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supplementing and complementing...

after reading and commenting on fellow MACer megan getz's post about video games and the classroom (http://meggetz.blogspot.com/2009/11/video-games-for-english-classroom.html), my wheels have started turning. unfortunately, i was not in class for the point-counterpoint on the issue of video games in teaching, so forgive me if my musings move too far outside the dialogue that occurred on friday... but when i think of video games in relation to my students, i'm reminded of the conversations i've had with several kids about gaming systems and the new "modern warfare 2."  i wonder, how can i integrate outside materials that are relevant to my students into a lesson or unit that has nothing to do with their daily lives? 

not to sound cynical, but much of the content required for tenth grade english falls short when it comes to getting students excited about school... so when i had the chance to choose a novel to teach in the winter term, i went out on a limb and started planning on Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. its action, language, and protagonist (to name a few things) seemed interesting enough to lure some disinterested 15-year-olds to the world of reading. yet what really drew me to the novel was its recent revival in the land of popular culture- with a new comic book series based on the main character, Ender, a feature-length film in the works, and the possibility of a related video game, i felt the possibilities for student engagement endless!

however, how can i implement these comic books, movies, and video games within the constraints of a unit? there will always be the students who read the assigned material, and a subsection of these kids who go above and beyond class requirements and look into suggested resources like the pop culture items listed above... my questions and concerns in this post are more focused on the students who generally do not participate or buy into school: could these resources be a way to help these disinterested students get into english class? and what do i do if (and likely when) these same students pick up on the complementary materials but neglect the assigned text? as a young educator, i'm tempted to encourage whatever participation i can from my too-cool-for-school pupils, even if they just read the comic book in lieu of the novel... perhaps, if lauded for their attention to the comic books, movies, and video games, these same students will give the book a try? 

an experiment in live-blogging: top chef

hey y'all... i'm gonna give this live-blogging thing a shot tonight with a play-by-play of "top chef," season 6, episode 11. and, since robin's still around, things might get ugly!