I know there are
a few people in this class who either are currently teaching or have previously
taught in high schools, and I would like to direct this question specifically
to them.
As I read
through chapters three, four, and six in Renee Hobbs’ book Digital and Media Literacy, I noticed a trend in regard to teachers
attempting to implement current affairs topics into their lesson plans. Many of
the teachers in the book express both the importance and the difficulty of
using pop culture and current affairs material in their classes. Connecting the
class discussions to the students’ lives obviously increases participation and
overall enthusiasm among the students, but the teachers also acknowledge the
difficulty of staying on top of the latest trends/fads and keeping their
lessons up-to-date with breaking news and social phenomena that occur on a
daily basis.
My question is
(note, this is actually a few related questions):
“Do you or have
you used current affairs in your lesson plans? If so, what did you use and how
did you connect it to the curriculum? Were your experiences similar or
different than those in the book? How would you change these lesson plans if
you had the chance to go back and teach them again?
I appreciate any
insight you are willing to share.
- Robert
Robert,
ReplyDeleteI think these are great questions. I have used current affairs in my lesson plans, though it is extremely hard to plan them ahead of time. Many things will catch your eye as you are watching TV one evening, and you may find yourself completely revamping your lesson plan for the following day as a result.
The wonderful thing about being immersed in your teaching is that everything you see or hear will trigger some connection to your curriculum.
I have used various songs on the radio that connect thematically with current texts, political ads that use every logical fallacy or persuasive technique in the book, or news stories about novels we are reading (such as the controversy surrounding removing the n-word from Huck Finn).
As cliche as it sounds, when you love what you do, the world shifts and molds around it. If you keep your ears and eyes open, it's not hard to stay current and to bring new things to the classroom that will engage students in current affairs. Your significant other will think you are crazy when you run out of the room to make changes to your lesson plan after watching the 11 o'clock news, but you will probably find yourself doing it nonetheless. :)
I second everything Kirsten noted. Using current affairs is difficult as it requires a teacher to stay in tune with the news (a surprisingly difficult task at times due to workload) and often necessitates last-minute adjustments (sometimes major changes) to lesson plans.
ReplyDeleteI teach Huck Finn as well, and I remember scrambling to update my lesson plans one morning after a fellow teacher sent me a link to a news report on the recent censorship issues. The last-minute rush was well worth it. My students were amazed to see the musty old novel in the news, and their willingness to engage with the text after seeing the clip improved substantially.
I've also incorporated current events into my unit on The Crucible, tying Arthur Miller's indictment of Communist witch-hunting to the post-9/11 witch hunt for terrorists and the mischaracterization of Islamists in America. This sparked some incredibly interesting conversations and text engagement that probably never would have happened without the news tie-ins.
I've learned that a teacher needs to directly show students how a work of literature is relevant--he or she can't assume students will make these connections on their own. Many have unfortunately been conditioned to think that studying literature is just memorizing character names and regurgitating whatever the teacher rambled about the plot. When you prove that reading is something far more interesting and relevant than that, your classroom discussions will never be the same.