Using media in the classroom

Since I dont teach English, I dont teach about literary techniques or themes. And I probably wouldn't show the film adaptation of a novel unless it had some sort of historical relevance. I think social studies teachers are infamous for showing movies all the time, and while I try not to fall into that stereotype, there are so many nice, historical movies that fit into just about any curriculum. So outside of just showing a historical movie so students have a sorta visual of that time period, here is another idea. I was thinking today as I re-read an excerpt from Machiavlli's, The Prince, which we will be looking at in a couple weeks, that the whole "it is best to be loved and feared but if you can't be both, be feared" thing reminds me a mob boss. I thought that maybe we could watch a scene from a mobster movie or The Sopranos and then have them compare and contrast the philosophies behind both "characters". How does each make their decisions? What is important to each figure? Why? How do they interact with others?

The boys wear girl pants....not that there's anything wrong with that

There is a trend at my school that for some reason really intrigues me. I don’t understand it. The kids call them “Emos” which is short for emotional. At first, I thought maybe they had replaced the marginalized group of other emotional students, the Goths, but we still got some of those and they are not friends with the Emos. This clique or community of teens seems to stem from a particular style of music, (similar to Goths) but I think it would be interesting to study what other characteristics they share, such as family, socio-economic background, other hobbies, birth order(!?) anything really. Emo’s have a similar fashion esthetic and appearance, and, for some reason, are the targets of a lot of animosity from their peers. I wonder why? I know that teenagers are desperately trying to define themselves during this period of their lives and like the kids in the other cliques, the Emo’s aren’t that different, yet they still fascinate me. I recently helped one of my students (not an Emo) put on a concert for charity and 2 of the bands featured drew a big Emo crowd. I watched dumbstruck, at 3 dancing boys and began to wonder what else do they do? (I mean the dancing was really strange, a lot of failing and kicking and then pacing- so what other strange things do they do and more importantly, where did they learn it and why do they do it?)

I would want to interview the students and observe the activities they participate in, such as concerts, hanging out time, parties (a side note many Emo’s are often Straight Edge, which means they do not use drugs or alcohol). I would want to talk to their parents, other students in the building and staff. I would want to research about the bands they follow and interview them. Some challenges would be the students themselves, would they be able to be “real”. Teenagers, more so than adults, are ultra concerned with how their image so that would influence how they interacted with the interviewer. Another challenge is making it seem interesting to other viewers. I might be totally alone on my fascination with them. Also, adults might find the subject matter a little self-indulgent or trite. I mean they’re teenagers after all, who cares, right? They will grow up, figure out who they really are and then be mortified by their high school antics like the rest of us. Teenagers by design, are meant to be dramatic and so a documentary on this teen sub-culture might be a bit too much.

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