The first category I clicked on while looking at Wikipedia's Songs by Theme page was that of Humor Songs --> Weird Al Yancovic. Immediately, I was lost in a land of nostalgia and thinking about my childhood and the songs that helped define it. Many of those songs were, in fact, written and performed by Weird Al. What a great entertainer, as annoying as he was! He took popular songs whose lyrics often made my mom raise her eyes and parodied them in a way that was so funny, I didn't mind not being allowed to listen to the original. In truth, my music wasn't too censored by my parents as they're both big music buffs and they remember what it felt like to be censored by their parents. My father's mother actually broke the Bob Dylan vinyl containing 'The Times They Are A-Changin' on it because of the lines:
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.
It almost breaks my heart to think of how my dad must have felt when she did that. Clearly it had an effect as he wasn't too keen to censor my music, though my preference (gangsta rap at that time... who knows why?) had many more swear words and offensive themes. But Weird Al offered the option to those parents who were concerned and to those parents and children who just wanted a laugh. I have a lot of fond memories from throughout my childhood in which a Weird Al song is playing in the background. Though I'm nowhere near the music buff that my parents are, nor do I have a talent for remembering lyrics or creating the ultimate play list for any occasion, it is clear to me that music has profoundly affected me over the years.
I got to thinking about my autobiographical soundtrack and what would be on it. The following songs jumped out at me during a brief but extremely enjoyable walk down memory lane:
Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus (Ugh, I know. I was 7 and I heard it on a juke box at a bar near my cabin in Wisconsin, I was having the time of my life playing pool and eating a snickers bar that my father bought me... I was vulnerable and Billy Ray took advantage. Nonetheless, I loved that song and spent all of my money playing that song on the jukebox for the rest of the two week vacation, much to the chagrin of EVERYONE else in the bar).
Dreams by Gabrielle (This is from the first CD I ever owned. I can still sing the whole song. I do so frequently when no one else is home and I'm feeling particularly bored. This was my absolute favorite song - a distinction I can no longer make as I like too many songs at the same time - until I was 12).
All Cried Out by Allure and 112 (Here I am in middle school and my favorite song is All Cried Out, how appropriate. I didn't have a particularly angsty middle school experience as this song title may suggest, nor had I ever loved and lost as the lyrics might suggest, but I did adore this song! My friend and I would sing it on the playground of our school during recess. We'd alternate who sang the female parts just to be fair).
Maria Maria by Santana (In between middle school and high school I went through a 1/9th life crisis and reinvented myself. For some reason I no longer wanted to be associated with gangsta rap or 'the hood' or anything like that, I wanted to be alternative and punky. It all seems silly to me now, but I cleaved onto Santana and learned a lot about guitar and thought about taking lessons. I settled for dating guitar players. This song is associated with my freshman year of high school in an inseparable way).
Ignition (Remix) by R Kelly (Oh, senior year of high school! All of a sudden I was back to R & B and Hip Hop, but especially dance music that was played in all 18+ clubs that I snuck into (as a 17 year old): R Kelly, Sean Paul, Beyonce, 50 Cent, etc., etc. This stage stayed with me throughout undergrad).
Summer Love by Justin Timberlake ("This just can't be summer love" - alas and alack, it most certainly was just summer love. I was so enamored with my boyfriend at the time that I thought JT was singing directly to us. Now that I am engaged to someone else, I'm pretty glad he was not).
At Last by Etta James (I know this last one might seem out of place as it is not a chart topper from the last 20 years, but it is a classic and I have the feeling that Etta is singing about me! As I make the move to Mexico and start teaching my OWN class, I can't help but think: AT LAST! Here I am! This is what I have worked for! It's the song I'll walk down the aisle to, which will unquestionably cement this song's place in my heart and on the play list of my autobiographical songs by theme website).
My point here is simple: Music is powerful! It affects everyone in a different way, but it is often something that brings us together, in good times or bad. Music needs to be a part of our classrooms because it is a part of our lives (consciously, or unconsciously as in the case in my life) and the lives of our students. I'll be teaching English as a foreign language in Mexico starting August 4th and never has my conviction to use music in the classroom been stronger. This class has convinced me that pop culture is not only a good tool for the classroom, but should be an important part of the curricula if we hope to be comprehensive, engaging teachers who connect with our students and the 'real world.'
*** While linking all of those songs, I've had a brain storm! Ask students to write their own autobiographical soundtrack! They'll need to find appropriate songs and explain why they are important to them and how they fit with that particular period of their life. It'd be a great way to get students to practice reflection and autobiographical writing. It would also be a really interesting project and students could compile mix CDs and design CD covers/booklets! They could get as fancy as they wanted, creating a presentation of some sort or using digital technology to enhace their projects. All sorts of objectives could be met with this kind of project! Aaaah, thanks CI 5150, I'm totally going to do this with my kids! ***
Friday, June 26, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
More Pop Culture in the Classroom, please!
Not surprisingly, typing "music in the classroom" into Google results in a google (haha...) hits. While it was fun to sift through all of these different cites (and ignore those that argue that pop culture is a departure from academics and only results in a watered down curricula.. ugh), here are a few that I enjoyed a lot:
I've used this one in my classes and find it extremely useful: The Week in Rap
Need to convince your administration about the positive potential for using music in the classroom? This is an exerpt from a book that is over 10 years old, but still very relevant!
Ice T - not just a gangsta rap pioneer and Law and Order SVU regular anymore!
Most students, especially those grades 6-12, are interested in only a few things. These include watching TV, playing video games, and trying to impress the opposite sex. -- True statement, read more truths.
Activities:
Class: Heritage Spanish Class (Spanish for Spanish speakers), 11th -12th grades
Unit: Poverty in Mexico, intro to/first day of final project
Context: This class is a Heritage Spanish class, which means that it is designed for Native Spanish speakers who need more support in developing their academic Spanish. Often, these are the students who entered the United States at a young age and received ESL services, but did not receive continued instruction in Spanish. Also, as Latinos, these students are at a higher risk for failing academically and thus may be reached better by alternative methods/approaches and varied materials/content such as pop-culture. Additionally, giving these students a chance to work with materials and curriculum that validates their heritage and recognizes their language as academically valuable, makes their educational experience more positive and relevant.
This is the introduction to a final project/performance assessment. At this point in the unit, students will have examined a range of current economic issues in Mexico through different texts, audio tracks and videos. Their final project will ask them to draw in some of those issues they have discussed and propose possible solutions through the medium of a song.
Objectives:
Students will be able to…
• Use academic Spanish to think critically, examine, analyze and discuss topics
• discuss themes of song and connect to unit of study (poverty in Mexico) (in academic Spanish)
• identify and analyze elements of the song such as tone, message, audience, language, poetic attributes (Academic Spanish)
• write a song/poem using concepts and ideas discussed throughout the unit to demonstrate a basic knowledge of economic issues in Mexico and possible solutions (academic or social Spanish)
• write/prepare a rationale for their song defending the issues addressed and the solutions (academic Spanish)
Materials:
• Audio of song/music video for ‘Dame el Poder’ by Molotov
• handout with copy of lyrics for students
• notebooks and writing utensils
• T chart (problems t solutions) on overhead/white/chalk board/large chart paper
Procedure:
Pre-Activities:
Explain that students will be writing a song about what they have been learning about throughout the lesson. To demonstrate what I am looking for in a product, we will be examining a song by a popular Mexican/American rock group, Molotov. Play the song for students before handing out the lyrics. Ask students to listen and give first impressions about the song, themes, tone, language, etc. Hand out lyrics and listen to song again. Ask students if reading the lyrics made a difference. Tell students that they will have time at the end of class to break into groups and get started on their songs. The songs will be compiled and made into an anthology that will be used to teach the same unit in future years (they’ll be helping me teach future students!) and each group will have to present their song (performed in some way: read, spoken word, rapped, sang, etc) and they will have to briefly explain the choices they made when writing the song. The song needs to include at least 3 references to different issues regarding economic status in Mexico and 3 possible solutions.
During - Activity:
Have students get into groups of 4 and ask them to identify the parts of the song that speak to problems within Mexican society in regards to poverty and the government and possible solutions that are suggested. They should plan to defend their choices to the class, referencing discussions, readings, materials from the unit. After a few minutes, come back to a big group and fill in a T chart with student examples from the song. Allow students to copy this T chart into their notes and use as a reference for their songs.
Remind students that a lot of decisions need to go into songwriting. Listen to the song again, ask students to identify poetic/musical attributes (rhyme, alliteration, metaphor, beat, rhythm, etc.), tone, message, language choice. Discuss this as a class. Then ask students to talk in small groups about the language use, word choice and effect of mixing English and Spanish. How do these elements slant the song? How would the song be different if it were only in English/Spanish, different words were used, no slang, etc? Come back as a whole class to discuss language choice and use. Remind students to think about these things when writing their own songs.
Post – Activity:
Put students in groups of 2 or 3 to write a song about economic issues in Mexico. They need to include 3 issues and 3 possible solutions. They have access to the notes they took, the T chart, other resources from previous classes from this unit, their peers, the dictionary and the teacher. They will also need to write a rationale discussing a. music as a public forum and b. explaining the choices they made when writing their song (why they included certain issues/suggestions and musical/poetic attributes that were used). Have students start by brainstorming what issues/solutions to include. They must get list checked/approved by end of the class period. Let students know that they will get more time in class to work on these songs and that they will be doing activities along the way to help them in the song-writing process.
Evaluation:
Participation in small and large group discussions will be noted and recorded for participation points. To receive full credit for the day, student pairs must have a list of issues/solutions (3 each, minimum) to include in their songs approved by the teacher by the end of the class period. The final product will be evaluated using a rubric (to be given to students during the next class period).
Dame El Power – Molotov
La policía te está extorsionando [dinero]
pero ellos viven de lo que tu estas pagando
y si te tratan como un delincuente,
no es tu culpa
dale gracias al regente.
Hay que arrancar el problema de raíz
y cambiar el gobierno de nuestro país.
A la gente que está en la burocracia,
a esa gente que le gustan las migajas.
Yo por eso me quejo y me quejo
porque aquí es donde vivo y yo ya no soy un pendejo,
que no watchas los puestos del gobierno
hay personas que se están enriqueciendo.
Gente que vive en la pobreza
y nadie hace nada porque a nadie le interesa.
La gente de arriba te detesta
y hay más gente que quiere que caigan sus cabezas.
Si le das más poder al poder,
más duro te van a venir a coger,
porque fuimos potencia mundial
y somos pobres nos manejan mal.
Coro:
Dame, dame, dame todo el power
para que te demos en la madre,
give me, give me todo el poder
so I can come around to joder.
Porque no nacimos donde no hay que comer,
no hay porque preguntarnos cómo le vamos a hacer?
Si nos pintan como unos huevones, no lo somos.
Viva México cabrones¡
que se sienta el power mexicano
que se sienta todos juntos como hermanos
porque somos más y jalamos más parejo,
porque estar siguiendo a una bola de pendejos?
que nos llevan por donde les conviene
y es nuestro sudor lo que los mantiene,
los mantiene comiendo el pan caliente
y ese pan es el de nuestra gente.
Coro:
Dame, dame, dame todo el power
para que te demos en la madre,
give me, give me todo el poder
so I can come around to joder.
El pueblo vencido jamás será vencido,
El pueblo vencido jamás será vencido.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Class: ANY class (my version is directed at Language classrooms)
Grade: Middle school or high school
Context: This is an extra credit or homework option. Since ipods are permanent (and sometimes unwelcome members in our classroom), let’s use them! This assignment will ask students to subscribe to a language podcast (there are MANY free podcasts offered through iTunes) and listen to it weekly. Depending on the class, the teacher can ask the students to record the topic of the podcast in a weekly journal, turn in a critical review of the podcast, write a text or prepare a piece using the topic/grammar point of the podcast as the central theme/starting point, etc. Because there are podcasts that deal with distinct grammar points (these are generally aimed at beginners) and culture (usually aimed at more advanced speakers), it shouldn’t be too difficult to find a podcast that fits your context and your learners.
Additionally, there are podcasts that highlight different examples of music from the culture. This could address both language and culture objectives. Asking the students to find their own (if they’re old enough and have regular access to computers/internet) gives the students some autonomy and control over what they learn, a very motivating factor.
Objectives:
Students will be able to…
• Explore the different digital resources available to language learners
• Choose a topic in the target language that interests them and use it weekly to expand their language/culture knowledge
• Use digital media to enhance knowledge of language/culture
• Expound on themes presented in weekly podcasts using content specific vocabulary and the target language
Materials:
• Computer with internet access and projector capabilities
• written instructions for students
• Log sheet/notebook for collecting weekly student responses
• Computer lab (to get students started)
Procedure:
Pre-activity:
Let students know that they will have a recurring weekly homework assignment. Pull up iTunes on the computer and show students how to find the educational podcasts. Explain how to subscribe to one. Explain to students what will be required of them: a weekly response to their podcast that can take the form of a critique, a reflection, an example of the grammar point, etc. Show a few examples of acceptable podcasts and explain that you can listen to different podcasts before subscribing to make sure that they fulfill all requirements.
During - Activity:
Have students search for podcasts on the computers and listen to a few. When students have questions about acceptable podcasts, address them as a full class because most students will probably have similar questions. Also, try to plan for students pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable and be explicit as to what will be accepted. Students should get their podcasts okayed by teacher before subscribing.
Post - Activity:
When they have found a podcast, ask them to compose their first response. This response will be assessed by the teacher and feedback will be given pertaining to a response that will receive full points. Students can ask the teacher or their peers for feedback and this is a time for them to get a feel for what is required of them. This is also a time for the teacher to show them what is NOT expected or acceptable.
Assessment/Evaluation:
Depending on the goals of the class, the teacher can use these responses as formal or informal assessments. They can be graded or just read and commented on. Students will be required to turn in a response weekly; the specific length and requirements are up to the teacher and should be connected to the objectives/goals of the class.
I've used this one in my classes and find it extremely useful: The Week in Rap
Need to convince your administration about the positive potential for using music in the classroom? This is an exerpt from a book that is over 10 years old, but still very relevant!
Ice T - not just a gangsta rap pioneer and Law and Order SVU regular anymore!
Most students, especially those grades 6-12, are interested in only a few things. These include watching TV, playing video games, and trying to impress the opposite sex. -- True statement, read more truths.
Activities:
Class: Heritage Spanish Class (Spanish for Spanish speakers), 11th -12th grades
Unit: Poverty in Mexico, intro to/first day of final project
Context: This class is a Heritage Spanish class, which means that it is designed for Native Spanish speakers who need more support in developing their academic Spanish. Often, these are the students who entered the United States at a young age and received ESL services, but did not receive continued instruction in Spanish. Also, as Latinos, these students are at a higher risk for failing academically and thus may be reached better by alternative methods/approaches and varied materials/content such as pop-culture. Additionally, giving these students a chance to work with materials and curriculum that validates their heritage and recognizes their language as academically valuable, makes their educational experience more positive and relevant.
This is the introduction to a final project/performance assessment. At this point in the unit, students will have examined a range of current economic issues in Mexico through different texts, audio tracks and videos. Their final project will ask them to draw in some of those issues they have discussed and propose possible solutions through the medium of a song.
Objectives:
Students will be able to…
• Use academic Spanish to think critically, examine, analyze and discuss topics
• discuss themes of song and connect to unit of study (poverty in Mexico) (in academic Spanish)
• identify and analyze elements of the song such as tone, message, audience, language, poetic attributes (Academic Spanish)
• write a song/poem using concepts and ideas discussed throughout the unit to demonstrate a basic knowledge of economic issues in Mexico and possible solutions (academic or social Spanish)
• write/prepare a rationale for their song defending the issues addressed and the solutions (academic Spanish)
Materials:
• Audio of song/music video for ‘Dame el Poder’ by Molotov
• handout with copy of lyrics for students
• notebooks and writing utensils
• T chart (problems t solutions) on overhead/white/chalk board/large chart paper
Procedure:
Pre-Activities:
Explain that students will be writing a song about what they have been learning about throughout the lesson. To demonstrate what I am looking for in a product, we will be examining a song by a popular Mexican/American rock group, Molotov. Play the song for students before handing out the lyrics. Ask students to listen and give first impressions about the song, themes, tone, language, etc. Hand out lyrics and listen to song again. Ask students if reading the lyrics made a difference. Tell students that they will have time at the end of class to break into groups and get started on their songs. The songs will be compiled and made into an anthology that will be used to teach the same unit in future years (they’ll be helping me teach future students!) and each group will have to present their song (performed in some way: read, spoken word, rapped, sang, etc) and they will have to briefly explain the choices they made when writing the song. The song needs to include at least 3 references to different issues regarding economic status in Mexico and 3 possible solutions.
During - Activity:
Have students get into groups of 4 and ask them to identify the parts of the song that speak to problems within Mexican society in regards to poverty and the government and possible solutions that are suggested. They should plan to defend their choices to the class, referencing discussions, readings, materials from the unit. After a few minutes, come back to a big group and fill in a T chart with student examples from the song. Allow students to copy this T chart into their notes and use as a reference for their songs.
Remind students that a lot of decisions need to go into songwriting. Listen to the song again, ask students to identify poetic/musical attributes (rhyme, alliteration, metaphor, beat, rhythm, etc.), tone, message, language choice. Discuss this as a class. Then ask students to talk in small groups about the language use, word choice and effect of mixing English and Spanish. How do these elements slant the song? How would the song be different if it were only in English/Spanish, different words were used, no slang, etc? Come back as a whole class to discuss language choice and use. Remind students to think about these things when writing their own songs.
Post – Activity:
Put students in groups of 2 or 3 to write a song about economic issues in Mexico. They need to include 3 issues and 3 possible solutions. They have access to the notes they took, the T chart, other resources from previous classes from this unit, their peers, the dictionary and the teacher. They will also need to write a rationale discussing a. music as a public forum and b. explaining the choices they made when writing their song (why they included certain issues/suggestions and musical/poetic attributes that were used). Have students start by brainstorming what issues/solutions to include. They must get list checked/approved by end of the class period. Let students know that they will get more time in class to work on these songs and that they will be doing activities along the way to help them in the song-writing process.
Evaluation:
Participation in small and large group discussions will be noted and recorded for participation points. To receive full credit for the day, student pairs must have a list of issues/solutions (3 each, minimum) to include in their songs approved by the teacher by the end of the class period. The final product will be evaluated using a rubric (to be given to students during the next class period).
Dame El Power – Molotov
La policía te está extorsionando [dinero]
pero ellos viven de lo que tu estas pagando
y si te tratan como un delincuente,
no es tu culpa
dale gracias al regente.
Hay que arrancar el problema de raíz
y cambiar el gobierno de nuestro país.
A la gente que está en la burocracia,
a esa gente que le gustan las migajas.
Yo por eso me quejo y me quejo
porque aquí es donde vivo y yo ya no soy un pendejo,
que no watchas los puestos del gobierno
hay personas que se están enriqueciendo.
Gente que vive en la pobreza
y nadie hace nada porque a nadie le interesa.
La gente de arriba te detesta
y hay más gente que quiere que caigan sus cabezas.
Si le das más poder al poder,
más duro te van a venir a coger,
porque fuimos potencia mundial
y somos pobres nos manejan mal.
Coro:
Dame, dame, dame todo el power
para que te demos en la madre,
give me, give me todo el poder
so I can come around to joder.
Porque no nacimos donde no hay que comer,
no hay porque preguntarnos cómo le vamos a hacer?
Si nos pintan como unos huevones, no lo somos.
Viva México cabrones¡
que se sienta el power mexicano
que se sienta todos juntos como hermanos
porque somos más y jalamos más parejo,
porque estar siguiendo a una bola de pendejos?
que nos llevan por donde les conviene
y es nuestro sudor lo que los mantiene,
los mantiene comiendo el pan caliente
y ese pan es el de nuestra gente.
Coro:
Dame, dame, dame todo el power
para que te demos en la madre,
give me, give me todo el poder
so I can come around to joder.
El pueblo vencido jamás será vencido,
El pueblo vencido jamás será vencido.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Class: ANY class (my version is directed at Language classrooms)
Grade: Middle school or high school
Context: This is an extra credit or homework option. Since ipods are permanent (and sometimes unwelcome members in our classroom), let’s use them! This assignment will ask students to subscribe to a language podcast (there are MANY free podcasts offered through iTunes) and listen to it weekly. Depending on the class, the teacher can ask the students to record the topic of the podcast in a weekly journal, turn in a critical review of the podcast, write a text or prepare a piece using the topic/grammar point of the podcast as the central theme/starting point, etc. Because there are podcasts that deal with distinct grammar points (these are generally aimed at beginners) and culture (usually aimed at more advanced speakers), it shouldn’t be too difficult to find a podcast that fits your context and your learners.
Additionally, there are podcasts that highlight different examples of music from the culture. This could address both language and culture objectives. Asking the students to find their own (if they’re old enough and have regular access to computers/internet) gives the students some autonomy and control over what they learn, a very motivating factor.Objectives:
Students will be able to…
• Explore the different digital resources available to language learners
• Choose a topic in the target language that interests them and use it weekly to expand their language/culture knowledge
• Use digital media to enhance knowledge of language/culture
• Expound on themes presented in weekly podcasts using content specific vocabulary and the target language
Materials:
• Computer with internet access and projector capabilities
• written instructions for students
• Log sheet/notebook for collecting weekly student responses
• Computer lab (to get students started)
Procedure:
Pre-activity:
Let students know that they will have a recurring weekly homework assignment. Pull up iTunes on the computer and show students how to find the educational podcasts. Explain how to subscribe to one. Explain to students what will be required of them: a weekly response to their podcast that can take the form of a critique, a reflection, an example of the grammar point, etc. Show a few examples of acceptable podcasts and explain that you can listen to different podcasts before subscribing to make sure that they fulfill all requirements.
During - Activity:
Have students search for podcasts on the computers and listen to a few. When students have questions about acceptable podcasts, address them as a full class because most students will probably have similar questions. Also, try to plan for students pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable and be explicit as to what will be accepted. Students should get their podcasts okayed by teacher before subscribing.
Post - Activity:
When they have found a podcast, ask them to compose their first response. This response will be assessed by the teacher and feedback will be given pertaining to a response that will receive full points. Students can ask the teacher or their peers for feedback and this is a time for them to get a feel for what is required of them. This is also a time for the teacher to show them what is NOT expected or acceptable.
Assessment/Evaluation:
Depending on the goals of the class, the teacher can use these responses as formal or informal assessments. They can be graded or just read and commented on. Students will be required to turn in a response weekly; the specific length and requirements are up to the teacher and should be connected to the objectives/goals of the class.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
The REAL question: why NOT use pop culture?
Rationale:
Why use pop culture in the classroom? The question is: why not use pop culture in the classroom? Popular culture is everywhere unavoidable these days and from the moment our students wake up in the morning to the moment they go to sleep at night, they are inundated with mass produced images and sounds. I once read that the average American (United States-ian) is exposed to 13,000 advertisements a day. Marketing and advertising analysts are paid mega bucks to discover and produce images and texts that are going to impress, hook, imprint, and capture the minds of the population. Why not use the same techniques and the same materials in the classroom?
As teachers, we are told that we need to connect with our students and help them to connect to our subject matter. I would like to take that one step further and urge teachers to help their students connect the subject matter of the classrooms to their daily lives. In this way, the education they receive in a classroom is not isolated, but rather authentic and useful. I think it is when this does not occur that many students are lost within the system and withdraw from educational pursuits. They see no purpose to the 6 hours a day of compulsory education and thus look at it as something to be weathered, a test of endurance rather than a test of intelligence. As Cameron White states “popular media can provide the common connections and voice for our often disconnected youth…” (White, 2005) and this is one of the many reasons that we should ask not why but why not use pop culture in our classrooms?
I chose to create two activities for very different classroom contexts to show the versatility of pop culture and prove that it can be integrated into any context. The first is designed for a Spanish class at the high school level. Pop culture was not the focal point of the lesson and though we could look into historical and social aspects of the songs used, we’re not. We’re looking at the language of the song. The music used in this lesson is there to engage students and to motivate them to participate in class. That might sound like a weak argument for using a pop song in the classroom, but those who have tried to teach a non-essential foreign language (non-essential in this country refers to every language except for English as a Second Language, which is, in fact, essential to survival) in a public high school will tell you that motivating students to participate and to engage is an uphill battle. I chose to do a very language centered lesson because there are a lot of people who believe a language classroom should focus more on explicit language instruction and not cultural, social or historical aspects of the target population and I wanted to show that even in these (limited) classrooms, pop culture is an asset and not a distraction.
The second lesson is from a very different context, one that regular education classroom teachers might not be too familiar with: a sheltered physical science class. That is, a class that has the same content as a regular education physical science class, but has added language components and is designed for students who still need help with mastering academic English. Such classes are often team taught by a content area teacher and an ESL teacher. For the design of this lesson, I noted what would be done by each teacher, but only developed those parts pertaining specifically to the language component of the class.
Pop culture is a great asset to these kinds of classrooms because not only will it motivate students, but it will also give them another cultural reference or nugget of information that will help them to understand the context within which they are now studying and living. This specific activity is the introductory lesson to a unit on environmentalism. The songs deal with environmentalist themes and ideas and use content specific vocabulary that will help students in their future studies with this topic. They also use contractions, which is the language specific focus of the lesson. The songs’ purpose is to interest/engage students, introduce the topic and some vocabulary from the upcoming course of study, and to highlight and demonstrate the use of a certain feature of the English language. Furthermore, the fact that hit songs deal with environmentalism and address the issue in a very public forum proves that this topic and the subsequent knowledge gained has value outside of the classroom and is relevant to the students’ ‘real lives.’ When working with a wide variety of students, especially those students who are learning English at the same time as they are learning the subject matter, it is important to highlight and create these connections, which “allow kids to develop the scaffolding needed to construct knowledge” (White, 2005).
In sum, I think the more pertinent question to ask ourselves as educators is ‘why not use pop culture in the classroom?’ Pop culture is everywhere and affects our students on a daily basis. To our students, pop culture is real life whereas academia represents a mysterious area, not to be entered or understood except by a select few. To not bring this resource into the classroom and to not utilize the same tactics used by advertisers to reach our students is to do them a disservice. As language teachers we are taught to use content-based instruction, instruction of a language through a content matter. Language placed within a context means more to our students and I see no reason why that should not be true for all content areas. And after all, what better context for teaching and reaching our students than ‘real life?’
Lessons/Activities:
Grade/Level: 9-12/ Level 3
Language: Spanish
Objectives:
Students will be able to…
• listen to a song in Spanish for comprehension
• notice the different verb endings and co-create a rule for how to form these endings (present simple subjunctive)
• recognize some situations that require the use of the subjunctive mood
• talk about a song in Spanish (theme, vocabulary, tenses, etc.)
Context:
This lesson is designed for 3rd year Spanish classes at the high school level. Students will have learned about the simple tenses (present, pasts, some introduction to the future) in the indicative mood and are about to start a unit on the subjunctive mood. Most students who are in these classes will find themselves at the low-intermediate level of the ACTFL guidelines for all 4 modalities. Generally, students at this level need a lot of listening comprehension and practice at producing the language.
Lesson Materials:
• Hand outs of the cloze activity for the 2 songs
• notebooks, writing utensil
• computer with projector (or overhead projector, at the very least)
Procedure:
Pre-Activities:
As students walk into the class, La Paga by Juanes featuring the Black Eyed Peas is playing. Let them listen to the song in full before shutting it off. Ask if anyone has heard the song or knows about the artist. Do a mini introduction to Juanes, speaking about the fact tht he’s from Columbia, uses a different form of the 2nd person singular (vos rather than tú). Tell the students that we’ll be listening to another song by Juanes a couple of times that day. Show music video of ‘A Dios le Pido’ before handing out cloze activities. Ask students to listen for comprehension of the theme/what the song is about, not to worry about individual vocabulary words. Remind students to use the video for clues to the meaning of the song.
During Activities:
After having watched the videos, ask students for initial thoughts about the meaning of the song, theme, what words did they hear repeated, what did they notice, etc. Answer any questions regarding vocabulary. Pass out cloze activity. Tell students to listen carefully to the words and ask to them to write exactly what they hear (if they can). Play the audio of the song (no need to distract anyone with the video) and have students fill in blanks (all verbs in present subjunctive will need to be filled in). Go through lyrics, using destiny sticks to call on students and ask them to fill in the different verbs throughout the song. At the end, show students the correct answers and have them mark them on their papers. Ask them if they notice anything odd about the spellings of the conjugations. If nobody notices, put the indicative mood spellings on the board next to the subjunctive. Co-construct rule with students about the formation of the present subjunctive using verbs from song as clues. Students should be taking notes in their Spanish notebooks and recording the new rule. Let students know that subjunctive is another mood that has present and past tenses and that it is used frequently. List some of the situations that require subjunctive (hopes/dreams, emotional reactions, uncertainty, possibility, etc.) and let them know which one you’ll be focusing on first: influencing others. Give brief explanation of these situations, to be expanded on in further lessons.
Post Activities:
Revisit the rule that the class constructed. Check to see if the rule works by listening to another popular song: Dimelo by Voices of Theory. Hand out cloze activity with lyrics for students to fill in. Listen to the song. Review answers and check against rule. Remind students that subjunctive will start to show up a lot and that now that they know what to look for, they’ll notice it everywhere. Challenge the class to find examples of the present subjunctive to bring to class the following day. Give out websites that might be useful and interesting for students (http://www.peopleenespanol.com/pespanol/, http://univision.com/portal.jhtml, http://online.wsj.com/public/page/2_1362.html).
Assessment:
With the help of ‘destiny sticks’ students will be called on throughout class to ensure participation and engagement in the lesson. The students will turn in the worksheet for participation points, but it will be returned to them the following class to be used as a reference tool.
A Dios Le Pido – Juanes
Que mis ojos se ___________ con la luz de tu mirada,
yo a Dios le pido
que mi madre no se ___________ y que mi padre me ___________,
a Dios le pido
que te ___________ a mi lado y que más nunca te me ___________ mi vida,
a Dios le pido
que mi alma no ___________ cuando de amarte se ___________ mi cielo
a Dios le pido
por los días que me quedan y las noches que aún no llegan
yo a Dios le pido
por los hijos de mis hijos y los hijos de tus hijos
a Dios le pido
que mi pueblo no ___________ tanta sangre y se ___________ mi gente
a Dios le pido
que mi alma no ___________ cuando de amarte se ___________ mi cielo
a Dios le pido
Un segundo más de vida para darte y mi corazón entero entregarte
un segundo más de vida para darte y a tu lado para siempre yo quedarme
Un segundo más de vida yo
a Dios le pido
Y que si me muero ___________ de amor y si me enamoro ___________ de vos y ___________ tu voz ___________ este corazón todos los días
a Dios le pido
y que si me muero sea de amor y si me enamoro sea de vos y que de tu voz sea este corazón todos los días
a Dios le pido,
a Dios le pido...
Dimelo – Voices of Theory
He dado demasiado
Lo que he podido dar
Si las aguas se enfurecen
Cojeras miedo a nadar?
Con temor de acercarte
Puede ser anticipado
Puede ser tan demasiado
Para que ___________ analizarte
Quiero saber si puedo estar en tu mundo
Quiero saber si lo que sientes es profundo no
Yo quiero que tu me ___________
Necesito que me lo ___________
Yo quiero que tu me ___________
Mi amor seguirá creciendo mas
Yo quiero que tu me ___________
Necesito que me lo ___________
Yo quiero que tu me ___________
Mi amor seguirá creciendo mas y mas
Te he dado todo de mi
No hay otro lugar para ser feliz
Y yo se que con el tiempo
Creerás siempre en mi
Entonces por favor dame tu mano
Intercambiaremos nuestros lazos
Porque quiero que ___________ en mi vida
Quiero que siempre ___________ mía
Quiero saber si puedo estar en tu mundo
Quiero saber si lo que sientes es profundo no
Yo quiero que tu me ___________
Necesito que me lo ___________
Yo quiero que tu me ___________
Mi amor seguirá creciendo mas
Mi amor
Eres tan especial
Te quiero dar todo de mi
Queriéndote mas y mas
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Class/Grade(s): Sheltered Physical Science, Unit on Environmentalism, 9-10
Language: English (ESL)
Objectives:
Students will be able to…
• Listen to and understand (generally) the song
• Identify one or more messages/meanings of the song
• Talk about the song in English
• Understand and use content specific vocabulary (Environmentalism, music)
• Identify contractions and contracted words
• Recognize and understand contractions and when they are used
• Contract words to make a text more like spoken English
Context:
This is a content-based lesson designed for a sheltered physical science class at the high school level. It is designed for students who have the pre-requisite science knowledge, but still may need a little help with the English language. This is a lesson that will introduce the topic of environmentalism through songs and will also specifically look at contractions. As an ESL teacher, I would be collaborating with a science teacher for this lesson and they would be developing the science content of the lesson, while I’ll focus on the language-learning components.
Lesson Materials:
• Science book, packets, etc (from science teacher)
• Notebook, writing utensil
• Audio of ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ by Joni Mitchell and ‘Don’t Go Near the Water’ by the Beach Boys
• Handouts of lyrics for each song (one for in-class activities, one for homework)
• chalkboard/whiteboard/computer with projector capabilities/overhead projector
Procedure:
Pre-Activities:
Let students know that they will be starting a new topic of study today. Play Joni Mitchell song and ask students to listen to song and try to find its meaning/message. Discuss vocabulary and listen to the song again.
During Activities:
Prompt students to notice environmentalist messages. Science teacher will discuss the upcoming unit and give and introduction to what the word ‘environmentalism’ means. Revisit song and pick out references to environmentalism. Switch to language component of class. Pass out lyrics to ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ and ask students to circle all words with an apostrophe (don’t, it’s, you’ve) and ask what they notice, what they think that symbol means, etc. Give an explanation of contraction and brainstorm other contracted words (you’ll, would’ve, what’s, she’s, we’re, etc.) Write out long hand and contracted versions of words and direct students toward register; which version is more conversational and which is more academic, in what contexts should each be used?
Post Activities:
Listen to ‘Don’t Go Near the Water’ and then hand out lyrics. Listen to song again. For homework, ask students to look for instances in the song in which words should be contracted. Recap the day by talking again about the environmentalist message in this song (explicitly stated by the Beach Boys / Do Not go near the water/To do it any wrong/To be cool with the water/Is the message of this song/).
Assessment:
The teacher will assess participation in the class informally. Homework will be collected the following class and correct identification of the un-contracted → contracted words will be noted and used to gauge comprehension/uptake of the concept and for planning future lessons.
Big Yellow Taxi – Joni Mitchell
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
They took all the trees
Put ‘em in a tree museum
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half just to see ‘em
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
Hey farmer farmer
Put away that d.d.t. now
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
Please!
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
Late last night
I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi
Took away my old man
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
Don’t Go Near the Water – Beach Boys (Un-contracted version)
Do Not go near the water
Do Not you think it is sad
What has happened to the water
Our water is going bad
Oceans, rivers, lakes and streams
Have all been touched by man
The poison floating out to sea
Now threatens life on land
Do Not go near the water
Ain't it sad
What has happened to the water
It is going bad
Do Not go near the water
Do Not go near the water
Hey, hey
Toothpaste and soap will make our oceans a bubble bath
(Ah-um dirty water, ah-um dirty water)
So let us avoid an ecological aftermath
(Ah-um dirty water, ah-um dirty water)
Beginning with me
(Ah-um dirty water, ah-um dirty water)
beginning with you
Do Not go near the water
To do it any wrong
To be cool with the water
Is the message of this song
Let us all help the water
Right away
Do what we can and ought to
Let us start today
Why use pop culture in the classroom? The question is: why not use pop culture in the classroom? Popular culture is everywhere unavoidable these days and from the moment our students wake up in the morning to the moment they go to sleep at night, they are inundated with mass produced images and sounds. I once read that the average American (United States-ian) is exposed to 13,000 advertisements a day. Marketing and advertising analysts are paid mega bucks to discover and produce images and texts that are going to impress, hook, imprint, and capture the minds of the population. Why not use the same techniques and the same materials in the classroom?
As teachers, we are told that we need to connect with our students and help them to connect to our subject matter. I would like to take that one step further and urge teachers to help their students connect the subject matter of the classrooms to their daily lives. In this way, the education they receive in a classroom is not isolated, but rather authentic and useful. I think it is when this does not occur that many students are lost within the system and withdraw from educational pursuits. They see no purpose to the 6 hours a day of compulsory education and thus look at it as something to be weathered, a test of endurance rather than a test of intelligence. As Cameron White states “popular media can provide the common connections and voice for our often disconnected youth…” (White, 2005) and this is one of the many reasons that we should ask not why but why not use pop culture in our classrooms?
I chose to create two activities for very different classroom contexts to show the versatility of pop culture and prove that it can be integrated into any context. The first is designed for a Spanish class at the high school level. Pop culture was not the focal point of the lesson and though we could look into historical and social aspects of the songs used, we’re not. We’re looking at the language of the song. The music used in this lesson is there to engage students and to motivate them to participate in class. That might sound like a weak argument for using a pop song in the classroom, but those who have tried to teach a non-essential foreign language (non-essential in this country refers to every language except for English as a Second Language, which is, in fact, essential to survival) in a public high school will tell you that motivating students to participate and to engage is an uphill battle. I chose to do a very language centered lesson because there are a lot of people who believe a language classroom should focus more on explicit language instruction and not cultural, social or historical aspects of the target population and I wanted to show that even in these (limited) classrooms, pop culture is an asset and not a distraction.
The second lesson is from a very different context, one that regular education classroom teachers might not be too familiar with: a sheltered physical science class. That is, a class that has the same content as a regular education physical science class, but has added language components and is designed for students who still need help with mastering academic English. Such classes are often team taught by a content area teacher and an ESL teacher. For the design of this lesson, I noted what would be done by each teacher, but only developed those parts pertaining specifically to the language component of the class.
Pop culture is a great asset to these kinds of classrooms because not only will it motivate students, but it will also give them another cultural reference or nugget of information that will help them to understand the context within which they are now studying and living. This specific activity is the introductory lesson to a unit on environmentalism. The songs deal with environmentalist themes and ideas and use content specific vocabulary that will help students in their future studies with this topic. They also use contractions, which is the language specific focus of the lesson. The songs’ purpose is to interest/engage students, introduce the topic and some vocabulary from the upcoming course of study, and to highlight and demonstrate the use of a certain feature of the English language. Furthermore, the fact that hit songs deal with environmentalism and address the issue in a very public forum proves that this topic and the subsequent knowledge gained has value outside of the classroom and is relevant to the students’ ‘real lives.’ When working with a wide variety of students, especially those students who are learning English at the same time as they are learning the subject matter, it is important to highlight and create these connections, which “allow kids to develop the scaffolding needed to construct knowledge” (White, 2005).
In sum, I think the more pertinent question to ask ourselves as educators is ‘why not use pop culture in the classroom?’ Pop culture is everywhere and affects our students on a daily basis. To our students, pop culture is real life whereas academia represents a mysterious area, not to be entered or understood except by a select few. To not bring this resource into the classroom and to not utilize the same tactics used by advertisers to reach our students is to do them a disservice. As language teachers we are taught to use content-based instruction, instruction of a language through a content matter. Language placed within a context means more to our students and I see no reason why that should not be true for all content areas. And after all, what better context for teaching and reaching our students than ‘real life?’
Lessons/Activities:
Grade/Level: 9-12/ Level 3
Language: Spanish
Objectives:
Students will be able to…
• listen to a song in Spanish for comprehension
• notice the different verb endings and co-create a rule for how to form these endings (present simple subjunctive)
• recognize some situations that require the use of the subjunctive mood
• talk about a song in Spanish (theme, vocabulary, tenses, etc.)
Context:
This lesson is designed for 3rd year Spanish classes at the high school level. Students will have learned about the simple tenses (present, pasts, some introduction to the future) in the indicative mood and are about to start a unit on the subjunctive mood. Most students who are in these classes will find themselves at the low-intermediate level of the ACTFL guidelines for all 4 modalities. Generally, students at this level need a lot of listening comprehension and practice at producing the language.
Lesson Materials:
• Hand outs of the cloze activity for the 2 songs
• notebooks, writing utensil
• computer with projector (or overhead projector, at the very least)
Procedure:
Pre-Activities:
As students walk into the class, La Paga by Juanes featuring the Black Eyed Peas is playing. Let them listen to the song in full before shutting it off. Ask if anyone has heard the song or knows about the artist. Do a mini introduction to Juanes, speaking about the fact tht he’s from Columbia, uses a different form of the 2nd person singular (vos rather than tú). Tell the students that we’ll be listening to another song by Juanes a couple of times that day. Show music video of ‘A Dios le Pido’ before handing out cloze activities. Ask students to listen for comprehension of the theme/what the song is about, not to worry about individual vocabulary words. Remind students to use the video for clues to the meaning of the song.
During Activities:
After having watched the videos, ask students for initial thoughts about the meaning of the song, theme, what words did they hear repeated, what did they notice, etc. Answer any questions regarding vocabulary. Pass out cloze activity. Tell students to listen carefully to the words and ask to them to write exactly what they hear (if they can). Play the audio of the song (no need to distract anyone with the video) and have students fill in blanks (all verbs in present subjunctive will need to be filled in). Go through lyrics, using destiny sticks to call on students and ask them to fill in the different verbs throughout the song. At the end, show students the correct answers and have them mark them on their papers. Ask them if they notice anything odd about the spellings of the conjugations. If nobody notices, put the indicative mood spellings on the board next to the subjunctive. Co-construct rule with students about the formation of the present subjunctive using verbs from song as clues. Students should be taking notes in their Spanish notebooks and recording the new rule. Let students know that subjunctive is another mood that has present and past tenses and that it is used frequently. List some of the situations that require subjunctive (hopes/dreams, emotional reactions, uncertainty, possibility, etc.) and let them know which one you’ll be focusing on first: influencing others. Give brief explanation of these situations, to be expanded on in further lessons.
Post Activities:
Revisit the rule that the class constructed. Check to see if the rule works by listening to another popular song: Dimelo by Voices of Theory. Hand out cloze activity with lyrics for students to fill in. Listen to the song. Review answers and check against rule. Remind students that subjunctive will start to show up a lot and that now that they know what to look for, they’ll notice it everywhere. Challenge the class to find examples of the present subjunctive to bring to class the following day. Give out websites that might be useful and interesting for students (http://www.peopleenespanol.com/pespanol/, http://univision.com/portal.jhtml, http://online.wsj.com/public/page/2_1362.html).
Assessment:
With the help of ‘destiny sticks’ students will be called on throughout class to ensure participation and engagement in the lesson. The students will turn in the worksheet for participation points, but it will be returned to them the following class to be used as a reference tool.
A Dios Le Pido – Juanes
Que mis ojos se ___________ con la luz de tu mirada,
yo a Dios le pido
que mi madre no se ___________ y que mi padre me ___________,
a Dios le pido
que te ___________ a mi lado y que más nunca te me ___________ mi vida,
a Dios le pido
que mi alma no ___________ cuando de amarte se ___________ mi cielo
a Dios le pido
por los días que me quedan y las noches que aún no llegan
yo a Dios le pido
por los hijos de mis hijos y los hijos de tus hijos
a Dios le pido
que mi pueblo no ___________ tanta sangre y se ___________ mi gente
a Dios le pido
que mi alma no ___________ cuando de amarte se ___________ mi cielo
a Dios le pido
Un segundo más de vida para darte y mi corazón entero entregarte
un segundo más de vida para darte y a tu lado para siempre yo quedarme
Un segundo más de vida yo
a Dios le pido
Y que si me muero ___________ de amor y si me enamoro ___________ de vos y ___________ tu voz ___________ este corazón todos los días
a Dios le pido
y que si me muero sea de amor y si me enamoro sea de vos y que de tu voz sea este corazón todos los días
a Dios le pido,
a Dios le pido...
Dimelo – Voices of Theory
He dado demasiado
Lo que he podido dar
Si las aguas se enfurecen
Cojeras miedo a nadar?
Con temor de acercarte
Puede ser anticipado
Puede ser tan demasiado
Para que ___________ analizarte
Quiero saber si puedo estar en tu mundo
Quiero saber si lo que sientes es profundo no
Yo quiero que tu me ___________
Necesito que me lo ___________
Yo quiero que tu me ___________
Mi amor seguirá creciendo mas
Yo quiero que tu me ___________
Necesito que me lo ___________
Yo quiero que tu me ___________
Mi amor seguirá creciendo mas y mas
Te he dado todo de mi
No hay otro lugar para ser feliz
Y yo se que con el tiempo
Creerás siempre en mi
Entonces por favor dame tu mano
Intercambiaremos nuestros lazos
Porque quiero que ___________ en mi vida
Quiero que siempre ___________ mía
Quiero saber si puedo estar en tu mundo
Quiero saber si lo que sientes es profundo no
Yo quiero que tu me ___________
Necesito que me lo ___________
Yo quiero que tu me ___________
Mi amor seguirá creciendo mas
Mi amor
Eres tan especial
Te quiero dar todo de mi
Queriéndote mas y mas
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Class/Grade(s): Sheltered Physical Science, Unit on Environmentalism, 9-10
Language: English (ESL)
Objectives:
Students will be able to…
• Listen to and understand (generally) the song
• Identify one or more messages/meanings of the song
• Talk about the song in English
• Understand and use content specific vocabulary (Environmentalism, music)
• Identify contractions and contracted words
• Recognize and understand contractions and when they are used
• Contract words to make a text more like spoken English
Context:
This is a content-based lesson designed for a sheltered physical science class at the high school level. It is designed for students who have the pre-requisite science knowledge, but still may need a little help with the English language. This is a lesson that will introduce the topic of environmentalism through songs and will also specifically look at contractions. As an ESL teacher, I would be collaborating with a science teacher for this lesson and they would be developing the science content of the lesson, while I’ll focus on the language-learning components.
Lesson Materials:
• Science book, packets, etc (from science teacher)
• Notebook, writing utensil
• Audio of ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ by Joni Mitchell and ‘Don’t Go Near the Water’ by the Beach Boys
• Handouts of lyrics for each song (one for in-class activities, one for homework)
• chalkboard/whiteboard/computer with projector capabilities/overhead projector
Procedure:
Pre-Activities:
Let students know that they will be starting a new topic of study today. Play Joni Mitchell song and ask students to listen to song and try to find its meaning/message. Discuss vocabulary and listen to the song again.
During Activities:
Prompt students to notice environmentalist messages. Science teacher will discuss the upcoming unit and give and introduction to what the word ‘environmentalism’ means. Revisit song and pick out references to environmentalism. Switch to language component of class. Pass out lyrics to ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ and ask students to circle all words with an apostrophe (don’t, it’s, you’ve) and ask what they notice, what they think that symbol means, etc. Give an explanation of contraction and brainstorm other contracted words (you’ll, would’ve, what’s, she’s, we’re, etc.) Write out long hand and contracted versions of words and direct students toward register; which version is more conversational and which is more academic, in what contexts should each be used?
Post Activities:
Listen to ‘Don’t Go Near the Water’ and then hand out lyrics. Listen to song again. For homework, ask students to look for instances in the song in which words should be contracted. Recap the day by talking again about the environmentalist message in this song (explicitly stated by the Beach Boys / Do Not go near the water/To do it any wrong/To be cool with the water/Is the message of this song/).
Assessment:
The teacher will assess participation in the class informally. Homework will be collected the following class and correct identification of the un-contracted → contracted words will be noted and used to gauge comprehension/uptake of the concept and for planning future lessons.
Big Yellow Taxi – Joni Mitchell
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
They took all the trees
Put ‘em in a tree museum
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half just to see ‘em
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
Hey farmer farmer
Put away that d.d.t. now
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
Please!
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
Late last night
I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi
Took away my old man
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
Don’t Go Near the Water – Beach Boys (Un-contracted version)
Do Not go near the water
Do Not you think it is sad
What has happened to the water
Our water is going bad
Oceans, rivers, lakes and streams
Have all been touched by man
The poison floating out to sea
Now threatens life on land
Do Not go near the water
Ain't it sad
What has happened to the water
It is going bad
Do Not go near the water
Do Not go near the water
Hey, hey
Toothpaste and soap will make our oceans a bubble bath
(Ah-um dirty water, ah-um dirty water)
So let us avoid an ecological aftermath
(Ah-um dirty water, ah-um dirty water)
Beginning with me
(Ah-um dirty water, ah-um dirty water)
beginning with you
Do Not go near the water
To do it any wrong
To be cool with the water
Is the message of this song
Let us all help the water
Right away
Do what we can and ought to
Let us start today
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Holy Dense Chapter, Batman!
Ok, I apologize for the overly clichéd post title, but it does relate to pop culture and that was a really dense chapter! There were several things that resonated with me as I was reading, but I had a hard time relating them to my experience with pop music or education.
Chapter 7: Politics
This first thing that surprised me was the use of Imagine by the Conservative Party in London when welcoming Margaret Thatcher! Throughout the chapter Negus speaks to the idea that “songs and music accumulate and connect with new meanings and beliefs as they pass through time and travel to different places” (195), which is an idea that I can understand and even agree with, to an extent, but it seems so wrong to me that Lennon’s Imagine would be used in such a context. I would have liked to know of other circumstances of music/songs being used in such odd consequences. That got me thinking about music as it was tied to our last election and I can’t say that there were songs that were tied to either candidate, per say, but their were musicians. Toby Keith has been a long-standing supporter of conservative candidates, while Bruce Springsteen shows his support for the other side, Big and Rich of the country duo Big and Rich were separated by party lines (though I can't remember who aligned with Asses or the Elephants). I was trying to imagine a scenario in which Toby Keith’s Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue would be used in conjunction with a liberal candidate and I just can’t (for the record, I DESPISE that song, bias or none, I think it's a dangerous song). I think it would be interesting to bring up in a classroom the fact that Imagine was used in such different contexts and analyze the song to look at why and how this was possible, though I’m not exactly sure how I would go about starting that discussion or how I would frame it.
The discussion about Nazi Germany and its attempt to quell certain cultural forms, including jazz music migrating from the US was interesting, but not surprising for me. As Negus states, even for Plato, music had “the potential to unsettle the most stable of social relationships and political structures” (200). It’s not odd that Hitler and his third Reich had some of the same misgivings. Obviously there were a lot of other things involved in the Nazi government’s censorship of certain types of music, music producers/distributers, artists, etc, but what really drives home the point that music has the potential power to incite nations and cause commotion is the fact that the Nazis approved a certain type of music to be played at rallies and over the radio. Hitler wanted music that was “emotionally rousing,” while his minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels wanted to promote music as away of “elevating and cultivating the minds of listeners” (206). One thing was clear, however, music was an important factor in controlling/motivating the public. I can see a great History class discussion of Hitler, the Nazis and the propaganda machine stemming from a discussion of musical and cultural censorship. As did Negus, the discussion could lead to the examination of the notion of ‘nationalism’ and how it played a role in fascism in Europe prior to and during WWII. Also, a teacher could start with a quote from Plato about the power of music to topple political structures and ask students to bring in examples of songs to discuss what makes music so popular. Here I see a lot of potential for educational opportunities directly tied to pop culture!
Negus claims that music’s ability to function as a medium that conveys meaning and values is often neglected (221), but I’m not sure I agree. Maybe that has been the case in the past, but I think that now more than ever there has been a surge of music with very clear and direct messages. That is not to say that everybody listening to Green Day’s American Idiot is picking up on the scorn and sarcasm with which Americans are being portrayed; yet the meaning is there for those who are truly listening. Not every person is going to get the message, not every person wants to get the message, but I wouldn’t say that the fact that music can be a medium for values is being neglected. If it were being neglected, why are so many parents disallowing their children to buy records with “parental guidance” labels? Why are certain people (myself included) avoiding Keith Urban like the plague? Why then would their be such a market for political music such as that used by the Irish when fighting the English? Why would Hitler and his Third Reich move to eliminate certain genres of music from their territories? Music is seen a commodity, without a doubt, however I music’s message and transmission of ideas and values is not forgotten nor can it be ignored, if you don’t believe me, just ask Plato.
What I think is so great about music and why music is such a rich resource for the classroom is encompassed in this quote by Negus: “… musical practices continually refuse and move across the attempts to lock them into neat national boxes and political boundaries” (223). For me as a language teacher, music is one of the easiest and best ways to get my students excited about learning the language and culture of the target community and offers a unique view into another ethnic group/race/social cluster/people//nation/lifestyle, one that can incorporate history, politics and social issues and set it to a 4-minute cumbia beat!
*** My current (ok, it’s a couple years old now) favorite political cd is The Revolution Starts Now by Steve Earl. Favorite tracks: Rich Man’s War, Condi Condi, F the CC and The Revolution Starts Now ***
The Revolution Starts Now – Steve Earl
I was walkin' down the street
In the town where I was born
I was movin' to a beat
That I'd never felt before
So I opened up my eyes
And I took a look around
I saw it written 'cross the sky
The revolution starts now
Yeah, the revolution starts now
The revolution starts now
When you rise above your fear
And tear the walls around you down
The revolution starts here
Where you work and where you play
Where you lay your money down
What you do and what you say
The revolution starts now
Yeah the revolution starts now
Yeah the revolution starts now
In your own backyard
In your own hometown
So what you doin' standin' around?
Just follow your heart
The revolution starts now
Last night I had a dream
That the world had turned around
And all our hopes had come to be
And the people gathered 'round
They all brought what they could bring
And nobody went without
And I learned a song to sing
The revolution starts now
Chapter 7: Politics
This first thing that surprised me was the use of Imagine by the Conservative Party in London when welcoming Margaret Thatcher! Throughout the chapter Negus speaks to the idea that “songs and music accumulate and connect with new meanings and beliefs as they pass through time and travel to different places” (195), which is an idea that I can understand and even agree with, to an extent, but it seems so wrong to me that Lennon’s Imagine would be used in such a context. I would have liked to know of other circumstances of music/songs being used in such odd consequences. That got me thinking about music as it was tied to our last election and I can’t say that there were songs that were tied to either candidate, per say, but their were musicians. Toby Keith has been a long-standing supporter of conservative candidates, while Bruce Springsteen shows his support for the other side, Big and Rich of the country duo Big and Rich were separated by party lines (though I can't remember who aligned with Asses or the Elephants). I was trying to imagine a scenario in which Toby Keith’s Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue would be used in conjunction with a liberal candidate and I just can’t (for the record, I DESPISE that song, bias or none, I think it's a dangerous song). I think it would be interesting to bring up in a classroom the fact that Imagine was used in such different contexts and analyze the song to look at why and how this was possible, though I’m not exactly sure how I would go about starting that discussion or how I would frame it.
The discussion about Nazi Germany and its attempt to quell certain cultural forms, including jazz music migrating from the US was interesting, but not surprising for me. As Negus states, even for Plato, music had “the potential to unsettle the most stable of social relationships and political structures” (200). It’s not odd that Hitler and his third Reich had some of the same misgivings. Obviously there were a lot of other things involved in the Nazi government’s censorship of certain types of music, music producers/distributers, artists, etc, but what really drives home the point that music has the potential power to incite nations and cause commotion is the fact that the Nazis approved a certain type of music to be played at rallies and over the radio. Hitler wanted music that was “emotionally rousing,” while his minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels wanted to promote music as away of “elevating and cultivating the minds of listeners” (206). One thing was clear, however, music was an important factor in controlling/motivating the public. I can see a great History class discussion of Hitler, the Nazis and the propaganda machine stemming from a discussion of musical and cultural censorship. As did Negus, the discussion could lead to the examination of the notion of ‘nationalism’ and how it played a role in fascism in Europe prior to and during WWII. Also, a teacher could start with a quote from Plato about the power of music to topple political structures and ask students to bring in examples of songs to discuss what makes music so popular. Here I see a lot of potential for educational opportunities directly tied to pop culture!
Negus claims that music’s ability to function as a medium that conveys meaning and values is often neglected (221), but I’m not sure I agree. Maybe that has been the case in the past, but I think that now more than ever there has been a surge of music with very clear and direct messages. That is not to say that everybody listening to Green Day’s American Idiot is picking up on the scorn and sarcasm with which Americans are being portrayed; yet the meaning is there for those who are truly listening. Not every person is going to get the message, not every person wants to get the message, but I wouldn’t say that the fact that music can be a medium for values is being neglected. If it were being neglected, why are so many parents disallowing their children to buy records with “parental guidance” labels? Why are certain people (myself included) avoiding Keith Urban like the plague? Why then would their be such a market for political music such as that used by the Irish when fighting the English? Why would Hitler and his Third Reich move to eliminate certain genres of music from their territories? Music is seen a commodity, without a doubt, however I music’s message and transmission of ideas and values is not forgotten nor can it be ignored, if you don’t believe me, just ask Plato.
What I think is so great about music and why music is such a rich resource for the classroom is encompassed in this quote by Negus: “… musical practices continually refuse and move across the attempts to lock them into neat national boxes and political boundaries” (223). For me as a language teacher, music is one of the easiest and best ways to get my students excited about learning the language and culture of the target community and offers a unique view into another ethnic group/race/social cluster/people//nation/lifestyle, one that can incorporate history, politics and social issues and set it to a 4-minute cumbia beat!
*** My current (ok, it’s a couple years old now) favorite political cd is The Revolution Starts Now by Steve Earl. Favorite tracks: Rich Man’s War, Condi Condi, F the CC and The Revolution Starts Now ***
The Revolution Starts Now – Steve Earl
I was walkin' down the street
In the town where I was born
I was movin' to a beat
That I'd never felt before
So I opened up my eyes
And I took a look around
I saw it written 'cross the sky
The revolution starts now
Yeah, the revolution starts now
The revolution starts now
When you rise above your fear
And tear the walls around you down
The revolution starts here
Where you work and where you play
Where you lay your money down
What you do and what you say
The revolution starts now
Yeah the revolution starts now
Yeah the revolution starts now
In your own backyard
In your own hometown
So what you doin' standin' around?
Just follow your heart
The revolution starts now
Last night I had a dream
That the world had turned around
And all our hopes had come to be
And the people gathered 'round
They all brought what they could bring
And nobody went without
And I learned a song to sing
The revolution starts now
Sunday, June 14, 2009
OH NO! Clear Channel is taking over this blog!
Chapter 3: Mediations
My favorite quote of the chapter:
“No music will ever simply ‘reflect’ a society but instead be caught within, arise out of and refer to a web of unequal social relations and power struggles” (Negus, 1996, 70).
I am a consumer of popular music, but I am by no means, a music-y (my word for the equivalent of a foody). My relationship with popular music is more passive. I listen to the radio when I’m in the car (5 different stations because I hate commercials and refuse to be sold to ever 8 minutes) and occasionally I will download a song (on iTunes, legally) and add it to my ipod. Usually, someone recommends a song to me; I look it up on youtube and then download it if I like it. I have long since stopped buying cds (much to my father’s chagrin; he’s a classic music-y) and all of my music is loaded onto my computer. I rarely go to concerts or seek out alternatives to what is played on the radio. In short, I am that demographic that radio stations cater to because much of what I listen to is what they play; my musical consumption is almost completely mediated.
That being said, I was a little alarmed when I read this chapter and realized that I am part of the machine (or ‘the man’ depending on your subcultures favored label for passive music consumers like me who probably do very little to support local music talent, shame on me). I don’t like to think about the fact that what I like and listen to is totally up to other people, but when I’m forced to think about it (Thanks Thom!), it’s uncomfortable.
A couple of things struck me about this chapter, the first being the fact that radio in the UK developed more as a public service, with the idea to communicate important messages to the country whereas radio in the United States developed primarily as a commercial endeavor, with unique radio stations driven by advertisers marketing to specific demographics. Because Negus made the point that one form of communication does not replace enough, but interacts with society and technology of the time to create new forms, it made me think about television and our news media here in the United States. Is this one reason that we have such crappy news broadcasts here? (Oops, my bias is showing, don’t mind me, I’ll try to tuck it back undercover for a bit). This is another thing I didn’t notice/realize until I was forced to by living in Spain and watching Spanish news shows. Now, I can’t help but notice that our news is not the same as the news in other parts of the world and thus I resort to news.bbc.co.uk.
Similarly, what we hear on the radio is being mediated by corporate sponsors and large music distribution machines. On a recent road trip, I started noticing Clear Channel signs everywhere: on buses, benches, under billboards, the name was on the radio and television; it was everywhere! So Clear Channel decides what I listen to on my 5 radio stations of choice, it then also probably decides what my students are listening to on the radio. One more glaring reason for us to bring pop culture into the classroom for analysis! In our social studies classes, let us look at the American top 40 and analyze the themes and connections to current events, in our music classes, lets look at those same songs and research the musical influences to trace the history of popular music, in our language classes, lets compare our top 40 with that of the target country and talk about the similarities and differences!
Side Note: Did anyone else think about the pirate radio station run by the Weasley Twins and Lee Jordan in the 7th Harry Potter book while reading this chapter? I did! Very pop-culture example of a real-life happening. ☺
Finally, I thought of another connection to education as I was reading this chapter: the mediation of textbooks and curriculum! I’m currently reading Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen, which looks at why History classes generally so boring that even the teacher falls asleep by the end of the hour and what is left out of a typical American high school student’s historical education.
It’s a very interesting and enlightening book (endorsed by Howard Zinn, oops there goes my bias again) and I thought about it a lot while reading Negus’ chapter on Mediations. The information presented in schools is often mediated by administrators at the district, state and federal level, meaning that some information is necessarily left out. Unfortunately, according to Loewen, in the case of History texts and curriculum, a lot is left out.
This could be true, too, of popular music. Someone decides it’s not suitable or doesn’t fit with the norms of society at that moment and thus can’t be included in a radio broadcast. Why not bring this question/debate up with our students and make them aware of what is behind the dissemination of pop culture. When presented with protest songs of the 1960s from South America and the US in my high school Spanish class, I was intrigued and it broadened my perspective and gave me another way of viewing music and its ties to society. I think its important that all students have the opportunity to explore pop culture within the academic context as it broadens perspectives and helps with critical thinking and analysis skills, but also because it will make them a smarter, more aware consumer of popular culture, an argument which I would find it hard to contend.
My favorite quote of the chapter:
“No music will ever simply ‘reflect’ a society but instead be caught within, arise out of and refer to a web of unequal social relations and power struggles” (Negus, 1996, 70).
I am a consumer of popular music, but I am by no means, a music-y (my word for the equivalent of a foody). My relationship with popular music is more passive. I listen to the radio when I’m in the car (5 different stations because I hate commercials and refuse to be sold to ever 8 minutes) and occasionally I will download a song (on iTunes, legally) and add it to my ipod. Usually, someone recommends a song to me; I look it up on youtube and then download it if I like it. I have long since stopped buying cds (much to my father’s chagrin; he’s a classic music-y) and all of my music is loaded onto my computer. I rarely go to concerts or seek out alternatives to what is played on the radio. In short, I am that demographic that radio stations cater to because much of what I listen to is what they play; my musical consumption is almost completely mediated.
That being said, I was a little alarmed when I read this chapter and realized that I am part of the machine (or ‘the man’ depending on your subcultures favored label for passive music consumers like me who probably do very little to support local music talent, shame on me). I don’t like to think about the fact that what I like and listen to is totally up to other people, but when I’m forced to think about it (Thanks Thom!), it’s uncomfortable.
A couple of things struck me about this chapter, the first being the fact that radio in the UK developed more as a public service, with the idea to communicate important messages to the country whereas radio in the United States developed primarily as a commercial endeavor, with unique radio stations driven by advertisers marketing to specific demographics. Because Negus made the point that one form of communication does not replace enough, but interacts with society and technology of the time to create new forms, it made me think about television and our news media here in the United States. Is this one reason that we have such crappy news broadcasts here? (Oops, my bias is showing, don’t mind me, I’ll try to tuck it back undercover for a bit). This is another thing I didn’t notice/realize until I was forced to by living in Spain and watching Spanish news shows. Now, I can’t help but notice that our news is not the same as the news in other parts of the world and thus I resort to news.bbc.co.uk.
Similarly, what we hear on the radio is being mediated by corporate sponsors and large music distribution machines. On a recent road trip, I started noticing Clear Channel signs everywhere: on buses, benches, under billboards, the name was on the radio and television; it was everywhere! So Clear Channel decides what I listen to on my 5 radio stations of choice, it then also probably decides what my students are listening to on the radio. One more glaring reason for us to bring pop culture into the classroom for analysis! In our social studies classes, let us look at the American top 40 and analyze the themes and connections to current events, in our music classes, lets look at those same songs and research the musical influences to trace the history of popular music, in our language classes, lets compare our top 40 with that of the target country and talk about the similarities and differences!
Side Note: Did anyone else think about the pirate radio station run by the Weasley Twins and Lee Jordan in the 7th Harry Potter book while reading this chapter? I did! Very pop-culture example of a real-life happening. ☺
Finally, I thought of another connection to education as I was reading this chapter: the mediation of textbooks and curriculum! I’m currently reading Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen, which looks at why History classes generally so boring that even the teacher falls asleep by the end of the hour and what is left out of a typical American high school student’s historical education.
It’s a very interesting and enlightening book (endorsed by Howard Zinn, oops there goes my bias again) and I thought about it a lot while reading Negus’ chapter on Mediations. The information presented in schools is often mediated by administrators at the district, state and federal level, meaning that some information is necessarily left out. Unfortunately, according to Loewen, in the case of History texts and curriculum, a lot is left out.This could be true, too, of popular music. Someone decides it’s not suitable or doesn’t fit with the norms of society at that moment and thus can’t be included in a radio broadcast. Why not bring this question/debate up with our students and make them aware of what is behind the dissemination of pop culture. When presented with protest songs of the 1960s from South America and the US in my high school Spanish class, I was intrigued and it broadened my perspective and gave me another way of viewing music and its ties to society. I think its important that all students have the opportunity to explore pop culture within the academic context as it broadens perspectives and helps with critical thinking and analysis skills, but also because it will make them a smarter, more aware consumer of popular culture, an argument which I would find it hard to contend.
Friday, June 12, 2009
School of Pop Culture
Response to School of Rock & Jack Black
I’ve now seen “School of Rock” one too many times! I really liked it the first time I saw it, mainly because it was released before I was a teacher and I was starved for any type of entry into the classroom that I could get, not because of the portrayal of teachers and certainly not for the shirtless views of Jack Black that are interspersed throughout the movie! In general I love all movies that have to do with the classroom, and I’m especially a sucker for those in which a teacher comes in and really effects a change in his or her students (a la “Stand and Deliver,” “Sister Acts I and II,” “Dangerous Minds,” “Freedom Writers,” etc.)
That is not to say, however, that I agree with the portrayal of these teachers or that I believe them to be at all connected to the real life of a teacher. As far as I can tell, there are two main categories that teachers in movies/television shows fall into (into which the types listed by Shannon and Crawford (1998) fall into as further specifications): the ineffective teacher who is burnt out and functions mainly as a babysitter or the super-teacher, who swoops in and really connects with a group of students despite the nay-saying of colleagues and administration. These portrayals of teachers are fairly one-dimensional and neglect to mention the fact that teachers have lives outside of the classroom (unless, of course, it is to show that these heroic, dedicated teachers give up the rest of their lives in favor of helping their students, as happens in “Freedom Writers”). One message that I think media portrayals of teachers send is that if you want to be a good teacher, you can’t have a life, and if you are good at what you do, you will be one in a sea of many lackluster, uninterested teachers.
What I really dislike about “School of Rock” is that it insinuates that anyone off the street, including a mooching, washed-up wannabe rocker, can waltz in off the streets, connect with a bunch of kids and positively influence their educational lives. Granted, I know it is a movie, a Hollywood movie, meant to entertain and not necessarily to pass judgment on the difficulty of teaching, but it still irks me. I’m finishing a very rigorous program preparing me to teach and I take offense when people think that anyone can be a teacher as long as they know their subject matter. Dewey Finn (Jack Black) succeeds in engaging these kids in a two week long project that includes various facets of what he believes essential to being a rock star. Throughout the movie, Dewey progresses as a teacher and goes from giving the students full days of recess to giving lectures, homework and assigning roles in a class-project that cater to each individual students’ talent and interests (differentiation? whoa!).
After I get over my hang-ups about Dewey actually being able to control and “teach” a class, I can enjoy the movie for what it is: entertainment. Pop music is central and the idea that Dewey does what he has to do for the love of music is what drives the entire movie. It shows that one can be passionate about something (music in this case) and thus will do whatever is necessary to maintain a connection to whatever it is that fuels that passion. The kids in this fictional class are talented musicians and singers, but haven’t fallen in love with music because they haven’t been exposed to music that interests and moves them. I think that this can be seen as a metaphor for all students and the idea that students must be interested and engaged for them to actually learn and take away valuable experiences from the classroom. Dewey uses popular music (in this case it was rock, and that may have been appropriate for the demographics of the class, but I would absolutely need to use hip-hop if I were going to engage my Minneapolis public school high schoolers in a similar way) to engage students and get them involved in the classroom. I think this is a great example, albeit exaggerated, of how popular culture, music specifically, can be used in the classroom to a positive effect.
One only has to walk into a classroom at Southwest High School in Minneapolis and count the number of ipods in use during passing time to know that music is an ever-present force in the lives of our students. What a colossal waste of opportunity if we don’t try to bring that into the classroom. I know that my students were most engaged when we listened to songs from different Spanish speaking countries and then later watched the videos. We were able to engage in discussions about the language structures, vocabulary, slang, cultural messages/norms that were referenced in the songs/videos and make comparisons to our own songs/videos/cultures. And that was all in one lesson, there is so much more that we could have done given the time/resources, but it was clear that my students were interested in the topic and thus I could get them interested in learning the language component as well.
The fact that Dewey Finn was able to connect to these students so well (though these were not your typical students) was due in part to his non-teacher-like manner. He was the anti-teacher and thus the students were immediately drawn to him. Also, he was in touch with what was cool (and thus, clearly, could not be a real teacher) and that drew the students to him. His vehicle was rock music, but had he been involved in film or other types of pop culture/mass media, the students would have been drawn to him as well and a similar, sister-story could have been created. It wasn’t the music, the students were all unexposed to the music Dewey knew and loved, it was the fact that Dewey represented such a departure from the normal, stiff, academic teacher they were used to (personified by Ms. Mullins, the uptight and sometimes frightening principal of Horace Green).
This is often the case in movies; those teachers who are the ‘odd’ ones are the ones with which students can relate and for whom they will perform. Whoopi Goldberg wasn’t a real nun, she was a singer with ties to the Mob, but man did she come in and teach those students a lot. Hilary Swank was a first year teacher who wore pearls to the ghetto, but man was she dedicated and ignored when the other teachers told her to give up on these kids, they’re not going anywhere. She persevered and she succeeded in reaching these kids and a group of gang-affiliated, lowest SES students actually asked to be looped with her the following year. Michelle Pfeiffer? She was an ex-marine and so she was able to karate her way into the hearts of her students. These teachers all represent the ones who don’t fit with the rest of the teachers, but they are the successful ones whose students love them and find them 20 years later to remind them of the difference they made in their lives. That sends a message to movie-viewers: most teachers are lame and won’t have an impact on your life, their not to be respected, but pitied because they’re locked in a classroom with 170 students a day who don’t value or appreciate them. That is a message that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
On a not-terribly-connected note, I recommend that everyone see “The Class” or “Entre Les Murs” (it’s original title). It’s a movie written, directed and stared in by a real life teacher and it is the truest portrayal of the classroom that I have seen on the big or small screen. It’s a fictional account of a teacher who teaches at an inner city school in Paris and has an extremely diverse student population. It’s about the trials and tribulations that come with teaching such a diverse group and about the role of a teacher outside of the classroom. It’s not exactly a happy-go-lucky feel good movie, but it’s a good watch and I think everyone should see it, not just teachers!
I’ve now seen “School of Rock” one too many times! I really liked it the first time I saw it, mainly because it was released before I was a teacher and I was starved for any type of entry into the classroom that I could get, not because of the portrayal of teachers and certainly not for the shirtless views of Jack Black that are interspersed throughout the movie! In general I love all movies that have to do with the classroom, and I’m especially a sucker for those in which a teacher comes in and really effects a change in his or her students (a la “Stand and Deliver,” “Sister Acts I and II,” “Dangerous Minds,” “Freedom Writers,” etc.)
That is not to say, however, that I agree with the portrayal of these teachers or that I believe them to be at all connected to the real life of a teacher. As far as I can tell, there are two main categories that teachers in movies/television shows fall into (into which the types listed by Shannon and Crawford (1998) fall into as further specifications): the ineffective teacher who is burnt out and functions mainly as a babysitter or the super-teacher, who swoops in and really connects with a group of students despite the nay-saying of colleagues and administration. These portrayals of teachers are fairly one-dimensional and neglect to mention the fact that teachers have lives outside of the classroom (unless, of course, it is to show that these heroic, dedicated teachers give up the rest of their lives in favor of helping their students, as happens in “Freedom Writers”). One message that I think media portrayals of teachers send is that if you want to be a good teacher, you can’t have a life, and if you are good at what you do, you will be one in a sea of many lackluster, uninterested teachers.
What I really dislike about “School of Rock” is that it insinuates that anyone off the street, including a mooching, washed-up wannabe rocker, can waltz in off the streets, connect with a bunch of kids and positively influence their educational lives. Granted, I know it is a movie, a Hollywood movie, meant to entertain and not necessarily to pass judgment on the difficulty of teaching, but it still irks me. I’m finishing a very rigorous program preparing me to teach and I take offense when people think that anyone can be a teacher as long as they know their subject matter. Dewey Finn (Jack Black) succeeds in engaging these kids in a two week long project that includes various facets of what he believes essential to being a rock star. Throughout the movie, Dewey progresses as a teacher and goes from giving the students full days of recess to giving lectures, homework and assigning roles in a class-project that cater to each individual students’ talent and interests (differentiation? whoa!).
After I get over my hang-ups about Dewey actually being able to control and “teach” a class, I can enjoy the movie for what it is: entertainment. Pop music is central and the idea that Dewey does what he has to do for the love of music is what drives the entire movie. It shows that one can be passionate about something (music in this case) and thus will do whatever is necessary to maintain a connection to whatever it is that fuels that passion. The kids in this fictional class are talented musicians and singers, but haven’t fallen in love with music because they haven’t been exposed to music that interests and moves them. I think that this can be seen as a metaphor for all students and the idea that students must be interested and engaged for them to actually learn and take away valuable experiences from the classroom. Dewey uses popular music (in this case it was rock, and that may have been appropriate for the demographics of the class, but I would absolutely need to use hip-hop if I were going to engage my Minneapolis public school high schoolers in a similar way) to engage students and get them involved in the classroom. I think this is a great example, albeit exaggerated, of how popular culture, music specifically, can be used in the classroom to a positive effect.
One only has to walk into a classroom at Southwest High School in Minneapolis and count the number of ipods in use during passing time to know that music is an ever-present force in the lives of our students. What a colossal waste of opportunity if we don’t try to bring that into the classroom. I know that my students were most engaged when we listened to songs from different Spanish speaking countries and then later watched the videos. We were able to engage in discussions about the language structures, vocabulary, slang, cultural messages/norms that were referenced in the songs/videos and make comparisons to our own songs/videos/cultures. And that was all in one lesson, there is so much more that we could have done given the time/resources, but it was clear that my students were interested in the topic and thus I could get them interested in learning the language component as well.
The fact that Dewey Finn was able to connect to these students so well (though these were not your typical students) was due in part to his non-teacher-like manner. He was the anti-teacher and thus the students were immediately drawn to him. Also, he was in touch with what was cool (and thus, clearly, could not be a real teacher) and that drew the students to him. His vehicle was rock music, but had he been involved in film or other types of pop culture/mass media, the students would have been drawn to him as well and a similar, sister-story could have been created. It wasn’t the music, the students were all unexposed to the music Dewey knew and loved, it was the fact that Dewey represented such a departure from the normal, stiff, academic teacher they were used to (personified by Ms. Mullins, the uptight and sometimes frightening principal of Horace Green).
This is often the case in movies; those teachers who are the ‘odd’ ones are the ones with which students can relate and for whom they will perform. Whoopi Goldberg wasn’t a real nun, she was a singer with ties to the Mob, but man did she come in and teach those students a lot. Hilary Swank was a first year teacher who wore pearls to the ghetto, but man was she dedicated and ignored when the other teachers told her to give up on these kids, they’re not going anywhere. She persevered and she succeeded in reaching these kids and a group of gang-affiliated, lowest SES students actually asked to be looped with her the following year. Michelle Pfeiffer? She was an ex-marine and so she was able to karate her way into the hearts of her students. These teachers all represent the ones who don’t fit with the rest of the teachers, but they are the successful ones whose students love them and find them 20 years later to remind them of the difference they made in their lives. That sends a message to movie-viewers: most teachers are lame and won’t have an impact on your life, their not to be respected, but pitied because they’re locked in a classroom with 170 students a day who don’t value or appreciate them. That is a message that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
On a not-terribly-connected note, I recommend that everyone see “The Class” or “Entre Les Murs” (it’s original title). It’s a movie written, directed and stared in by a real life teacher and it is the truest portrayal of the classroom that I have seen on the big or small screen. It’s a fictional account of a teacher who teaches at an inner city school in Paris and has an extremely diverse student population. It’s about the trials and tribulations that come with teaching such a diverse group and about the role of a teacher outside of the classroom. It’s not exactly a happy-go-lucky feel good movie, but it’s a good watch and I think everyone should see it, not just teachers!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Why can't I comment on other people's blogs??? Blog Comments for HW: 6/11
Bjorn P:
After reading your post, I really had to rethink my stance on Lil’ Kim’s video! How did I miss the symbolism behind the whole ‘Candy Kim’ mass-produced DOLL sequence? The idea of Lil’ Kim portraying herself as not only an object (feminists are rolling in the graves or rolling their eyes and screaming: objectification!!), but a TOY for others to play with TOTALLY contradicts the message sent through her lyrics that she is the objectifyer, she is the one in power, using her male conquests to satisfy her sexual needs and desires. I am totally mystified as to how I missed that extremely blatant contradiction. Thank you for commenting on it in your blog because it changes the whole way I looked at Lil’ Kim and this song. Previously I thought that Kim took things a bit far with the lyrics and went out of her way to demonstrate that she could wear her sexuality on her sleeve and be the one in power, using others for her sexual gratification and nothing else, a role usually reserved for males in our culture, but this idea of juxtaposing that power of position with the image of mass-produced toys, dolls to be played with, totally reduces the respect that I had for Kim and the song. If you were to listen to the song without watching the video or watch the video without sound, you’d get two, COMPLETELY different messages. Unfortunate.
Jamie G:
I really enjoyed reading your post. I hadn’t thought about the videos through a purely gender-bias lens and your post really made me think about how different these songs/videos would be if they were sang by men. I completely agree that Leslie Gore’s song would not have been at all popular/successful. It got me to thinking about male artists singing about break-ups and the only one that I could come up with was the NON-sentimental “Fuck It (I Don’t Want You Back)” by Eamon, in which he degrades his former girlfriend and lists reasons why he’s not sad about the break up. His role is totally gender “appropriate” in that he is not sad, he’s angry, he’s vindictive and he’s going to tell everyone else about how she’s a “ho.” Somehow, that doesn’t jibe with Leslie Gore and her “I’ll cry if I want to.” I wonder what Leslie Gore’s modern video for “It’s my Party” would look like? Perhaps some sort of strong portrayal of an independently successful woman who is in control of her emotions and will bounce back, though she’s down, maybe something a la Katy Perry’s “Hot n Cold.”
Also, I’m still uncomfortable with Fiona Apple’s “Criminal.” I see the juxtaposition that you and the critique of the video mention between girl/woman, innocent/experienced, but I remain confused as to the actual message of the video. That is probably the point. I find the video all the more unsettling after learning about Apple’s past (which though apparently it was widely known at the time of the release of the video, I didn’t know until last week, must be due to the lack of MTV). If Apple’s goal was to leave me feeling confused, uncomfortable and with the video lingering on my mind, she was successful.
Joe A:
First, I would like to commend your Blogging skills, your posts always have links to other articles and media embedded. Well Done! I wish I had the time, energy and/or know-how to make my blog look like yours!
I feel you with the Playboy t-shirt aversion. Never have I felt older as when I was student teaching this past March and I had to tell a high school girl to put on 1. pants (she was wearing a Playboy t-shirt that she had MacGyver-ed into a dress) and 2. a sweatshirt (it was March in Minneapolis for crying out loud!). She looked at me scathingly and said, and I quote: “wow, you sure don’t look like a 64 year old republic church lady.” I can assure you that I had to bite my tongue, but I’m wondering when it became ok to not wear enough clothes to school and to take it even a step farther by wearing a Playboy bunny, a symbol of female objectification if there ever was one, to school?
I can’t solely blame Lil’ Kim or even the Ying Yang Twins (I admit, I do like to dance to their music, but I am of age to do so without being subliminally brain-washed into wearing Playboy bunnies on any part of my body), but I know they are part of a bigger culture that is part of the problem. Women as sex-symbols, either using sex as their only claim for power or playing a ‘male part’ to be thought of as in control, is not an environment that I want surrounding my future offspring as they grow and develop. I think it is more important than ever, as you said, to talk to our kids/students and to bring these things up so that they themselves can analyze what is being catapulted at them in surprising quantities every day. Pop culture needs to play a role in the classroom, a significant role, if our goal is to truly prepare our students for life after (and DURING) academia!
Natasha L:
Interesting question: should pop-media artists/“celebrities” be held to some sort of standard as role models for the population they most cater to? If one answers yes, then only Leslie Gore passes the test as a stand-up, totally acceptable artist. Fiona Apple is borderline as her messages are subtle and the sexual tones of her video are not explicit; she’s not offering sexual deviancy on a plate, merely singing about it in a variety of potentially compromising positions. Lil’ Kim is absolutely out of the question; do not show your children this video! She doesn’t hold anything back and actually aims to shock you (in my opinion) with her vulgar lyrics and suggestive dancing.
If the answer is no, it is then entirely up to the parents to censor what their children are exposed to and to educate their children enough so that they are able to process what they see when they do come into contact with such things as a Lil’ Kim video. I lean more towards this view and think that parents need to be cognizant of what is out their for their children to see and to monitor their children’s lives, but also to be prepared to help their children process what they do encounter when they leave the protective, safe bubble that should be a home. I also think that this is when the importance of teaching pop culture in the classroom becomes clear. There is all sorts of mass media out their for our children to see, read, listen, watch, etc, and it is important for us to give them the tools necessary to be able to process whatever they encounter, analyze and make up their own minds. Scary as it is to let our students make up their own minds, ultimately, it is imperative that they be able to do so as we only have a certain amount of time with them and so why not make the most and address real life issues, subjects, events, concepts that they will encounter in the hall way, on the bus, on tv/radio/movies/magazines?
Trumanue L:
I agree with your point that the relationship between societal roles and music is reciprocal in nature, gender roles change in society at large and that is reflected in music and at the same time female artists push the envelope and have an affect on gender roles in larger society. It is because of this circle that I think it is important to bring pop-culture into the classroom. Our youth, girls especially, should be prepared to deal with the different portrayals of the genders in mass media and know that they do not need to conform to what they see. They need to know the positives of Lil’ Kim’s songs (yes, I think there are positives, despite the over-sexed, semi-vulgar nature of the video) such as the fact that she is not inferior to men and can play the same roles they do on tv and in music videos as well as the negatives (pretty obvious in this case) such as the mass-production of the weird and confusing ‘Candy Kim’ doll. Students should know how to analyze what they see and draw their own conclusions. I agree that it is positive to see women empowering themselves through music and mass media, however in many cases, I feel that the ends do not justify the means, that is to say that more is lost in the name of equal rights for men and women when females are forced to parade their sexuality and exploit themselves in order to find a place in the male-dominated world of pop-culture.
Kim K:
I was surprised that you would think that we hadn’t come so far, but after reading your views on Leslie Gore’s video, I understand and even agree, somewhat. In the venue of music videos and pop culture media, a woman’s power is still derived from men, but I don’t think we’re at the same place with gender roles as we were in the early 1960s. That would discount the sexual revolution and women’s movements entirely. I think we still have a long way to go, but I think that it is something that Lil’ Kim and Fiona Apple can create songs about their sexuality (as different as they may be in themes, tones, dance moves, etc) and reach the level of popularity that both of these songs reached. If Leslie Gore had sang about being cast away after sleeping with Johnny, the song would not have received airplay/publicity and we wouldn’t be able to discuss the progress of women in the media using it as a mile marker. Now, though our public roles are still moderated and mediated by and through men, one has to admit that our sphere as women in mass media has grown significantly. That being said, I can’t say that I enjoy Lil’ Kim’s video or lyrics too much (though I do admit to dancing to it in my high school years) or that I think she is a positive role model for young girls. I think Fiona is a much more worthy candidate for that title, though I’m not sure she would want it.
Lastly, I would just like to say that I completely agree with your point that it is our duty as educators to help make our students aware of what is being constantly thrown at them and give them tools to analyze and dissect the pop culture that they encounter in their daily lives.
After reading your post, I really had to rethink my stance on Lil’ Kim’s video! How did I miss the symbolism behind the whole ‘Candy Kim’ mass-produced DOLL sequence? The idea of Lil’ Kim portraying herself as not only an object (feminists are rolling in the graves or rolling their eyes and screaming: objectification!!), but a TOY for others to play with TOTALLY contradicts the message sent through her lyrics that she is the objectifyer, she is the one in power, using her male conquests to satisfy her sexual needs and desires. I am totally mystified as to how I missed that extremely blatant contradiction. Thank you for commenting on it in your blog because it changes the whole way I looked at Lil’ Kim and this song. Previously I thought that Kim took things a bit far with the lyrics and went out of her way to demonstrate that she could wear her sexuality on her sleeve and be the one in power, using others for her sexual gratification and nothing else, a role usually reserved for males in our culture, but this idea of juxtaposing that power of position with the image of mass-produced toys, dolls to be played with, totally reduces the respect that I had for Kim and the song. If you were to listen to the song without watching the video or watch the video without sound, you’d get two, COMPLETELY different messages. Unfortunate.
Jamie G:
I really enjoyed reading your post. I hadn’t thought about the videos through a purely gender-bias lens and your post really made me think about how different these songs/videos would be if they were sang by men. I completely agree that Leslie Gore’s song would not have been at all popular/successful. It got me to thinking about male artists singing about break-ups and the only one that I could come up with was the NON-sentimental “Fuck It (I Don’t Want You Back)” by Eamon, in which he degrades his former girlfriend and lists reasons why he’s not sad about the break up. His role is totally gender “appropriate” in that he is not sad, he’s angry, he’s vindictive and he’s going to tell everyone else about how she’s a “ho.” Somehow, that doesn’t jibe with Leslie Gore and her “I’ll cry if I want to.” I wonder what Leslie Gore’s modern video for “It’s my Party” would look like? Perhaps some sort of strong portrayal of an independently successful woman who is in control of her emotions and will bounce back, though she’s down, maybe something a la Katy Perry’s “Hot n Cold.”
Also, I’m still uncomfortable with Fiona Apple’s “Criminal.” I see the juxtaposition that you and the critique of the video mention between girl/woman, innocent/experienced, but I remain confused as to the actual message of the video. That is probably the point. I find the video all the more unsettling after learning about Apple’s past (which though apparently it was widely known at the time of the release of the video, I didn’t know until last week, must be due to the lack of MTV). If Apple’s goal was to leave me feeling confused, uncomfortable and with the video lingering on my mind, she was successful.
Joe A:
First, I would like to commend your Blogging skills, your posts always have links to other articles and media embedded. Well Done! I wish I had the time, energy and/or know-how to make my blog look like yours!
I feel you with the Playboy t-shirt aversion. Never have I felt older as when I was student teaching this past March and I had to tell a high school girl to put on 1. pants (she was wearing a Playboy t-shirt that she had MacGyver-ed into a dress) and 2. a sweatshirt (it was March in Minneapolis for crying out loud!). She looked at me scathingly and said, and I quote: “wow, you sure don’t look like a 64 year old republic church lady.” I can assure you that I had to bite my tongue, but I’m wondering when it became ok to not wear enough clothes to school and to take it even a step farther by wearing a Playboy bunny, a symbol of female objectification if there ever was one, to school?
I can’t solely blame Lil’ Kim or even the Ying Yang Twins (I admit, I do like to dance to their music, but I am of age to do so without being subliminally brain-washed into wearing Playboy bunnies on any part of my body), but I know they are part of a bigger culture that is part of the problem. Women as sex-symbols, either using sex as their only claim for power or playing a ‘male part’ to be thought of as in control, is not an environment that I want surrounding my future offspring as they grow and develop. I think it is more important than ever, as you said, to talk to our kids/students and to bring these things up so that they themselves can analyze what is being catapulted at them in surprising quantities every day. Pop culture needs to play a role in the classroom, a significant role, if our goal is to truly prepare our students for life after (and DURING) academia!
Natasha L:
Interesting question: should pop-media artists/“celebrities” be held to some sort of standard as role models for the population they most cater to? If one answers yes, then only Leslie Gore passes the test as a stand-up, totally acceptable artist. Fiona Apple is borderline as her messages are subtle and the sexual tones of her video are not explicit; she’s not offering sexual deviancy on a plate, merely singing about it in a variety of potentially compromising positions. Lil’ Kim is absolutely out of the question; do not show your children this video! She doesn’t hold anything back and actually aims to shock you (in my opinion) with her vulgar lyrics and suggestive dancing.
If the answer is no, it is then entirely up to the parents to censor what their children are exposed to and to educate their children enough so that they are able to process what they see when they do come into contact with such things as a Lil’ Kim video. I lean more towards this view and think that parents need to be cognizant of what is out their for their children to see and to monitor their children’s lives, but also to be prepared to help their children process what they do encounter when they leave the protective, safe bubble that should be a home. I also think that this is when the importance of teaching pop culture in the classroom becomes clear. There is all sorts of mass media out their for our children to see, read, listen, watch, etc, and it is important for us to give them the tools necessary to be able to process whatever they encounter, analyze and make up their own minds. Scary as it is to let our students make up their own minds, ultimately, it is imperative that they be able to do so as we only have a certain amount of time with them and so why not make the most and address real life issues, subjects, events, concepts that they will encounter in the hall way, on the bus, on tv/radio/movies/magazines?
Trumanue L:
I agree with your point that the relationship between societal roles and music is reciprocal in nature, gender roles change in society at large and that is reflected in music and at the same time female artists push the envelope and have an affect on gender roles in larger society. It is because of this circle that I think it is important to bring pop-culture into the classroom. Our youth, girls especially, should be prepared to deal with the different portrayals of the genders in mass media and know that they do not need to conform to what they see. They need to know the positives of Lil’ Kim’s songs (yes, I think there are positives, despite the over-sexed, semi-vulgar nature of the video) such as the fact that she is not inferior to men and can play the same roles they do on tv and in music videos as well as the negatives (pretty obvious in this case) such as the mass-production of the weird and confusing ‘Candy Kim’ doll. Students should know how to analyze what they see and draw their own conclusions. I agree that it is positive to see women empowering themselves through music and mass media, however in many cases, I feel that the ends do not justify the means, that is to say that more is lost in the name of equal rights for men and women when females are forced to parade their sexuality and exploit themselves in order to find a place in the male-dominated world of pop-culture.
Kim K:
I was surprised that you would think that we hadn’t come so far, but after reading your views on Leslie Gore’s video, I understand and even agree, somewhat. In the venue of music videos and pop culture media, a woman’s power is still derived from men, but I don’t think we’re at the same place with gender roles as we were in the early 1960s. That would discount the sexual revolution and women’s movements entirely. I think we still have a long way to go, but I think that it is something that Lil’ Kim and Fiona Apple can create songs about their sexuality (as different as they may be in themes, tones, dance moves, etc) and reach the level of popularity that both of these songs reached. If Leslie Gore had sang about being cast away after sleeping with Johnny, the song would not have received airplay/publicity and we wouldn’t be able to discuss the progress of women in the media using it as a mile marker. Now, though our public roles are still moderated and mediated by and through men, one has to admit that our sphere as women in mass media has grown significantly. That being said, I can’t say that I enjoy Lil’ Kim’s video or lyrics too much (though I do admit to dancing to it in my high school years) or that I think she is a positive role model for young girls. I think Fiona is a much more worthy candidate for that title, though I’m not sure she would want it.
Lastly, I would just like to say that I completely agree with your point that it is our duty as educators to help make our students aware of what is being constantly thrown at them and give them tools to analyze and dissect the pop culture that they encounter in their daily lives.
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