. I get people who email suggestions, modifications, and improvements. That's the exciting part.

Chris: How did you recruit the students?

Ted: I told my ninth grade and Shakespeare elective students about the idea and gave them permission slips. They were all eager to participate. Some were chasing me down after school with late slips anxious to be included!

Chris: Besides the performance, there's a lot of reflection after the activities. Did you always do that?

Ted: Probably half of the learning comes from the debriefing, or else you lose it. Samuel Johnson, I think, said that it's not so much to be instructed as to be reminded. When the activities don't go perfectly, it's very good too. Students analyze what went wrong and come up with ways to improve it. The debriefing is important for the teacher as well as the students.

Chris: As an English teacher, what's your approach to non-Shakespearean literature?

Ted: I use a similar approach. I have them put on performances for chapter summaries. I try to get them active as much as possible.

Chris: Do you see any limitations to a performance-based approach?

Ted: If there is a drawback, it's that it takes time. Sometime I'll have them begin reading a novel for homework and dedicate class time to Shakespeare. When we do start the novel, they've gotten into it somewhat and are familiar with it.

Chris: What did you use technically to get the video?

Ted: An 8mm video camera and Sony VAIO^® laptop.

Chris: The CD looks great and the navigation is very intuitive. Who actually designed the material?

Ted: Greg Landry of Port City Portland Internet Consulting and Web Design. He did a phenomenal job taking my vague design ideas and making them work. He would ask me, “How do you want this page to look?” and I would say, “Uhh…I don’t know, something that looks Shakespearean.” Then he’d create these really cool looking pages.

Chris: Do you use video or technology for student work?

Ted: Absolutely, student-designed web pages, scenes from movies, graphic design using Photoshop.

Chris: What's next?

Ted: Marketing! It seems that the work has just begun now that I have a product. I’d also love to find a way to do more Shakespeare workshops for teachers and students…it has become one of my favorite things to do. I suppose if everything goes well with this CD, I may create a series of similar ones that are more play specific such as a Romeo and Juliet through performance CD-ROM. I guess I would like to do anything that helps other teachers teach Shakespeare. It would be great if when teachers need something for teaching Shakespeare that they would e-mail me. Then I would have even a better idea of what teachers need the most.

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