Pop Culture is Like...

I used to pride myself on the cool, pop-culture connections I could make for my students.

• Anarchy? The movie “The Purge”
• Empress Theodora? I ain’t sayin’ she’s a gold digger. But she ain’t messin’ with no broke Emperor. 
• Slavery? Have you seen the movie “Twelve Years a Slave”
• Mansa Musa? He’s like Bill Gates. Throwing money to everybody.
• Progressivism? There’s a giant metaphor in “The Wizard of Oz”
• Queen Elizabeth I? There are some similarities to Taylor Swift
• Her dad? Oddly, also some Taylor Swift similarities. 
• Committees of Correspondence? Like bloggers and podcasters
• Declaration of Independence? A break-up letter
• Confederation? Look at Star Wars

As a former Wedding DJ (and middle school dance-DJ), I was generally pretty well informed into the music part of pop culture. Some consistent upkeep with Entertainment Weekly and  -- bam! I had pop culture references for my students all over the place.  I was speaking their language!  

I did okay for a while.

But I noticed this nagging question in the back of my mind.

As I consistently worked to make my social studies connections relevant and fun, I noticed that I was getting older. (How did THAT happen?)  

And despite all my research, I ended up spending more of my time explaining the pop culture connections AND the content.

It took twice as long to teach that way!!

That’s the OPPOSITE of what I was going for. I was hoping that the pop culture reference would let us get through things more quickly!!

So, I recently had a revelation that is so simple, it’s crazy.

Stop making the pop culture references for the kids. You’re not a kid. Whatever pop culture coming from Snapchat, indie bands, reality shows, school rumors, Youtube sensations, or whatever ... They’re not all going to speak to the kids.

You’re not in high school any more.

Not even you, the recent-college-grad. :)

Life moves pretty fast. Your trendy grown-up pop culture references aren’t always as timely as you think they are, Ferris Bueller.

INSTEAD -- have the KIDS make the pop culture references FOR you.

This has three major benefits.

1. The kids are doing the thinking, therefore, it’s more likely to “stick” than me thinking for them.
2. The kids will use what THEY are into, which will instantly make it more likeable.
3. The kids will use references to what THEIR peers are more likely to get. They won’t get my Ferris Bueller references (or The Fault in Their Stars references) but they will get each others Riverdale references.  Or whatever they’re into.

It’s easy. You can even give them a sentence starter and teach the term “analogy”.

“__________ (concept) is like _______ (pop culture) because _________”

You can use this as processing -- OR you can use it as a formative assessment! Kick up your exit tickets and ask the kids to make a good pop culture analogy for you. It makes the pop culture more relevant and tells you whether the kids got what you wanted them to get. Plus, it makes the content “stick” in their brains better.

As you teach, ask the kids to make the pop culture references. Their pop culture is probably more likeable (by their peers) than yours are.

I know Homer Simpson is a perennial favorite. But most teens haven’t watched much (or any).

How can you use pop culture more? How can you have your KIDS do the thinking and making the references? How can you make pop culture work for you, even as you aren’t 17 anymore?

As always, let me know how it goes. Email me newmantr@pcsb.org

-Tracy