Pop culture—songs, movies, books—may find a place in lesson plans from Chicago to California, according to stories last week in the Chicago Sun-Times and on DailyBreeze.com.
Chicago’s 26,000 public school teachers now have language in their contracts that gives them the freedom to design lesson plans without using a template, and some take advantage of that opportunity to incorporate pop culture “hooks” into their lesson plans.
“I always like to try things, using a song here and there, using role play,” the Sun-Times quoted one King High School social studies teacher as saying. He frequently uses poems, music, and original documents to make a point. “The way my mind works, having a particular format, having to have a regulated format, would feel like it’s too mundane, too micromanaged.”
At middle schools in the Wiseburn School District near Los Angeles, math teachers are also opening lessons with songs and other pop culture devices, such as funny videos, to engage students and put a fresh look on some of the abstract concepts in the lesson. The method of teaching was developed by researchers at Loyola Marymount University.
Putting conceptual understanding above “drill and kill” repetition, mastery above memorization, and student engagement above instructor lectures, teachers hear from students each day how much they’d like the lessons to challenge them. Then, instead of sitting through lectures, students spend the bulk of class time practicing problems on handheld whiteboards, which they hold up for the teacher’s approval or disapproval throughout the period.
“If you’re a bright kid and you’re crazy, you’re probably going with a challenge all the time,” one teacher was quoted as saying. “If you’re in soccer, you’ll challenge yourself part of the time, but you’re also realistic.”
Results are impressive: In two years, the share of eighth graders scoring proficient or better in algebra at one school in the district has more than doubled, from 27 percent to 62 percent, and more than 60 percent of students at the school now say math is their favorite subject, up from 46 percent last year. Furthermore, the black-white achievement gap has vaporized.
Teachers need to adapt lessons for their students
Whether teachers need the freedom to incorporate elements into their lesson plans they know will work with the kids in their own classrooms, as in Chicago, or teachers hook students in to the class material with songs and videos and then are able to ask students what level they want in their lessons for the day, the point here in both of these stories is that teachers should know how to manage their own classrooms.
“I just need to know you understand the kids in front of you,” the Sun-Times quoted one Chicago principal as saying. “I don’t want my teachers stressed out. Once you get in front of children, depending on their response or their level of understanding, you’ve got to immediately switch a lesson plan.”
Lesson ideas shouldn’t be dictated by a school board or a curriculum. Whatever originates outside a classroom can be used as a framework or guideline by teachers in developing lesson plans, if they choose to use it. Once presented to a classroom full of students, though, these frameworks often need to be changed around on a dime, producing lessons that students accept.
Teachers need the flexibility to do that. It’s a little embarrassing that the provision needs to be codified in a contract, but negotiations with teachers, especially the thousands that teach in huge urban school districts like Chicago, usually work best with baby steps. Districts that can purchase handheld whiteboards for every student can move faster, but the driving force—engaging students—is the same.
“If you can’t manage kids, you can’t teach kids,” the Sun-Times quoted another Chicago teacher as saying. “If the kids don’t buy in to you, they’re not going to learn from you.”