Brave New Teaching: A Podcast for High School and Middle School Teachers 3 Hills to Die On - BNT Team Meeting [Ep 295]
Apr 30, 2026
Amanda defends three strong teaching positions: rethink reading Shakespeare cover to cover and prioritize performance; celebrate student milestones with memorable ceremonies and creative awards; and prioritize vertical curriculum alignment with shared expectations and backward planning. Short, bold takes aimed at sparking classroom change.
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Stop Reading Shakespeare Cover To Cover
- Stop assigning Shakespeare to be read aloud cover to cover and instead watch productions as the central experience.
- Amanda explains plays are meant to be witnessed for relationships, staging, and performance, so use recorded productions and performance-focused lessons.
Amanda's Early Shakespeare Teaching Mistake
- Amanda recounts her early failure assigning Shakespeare like a novel and blaming herself for poor outcomes.
- She admits treating plays like novels was a misstep that taught her to change to performance-based approaches.
Plays Demand A Different Reading Mode
- Plays require a different cognitive task than novels; the goal is to examine relationships and staging, not fluency of private reading.
- Amanda frames this as a Four Reading Realms shift: students need to switch modes when engaging with drama.