It's one o'clock and you're in English class. Your desk squeaks every time you shift your weight. The sun is shining outside the window, lunch just ended, . . . and you've just been chosen to read the part of the First Guard in Hamlet.

Go ahead, groan. We've all been there. Shakespeare is one of the most widely disliked subjects in high schools across America. Being asked to read aloud, alone or with a chorus of classmates, is not only embarassing; it's boring, confusing, and most of all, tiring.

So why are we doing this in our classrooms? Why do we continue to dole out characters like punishment, restricting the fluid language Shakespeare wrote to rows of desks and monotone, unenthused voices? Shakespeare certainly never envisioned his plays being performed this way.

Performed. That's the heart of the whole issue. Shakespeare's works were meant specifically to be performed, not read. It is understandably difficult to imagine English teachers across the nation suddenly getting their classes on their feet en masse, or to take some of their already limited time and dedicating it to organizing rehearsals or line studies -- teachers are not, for the most part, trained in the theatre -- but there are some opportunities that can be explored.

Teachers facing another year of grumbling students dragging their feet as they cross the classroom threshold might try one or more of these ideas:

• Mix media. Show film versions of the play currently being studied. There are film versions of many of Shakespeare's plays available, some dated, some current. The Royal Shakespeare Company also has a series of video productions of all of the plays that may be available.
• Talk to the drama department or club. Students involved in drama may be wiling to put together classroom-based presentations, with the support of their mentors or teachers.
• Contact local theatre groups. If the budget exists for assemblies or professional presentations, call local theatre groups and ask whether they have or are able to put together a presentation.
• Ask the students. Teachers may discover that they have students who are interested in doing presentations themselves. Supporting their efforts may be a way to get the entire class more involved.

Shakespeare is universal, open to as many interpretations as imagination can create. Regional influence, current news stories, all of these can be fitted into the flexible framework of these classic plays. The language has a life of it's own, waiting to be discovered and explored by our students.

Encourage them.