Guest blog by Elizabeth Skinner.Teachers often complain that students today prefer entertainment to education.This is a total misconception.We seem to be forgetting one of the most crucial rules for successful education: engaging.
It isn’t enough to give lectures and expect students to learn. It is about motivating learners to learn the most. What can we do to achieve this? It is important to tailor the content to your audience’s interests.
Add some pop culture to your lectures so that the students can see the relevance of all the definitions and categorizations in the world today. This can get the students interested in what the teacher is saying during the lesson.
Pop Culture and Lessons
Video Games for Classrooms
Who doesn’t love video games?
Contrary to what many teachers believe, games are a great education value. Students will be inspired to “logically think” when a video game simulates a real world problem and offers solutions. The students can tell immediately that they don’t treat it seriously. Gamification has become very popular.
Consider introducing educational videogames in your classroom. It’s easy to implement if every student is able to access a device.
Work with Professional Writers
What else makes up a student culture? Online paper purchases. Although you may not agree with this, there is no way for students to stop.
You can use to your benefit. can pay EduBirdie to complete your assignment and discuss the results with students. They can describe the research, writing and editing process. Students will learn from their experiences.
Pop Culture Assignment Topics
Allow your students to select any subject they want when you ask them to write an article. Let someone write an essay about the history of Barbie. If the student has a passion for the subject, it could be an amazing project.
When you let your students discuss topics they are passionate about, their academic writing will be transformed.
Watch YouTube videos
YouTube has become a part of popular culture. YouTube stars inspire students of all levels. These figures have a lot of influence, and their fans tend to copy them.
This influence can be used to your advantage. YouTube has a lot of funny videos, but it also contains some amazing educational ones. Even silly videos can be used to teach science. Richard Hammond’s show Science of Stupid did exactly that. It worked!
Students can create their own video content
We should remind ourselves that students enjoy video content in all forms. This includes YouTube, Instagram Stories, and other types of videos. Telling them to make a video about a subject you teach can motivate them to do so.
Ask your students to go out in groups and explore the natural world. They can then make a short video explaining their findings.
Use popular trends to teach lessons
You may have seen the way Clay Morgan used a Zombieland story to tell a tale about post-war times.
He made history look dumb, according to some teachers. It’s simply not true. He spoke in the pop-culture language to get his students interested and engaged. This is not a new concept. It is a concept that every teacher should use.
You can use popular people and events as conversation starters
Imagine you are talking about health food. For a student of a certain age, the idea is boring. If you talk about the pros and cons of celebrity diets, and how they affect our bodies, then you will get their attention.
Pop culture can be a great source of relatable examples, no matter what subject you are teaching.
Use popular songs to teach lessons
It’s possible to repurpose songs in order to learn anything. Why can’t You? If Weird Al did it, then why not you? Imagine putting a lesson on history into a Taylor Swift song. You’ll find a way to make the song appropriate. Students will learn it quickly. The students already know the song, so switching out the lyrics will be fun.
Be careful not to violate copyright. It will be an assignment for class. The song should not be published online.
Make Learning Fun
A career as an educator can be a lot of fun, if you are willing to change your methods.
The perfect way to enhance a lesson is by adding pop culture. This makes the lesson more relevant. The students are inspired to be creative and it piques their interest.
Teachers should always be willing to work with students. You and your students can both benefit from the endless possibilities of pop culture.
These tips are only a beginning. You’ll find a new level of creativeness when you use popular trends to drive your lessons.