A couple of years ago, I was a teacher at the University of Asia and the Pacific. Teachers oftentimes get a not-wholly-undeserved rap for not making the content of the subjects that they teach more alive for their students. And while there is a fine line between "dumbing down" the subject matter in order to play to the masses and truly innovative teaching that integrates the theoretical with "real life", I believe that teachers should never stop trying. Even well-meant classroom disasters are better than the apathetic droning of teachers who don't want to invest themselves in their classes.
Regardless of how people feel about the medium with which Lamar Queen communicates the content of his subject, I applaud attempts like these, which try to bridge the gap between languages heretofore alien to students and teachers: mathematics and rap music. Enjoy!
2 comments:
Very well stated! It seems rare these days that teachers can inspire, innovate, and at the same time teach actual content. It's great when teachers can find creative ways to do so. I remember taking a Shakespeare course in college (it was intense as that there were only 8 of us in the class) and I had a great professor that let the class act out our modern interpretations of scenes that made reading not only fun but it was an aid to better understanding the reading material.
Tweet, I couldn't agree with you more. Sometimes teachers have to let go and trust in their classes. Sometimes it doesn't quite work, but the trust is awesome stuff to build on. :D
Post a Comment