FOOT: Make-up assignment

I have learned a lot so far this semester that will impact my future classroom teaching. I would really like to incorporate what I have learned about myself in my multigenre autobiography in my future teaching. One activity I would like to conduct in my classroom would be based off my interest in the nerd core rapper MC Lars. Since he raps about some literary texts, I would like to design a video project dealing with this idea. I would like to have my students take a text that we covered in the school year, perhaps a poem or novel, and have the students create a song or rap that covers what happened in the text and present it in a new way. It would be ideal if I could then get the students to create music videos to go with it. First, I would have them listen to some of MC Lars’ songs such as “Mr. Raven”, “Hey There Ophelia”, or “Ahab” to show them what I am looking for. Then at the end of the project, I would like to have the students show their music videos to the class and have the students hold a pseudo-Grammy awards ceremony.

In addition, all of the readings that we have discussed this semester will shape my future teaching. I would really like to use some the activities from Dr. Kist’s book at the beginning of the semester as icebreakers. I would also like to use the idea of a multigenre autobiography in my classroom but change it up a little. I would like to have the students work in groups and have each group cover a different type of text that has influenced them. For example, Group 1 would cover books, Group 2 covers TV, Group 3 cover Movies, etc. and then at the end of each week for the first x amount of weeks we would cover one presentation a week. I would like to include a writing segment with this exercise as well where everyone writes a reflection essay to end the presentations. I also have learned how to incorporate more forms of technology and different types of texts into the classroom. Everywhere I turn and I see something on the news, hear a new song, or look at a new website, I think to myself if I could use this as a teacher. If so, then how would I use it? I have gotten paranoid about using my EZ pass on the turnpike because of Little Brother. I also think that Little Brother might be something to use in class if I were teaching a unit on technology in literature.

Here is a video I found of Cory Doctorow, the beginning has a little bit of sketchy material when he talks about the "intimacy kit"