That kid in the gray shirt was totally paying attention. He was taking notes. Seriously.
So last week, armed with a bottle of Mountain Dew, I gave two guest talks at University of the Arts, speaking to students about social media, blogging, and the importance of maintaining an online identity in today’s briskly moving world of new media. It was a lot of fun, I spent more time answering questions than I did actually lecturing, so that was nice.
It wasn’t enough to just use personal examples, like Uwishunu or Geekadelphia with these students. After-all, these kids are artists.
I brought up other blogs, like Philadelphia’s Artblog, the Autumn Society artist collective, and even my good friend Jordan Griska’s personal website. I was stunned at how many students had actually heard of Jordan. Several recognized his sculptures. I suppose he’s an even bigger deal than I thought.
We talked about social media tools, how blogs can help you reach a bigger audience, and how an online portfolio can give some permanence to art that, in the case of installations or experimental work, is only temporary. In the end, I walked away happy that these students were fortunate enough to have a teacher like John Freeborn. It’s imperative to have an online identity these days, and I think these UArts students are going to be prepared.
Looking forward to giving future talks. Thanks for inviting me out, John.
University of the Arts
www.uarts.edu
I talk to my students about a lot of important people in my English classes. William Shakespeare, Jonathan Swift, Dante Alighieri, Christopher Marlowe, Darius Rucker… what? I’m serious. Not understanding the poetry of Darius Rucker is grounds for failure in my class. Look it up. It’s on the syllabus.
I love talking about plagiarism with my students for a number of reasons. I can express my opinions on academia’s standing on the matter, I establish trust with my students (I refuse to use Turn It In), and I get to play Only Wanna Be With You by Hootie & the Blowfish on my classroom’s incredibly loud speaker system, much to the displeasure of neighboring teachers. Sorry guys, Hootie needs to be blasted.
The case of Hootie vs. Bob Dylan (note: it’s not really called that) is probably one of the most unfair cases of plagiarism in the history of music, in my opinion. Only Wanna Be With You quotes Dylan’s Idiot Wind at one point, and references the song You’re a Big Girl Now. I like discussing this example in my classroom, because it shows students that even the most innocent incidents of plagiarism, like Hootie shouting out references to favorite songs, can have far reaching consequences.
We’ll spend a good half hour looking over major and minor cases in music, often by watching the accompanying music videos, and discussing whether or not we think it should be considered plagiarism. Students usually respond well to this, and I get to rock out to some Hootie. Best. Lecture. Ever.
Other musical examples I enjoy using?
- David Bowie & Queen (Under Pressure) vs. Vanilla Ice (Ice Ice Baby)
- The Rolling Stones (The Last Time) vs. The Verve (Bittersweet Symphony)
- Huey Lewis (I Want a New Drug) vs. Ray Parker, Jr. (Ghostbusters)
Have any I should add? Leave a comment, let me know.
Ever wonder, during the course of a semester, what your professor is looking at while he’s teaching? Up there at the podium, looking down at notes, flipping through papers? Well, here’s a look behind-the-scenes, at what my podium looks like on a typical day. The necessary supplies for teaching.
1. Mountain Dew – When you’re in front of a classroom, leading a discussion and lecturing for nearly three hours, you will need some energy. You could eat a proper meal before class, maybe bring in a salad or an apple… but that would be foolish. Foolish I say! Mountain Dew. All the way.
2. Neon Star Stickers - I give these out to students who make outstanding points in class. Sure, some students might find this a little strange, considering they are in college and not 3rd grade, but I took this out of the book of Dr. Bill Meiers, one of my favorite professors at Arcadia. You’d be surprised at how happy getting a star makes a student. Not pictured: Scratch & Sniff stickers. I was out.
3. Fudge Stripe Chocolate Cookies – A must for when the students go on break. Because really, nothing lightens up the mood like snack-time. Especially when your professor gets top-of-the-line cookies for break.
4. iPhone – For playing Canabalt during break.
5. Best American Non-Required Reading – Since the sample essays given in the textbook tend to be flat out dull, I choose to dish out exciting, humorous essays and activities, courtesy the Best American Series. From the Essays to the Non-Required Reading books, I always tend to find hilarious and moving pieces to share with the students.
6. Glasses – Because if I actually wore them in class, I wouldn’t look cool.
7. High Fidelity – I encourage my students to bring in examples of ‘good writing’ to share every week. I broke the ice with a passage from my favorite novel. “What came first, the music or the misery?” Sigh. Oh Nick Hornby. You are the man.
8. Lecture – Oh, and let’s not forget the actual lesson. It’s there somewhere, buried under the neon star stickers, cookies, Mountain Dew, and books.
In related news, this semester has been awesome so far.
Photo lovingly stolen from Google
Yesterday was the first day of the Spring semester at Peirce College. I did my usual sit-with-the-class-and-pretend-I’m-a-student shtick on the first day. I walked out of the class on my phone and came back in, immediately launching into a lecture, enjoying all the surprised looks.
Despite how comfortable I may seem in front of my students, playing these small jokes on them, I’m always incredibly nervous on my first day of the semester. My heart races as I show my ID at the door and as I walk up the stairs to the classroom. It continues to pound up until I start to lecture, a number of thoughts bouncing around in my head.
Will my students like me? Will I make a good first impression? What if no one shows up? What if they think I’m boring? What if they all fall alseep?
Often times, it feels akin to the way I felt during college as a theater major. But I guess that’s no surprise. Teaching is really like a good, theatrical performance.
You memorize the script (lecture), know the stage directions (walk around the class), draw the audience in (be passionate), give them a decent intermission (break), and send them home with something (homework / knowledge). I love it.
Sadly, I’m not teaching at MC3 this semester due to other engagements (a book!), but I’m looking forward to a fun Spring semester at Peirce. My students were active and engaged on the very first day of class, and many told me how their peers recommended me. That’s always a good sign. Must be doing something right.
Omg! Professor Smith brought us pizza! Yay!
During my years as a student, I always dreaded the final exam, and dreamed that one day, I’d be in a situation where the professor would do something really cool. Like, give me an A for refusing to write a final paper.
Me: Here’s what I think of your test, Professor! *RIPS*
Teacher: You stood up to me… that was the test.
Cue bad 1980’s synth-pop music, possibly Phil Collins
But alas, these sort of things never happened, and I was always handed one of those dreadful blue books. I loathed those, and as a result, I’ve never dished out a final exam in any of my courses. A final paper that my students can write at home… yes. That way there’s no pressure, and I get creative, well written, critical papers.
I do enjoy psyching my students out though.
Read More Post a comment (0)It’s Armageddon… I need Bruce Willis…
One of my favorite things about teaching is bringing new and clever ways of educating into my classroom. Most of the time, this means handing out bizarre and humorous essays to my students, or engaging them in some sort of wacky in-class writing activity. For examples, last week, I had several of my students proof read and correct a classic Prince of Nigeria spam email, in order to make it a more effective persuasive piece, since we were going over Persuasion and Argumenative writing.
This past class, I brought in a couple of literal music videos, a hilarious internet phenomenon that involves folks singing about what’s actually going on in the video. The students watched the original video, followed by the literal one, and we talked about how the language effectively changes what they are seeing. We compared and contrasted the lyrics, the videos, and the new messages.
I used Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart, A-HA’s Take On Me, and my favorite of the bunch, Creed’s With Arms Wide Open. The result was hilarious, and a wonderful learning experience. I can’t wait to do this in future classes.
I know I don’t update this personal blog enough, but I’m making it a New Year’s resolution of mine to update at least once a week from now on. For the most part, you can find me writing on Geekadelphia (we just celebrated our 3 year anniversary, thanks to our friends at Hewlett Packard), on Uwishunu, and Tweeting. I’m also hard at work on a new book, a travel narrative with my good friend (and recently budding stand up comedian) Glen.
The semester is wrapping up quickly, and it’s been a successful one, both in the classroom and out. My two courses at MC3 and Peirce were fantastic, and I spoke at Long Island University last month. I only have one more class at MC3 and Peirce College left. I genuinely feel like I learn so much with every new class, and I’ve been blessed with an administration that welcomes my creativity, and students who respond quite well to it. I’ll be sad to say goodbye to such a wonderful group of kids, but I’m already looking forward to next semester.
I guess it’s about time for a monthly update on here. I know, I don’t write on my personal blog nearly enough, mostly due to writing for my job and for my baby, Geekadelphia. That and I’ve been burying my face into anthologies of essays and travel writing.
This semester at MC3 has been fantastic, and teaching at Peirce College has proven to be both incredibly fun and challenging. However, I always find that the textbooks truly lack modern, unique, compelling essays for my kids. As a result, I picked up a lot of the Best American Essays collections, via eBay and Alibris, to hunt down pieces that I know my students will enjoy. Works that will make them see the FUN in reading and writing essays. After-all, there is a reason people adore Sloane Crosley.
I’ve also picked up a wealth of Best American Travel Writing. This month, I sat down to pitch a book idea to a possible publisher, and he/she absolutely loved it. Come Spring-time, I start work on a travel memoir. It’s an exciting time for me, and I’m trying to read as much travel writing as I can. It’s not enough to be excited. I have to be prepared. I’m leaving the details out until I launch the site for the book.
Things are looking up!
1. Heart of Darkness Mango Juice from Trader Joe’s? Check.
2. Dark Chocolate Cookies? Check.
3. Actual Heart of Darkness text? Check.
4. A Classroom of college students who feel like they’re in sixth grade again? Check.
Seriously, I love teaching. And yes, they actually do make Heart of Darkness juice at Trader Joe’s. Check out the label. Besides serving as a beverage for Heart of Darkness themed snack-time, it’s also my new favorite juice. Yum!
Sigh, only five more classes left in the semester. I really enjoyed teaching World Lit II over at Holy Family, as well as my wonderful students. This was my first time teaching a literature course, and they were patient with me as I learned to teach through teaching.
Looking forward to teaching World Lit I there in the Fall. Hopefully by then I’ll have my Beowulf tattoo. Woo!
My debut novel comes out this Fall. You'll be able to download free audiobook podcasts 
