Page, M. A. (2012).
Popular culture: The new literacy challenge for English teachers. The English Journal, 102(2), 129-133.
The classroom dynamic has become a competition of whose information is more important: the quickly accessed and popular digital texts or the perhaps less popular print texts. In fact, contending with distracted students who are secretly texting their friends under their desks, while the author persists in teaching the classic print texts, was her daily experience. As if that wasn't enough, she also had to fight the movie versions and the seemingly endless supply of summaries and study guides that students often chose over reading the assigned text. Like so many other literature teachers, including Carol Jago, the author believes students need to unplug their digital devices sometimes and exercise patience and focus with, and even enjoy, books, but not at the expense of other texts. Teaching popular culture in the English language arts classroom will help today's students read a variety of challenging texts and learn to assess the messages they are receiving in their everyday lives.