For many people, Shakespeare’s work is timeless. However, students notoriously find the olde English difficult to understand and often complain when teachers begin a Shakespeare topic or unit of study. How can teachers modernise his plays to reach today's students? William Shakespeare remains the world's most famous wordsmith. With 38 plays and 154 sonnets to his name he was a prolific playwright and poet and transformed the literary world.

I’m what you would call a “nontraditional student.” I’ve got two kids, I’m gainfully employed, and I’m 33. Getting my degree in education and a license to teach wasn’t my first choice of career. It was a dream that arose after countless hours of helping my sons with their homework and volunteering in their classrooms. This dream was left unrealized for years until the right opportunity presented itself, and I jumped on it. In this way, I’m not unique.

Technology is integral to the modern learning experience. Indeed, with tablets replacing textbooks and students being so partial to their smartphones, it seems that digital tools are no longer optional for a modern teacher.

Educating students truly takes a village. From teachers to administrators, board members to maintenance staff, there are a lot of adults involved in making schools productive and safe places for students to learn. So often the focus is placed upon the relationships between these adults and the students they reach. However, maximizing the value in these staff-to-student interactions requires the adults to form positive bonds amongst themselves as a school faculty.

When I was a kid, I’d always get told off for being glued to the TV. Nowadays, all we hear is how little TV kids are watching! Instead, the youth of today are firmly seated, smartphone in hand, watching the current hottest YouTube influencer. It’s not surprising that they consume media in this fashion. YouTube provides infinitely more possibilities than television ever could. Social interaction, supreme choice over what to watch, portability and an easy way to speak with the real person behind the screen.

One of the most important modern concepts in education today is “personalized learning.” As Education Week explains, the concept isn’t entirely clear and has many different practical applications. However, what is clear about personalized learning is that it centers the student as the most important subject in the classroom, which results in an emphasis on individual student learning styles, needs, and interests.