This article explores various ways of teaching literary theory to high school and middle school students. The authors argue that incorporating a critical literacy approach in English education is important but challenging. Although the authors work to implement a critical literacy practice within their university classes, they don't always know what they're doing. They have found that applying critical literacy to classrooms has lots of ups and downs. Here, the authors offer a set of lessons they have learned from their experiences and a few suggestions for others who intend to engage in critical literacy practice.