I want my classroom to be a #HipHopEd classroom…I just don’t know how to get there. I have moments where I can successfully bring hip hop into my classroom, and it’s amazing! But then, I revert back to the more “traditional” way of doing things. There are times when I get bored with myself, so I can only imagine how my students feel. There are times when I want to apologize to my students at the end of the lesson. I feel like saying, “Hey guys, thanks for sticking with me. Sorry for boring you. I know this sucks.”
Throughout my student teaching my biggest struggle has been making the content relevant for students while remaining within the confines of my cooperating teacher. After all, I feel like it is still his classroom and I need to be respectful of his wishes and teaching style. I feel like sometimes I present an idea to him and he’s like, “Oh my gosh, who is this crazy chick?!”
But truthfully, even if I had my own classroom, I don’t think I would know how to effectively incorporate hip hop into my class everyday. I want the hip hop I bring in to be relevant and meaningful, not just dropped in for the sake of having hip hop in my lesson. There are days when it is super easy, and it happens naturally. But then there are days when I embarrassingly teach a lesson hip hop free; full of guided notes led by a powerpoint and attempted discussion based lecture(emphasis on attempted).
Over this short break I am preparing for the new semester. I have been trying to incorporate hip hop into every possible aspect, but I keep coming up short. It looks like Starbucks and endless amounts of coffee are in my future, because I refuse to give up trying until the bell rings for that first class of the semester.
The Urban Classroom Expedition 