Pop Culture

Before taking this class I had not fully considered how popular culture could be used to help students make connections and enhance teaching and learning. As a methods instructor I know that it is important for me to model appropriate techniques within my teaching. If my students, future teachers, get an opportunity to experience first hand using pop culture they will be more likely to embrace popular culture as a tool to use within their classrooms as well. Therefore I have made the following modifications to my course to:

Using video clips: Video clips interspersed within lecture, whole group discussion as well as small group discussion can help get direct discussions to the heart of the issue as well as help to make connections to valuable concepts. For example, my students are required to maintain a journal during my course. Below is the assignment description from my syllabus:

Reflective Journaling (15 pts) Due: Reflective Journal is due each Monday
Reflective practice is situated at the “heart� of teaching. Keeping a reflective journal will provide you with the opportunity to first develop your capacity to observe skillfully and to think critically about students and their learning so you can begin to consider what this tells you about teaching, the subject matter, and the context in which all of these interact. It is also an invitation to begin to take intelligent action based on the understanding that emerges. In addition it can be a personal tool for exploring your identity as a teacher, what you are learning about yourself as a teacher from your field experiences, and/or issues you are struggling with as you progress through the semester.
In this journal you will reflect on your learning, philosophies on teaching, learning and discussion. You will be responsible for maintaining your journal. Ten minutes each class period will be provided for reflective journaling; however, more time outside of class may be needed. Journals will be collected each Monday from the instructor and returned the following class period. Journal topics may be assigned by the instructor. You will receive more information about this journal in future weeks.

During the first weeks of the semester we spend time exploring teacher identity. As we are discussing teacher identity I will be introducing video clips from the following films: School of Rock; Mr. Holland’s Opus; Dead Poets Society and Dangerous Minds. After viewing the selected clips I will ask the students to get into small groups to discuss the following questions: How does media portray teachers? How has media impacted your vision of a teacher? Is the media portrayal accurate? After our small/large group discussion students will be invited to respond in their journal to the following prompts:

Day 1. How do you see yourself as a teacher? What do you want to change in your teaching? How might you go about this change? What role can your peers/colleagues play in helping you become the teacher you aspire to be?

2. Draw or make a make a self-portrait of how you see yourself as a teacher. This activity does not require any artistic training in portrait making.
3. After you complete your self-portrait, step back and examine it carefully.
Then, reflect and write about your portrait. Include your thoughts and reactions to what you have drawn. Ask questions that come to mind as you critically examine your portrait. Here are some ideas:
a. How does this self-portrait relate to your learning and teaching experiences?
b. Does the self-portrait showcase any particular learning or teaching dilemma?
c. Is this portrait related to any recent interaction in your teaching?
d. What does it portray about your perception of your identity and gender as a teacher? Notice your clothes, props, physical features, expression, etc.
e. Do you notice any stereotypes about teachers that you portrayed? Interpret any popular notions of teachers you portrayed?
f. What would you title this portrait?

4. Envision the teacher you hope to become. Try to capture what you feel are the most important critical traits of an effective language arts teacher. Create a web or visual that depicts your vision of the characteristics of an effective teacher. Reflect on where you are at in relation to becoming the teacher you aspire to be.

5. Go back and read what you have written in your journal thus far. What patterns or themes did you notice? What’s one thing you’d like to elaborate on? What did you discover about yourself that you didn’t realize before? If an outside reader were to read your journal, what question(s) might that reader still have? What do you think is one thing a reader is most apt to take away from your journal?

I also plan to use song lyrics and news clippings to further explore teacher identities throughout the five week teacher identity exploration. In the past, I have always given my students the opportunity to journal in the traditional pen and paper mode or to post their journaling on a secured site. However, I am seriously considering having my students create their own blog. I can see how blogs could be used as a great tool in the elementary classroom. That being said, I know that because I had never created a blog or visited a blog I didn’t use that as a tool. To be perfectly honest I was afraid of the unknown. I know that many of my students have visited blogs and may already have one; however, I think by forcing the issue and talking of ways that they can be incorporated into the classroom, students would feel more comfortable with the possibility.

I have always used music within my teaching. In fact, my first five years as an elementary teacher I lost my voice on numerous occasions through out the year; I sang to my students each and everyday (remember I was a kindergarten, 1st grade and 2nd grade teacher it was welcomed by the little ones). I discovered that I was losing my voice because I was not using it properly. I started singing lessons so that I could learn to sing using the correct muscles. I continue to sing to my current students as well as incorporate music as within the lessons. However, what I will change is using more current up to date styles.

There is so much that you can do within your classroom and I look forward to exploring more ways to include music and pop culture into my teaching.

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My assignment: choose a video and write a review. Not an unreasonable request, yet, I struggled with my video choice; there are so many to choose from. How do you pick just one? I’m not sure that the video that I chose is exactly what my professor had in mind, but on the other hand he did say it was my choice. After much thought, the video that I chose is “Yes We Can�. “Yes We Can� is a song inspired by a speech delivered by Barack Obama. The video was directed by Jesse Dylan and released on February 2, 2008 by the Black Eyed Peas member Will.i.am on Dipdive.com. It features appearances from the following celebrities: Will.i.am, John Legend, Kate Walsh, Kelly Hu, Tatyana Ali, Herbie Hancock, Amber Valetta, Nick Cannon, Scarlett Johanssen, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Nicole Scherzinger and Adam Rodriquez. I chose this video because it is more than a promotion of a favorite candidate or a plea to get people to vote, however, I won’t deny that this might have been a motive for the celebrities in putting this video together. I chose this video because, “Yes We Can�, evokes conviction, compassion and optimism; it resonates change, vision, promise and hope.

The video opens with a sole acoustic guitar strum strumming, a slow, even vibration that travels to your very soul. A sense of harmony and unity is present as black-and-white images of Obama and the performers are pieced together in a collage like fashion. The dimly lit images allow us to discover and focus solely on the message—yes, we can. The lyrics of the song are entirely quotes from Obama’s speech, a brilliant and powerful speech. The performers comprise a chorus echoing Barack’s words as his voice plays in the background. The layering of the voices has a call-and-response feel to the song as Barack’s words are spoken and then the performer’s musical rendition responds. This pattern invites a participation of all, not just the multiple performers, but the viewer as well. The words in the song, representing the voices of all, are strongly contrasted to the repeated phrase – yes we can. The multiple voices compel you to not only join, but to spring into action and join the masses in believing and working together to make this a better nation and world.

Obama in his original speech was brave enough to give voice to racism, and classism. Over the years it has been deemed politically incorrect to talk about race and class, mentioning the very words often made you a racist. Yet, Obama’s willingness to address issues of racism and classism so publically and the nations overwhelming acceptance of his speech illustrates the need to address such issues. Will.i.am putting these already powerful words to music takes Obama’s message of hope and social justice for all to a broader audience. Viewing this video the first time brought tears to my eyes; I have to believe that it would have an impact on even the greatest critic. Barack’s states, “Yes we can to justice and equality� these seven words bring us back to the common thread that draws us together; hope, healing, repair and starting the next chapter.

Yes We Can is very different from will.i.am’s previous work. As a founding member of the Black Eyed Peas he has become famous for his rapping and songs such as: I Got It From My Mama, Heartbreaker, and One More Chance. These songs contain the similar hip-hop rhythmic speaking style often associated with rap while the “Yes We Can� song has a much more melodic feel. The very purposeful choice in genre, instrumentals, lighting camera angle complemented the very words and message that were spoken by Obama, creating a very powerful visual. In a video created after the “Yes We Can� video titled, “We Are The Ones Song� it is much more like an advertisement for Obama than a song. People are given the opportunity to voice their concerns and hopes for our nation and at the end of each is the chanting for Obama. Even though the building of the chanting and the increasing use of instrumentals in this video helps to build the emotion and excitement level that is felt by the participants, it lacks the impact and power of the first video.

“Yes We Can� is a song that speaks to the heart of the issues in America; it speaks to the very soul of every American.

Posted by kruiz002 at 7:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality.

Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.

Yes we can heal this nation.

Yes we can repair this world.

Yes we can.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics...they will only grow louder and more dissonant ........... We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea --

Yes. We. Can.

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Provide rationale for using American Idol in the classroom. Now that is something I had not considered before. I will admit that I have been known to watch the mindless television show, American Idol. Yes, I too have fallen prey to the phenomena of “reality� TV, but I have never considered how to incorporate this phenomenon into the classroom. In fact, it’s probably been the farthest thing from my mind. In my search for articles on American Idol, I found a plethora of articles, many that you could use adjectives such as mindless, meaningless, pointless etc to describe. However, I did find one article that I found very interesting: “That’s Just Your Opinion!� – “American Idol� and the Confusion Between Pluralism and Relativism by Claudia W. Ruitenberg (Paideusis, Volume 16 (2007), No. 1, pp 55-59 (http://www.edst.educ.ubc.ca/faculty/ruitenberg/just_your_opinion.pdf) In Ruitenberg’s article she discusses how students and pupils struggle with the differences between opinions in the sense of preferences, and opinions in the sense of judgments. She uses American Idol to illuminate this common misnomer and how this misconception presents itself in not only American Idol but within the classroom as well.

Though Ruitenberg did not give specific examples of how to incorporate American Idol into the classroom room, she did cause me to think more critically about the television show and how it could be used to prompt critical thinking within the classroom. As an “ex� and “always� elementary teacher, I can now envision how I could use American Idol to spur writing assignments. For example, persuasive writing, students could try to convince me to vote for a certain candidate or students could develop their critical thinking skills by learning to justify their position within a writing assignment. And after viewing the article Most American Idol Viewers Over Age 35 and Other Idol Data by Robert Seidman, I could think of many math lessons that one could teach centered on the data gathered from American Idol. For social studies, pupils could locate the cities visited by American Idol on the map and research the area and report on it. As I think about it the list could go on and on.

As exciting as I think this unit could be I have to pause and give careful consideration to what I am actually teaching. I need to be careful that I am conscience at all times that I am teaching the objectives that I set and not teaching or promoting American Idol; only using American Idol as a vehicle to make teaching and learning meaningful. I think Sarah Heller McFarlane’s article, The Laptops Are Coming? The Laptops Are Coming!, illustrates how we can often let the technology, or in American Idol’s case, the pop culture becomes the focus of our teaching. At a time when technology as become the very blood within us, we have to remember first and foremost what it means to interact with children, to teach children and to hope for children. It is easy to let the newest, shiniest bangle distract us from our ultimate goal; children.

That is why it is with great caution that I would move forward with teaching a unit centered on American Idol, not that I wouldn’t do it, it would just be with great calculation, reflection and thought. As an elementary teacher, I would need to consider the time the show is aired; many elementary children go to bed at 8:00 and the show often went until 8:30-9:00. I also have to be careful of the fact that I might be promoting more television viewing. According to University of Michigan, on average children spend four hours a day watching television and 1 hour a day watching DVDs and videos. Do we know the full impact that all this television viewing is having on our children socially, emotionally, physically and morally? If our schools are the very place in which we can hope to lay the ground work for a better tomorrow, I need to be cognizant of how my actions contribute to or diminish my work towards that goal. It is with this in mind that I have developed the following possible assignment for my students: The Great American Idol Debate (I have borrowed the title from another debate in Tim Lensmire’s Writing class). Within the debate format we could critically explore the positive as well as the negative outcomes of such a unit. My hope is not to discourage my students from using popular culture or music within the classroom, but to bring about a level of consciousness to the impact of popular culture, and to how it relates to teaching, learning and children.

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After reading Jabari Mahiri’s article, Digital DJ-ing: Rhythms of Learning in an Urban School, I had quite the range of emotions, but my first thought is “for real� where was he able to do this project? I could see this project having many stumbling blocks along the way. My experience is that I would have to work my tail off to sell this project to administration. Not that I don’t think that this project isn’t important work, but as an ex-literacy coach who often had to deal with the bureaucracy found in schools today, I can tell you that I would have to present a lot more information than what the author has presented in his article to get a principal to okay this. Imagine for a moment that you are a young, bright, eager educator who has just read this article. You are excited about what you’ve read. You think that this project would match your students learning styles perfectly. With the article in hand, a bounce in your step and enthusiasm in great abundance, you enter your principal’s office. Excitedly you share your great idea and with great pride you lay the research article down in front of your principal to be greeted with a less than enthusiastic reply. These are the comments I imagine being said, “What standards does this project meet?� “How will this help your students to pass or do better for state testing requirements?� “How will this contribute to our mission of being a “five star� school?� “What specific reading/writing strategies will be implemented?� “How does this match and align with the current curriculum guidelines?� As you get ready to leave your principal encourages you to continue with the project, but you just need to do a few “small� tasks: 1) come back when you have all the issue addressed in written form that he can present to the school board 2) talk with all the other teachers within your grade level and see if they are on board with this, because all teachers in the grade level need to be on the same page everyday and 3) meet with the literacy coach to verify how the standards, strategies and skills are being addressed within this project , needless to say, you place the article in the top drawer of your desk and leave it for another day (or lifetime).

The article did a nice job of conveying the social and personal significance of this project, I appreciate that the author looked to the students first. He looked to their interests and knowledge and respected that. Self selected projects, themes and interests are highly motivating, especially with this age group. I am confident that the students enjoyed what they were doing. I could probably even argue that the students did have positive gains in many academic areas. However, the schools today revolve around results and test scores. For example, in my current position I instruct pre-student teachers. I have recently had to meet with a number of principals that we work with to allow my students to teach social studies. The schools, scared to death of state tests and test scores, are reverting to only teaching what is on the test. I had to carefully work with these schools and my students to ensure that first and foremost they are always teaching reading and writing and if by chance the pupils learn history, mapping, or world cultures, well that’s just a bonus. I am not saying that I agree with what is happening, but I have to model for my students how to navigate the current system. I don’t want my students, future teachers, to roll over to current mandates and bureaucracy. I want them to know how to manipulate the system in order to: 1) do what is best for kids 2) to challenge the status quo. Mahiri’s down fall from an administrator’s point of view is he did not convey concretely how this project was meaningful to kids, teachers or the community. Even though he did address how core themes in their projects were addressed and was a part of the meaning making process, he needed to provide hard facts.

My advice for Mahiri would be to first of all, address how technology is supporting teaching and learning. This could help guide current teachers in the field navigate and support the use of not only technology but also pop culture within their classrooms. The article did speak to how technology is often misused in schools and often does not enhance instruction, but I felt he didn’t spend enough time addressing how teaching and learning were supported. It seemed to be all about the technology. Secondly, help teachers out a bit by helping them link technology and pop culture to state standards and NCLB. Teachers are very skilled and knowledgeable people, they could do this on their own, they just don’t have the time. If you want teacher to adopt what your current findings give them the tools to do it.

That being said, I do want you to understand that I do support and encourage the use of pop culture and music within the classroom. As a literacy teacher you don’t have to look too hard to find the rationale for teaching hip hop music in an elementary classroom. The steady beat, rhythm and rhyme represented in hip hop helps to illustrate the rhythms found in language. Until a child is able to intuitively understand these rhythms and rhymes within their language they will struggle with reading and writing. According to Goswami, U. in Journal of Research in Reading, 22(3), 217-240, “A rich language environment in the classroom that allows the child to reflect on phonological similarities and differences between words would contribute to the child's reading skills development.� Hip hop is an excellent tool for pointing out phonological similarities and differences between words as well as just a fun way to review material. What a great way to invite students to synthesize what they’ve learned and present to others at the end of a unit/lesson. The upbeat tempo and rhyming words help others remember and connect with the content as well as present material in a new and fun way. This approach is often modeled and used within my classroom. An approach that I plan to “steal� from this course is looking at how popular culture/music views and presents the role of the teacher. I often ask my students to reflect on their traditional view of a teacher and how that view impacts their teaching. A component that I hadn’t thought of before this class is the impact of popular culture on forming these views. Asking my students to reflect on the impact of popular culture and music on their image of a teacher could help pre-student teachers notice and name preconceived notions about teachers, teaching and learning.

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