When I first started teaching, I remember trying so many different ideas all the time in my classroom. It was exhausting running a new small group scenario or differentiation strategy several times per week, and over my many years of teaching, I’ve come to master a handful of strategies that are versatile and work EVERY time (at least NOW they do!). For me, learning stations are the way to go. I’d say at least once a week, I have my students engaging with content through a learning stations setup and I love it.

Everyone struggles to teach Shakespeare - no matter how strong your readers are. 

This year, my goal was to bring the fun back into teaching Julius Caesar.  The past few years, we've been really focused on writing rigorous, challenging rhetoric lessons for the play, and had kind of lost sight of the play itself. 

In order to frame the play, I've developed a quick, free lesson for you that organizes the students into collaborative groups...