She Stoops to Conquer - NU -

NU Theater's website

The setting -
The play takes place during the 18th century in the Hardcastle mansion in the English countryside, about sixty miles from London.

The characters -

-Mr. Hardcastle
-Mrs. Dorothy Hardcastle
-Charles Marlow
-Kate Hardcastle
-Tony Lumpkin
-George Hastings
-Constance Neville
-Sir Charles Marlow
-Servants in the Hardcastle Household
-Maid in the Hardcastle Household
-Landlord of the Three Pigeons Alehouse
-First Fellow, Second Fellow, Third Fellow, Fourth Fellow

The plot -

In a downstairs room of their old mansion, Dorothy Hardcastle tells her husband that they need a little diversion–namely, a trip to London, a city she has never visited. Their neighbors, the Hoggs sisters and Mrs. Grigsby, spend a month in London every winter. It is the place to see and be seen. But old Hardcastle, content with his humdrum rural existence, says people who visit the great city only bring back its silly fashions and vanities. Once upon a time, he says, London’s affectations and fopperies took a long time to reach the country; now they come swiftly and regularly by the coach-load.
Mrs. Hardcastle, eager for fresh faces and conversations, says their only visitors are Mrs. Oddfish, the wife of the local minister, and Mr. Cripplegate, the lame dancing teacher. What’s more, their only entertainment is Mr. Hardcastle’s old stories about sieges and battles. But Hardcastle says he likes everything old–friends, times, manners, books, wine, and, of course, his wife.
Living in their home with them is their daughter, Kate, a pretty miss of marriageable age, and Tony, Mrs. Hardcastle’s son by her first husband, Mr. Lumpkin. As a boy, Tony bedeviled his stepfather, Mr. Hardcastle, with every variety of mischief, burning a servant’s shoes, scaring the maids, and vexing the kittens. And, Hardcastle says, “It was but yesterday he fastened my wig to the back of my chair, and when I went to make a bow, I popt my bald head in Mrs. Frizzle’s face.”
Now as a young man, Tony has become a fat slob who spends most of his time at the local alehouse. Soon he will come of age, making him eligible for an inheritance of 1500 pounds a year with which to feed his fancies. Mrs. Hardcastle wants to match Tony with her niece and ward, Constance Neville, who has inherited a casket of jewels from her uncle. As Miss Neville’s guardian, Mrs. Hardcastle holds the jewels under lock and key against the day when Constance can take legal possession of them.
While Mr. and Mrs. Hardcastle discuss the London trip that is not to take place, Tony passes between them and sets off for the alehouse, The Three Pigeons. Mrs. Hardcastle chases out the door after him, saying he should find something better to do than associate with riffraff.
Alone, Mr. Hardcastle laments the follies of the age. Even his darling Kate is becoming infected, for now she has become fond of “French frippery.” When she enters the room, he tells her he has arranged for her to meet an eligible young man, Mr. Charles Marlow, a scholar with many good qualities who “is designed for employment in the service of the country.” Marlow is to arrive for a visit that very evening with a friend, Mr. George Hastings. Young Marlow is the son of Hardcastle’s friend, Sir Charles Marlow. Kate welcomes the opportunity to meet the young man, although she is wary about her father’s description of him as extremely shy around young ladies.
By and by, Constance Neville comes in for a visit. When Kate tells her about young Mr. Marlow, Constance tells her that her own admirer, Mr. Hastings, a friend of the Marlow family. Miss Neville welcomes the attentions of Hastings but laments Mrs. Hardcastle’s attempts to pair her with her “pretty monster,” Tony, in an effort to keep Miss Neville’s jewels in the family. Tony and Constance despise each other. (Taken From )

Student Guide Idea

Having a play that is set in the 18th century usually causes a language barrier that is hard to get over. But with a a brief history behind the 18th century language would help overcome this barrier. Also, if there are words that will cause issues with understanding the text, the teacher should write up any words she will believe to cause trouble with the definition.
Also, after having the students read a scene during class. The students should have the opportunity to write up their own version of the scene in present day terms. This could be in a play format or a short story. After doing so, the students should go home and read the scene again. Once doing this, the students should write up a short paragraph with why they believe the part they wrote is like the one in the scene in the book.

Entry #5

MORAL DILEMMA
Students with leaning disabilities often need modifications in their assignments in
order to minimize the impact of their disabilities and to facilitate their success.
Kevin's IEP, for example, includes extended time on exams, no penalty for spelling
errors on essays written in class, and ability to use the computer for extensive
written work. You are Kevin's high school English teacher, and one of your students
has protested that giving these accommodations to Kevin is not fair. The protest is
growing, and now several students have voiced their resentment of Kevin's special
treatment. Blog about:

A. How will you handle this?

B. What are your personal beliefs about this issue, and how will your beliefs affect
your professional decisions?

C. What does “fair” mean in the educational context for individuals with special
learning needs?


There is no easy way of handling this situation because as a teacher you are not allowed to tell other students or adults about a student's disability, unless otherwise told. In this situation though, truly I do not know how I would handle a situation like this. But what I would do is discuss with a principal on how to handle the situation and also inform the parents. I would tell them that I have told the students that this is how it is. Kevin needs things things.

I believe that teachers need to do everything in their power to help their students learn and achieve their highest potential. My beliefs will help me thrive towards getting everything that I can to help my students. I will try and be up to date with the last programs and techniques of teaching. I will also have a fair and equal classroom with no harsh words between students.

"Fair" means that the students with learning disabilities receive the accommodations they need to take a test, write an essay, or etc. These accommodations gives the students the help they need to be able to pass the class with what they know and not be held back by their learning disability.

How Do We Identify Children With Learning Disabilities

Entry #3

ENTRY #3 - Chapter 9:

Select at least two of these questions (although you can select as many as five) and at least 4 hyperlinks . Your post should be at least one page (around 500 words). Students who integrate quotes from the assigned reading will earn more points than those that do not.
PLEASE NOTE THAT FOR THIS THIRD POSTING YOU MUST UPLOAD A DIGITAL IMAGE TO SUPPORT THE CONCEPT OF DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION. CONSIDER THE PHOTOGRAPHY ACTIVITY - HOW WAS THAT AN EXAMPLE OF DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION? If you are not clear, I expect you to Google "Differentiated Instruction, photography, learning". This should help you think about and reflect on your understanding of the topic of this chapter.
I'm looking for your opinion, but also want that opinion to be backed up by course content. This post is due Thursday, September 17th.

1. What are some characteristics of children with gifts and talents?
2. Define and discuss the concept of twice exceptional.

Students with gifts and talents are called prodigies because they develop their talent or gift extraordinarily fast. These children normally come from a family that is close and willing to nurture and help the child develop their gift to its full potential. Students with gifts or talents seem to be more prominent in males over females (Kirk 295). These talents though do not come without a cost. Students with gifts and talents seem to be linked to having issues with “depression, delinquency, perfectionism, suicide, and response to stress” (Kirk 295). These issues that students with gifts face are hard topics to handle. Since they are already stressed by being known as a prodigy they feel as if they need to keep this title along with its high standards. Some of these students seem not to be able to handle the stress of this perfectionist title they hold and slowly fall under the weight of this title. So lash out and commit acts of delinquency while others do not feel the need to leave if they can’t be this perfect person.

Children with disabilities who have gifts and talents are known as twice exceptional (Kirk 304). It is believed that if a student can’t see, talk, or walk they are not intellectually talented (Kirk 304). In the end though, it means we are over looking the special talents they have and we need to take time and help them find those talents they have. So they can work on them and develop those talents to their full potential. In our book, Educating Exceptional Children, Coleman found out that “the students who had gifts and learning disabilities had constructive coping strategies”, whereas other students did not have the ability to cope with situations as well. There are “three general educational objectives for programs for students who have gifts and talents: (1) Mastering important conceptual systems that are at the level of their abilities in various content fields (2) Developing skills and strategies that enable them to become more independent and creative (3) Developing pleasure in and excitement about learning that will carry them through the routine that is an inevitable part of the learning process (Kirk 305).”

Differentiated instruction is the ability to develop a lesson plan that will be able to change to work with all the different type of learners in the classroom. So in the end of the lesson, they all learned something about the same topic just in a different process that fits their ability and learning style. In the photography lesson in class, we all went and searched for different pictures of shapes and lines. Through this process, we all were able to work at our own pace to come up with our own ideas on shapes and lines. Some of us came up with simple photos of lines and shapes. While others showed a more artistic idea of shapes and lines. We all accomplished the same task, just with different abilities that were shown. For example, my photo is of many different lines going in many different directions. This to me, in an artistic stand point is just craziness but to look at it in a significant way shows how a teacher must search through all the lines and points to be able to find out were her/his students are.

Entry # 2

ENTRY #2 - Chapter 2:

Select at least two of these questions. Your post should be at least one page (around 250 words) and at least 4 hyperlinks . Students who integrate quotes from the assigned reading will earn more points than those that do not. I'm looking for your opinion, but also want that opinion to be backed up by course content. This post is due Thursday, September 17th.

1. If good teaching is going on in the general education classroom, why are special education programs and services necessary?
2. How did passage of PL94-142 place substantial pressure on public school systems?

Good teaching in a general classroom is not enough to handle the needs and adaptations students with disabilities need. Students with disabilities needs are so different with each case that to have them all be in a general classroom would only be overwhelming for the teacher but also for the student themselves. Take for example the different disabilities students can have: Autism, communication impairment, development delay, emotional impairment, health impairment, intellectual impairment, neurological impairment, physical impairment, sensory impairment, and specific learning disability (Kirks 7-8). Having the best teacher teach a class of 20 to 25 students and having some to most of them with a disability would not give the teacher enough time to give each student the accommodation and attention they need. Having special education programs and services, makes sure that no one student falls behind because they did not get what they needed to learn.

In 1975, Congress passed the Public Law 94 – 142. The Public Law 94 – 142 is also called the Education for All Handicapped Children (Kirks 39). This law was “designed ‘to assure that all handicapped children have available to them a free appropriate public education which emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs’” (Kirk 39). The Public Law 94 -142 set up six key principals that have helped form education they are zero reject, nondiscriminatory evaluation, individualized education program, least restrictive environment, due process, and parental participation (Kirk 39). This act not only shaped education but rewarded school systems that could prove they’re doing their best to help students with disabilities and giving them all they help they can to succeed.

Entry #1

ENTRY #1 - Chapter 1:

Select at least two of these questions. Your post should be at least one page (around 250 words) and include at least 4 hyperlinks. Students who integrate quotes from the assigned reading will earn more points than those that do not. I'm looking for your opinion, but also want that opinion to be backed up by course content. This post is due Thursday, September 17th.

1. When is a child considered to be educationally exceptional?
2. How do parents and siblings respond to the presence of a child with disabilities in the family?

Every year students walk into new classrooms for the first time. Sometimes it’s their first ever in a classroom; while for others it’s their first time in that particular room. With whatever background that particular group comes from does not affect them what does affect that particular student is if he or she is an exceptional child. This usually would be detected at birth because it has become increasingly necessary to catch these children at an earlier age. An exceptional child is a child who differs from the average child in (1) mental characteristics, (2) sensory abilities, (3) communication, (4) behavior and emotional development, and/or (5) physical characteristics (Kirk 5). To have a student be characterized as an exceptional child, their differences must be to such an extent that he or she requires “either a modification of school practices or special education services to develop his or her unique capabilities” (Kirk 5).

Over the years, I have worked in many different classrooms ranging from a 6-1-1 to a behavioral classroom. Each classroom I was in, I saw many parents, siblings, and grandparents come in to work with their family member in the classroom. To me, when I watched a parent interact with their child was like any other parent interacting with their child. They saw pass the disability and only saw their loving child. It amazed me the patience, care, and love not only the parents had but the student’s siblings had. In these circumstances I witnessed, made me love the profession that awaits me in the future.

My personal experiences coincide with what our book, Teaching Exceptional Children, says “family empowerment refers to the parents’ taking action to get what their child needs (21).” That many parents have formed groups over the years to help their children get what the need to have an education and prosper in life.

Even though, my experiences showed me the side of parents wanting to do anything for their child. I never saw the siblings trying to understand why their brother or sister is different and all the other questions that formed over the years. For the siblings, it is hard for them to understand why their brother or sister needs certain treatments or why they go to a different school or classroom then they do. Another issue they face is when it comes to their friends. How they should stand up to them, how do they explain why their sibling is different, and so on. Because children at a young age can be cruel about things they don’t understand or that is different.