Myshakespeare.com

Since I’m new to teaching English (and teaching in general), I sometimes feel out of touch with technology innovations in the classroom, especially regarding literacy. As a result, I can default to teaching lessons the same way I learned them in high school. So naturally when it was time for my sophomore to read Julius Caesar, I asked them to get out their textbooks. However, before we even assigned parts, one of my students asked if they could read on myshakespeare.com instead. After checking out the site, I happily agreed.

Myshakespeare.com has annotated versions of several of the Bard’s plays, including Julius Caesar. They also include great translations into 21st century English alongside the original text, which has been especially helpful for students when they’re absent so they can keep up with the text. Each play also has videos that provide historical context or performances of key scenes. I found the video on the Lupercal festival especially helpful. I’m thankful my students shared this resource with me, and I can’t wait to take full advantage of it in the future.

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An Introduction

Hello! I'll begin my first foray into blogging with an introduction. My name is Elise Harris, and I am a first-year teacher located in east Tennessee. I teach 10th and 11th grade English. My background is in French and Arabic, so I'm entirely new to the world of ELA education. Although English isn't exactly my comfort zone, my love of words and reading isn't confined to the languages I've formally studied. I feel very fortunate to spend my days waist-deep in literature. I look forward to exploring my thoughts on the topic of childhood literacy here on this blog. I'm also excited to learn more about the current landscape of children's and young adult literature, as I haven't paid much attention to either since I was a child myself. Until next time!

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