Dungeons and Dragons in AP Lit – Part 2 – How I Set Up the Unit

[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] How I Tried to Make This Work in the Classroom [I will write more later about how the individual class days went as things got moving, and also how … Continue reading Dungeons and Dragons in AP Lit – Part 2 – How I Set Up the Unit →

Dungeons and Dragons in AP Lit – Addendum to Part 1 – White Supremacy – What Counts as “Literature”

[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] “What do D&D, the Odyssey and Hip-Hop Have in Common?” This question may feel strange because your vision of D&D may conjure up some very specific images of a … Continue reading Dungeons and Dragons in AP Lit – Addendum to Part 1 – White Supremacy – What Counts as “Literature” →

Dungeons and Dragons in my AP Lit Classroom – Part 1 – Why Did I Want to Try This?

[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] Part 1 - Where Did I Get this Idea? - Or - What do D&D, the Odyssey and Hip-Hop Have in Common? Ever since I first read The Singer … Continue reading Dungeons and Dragons in my AP Lit Classroom – Part 1 – Why Did I Want to Try This? →

Twice Inna Lifetime (Track 13) and Conclusions about Teaching

[This is the final part of a longer series – previous track - "Thieves in the Night"] https://www.youtube.com/embed/DZ7dlo3PWhk Reaching the end of these posts I'm brought back to the beginning, the first time I listened to Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star. I got to "Twice Inna Lifetime", about 4.5 miles into the 5 mile … Continue reading Twice Inna Lifetime (Track 13) and Conclusions about Teaching →

Interlude – Some Light in the Darkness – Student Adventures in Pandemic Podcasting

[This is part of a longer series – previous track “Intro” – next track – “Astronomy (8th Light)”] I’ve asked students to analyze Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star for the last three years - the first time came that winter was just a couple months after that first listening (right after the 1/6 insurrection, as a … Continue reading Interlude – Some Light in the Darkness – Student Adventures in Pandemic Podcasting →

What I’ve Learned Bringing Kendrick Lamar into my Classroom

[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] When Kendrick Lamar won a Pulitzer Prize today, I think more than a few people probably dismissed it as somehow the committee trying to be trendy but that … Continue reading What I’ve Learned Bringing Kendrick Lamar into my Classroom →

Teaching Students Past Moral Relativism – Some Experiences in a High School English Classroom

“That’s just like, your opinion, man.” Jeffrey (“The Dude”) Lebowski, The Big Lebowski In the Coen Brothers classic, the Dude is called “a lazy man… probably the laziest in Los Angeles County, which puts him in the running for laziest worldwide.” We laugh at the Dude’s outdated 60’s radicalism in lots of other forms. His … Continue reading Teaching Students Past Moral Relativism – Some Experiences in a High School English Classroom →