Urban Accessibility
"Critical Pedagogy in an Urban High School English Classroom," places heavy emphasis on the fact that media and elements of popular culture are important education resources that can make a large impact on students from urban environments.The reality is that neary anything can be considered a "text", and it doesn't necessarily have to be created for education's sake to be considered educational. Lessons should be interesting and engaging for students. I've used popular (and unpopular) music in the classroom to a tremendous amount of positive feedback. Engaged classroom time is interactive, exciting, and mentally challenging. We, as teachers, are to avoid simply dispensing information to students and expecting them to salvage a valuable educational experience from such a stale platform.d
I have heard various amounts of criticism regarding the common core, which mostly range from "I can't teach what I want to teach" to "There simply isn't enough time in the year to cover everything" to the 'staleness' of the requirements. In my own experience, I actually have a hard time coming up with a lesson that would fall completely outside of the umbrella of what is covered by the standards. Even aligned with common core, my students and I have fun in our classrooms. We sing. We talk about music. I create an anonymous text board and let them use chromebooks to chat with each other about sensitive topics. "Fun" isn't just media. "Fun" is unexpected. It's different. If I can use varied formats and media to 'trick' students into learning without them really seeing it in the fashion of a traditional lesson, than I feel like I'm succeeding. This is accomplished by connecting with students and listening to their interests and finding out what's popular at this time. If there's a hit song or movie or artist that's on everybody's minds, then there's a strong chance I'll find some way to incorporate it into a lesson. You don't have to worry about "Trying too hard" if you've always already been plugged into the 'now'.
I have heard various amounts of criticism regarding the common core, which mostly range from "I can't teach what I want to teach" to "There simply isn't enough time in the year to cover everything" to the 'staleness' of the requirements. In my own experience, I actually have a hard time coming up with a lesson that would fall completely outside of the umbrella of what is covered by the standards. Even aligned with common core, my students and I have fun in our classrooms. We sing. We talk about music. I create an anonymous text board and let them use chromebooks to chat with each other about sensitive topics. "Fun" isn't just media. "Fun" is unexpected. It's different. If I can use varied formats and media to 'trick' students into learning without them really seeing it in the fashion of a traditional lesson, than I feel like I'm succeeding. This is accomplished by connecting with students and listening to their interests and finding out what's popular at this time. If there's a hit song or movie or artist that's on everybody's minds, then there's a strong chance I'll find some way to incorporate it into a lesson. You don't have to worry about "Trying too hard" if you've always already been plugged into the 'now'.
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