My Plans For My First Week Of School

After years of teaching, I have settled into a routine for the first week of school that accomplishes my goals of getting to know students and beginning to build a reading community. It is a first week that is low prep and low stress so that I can enjoy meeting my new learners.

Like any good first week plan, it is flexible, and while everything we do is meaningful, it is also easily adjusted. Activities can be shortened, moved around, or continued another day. I may not be back in my teaching rhythm that first week of school so the pacing of my class periods may not be 100% on point yet.

How to Support Students With Reading Shakespeare's Plays

When I taught high school, I always ended the year with one of Shakespeare's plays, Romeo & Juliet for ninth grade and Julius Caesar for tenth.⁠ Students loved getting into character and acting out scenes from the plays. But it can be a challenge to make modern day connections with a text written over 400 years ago.⁠ Here's how I supported students with reading one of Shakespeare's plays.⁠

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