In scouring the earliest editions of "English Journal," one of the most fascinating details one uncovers is that the issues facing Shakespeare teachers today are similar to those issues that faced Shakespeare teachers 100 years ago. The earliest contributors to "English Journal" were far more in line with contemporary educational scholars than one might initially suspect, and their ideas and contributions are worth reconsideration in the context of today's pedagogical practices. In this article, the author examines the evolution in "EJ" of performance as a mode of teaching students to understand and appreciate Shakespeare's plays still so frequently taught.