pop culture
Pop culture has a place in the classroom; popular trends like hip hop help to foster interest and ignite conversations in education.
WHO ARE WE?
‘There’s no mystery to Black History‘ (that’s my little poetic saying). My parents came from Jamaica to the UK in the early sixties. Since then I have traced my ancestry back to the point when slavery was just abolished. (I have located over 400 family members spread across the globe).
By J W Nelson3 years ago in Education
Mr. Rogers Has a Community and a Neighborhood
We all watched him at least once when we were kids. Mr. Rogers is like the father we didn’t have or the uncle we wished we had. He was kind and he was funny. But more than that, he was honest, and kids knew he was honest about the things adults often lie to children about to ease pain or make it more palatable. He talked about things like death and divorce and other hard subjects.
By Michelle Devon3 years ago in Education
Notebook
It was a sultry, oppressive evening. For the boys, it was a time for open-neck, short-sleeve shirts. For the girls, it was a case of the skimpier the better, subject to individual concepts of modesty. It could have been a particularly intemperate part of Southern Europe or Greece or anywhere in the world where air-conditioning was de rigueur, rather than a luxury. It was the South coast of England, Brighton, in August.
By Jeremy Mahony3 years ago in Education
Purposefully Vague
If you were to take the time and think back to Yoda’s first introduction, you might recall a slight confusion when listening to Yoda form his sentences as the wise, powerful Star Wars character. Perhaps, you even found it silly or, in some cases, as though the sentences were downright incorrect. I fondly remember childhood me thinking it was odd and humorous. My father couldn’t explain why he spoke that way, yet his enthusiasm for Star Wars helped the oddity quickly became an element of life that simply was. My curiosity was never quite put to rest until an advanced English course in college. I’ll warn you now; this post becomes grammatically nerdy pretty quickly.
By R. M. Forté4 years ago in Education
Campaign For Free School Meals Gathers Pace
Controversy over the UK government's plans to get rid of free school meals for children of school age has continued to grow with many different local councils and other companies including restaurants and cafes volunteering to step in to ensure that children are kept well fed during the half term break. The campaign was launched by Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford who went through a similar experience when he was younger and had difficulty affording food when at school due to difficult circumstances.
By Ashish Prabhu4 years ago in Education
Virtual Learning in a Global Pandemic
School is closed indefinitely. But to justify teachers' salaries and to continue to receive funding from the state....I now introduce you to - SCHOOL AT HOME. That's right folks; a complete and utter fucking mess which includes an itinerary straight off the school bus as if these poor babies are physically entering the school. My daughter is 6 and while entering 1st grade, she is advanced enough to be in 3rd grade. She does extremely well with virtual learning and pretty much everything else. I already work from home so no problem there...Wanna know the issue I have with all of this? These ridiculous and ill thought out plans to make this virtual learning experience reminiscent of them actually being in school. I mean for God sakes, are we really asking 6 year olds to have virtual PE? And why, just why do some of these school districts require these kids to wake up and put on a uniform? Listen up teachers and faculty - These kiddos are at home. That's right - HOME. Dealing with a Global Pandemic - AT HOME. Missing their friends and family. AT HOME. Missing outside. AT HOME. While you are requiring that we, parents act as if it is normal that our kiddos are getting up, getting dressed, only to sit back down in their bedroom or kitchen table to be in front of a zoom for 8 hours a day, the least you could do is stop pretending all of this is okay. Since school has started, my daughter eats more. Know why? Because breakfast, snack, lunch and then more snacks are included in the school schedule. My daughter wouldn't even think of eating this much if it wasn't "required". And guess who is administering all of this food? Certainly not the school cafeteria. I'm blessed. I admit that. I am able to stay home with my daughter as a single mom during a pandemic but damn! As soon as I get back into the groove of work, here she comes running down the stairs with an issue of not being able to log into one of her fifty-thousand zoom classes. And that's the other thing - Why so many usernames and passwords? As an adult I'm already drowning in username/password combo hell. Can we just have all the teachers enter the same room at their designated time? Who came up with this plan? I need to speak to the manager STAT. Anyone else feeling this way? Anybody?
By Alyssa Johnson4 years ago in Education