Tales from the classroom

Wheels? Yes, wheels. All of my students are physically disabled, and many are diagnosed with intellectual disabilities as well.  Able-bodied students can get up on their feet to perform. My students can’t get on their feet, but that doesn’t stop…

I first read about this go-to strategy in the Folger Library’s Shakespeare Set Free resources. Over the years, I’ve developed and personalized my own take on this interactive way of getting students to jump into Shakespeare’s language.   The…

By Mari O’Meara   Like most teachers, when a Shakespearean unit is announced, I am greeted by many loud groans and a few students voicing the usual (whiny) complaints- “It’s so boring!” “I don’t understand it”; “Do we have to?”  Tuning…

Karen Peakes (Emilia) and Janie Brookshire (Desdemona) in Othello, directed by Robert Richmond, Folger Theatre, 2011. Photo by Carol Pratt. By Deborah Gascon I set a goal this school year to include several, less time-consuming (but equally as meaningful), mini-research projects…

By Jill Burdick-Zupancic In English 10, I chose to study Macbeth with the students this year. However, because we were also looking at how imagery supports characterization, I decided to get them back into the world of Shakespeare with a…

By Mark Miazga The International Baccalaureate (IB) English Higher Level curriculum and assessments are still an ideal place for Shakespeare, even though the revision of the curriculum a couple of years ago no longer makes his inclusion compulsory. While he…