Gotta Stay Fresh: Why We Need Hip-Hop in Schools (Free Spirit Professional®)
Description
Hip-hop education helps teachers engage and connect with all learners
By infusing lessons with content that is relevant to students' lives, inspires their curiosity, and fires up their intellect, teachers can use hip-hop education to help students better take in information and think critically about concepts, inside and outside the classroom.
This must-have resource:
- Presents the what, why, and how of using hip-hop education in every classroom
- Lays out five elements of hip-hop and maps them to instructional approaches and learning objectives, such as synthesizing new information, social emotional learning, cultural and linguistically responsive teaching, and arts education)
- Suggests an approach to lesson planning using the structure of a hip-hop song: use cultural references to inspire curiosity (Intro); engage students with core content through interactive experiences, exploratory activities, and games (Verse); ensure that students comprehend the information and can demonstrate their knowledge (Coda); and provide differentiation options (Remix)
Fondly known as the Fresh Professor, James Miles uses classroom anecdotes, personal storytelling, and easy-to-grasp ideas to engage and inspire teachers to integrate hip-hop concepts and ideas into their classrooms, even if they aren't familiar with the approach (or the music), so students feel like they belong and their voice matters, and so they're successful in school and beyond.
Praise for Gotta Stay Fresh: Why We Need Hip-Hop in Schools (Free Spirit Professional®)
“James Miles seamlessly combines his personal experiences, pedagogical perspective, and deep knowledge of hip-hop into a vibrant take on the modern classroom. I promise you’ll be fully immersed in not only the trajectory of Miles’s life and how it shaped his approach to education, but also how your own trajectory can shift to make a more meaningful impact in the classroom. Gotta Stay Fresh is a necessary and timely staple for your teaching library—a remarkable force for change!”
— Emily Smith Buster, blended & personalized learning program manager and proud Texas educator
“With his trademark wit and passion, the Fresh Professor uses stories, case studies, and neuroscience to reveal a hip-hop framework teachers can use to transform classrooms into student-centered spaces. Accessible and compelling, Gotta Stay Fresh is an essential (and superfly!) manual that belongs in every educator’s library.”
— Mike Kleba, New York state high school English teacher and theatre director, author of Otherful
“Yes! It is past time for the classic American art form of hip-hop to come to more classrooms, and James Miles can show you how in this fun and empathetic book.”
— Anya Kamenetz, author of The Stolen Year and DIY U
“Step into the dynamic realms of hip-hop education with Gotta Stay Fresh, the groundbreaking new book by James Miles, affectionately known as the Fresh Professor. As a longtime student, colleague, and fellow educator, I have witnessed firsthand over the past decade the transformative power of the Fresh Professor’s innovative teaching approaches. Through the seamless combination of classroom anecdotes, storytelling, process drama, relevant easy-to-grasp ideas, and more, the Fresh Professor skillfully engages and inspires educators from all backgrounds to embrace hip-hop concepts in their classrooms. Even for educators who aren’t familiar with hip-hop music and culture, Gotta Stay Fresh equips them with the tools and confidence they need to create inclusive environments where students feel a strong sense of belonging and know their voices matter. Gotta Stay Fresh is not just a book—it’s a paradigm shift that will leave an indelible mark on the world of education, fostering a generation of empowered and inspired educators.”
— John Robinson, educator, artist, coauthor of Youth Culture Power?and?How Can I Move the Crowd?: A Classroom Activity Handbook
“James Miles is the personification of who hip-hop is as a professor—a fresh professor, I must add. The future of hip-hop education needs direction, and his book provides the literary GPS for where it’s going. Gotta Stay Fresh exemplifies the mindset of growing up in hip-hop, exhibiting integrity in looking good, sounding good, and having your own style and perspective that’s respected.”
— Vinson “Wordsworth” Johnson, artist, Florida middle school teacher, author of Socks?and What Words Are Worth Vol 1
“Fresh Professor’s book reinforces the need for bringing the CULTURE of hip-hop into the classroom. With ease, he brings the reader into the world of hip-hop culture and then makes an impenetrable case for why the future of education MUST include a hip-hop aesthetic.”
— Dr. Jason “J. Rawls” Rawls, artist, assistant professor at the Ohio State University, coauthor of Youth Culture Power and How Can I Move the Crowd?: A Classroom Activity Handbook