Incorporating Media and Youth Culture into the Classroom.

We are a group of radical educators who want to create engaging learning environments. We know it is important to make sure our classrooms are student-centered. In focusing on our students we believe it is important to incorporate their culture in our lessons. A central part of youth culture is Media. We see our young people walk into our classrooms with their cell phones and ipods every day. We also looked at ways to incorporate media in our classrooms.

We do incorporate youth culture in our classrooms simply as a means of building up to the “real work,” but because we believe that young people use literary skills in their lives everyday. Sometimes we may use youth culture to teach the canon while other times we will use it to teach concepts. The challenge is in finding a balance in our teaching approach.

Two theories which were essential to our classroom are Howard Gardner’s "theory of multiple intelligences" and Ernest Morrell’s theory "linking literacy and popular culture". We thought in great length about our methodology and our practice as educators. We created an online “Wiki,” which is a Web 2.0 community resource for educators who want to share lesson plans and ideas for incorporating media in their classrooms.

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