Promoting Academic Literacy in Urban Culture
Curate the Curriculum
Are you a Curator?
How do we as teachers curate the curriculum? To curate means to care. We have all wanted someone to care for us in some type of way to make us feel accepted, wanted, or important. But as teachers, that is our main role, to care about our students wants and needs. To be a "Caring Curator", we need to discover what they care about and inform ourselves on the particular topic then share with others what we have learned. After gaining knowledge on a particular topic that brings interest to our students, we ask ourselves these set of questions that will allows us to reach a goal in the curriculum while hitting the standards.
- Out of all the texts we could teach, which texts are the best?
- What combination is most likely to inspire students into "coming out of their seats with excitement, recognition, and identification"? (Elliot Johnson, English Teacher)
As teachers, we can incorporate their lives within the readings, sharing, and discovering ideas through multimodal texts. But before we can do this, we have to grasp their attention first. We can do this by providing culturally proactive reading choices that disrupt traditional, essentializing, or culturally inaccessible curriculum. In this, it is our job to encourage and promote the development of student choice in their reading.We need to encourage persistence when they come up against certain challenges. As a result, hopefully, in the midst of encouraging students to read about their interest, we develop our own passion for reading. How can we expand students' choices and perspectives when we have a curriculum and standards to follow that may limit our students' reading choices?
Teachers want to go out and get a good reading selection for their classroom but often times have to be approved. If they aren't, we need to be looking into why? There are some questions and concerns that you may need to evaluate to make sure you can give your students the best reading selections in your classroom.
- What texts are non-negotiable and why?
- Whose voices are privileged in the text that you are obligated to teach? Who is excluded?
- What texts are mos imperative in terms of presenting a range of beliefs, ideas, or questions for your students to consider?
- What complementary text might help increase the learning experience around the texts you are required to teach?
Can a student be a Curator?
We are to encourage our students to be curators for their own reading. Strategies are needed for this task of navigating through different texts that they are given o be able to understand the complex role readers should take on in today's world, using it as a social practice. One way to help reach this goal is to implement the Freebody and Luke's (1990) "four resources model of reading":
- Code Breakers - How do I crack the code of this text?
- Text Participants - What does this text mean?
- Text Users - What do I do with this text in this present context
- Text Analysis - What does this text do me?
When students are given a chance to create their own text, it allows them to relate to the required text in many different ways. When I was in high school, I hated my English class. While we read boring texts that I did not care about, I would sit in the back of the class and write in my journal about my life. I hated being forced to write about something I didn't have any interest in but I loved to write about my life and what was currently going on. I could later relate to some of the texts that we read in class. I could have only done that consciously. If required to relate real life to my required texts, then I could see how some things in my class were important to learn. This would have allowed me to be engaged and connected to my readings, leading to becoming a curator."Our role as readers is to help them, understanding that they are not only assembling texts, but discovering their purposes and practices for reading (and composing) as well." (Garcia and O'Donell-Allen, 2015)
Hip-hop Culture
How do teachers find a way to create meaningful relationships with students who come from different worlds?
When you look at young people in general, you see a generation who speaks and/or expresses themselves through there music. A way to bridge a gap between social relationships is through music. Specifically, Hip-hop music has its own culture and so many students center their lives around it, just like I do with the music I choose to listen to. The music I choose, goes along with a culture I live, believe, and even make my decisions around. Students do the same thing! What way to better teach them than to find out what they respond to or live by?
Morrell and Duncan-Andreade explain that Hip-hop represents itself as a voice for the urban youth. It was created for and by them. It brings forth the problems that this generation face day to day. Rap reflects on the hopes, dreams, concerns, and aspirations of urban Black youth. If you want to connect with your students, find out who they are listening o and being inspired by. A lot of rappers see themselves as teacher and he youth responds that why by acting out what they are teaching while promoting consciousness within their communities.
"The raising of critical conscienceless in people who have been oppressed is a first step in helping them to obtain critical literacy and, ultimately, liberation from oppressive ideologies." ( Morrell and Duncan-Andreade, 2002) pg 89
"The influence of rap as a voice of resistance and liberation..."
Incorporating Hip-hop in the classroom is very culturally relevant and it captures their attention because they believe in the words that are said to through through a song. They believe that this is their voice and that music is speaking for them. With that being said, Hip-hop can be used to bridge the gap between the streets and the academic world. We as teachers can use rap texts as discussion topics that lead to more thought provoking analysis which can lead to expository writing or a commitment to social action for community empowerment.
Three main objectives for Hip-hop music and culture in a classroom:
- Utilize our students involvement with Hip-hop culture to scaffold the critical and analytical skills that they already posses
- Provide students with the awareness and confidence they need to transfer these skills into/onto the literary texts
- Enable students to critique the messages sent to them through the popular cultural media that permeate their everyday lives
Questions:
How can we teach our students to be curators of their reading when we have o focus on standardized testing and other requirements and deadlines?
How can I implement this culture in my classroom if I may disagree with the negative role Hip-hop plays in society?
Will you, as a teacher, jump outside the box to ensure that your class is culturally sustained and stay connected with your students and their culture?
All the readings for this week come together to address a similar goal, we need text to be relevant of our students lives, that the text they engage in needs to reflect realities of their lives and experiences so that they can feel included and relevant. An important question that you asked is how we go about teaching our students to be curators when we have testing and other requirements to also be addressing. In chapter 5, they discuss the both/and approach with literature and how we should let students choose while also introducing them to texts. In the context of chapter 5 the both/and approach is used for relevant texts to students lives, but I think this approach can also be used for things like preparing for standardized tests. We can have students engage in texts that are relevant to them, and we as educators can also look at the canonical texts and find the ones that have the most relevance and meaning to our students. This would allow students to be curators of their reading as they still get a choice in what they read, but it also could keep students on track for testing with teachers pulling the most relevant canonical texts. I think the most important thing to realize though is that we need to start building our library now. The article by Riley and Crawford-Garrett really emphasized that need of pre-service teachers to start changing this literacy framework that has been in place for years. In my opinion though, I feel that we as pre-service teachers need to be experiencing reading these texts now to have practice with what we want to enact in our classrooms. One thing I feel I have not received in my pre-service education is practicing what we are told to enact. I can collaborate with others and find texts that are culturally relevant for students, but if I don’t practice reading these texts and analyzing them, then I still think I would be doing a disservice to my students. While I think articles that we read are informative and can help us see the need for change, I also think I need to have experience in real life.
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job including all of the key points of this weeks readings! Both readings had the goal of using students interests and things they could relate to, either through text or things like Hip-Hop to further learning and engagement in the classroom. I really like how you shared a personal experience that related to this weeks readings, as you were often bored in your English classes, and enjoyed writing about things you were interested in, but the teacher was not being a classroom curator with texts so it seems you lost interest in the class. By being curators of the classroom, or by incorporating student interests, or aspects of their daily lives, students will be more engaged and will be much more active in the teaching and learning process. When thinking about how to help students become curators and how that affects things like standardized tests, page 98 of Pose Wobble Flow has a lot of good insight. It suggests using text that students are interested in so they can develop an identity as readers, but that we should also provide opportunities for shared reading experiences, or else we "limit their access to others perspectives and contexts beyond our classroom." (Garcia & O'Donnell-Allen, 2015) I agree with this, as we need to incorporate students interests as well as provide different perspectives, academically challenging, emotional and cultural levels, and this in end would benefit them on standardized tests. To answer your last question, as a future educator, I plan to make sure my class is culturally sustained as we let students interests and cultures guide the class, they will ultimately be more engaged and active in the classroom and their learning.
ReplyDeleteGarcia, A., & O'Donnell-Allen, C. (2015). Pose Wobble Flow A Culturally Proactive Approach to Literacy Instruction.
Great job on this blog! I really like how you incorporated both readings and made connections between them. I also think it is great that you related it back to your own personal experience and how your views on English classes could have been different had you been given material that interested you. It is amazing how much more of a difference it can make in our education when we have a teacher that take the time to understand what motivates us and the way that we learn best. The way you felt about your English classes growing up, is the same way I felt when it came to Math and Science classes. I would often get bored and then frustrated, which caused me to stop engaging in the work. Because of this, I fell behind in these subjects. To answer your first question, "How can we teach our students to be curators of their reading when we have to focus on standardized testing and other requirements and deadlines?": If we take the time to get to know our students at the beginning of the school year, and understand what their home life is like and where they come from, we can better understand their needs. By learning more about what they're interested in and what motivates them to do their best, we can help guide them and keep them invested in their own education.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we should get to know our students. In my experience the teachers that invested in getting to know me are the teachers who’s classes I paid attention in. I think doing this does keep students engaged in their education which will show in their test scores.
DeleteI agree, Sophie! Getting to know your students has to be very deliberate but it becomes rewarding when we see our students taking interest in what were trying to teach them. I believe the best way to teach students to be curators while also creating lessons that align with standardized tests and other requirements is by allowing room for choice in reading, and also helping them to realize the different types of texts that count as reading (texts, social media posts, music, movies, etc.). By doing so, we are teaching students how to take agency over their learning.
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ReplyDeleteTo answer your first question, I think that if we teach our students to become curators of their own reading, the will have the skills to succeed in their standardized tests -- especially if we follow the Freebody and Luke's (1990) "four resources model of reading". If students can answer the four questions; "How do I crack the code of this text?", "What does this text mean?", What do I do with this text in the present context?", and "What does this text do me?", they will be able to understand any text given to them in a standardized form. Obviously, we can use hip-hop culture and diversified texts to teach them these concepts, then have them demonstrate that they can use them for texts similar to the ones they'll see on their standardized tests. I believe that if a student can answer those four questions, they will be able to interpret and make sense of any text given to them.
ReplyDeleteBefore this text I had not heard of a curator or thought about the different things a curator involved. When I read about a curator and their job, along with reading the article about Hip Hop needing to be incorporated into curriculum, I never thought about them going hand in hand. You can be a curator while incorporating Hip Hop in the curriculum. on page 90 there are 4 things that teachers as curators do. 1. Disrupting traditional text, 2. foster student choice in reading, 3. help students persist through challenges and cultivate your own passion for reading. Incorporating those 4 things into an educators everyday curriculum will help all students feel included, equal and will be successful.
ReplyDeleteBrinkley, I had never heard of a curator either. After reading more about it in Chapter 5, I was able to connect it to one of the hip hop articles. When the teacher presented a hip-hop song to the class, the student went home and examined another song that wasn't required for class and came back and wanted to discuss it with the teacher. I believe that could be an example of empowering a student to become a curator. Chapter 5 really pushes the both/and approach in the classroom. This is allowing to give the students choice so they identify themselves as readers. I think the teacher from the hip-hop literature article provided that student to find an identity in literacy because that student went an examined another song on their own. They were able to make a connection in class to the real world, therefore they wanted to learn more because it was meaningful.
DeleteBrinkley,
DeleteI think I have heard of a curator but I am not entirely sure. I love that you were able to connect it to the Hip Hop article and gave the example. This is probably one of the best examples I could think of connecting to it as well. This student was interested in it and made it possible to connect to it. I love that you brought up the four things that curators do. People may be curators and not even know that they are. Having a good connection to things makes it easy, as we have even seen our selves.
In regards to your first question, I think that by including texts that students are interested in would lead to even more vibrant class discussion about the standards. I think that the way teachers and schools choose texts is not always conducive to the classroom environment and to the understandings that students have about their world around them. I would imagine when reading texts like "Beowulf" or "Macbeth" many students would feel that they weren't able to relate to the information and therefore would tune out of the conversation, similar to what you, as well as I, used to do. The book Pose, Wobble, Flow says, "Reflecting the vibrant language that occurs in the "real world" in the texts you curate enhances students' capacity to effectively read, interpret, and interact in their civic world" (Garcia & O'Donnell-Allen, 2015). I think this quote parallels the idea of CRP and CSP in the classroom. By choosing texts that allow for more student engagement, they are seeing things that happen in the real world and they are able to form new opinions about such events. Though there are standards that need to be met, I believe that they could all be met with more culturally relevant texts and readings.
ReplyDeleteKati,
DeleteI agree that the way schools choose texts is not always conducive in the classroom environment or to the understanding of the world for students. I had to read Macbeth one time and it was VERY hard to relate and even read because the interest wasn't there and it just was dated (obviously). I think if teachers were to get books that their students could relate to, it would allow for them to feel like they actually could relate to others even if it is in a book. Having something that these students relate to and find interest in is important in text because you don't want them to struggle through it.
I loved how you talked about students reading about the real world and how I can form opinions that would matter. I haven't thought of it that way. This would be a great way to each our students how to address issues and speak against them using the knowledge they have gained.
DeleteI really like all three of your questions! It really made me think and I enjoyed that. To your first question, I was thinking the same thing when reading this article. I saw in the book that it stated, "When we forward a link, post and comment on an article in a social network, build a collection of inspirational images on sites like Pintrest, or share book recommendations on websites lie goodreads.com, we are actively curating online content for our peers, friends, family, and even unseen readers on the internet" (Garcia & O'Donnell-Allen, 2015). I feel like students are being curators and not even realizing it. I also think that we could teach them to do this if they find an interesting book, article, pinterest board, or post that interests them. This would be a GREAT way to do it and incorporate it in. To your last question, I will be the teacher to make sure that I am up to date on what my students interests are and what/ how they connect with their culture and have that in my classroom. I think having these things in your classroom will make it more welcoming for all of them and it will be somewhere they enjoy going. Showing that you have interest in this and you care will allow them to be comfortable coming to you and it will show that you care. Being the teacher that cares, goes a long way since students may not have this kind of relationship with someone outside of school. The second questioned you posed, I am unsure. I would like to see what others say and go from there and hear what they pose.
ReplyDeleteWow, I didn't even think or notice that quote! That is a great way to teach our students to be curators, by using what already gets their attention. It is great to show our students how we are just like them by way of how we use social media. This will allow them to see how common and interesting it is to actually post things or topics that they care about, showing their opinion. I could see thus being a class assignment where he class has a Pinterest board and all students have to post their likes, dislikes, thoughts, and opinion about a certain topic or book using memes, videos, or just their thoughts.
DeleteThe quote you used, "Our role as readers is to help them, understanding that they are not only assembling texts, but discovering their purposes and practices for reading (and composing) as well" (Garcia and O'Donell-Allen, 2015), speaks to me in a couple ways. I was always "good" at writing reports and more formal papers for school, but I definitely did not enjoy it as much as writing about personal stories or opinions about different topics. My favorite thing that my junior English teacher did was she always had a quote on the board when we walked into class and we got into our journal and wrote about what the quote meant to us or how we related it to ourselves. We could share it to the class if we wanted to, but she never forced us to. Then on Fridays we could have a free write and write about anything we wanted to. I think it was a great release in the middle of my day to write without the pressure of getting graded on what I was writing about. Our teacher would read our journal for a completion grade but that was all. I think this is an example of my teacher caring about us as individuals, because she wanted to see the different ways that a quote would speak to us, or about whatever we had to say on free write day. Now I still love writing as a form of release to this day because of that class.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing that about how your teacher used this journal exercise as a way to get to know more about her students. I had one teacher in High school who did the same. We got to share everything and anything with her, only she read our journals which was comforting. This journal is one that I got to share a lot of deep things I was dealing with, it felt comforting to know that someone new what I was dealing with out me telling her directly. Most of the time she would post small notes in our journals, she never judged us. I agree that this is a way teachers like the two we shared, care about their students.
DeleteI loved what your teacher did! As a teacher, going into middle school English, this is something that I would definitely use in my classroom! It helps a student know that what have to say is more important than what they are "expected" to say in a writing prompt chat has nothing to do with them. I want to teach on the value of their voice, thoughts, and opinions. This will also allow them to love writing because someone will read and maybe see them.
DeleteIt was very interesting to me how the book used the word curator. I have only heard this word when used in the context of zoos and museums, I never thought of a teacher as a curator. Your question about how can we expand students' choices and perspectives when have a curriculum to follow is something I wondered about also. Since often times the books we have have to be approved, it seems like it will be difficult if your views of a book that seems like students will enjoy, gets denied or deemed unfit for class. I agree with you and the book when it comes to encouraging students students to be curators for their own reading. This also seems like a challenge when programs like Accelerated Reader are used in schools. In the schools I have substituted at, Accelerated Reader is used when it comes to reading time in the classroom. The program allows students to read from a couple of different choices. Students are told to read and after reading the book or completing a set amount of chapters, they have to take a test. Teachers in the classroom use incentives to get students to get more points by completing test and finishing books. This puts students at a disadvantage since they learn to memorize what happens in the book and then recall that information during the test instead of analyzing the text and going more into depth.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience, I didn't hate my English class, but I don't think teachers tried to have us read books that could be relevant to us at the time. I liked to read and I didn't think much of the text when it came to how I could connect with it. We read the book, did some assignments along with it, then turned the assignments in, and in the end, we took a test over the book and moved on.
Your second question, "How can I implement this culture in my classroom if I may disagree with the negative role Hip-hop plays in society?", finding the positive things Hip-hop can offer to your students. Hip-hop hasn't always had a bad rep, artist like Kendrick Lamar have used their talents of song writing to create some great songs our students can relate to. We, teachers should find the positivity in everything, especially when our students love the music. We can bring in lyrics from some Hip-hops songs and use them to teach.
ReplyDeleteOne quote stood out to me in the Lauren Leigh Kelly article, " there was no recognition of hip-hop in the classroom. I found myself taking on a dual identity: I was hip-hop outside the classroom and student unsure it...only marginally involved in my own education." This quote should be an eye opener for all educators to allow students to express themselves in the classroom. This quote speaks the truth on how students really feel when their interest aren't being incorporated into the lessons. I really enjoyed when my teachers took the time to get to know me and have things I was interested in the classroom.
Wow, I really understand that feeling of "duel identity", not being able to really be yourself in a classroom. It really helps to see and have parts of your culture in your classroom so that you'd be comfortable to learn and to feel important and expected. And you're right, not all rap has a bad connotation. A lot of rap has an agenda or goal behind the message being said in the song.
DeleteAs a teacher it is important to stay in the know of what is going on. The second that we become disconnected from our students they may lose interest in us if we aren't keeping up. It is also important that we include some of their younger culture and even lingo within our classroom limits.
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