Why We Shouldn’t Teach Students How to Read Literature Like a Professor

Kendrick you do know my language, you just forgot ‘cuz of what public schools had painted” —Kendrick Lamar, “Momma” (2015) A year before COVID, I had a student named D. He was enrolled in my school’s on-level junior English class, which was generally a decently racially diverse class - D was one of like 7-8 … Continue reading Why We Shouldn’t Teach Students How to Read Literature Like a Professor →

Playing Video Games in AP English Literature and Composition – Why?

[This post is part of a broader project I'm calling "Pop Culture Pedagogy" where I write about ways pop culture finds its way into my classroom] Recently, I mentioned attempting to integrate video games in my AP class (along with hip-hop, and movies) in an online forum. Someone sarcastically compared this to having students read … Continue reading Playing Video Games in AP English Literature and Composition – Why? →

Dungeons and Dragons in AP Lit Part 4 – Assessment

[This post is part of a broader project I'm calling "Pop Culture Pedagogy" where I write about ways pop culture finds its way into my classroom] This was tricky for me because they were being asked both to create the texts they would eventually analyze, and then in later analyze them. Here’s what I did: … Continue reading Dungeons and Dragons in AP Lit Part 4 – Assessment →