[Midori Sanchez]

LBUSD focuses on sectors; this means that within lessons we embed connections to the future workplaces and opportunities outside of school. One of the sectors is on Film, Media, and Entertainment that my particular SLC (small learning community) focuses on. Many of my students are interested or involved in music; often times I have several students at least in class that are obsessed with K-Pop even if they often don’t know what the lyrics mean.

While teaching “The Great Gatsby”, I used this sector to develop several lessons to explore music and dance of the 1920s while reading and where it can be found/seen today i.e. The Simpsons and Will I. Am. and Fergie’s “Bang Bang”. I believe that using “Twinkle” could be a fun way to engage more students that may not be fans of KPop as well as continue to drive the idea that the 1920s has an influence within the U.S. and worldwide. I can see a connection to the “American Dream” to the “Korean Dream” with KPOP starts; the idea that there are many ways to achieve success and to rise up the social class that Gatsby also strives for. Like the KPOP stars, Gatsby’s life seems to be a dream and perfect but there are sacrifices that he and the KPOP stars make: Gatsby sacrifices his reputation, friendship, puts any shot at love on hold for an unattainable woman, and even gives up his life and KPOP stars sacrifice their youth, their health, their social life, and are owned by their record companies.

[Midori Sanchez]

First of all, thank you to Professor Kim for her insightful lecture. I appreciated being exposed to more information on North Korean as well as South Korea. I am an English teacher and have had the opportunity to teach about WWII and the use of propaganda during the war to 8th grade students. I chose to do a mini unit on propaganda (past and present), and could see myself using the posters and the film "Lazy Pig" in the classroom in conjunction with looking at images from "Trust No Fox", an anti-semitic children's book, to show influence over children within the country; both film and images are something that my students could pick up even before the audio/text of a language they don’t understand. I agree with Donna that engagement in the classroom goes up when there is a mixture between images and film; they are also great ways to encourage “think, pair, share” to discuss findings and the author’s message.

Additionally, I saw a connection since I have taught a fairy tales and folklore class with “Lazy Pig” and the fairy tales from especially Germany; they both serve to teach important lessons/morals to children in a way that could come across as scary or disturbing to even adult audiences in the United States. This can also facilitate discussion and foster questions since the presentation and message of these pieces require putting on a cultural lens to better understand why the story needed/should be told.

[Midori Sanchez]

Hello!

 

My name is Midori Esmeralda Angelita Yoshiko Sanchez. I am half Mexican American, a quarter Japanese American, and a quarter English American. I am passionate about expanding my horizons through travel, taking seminars/courses, and trying both new and familiar foods. I attended CSULB for both my B.A. in English Education and Single Subject Teaching Credential in English; I am currently working towards adding on a CTE credential in Hospitality, Tourism, and Recreation.  I am approaching my fourth year of teaching English (I have taught 9th, 10th, and 11th grade English) in addition to two years experience teaching intervention classes at the high school level as well as teaching Hi-SET math at the adult school level.

 

I am excited to be back in the classroom so that I have more tools to take back with me to school in the fall at Millikan High School in LBUSD. Moreover, the opportunity to network with and learn from other teachers and professionals during this upcoming week is something that I am looking forward to.

 

See you all soon!

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