Class Dismissed

Who's the best rapper?

"Who's the best rap artist?" This a question that one of Peter Nilsson's high school students wanted to answer.

For most high schoolers, it's subjective. Is it Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, or someone else? Students could debate the topic until they're blue in the face.

But what if those students could prove who's the best? What if they could come up with a qualitative answer? What if they could use computers to analyze rap lyrics and determine which rapper has the most significant use of internal rhyme?

In Nilsson's class at Deerfield Academy, they did just that.

Creating Knowledge

Nilsson an English teacher by trade but he has also helped students dive into the world of the digital humanities. In his class, students learned how to use computers to parse through massive amounts of text and answer questions that may otherwise seem unanswerable.

Nilsson calls it distant reading. And his students didn't stop their research with rap. They analyzed how Harvey Weinstein was covered in the New York Times, before and after the MeToo movement.

They also examined news coverage of their favorite sports teams.

"Part of the way that we designed the class was so that they would be able to pursue these topics of interest. And enable them to see these topics of interest from a new perspective," said Nilsson. "They start to realize that they are creating knowledge."

To learn how Nilsson is executing and teaching distant reading, listen to Episode 74 of the Class Dismissed on your favorite podcast app or iTunes. Nilsson offers more examples and directs us to resources for getting started with distant learning in your classroom.

Other Links in Episode 74

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Can You Show Netflix in Class? Copyright for Teachers Made Simple

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A Profound Impact

On June 8, 2018, Professor Todd Kennedy was visiting Spain with his wife. They were headed to dinner to try a dish they had seen Anthony Bourdain feature on his hit CNN show "Parts Unknown."   Walking en route to that meal, Kennedy and his wife heard the tragic news that resonated around the world,  Bourdain had died.

"It shocked me on how much it moved me. Because I'm not normally moved by celebrity deaths," said Kennedy. "And it shook me for days. Really, almost as if I lost somebody that I knew."

The impact of Bourdain's death surprised Kennedy. He considered himself a bit of a Bourdain fan, but he's by no means a "superfan."

A Bold Move

So Kennedy, who has a Ph.D. in 20th Century American Literature and Film, started to analyze why Bourdain's death had such a personal impact. And he realized all the brilliant ways Bourdain looked at cultural studies, film studies, and literary studies.

Professor Todd Kennedy. Credit: Todd Kennedy Twitter

"We talk about being an inter-disciplinarian and we talk about connecting between different ways of approaching culture," said Kennedy. "We rarely just take the whole enchilada and approach it in one go. And that's what Anthony Bourdain did every single week, and he did it quite brilliantly the more I realized."

So Kennedy, who teaches at Nichols State University in Louisiana, started thinking about ways he could teach a course about Bourdain.  He says it began as a hair-brain idea, but the more he mulled it over, the more complex and meaningful the concept of the course became.

In Episode 73, Kennedy tells us how he pitched the idea to his superiors and ultimately got approval for a three-credit course titled “Anthony Bourdain and His Influencers.”

So, it's happening. For real. And I doubt they ever let me do this again. So spread the word to interested Nicholls students: a cross-listed literature and film studies course on Anthony Bourdain and his Influencers @PartsUnknownCNN pic.twitter.com/eZXTcaWaIR— Todd Kennedy (@NSUFilmStudies) September 19, 2018

In Spring of 2019, the course will be available on campus and online. Kennedy says you can enroll in the online course even if you're not a student at Nichols.

To hear what reading and assignments Kennedy plans to open up his course with, listen to Episode 73 of Class Dismissed on your favorite podcast app or iTunes.

Other Links in Episode 73

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MIT has just announced a $1 billion plan to create a new college for AI

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Understanding Texts and Readers

Best selling author Jennifer Serravallo is already a rock star in the education community. Her previous books, "The Writing Strategies Book" and "The Reading Strategies Book"  have helped thousands of educators offer strategies for reading and writing.  Now, Serravallo is out with a new guide designed to help teachers make sense of reading comprehension.

"Understanding Texts & Readers" offers the tools for an educator to identify if a student is comprehending a book, even if an educator is not familiar with the book the student is reading.

Are They "Getting It"?

Serravallo says her goal is to make sense of something, that is sometimes hard to make sense of. There are many different viewpoints on what it even means to understand comprehension. Ranging from the Rosenblatt Reader Response Theory to a Proficient Reader Research, it can get murky for educators.

"Sometimes the classroom teacher is left thinking, what am I really looking for? What does comprehension look like?

Credit: jenniferserravallo.com

Serravallo says, "Sometimes the classroom teacher is left thinking, what am I really looking for? What does comprehension look like? What does it look like when a kid really gets it?"

With stories, charts, and examples, "Understanding Texts & Readers" quickly helps educators determine if their students are "getting it."

In the book, Serravallo offers a qualities of response mechanism, so teachers can look at a students response and identify if the student needs some support.

"If we know that a plot in a "level R" text is likely to have a flashback, then if a child is reading a "level R" text then we ask them to retell. If they're only telling us in sequence, we can know that they might be missing something in the text," says Serravallo.

The ultimate goal is to make reading fun and create lifelong readers.

"If you are not comprehending, then what fun is reading? And I think a lot of disengagement with reading is rooted in a lack of understanding," says Serravallo.

To hear our full discussion with Serravallo and get ideas for doing something similar in your school, listen to Episode 72 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or iTunes.

Other Links in Episode 72

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Spreading the Anti-Bullying Message

Mary Ann Mangini is an accomplished singer and musical theater performer, but she's also a teacher and mentor.

Four years ago, Mangini created a youth show choir called the FANTASTIX. The group travels around the Pittsburg Pennsylvania area performing at nursing homes and community events, but one of their programs is now resonating with students.

Last year, Mangini wrote, "You Are Worth It," a musical performed by her students, that tackles verbal harassment, cyberbullying, and physical bullying.

"It's (bullying) just such a sad epidemic, and it doesn't always stop at the school level, and it can carry on through adulthood," says Mangini.

Mangini says that "You Are Worth It" does get a little intense at times and says they've had a couple of kids cry during the show.

Mangini openly admits that even she has been a victim of bullying as an adult. And what better way to make a difference than to communicate an anti-bullying message from students to students.

To hear our full discussion with Mangini and get ideas for doing something similar in your school, listen to Episode 71 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or iTunes.

Other links related to Episode 71

Boys Don't Read Enough

As facial-recognition technology grows, so does wariness about privacy.

Florida teacher says she was fired for refusing to give students partial credit on an assignment they didn't turn in

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Liberal Arts in Crisis?

You don't have to look hard to find news stories and books questioning the value of higher education. Bryan Caplan recently published "The Case Against Education - Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money."

And on Fox News, Jon Stossel recently wrote: "What everyone's afraid to say about college and jobs."

Often, the liberal arts are a prime target of such criticism. Naysayers question the potential job opportunities a liberal arts degree offers. And in all honesty, we've even made similar comments on the Class Dismissed Podcast.

Making the case

Our guest on Episode 70 of the Class Dismissed Podcast sees value in the liberal arts and humanities. Dr. Andrew (AJ) Ogilvie wrote New Frames for New Futures: Translators as Metaphor for the Value of a 21st Century Liberal Arts Education, a research paper that makes a strong case for a liberal arts degree. 

Ogilvie argues that the current job market is in need of more liberal arts majors.

"Some of the challenges that places like Google and Facebook are facing are human-centered challenges," says Ogilvie. "On how people think about privacy, on how different groups of people think about what is moral, what is right and wrong."

Ogilvie says the kinds of knowledge many companies need right now is the not necessarily the kind of education you'll find in a textbook. He says that you need to be translating what your company does for your customers, clients, and stakeholders.

Translators

Ogilvie likes to look as those holding a liberal arts degree as "translators." He says translators have a real feel for how language works. They understand how arranging words and concepts can be persuasive.

For example, Ogilvie notes that taking history courses is not to just remember dates and places of significant events. He says that studying history is about understanding competing stories from the past.

"The way we tell the story about the past serves a particular purpose in the future," says Ogilvie.

To hear our full interview with Ogilvie Listen to Episode 70 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or iTunes.

Other links related to Episode 70

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For the past ten years, Dr. Andrew (AJ) Ogilvie has been working with students on writing and communication.

The University of Southern California professor knows first hand the challenges students face while transitioning from K-12 to higher education and in Episode 69 of the Class Dismissed podcast we asked Ogilvie about what writing habits he tries to get his students to break when they begin at the university level.

Know your Audience

Ogilvie says there are two things all writers struggle with, but they're especially common in the first year of college.

Audience Analysis

Revision

Ogilvie says teachers should focus on finding writing projects for students that are as real to the students' lives as possible.

"A really great example would be having students submit an op-ed to the high school paper," said Ogilvie. "Because the audience is their peers and maybe they have a particular concern or issue that they think would be addressed in an op-ed."

To hear our full interview with Ogilvie Listen to Episode 69 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or iTunes.

Other links related to Episode 69

Rethinking What Gifted Education Means, and Whom It Should Serve

Georgia school to ask parents to paddle students as punishment

Library of Congress Classroom Materials

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Physical Theater in the Classroom

Paul Rajeckas is an educator, performer, and choreographer. Rajeckas uses theater and storytelling to help students improve collaboration and interpret curriculum.

Rajeckas does this by working with students and other educators in his “Telling Tales workshop.”

In Episode 68 of the Class Dismissed podcast, Rajeckas gives us tips on how educators can use physical theater in the classroom so students can have a deeper involvement with general curriculum.

Listen to Episode 68 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or iTunes.

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How to be inclusive and authentic

Matthew Morris says that part of his journey becoming an educator involved a lot of reflecting on what school was like when he was growing up.

"When I was going through my experiences as a child and thinking about some of my friends, even some of own my family, my own brother. It was kind of saddening for me to see some of the outcomes now as a grown man.

Morris says that some many of those family and friends are geniuses in their own right, but he feels like they got the short end of the deal.

"I feel that education was one of the biggest impediments to their lack of quote-unquote 'traditional success,'" says Morris

Morris, a black male, now teaches middle schoolers in Toronto, he's also a blogger, speaker, and anti-racism activist. He uses his blog to talk about culture and education, with an emphasis on how black males navigate institutional settings both as students and as teachers.

In Episode 67 of Class Dismissed we talk to Morris about a blog he authored titled "10 Ways To Make Your Classroom More Inclusive of Black Students"

Morris tells us what he thinks is missing to make a lot of classrooms more inclusive, and he has some tips on things that you can implement in your classroom tomorrow.

Listen to Episode 67 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or iTunes.

Other links related to Episode 67

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Necessity or Obstacle

For some, your teacher's desk is a must. Not only is it functional, but it's also a symbol of your leadership and authority in the classroom.

To others, the teacher's desk is an obstacle; A barrier between you and your students. A large desk also takes up a big chunk of real estate in your classroom.

In Episode 66 of the Class Dismissed podcast, we caught up with Matthew Morris.  Back in 2015, Morris wrote an article about why he got rid of his desk in his classroom. Readers from all over the world applauded his post, which is on his website and Medium.com.

We asked Morris if he had any regrets about ditching his desk three years ago. Where does he keep his stuff? Where does he grade papers? And most importantly, what did it mean for his relationship with his students.

Listen to Episode 66 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or iTunes, and find out if Morris is still managing his classroom without a desk today.

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This week on the Class Dismissed Podcast we speak with an expert on using augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in the classroom. 

Jaime Donally writes a column for EdSurge and she’s also the creator of the arvrinedu.com website.

Donally helps ease us into some practical applications to try out if you're interested in trying AR or VR and she explains why you don't need to break the bank before introducing the technology in the classroom.

Listen to Episode 65 of the Class Dismissed Podcast on your favorite podcast app or iTunes.

All Rights Reserved. Class Dismissed Podcast 2018