Welcome!

In our day-to-day lives as teachers—and as observers—we overhear snippets of our students’ conversations, talk that is often full of new buzzwords and phrases. We witness students check their text messages, comment on a photo on Instagram, and finish their Algebra homework—all at the same time. However, as teachers, we rarely get the opportunity to think deeply about our students’ engagement in social media, popular culture, and their specific ways of talking and being.

In this session, you will get exposure to theories of “youth culture," do a deep dive into a single instrument of youth culture (YouTube!), and get some ideas on how to integrate youth culture into your curriculum. At the end of the workshop, you will have the opportunity to further develop plans for using these elements of youth culture within your own context. Ultimately, we're going to invest in the idea that becoming attuned to the lifeworlds of young people can be a powerful tool for engagement in your classroom.