Professional Development

The Folger Shakespeare Library offers a range of programs for teachers—online, at the Folger, and in a classroom near you.

Online Professional Development & Teaching Materials

Join us on Forsooth!, our new online home for teachers that is a reliable, dynamic source for practical teaching tools and multimedia. Become a Teacher Member and receive all kinds of benefits, including full, members-only access to Forsooth!, online professional development courses, interaction with scholars, artists, and mentor teachers; and rich discussion with like-minded teaching colleagues. 

Teacher Membership

Become a Teacher Member of the Folger Shakespeare Library and receive unprecedented support for the deeply important work you do. Have the very best of the Folger at your fingertips, all of the time on Forsooth! The Folger Teacher Community. Receive discounts for performances & the gift shop (in person or online), and invitations to exclusive events. Be a part of this institution and of our robust teacher community that stretches across the country and around the world. Let us work together to make teaching and learning exciting, rigorous, and inspiring for all.

Teacher Weekend Intensive: February 2019

Come along and join our Teaching Shakespeare Institute staff and great guest faculty in a deep dive into the Folger’s way of teaching Shakespeare—an interactive, student-centered approach that incorporates attention to scholarship, performance, and what happens in your classroom.  And . . . that is effective for students of all ability levels. Register by February 8, 2019.

TSI: Summer Academy 2019

The Summer Academy is a week of powerful professional development led by master teachers, scholars, and performance faculty. Teachers from all over the US take a deep dive into one Shakespeare play to extend their content knowledge and gain strategies for teaching the play to middle and high school students. Apply by March 18, 2019.

TSI: Professional Learning Days

Led by master teachers in the Folger National Teacher Corps, these one-day workshops provide lively, hands-on practice with techniques that work with all kinds of students in all kinds of classrooms. Through a range of activities rooted in Shakespeare’s language and aligned to national standards, teachers learn how to get students on their feet and into complex texts in minutes. Professional Learning Days draw on the Folger’s unique blend of scholarship, performance, and education, and can be customized to incorporate texts from your school’s curriculum. 

Teaching Shakespeare Institute

Since 1984, the National Endowment for the Humanities has supported the Teaching Shakespeare Institute (TSI), an intense, month-long study of Shakespeare. The institute looks at Shakespeare's work from three essential perspectives: scholarship, performance, and curriculum. This rigorous but joyful program gathers secondary school teachers from all over the country for multifaceted studies of plays, poems, criticism, rare materials, live theater, and educational technologies. Stay tuned for more information about future institutes! Learn about TSI 2018.

DC Public Schools

We love our city and its teachers. We have partnered with DCPS to lead the teaching and learning of Shakespeare in our city’s public schools. From developing a new high school Shakespeare curriculum and providing professional development for English teachers to hosting student matinees and public demonstrations of student learning, we are committed to supporting the work of DCPS teachers and students. This initiative is multi-faceted and growing, so please check back, or email Corinne Viglietta (cviglietta@folger.edu), for more information.