My mother is an English teacher...

[Good,bad,andrush]

she shows her kids Show Don't Tell (the song)

so that they will show in their writing rather than tell.

 

And my mother's friend, another Rush fan, teaches Red Sector A for poetry analysis before they read the novel "Night." He also teaches Subdivisions just for poetry analysis

 

Another one of my mother's friends, a Calculus teacher, plays guitar in class and he started playing Losing It followed by The Analog Kid...and then he puts the Starman up on his overhead while the kids take a test.

[ReRushed]

Finally! Rush's evil plan is finally coming to fruition! Bwahahahahahaa!!!

 

[Khan]

QUOTE (ReRushed @ Dec 6 2010, 03:10 PM)

Finally! Rush's evil plan is finally coming to fruition! Bwahahahahahaa!!!

I thought their evil plan was to money grab the world?

[GeddyRulz]

My brother is a popular American History teacher and huge hard rock/heavy metal fan. He often uses rock lyrics in his teachings... but oddly enough, has never used Rush. What up wit' dat?! He owns some of their albums and has seen them live a couple times. He's definitely aware of them and their intelligent lyrics, so what gives?

 

I had an English teacher who told each of us to select a poem, read it in front of the class, and then discuss it. He actually said, "Some song lyrics are okay, depending on the group. Rush is okay." This surprised me; he didn't strike me as the "Rush fan" type, but I guess he was still aware of the strength of their lyrics.

 

With the same teacher, I used the Apollo/Dionysus metaphor when writing an essay on Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler" and it blew him away. He thought I was some kind of genius for making that analogy; I doubt he knew where I got it from.

[CMWriter]

My American Government teacher is a big Rush fan, and he smiles whenever I put on a Rush song as background music to my presentations (and it actually hits.. "Manhattan Project" and "Territories" for a presentation on Harry S Truman, yah?) so that's neat. He's never brought them up though.

Trying to convince my Holocaust Lit/English teacher to play "Red Sector A" for the class some day.. just 'cause. I might try next semester because that's when we really jump into the Holocaust unit.

 

And when I walk around delivering passes for the guidance office 9th hour, I get lots of comments from teachers if I wear my Rush shirt, usually "cool t-shirt". Yeah, Rush ftw. 8D

[Jean Simmons]

QUOTE (Good,bad,andrush @ Dec 6 2010, 02:06 PM)

And my mother's friend, another Rush fan, teaches Red Sector A for poetry analysis before they read the novel "Night." He also teaches Subdivisions just for poetry analysis

Is that poetry analysis for dummies? Or to show how poetry has nothing to do with Rock lyrics?

 

When I was a young slip of a lass in the Lower VI, I read "The Trees" in the Senior verse speaking competition as my chosen piece to go with the set piece. I got nowhere, and the Eng. Lit. teacher was most dismissive and scornful of it. That was also the first time in my Grammar school life I hadn't made it to the finals of the verse speaking competition. Go Figure.

[Mara]

QUOTE (Jean Simmons @ Dec 6 2010, 07:18 PM)

QUOTE (Good @ bad,andrush,Dec 6 2010, 02:06 PM) And my mother's friend, another Rush fan, teaches Red Sector A for poetry analysis before they read the novel "Night." He also teaches Subdivisions just for poetry analysis Is that poetry analysis for dummies? Or to show how poetry has nothing to do with Rock lyrics?   When I was a young slip of a lass in the Lower VI, I read "The Trees" in the Senior verse speaking competition as my chosen piece to go with the set piece. I got nowhere, and the Eng. Lit. teacher was most dismissive and scornful of it. That was also the first time in my Grammar school life I hadn't made it to the finals of the verse speaking competition. Go Figure. Wasn't it the previous year that you got DQ'd from the competition for reciting the lyrics to "The Ball of Kerrymuir"?

[micgtr71]

QUOTE (Good,bad,andrush @ Dec 6 2010, 02:06 PM)

she shows her kids Show Don't Tell (the song) so that they will show in their writing rather than tell. And my mother's friend, another Rush fan, teaches Red Sector A for poetry analysis before they read the novel "Night." He also teaches Subdivisions just for poetry analysis Another one of my mother's friends, a Calculus teacher, plays guitar in class and he started playing Losing It followed by The Analog Kid...and then he puts the Starman up on his overhead while the kids take a test.

I teach AP Language and write Show Don't Tell at the top of the papers that are not effective. I had one kid ask me if I was talking about his intro or the Rush song. I told him both. Never thought to use Red Sector A before teaching Night, which I do with my tenth graders.

[Astromancer]

QUOTE (RushNut @ Dec 6 2010, 02:29 PM)

QUOTE (ReRushed @ Dec 6 2010, 03:10 PM) Finally!  Rush's evil plan is finally coming to fruition!  Bwahahahahahaa!!! I thought their evil plan was to money grab the world? Nah, the money grab was just a happy accident. It's all about the cultural spread and freeing minds, as if they were in the matrix.   OT: That's awesome. I live out here in Bum-f**k-Egypt (Waller, TX), and my teachers just piss me off sometimes with their lack of vision.

[Astromancer]

QUOTE (Jean Simmons @ Dec 6 2010, 05:18 PM)

QUOTE (Good @ bad,andrush,Dec 6 2010, 02:06 PM) And my mother's friend, another Rush fan, teaches Red Sector A for poetry analysis before they read the novel "Night." He also teaches Subdivisions just for poetry analysis Is that poetry analysis for dummies? Or to show how poetry has nothing to do with Rock lyrics?   When I was a young slip of a lass in the Lower VI, I read "The Trees" in the Senior verse speaking competition as my chosen piece to go with the set piece. I got nowhere, and the Eng. Lit. teacher was most dismissive and scornful of it. That was also the first time in my Grammar school life I hadn't made it to the finals of the verse speaking competition. Go Figure. Rush lyrics are better poetry than poetry...in fact, a lot of Rock lyrics in general go deeper and have more scope than any shit-ass "poet" in whatever century could hope to.

[cygnus_thegodofbalance]

QUOTE (Astromancer @ Dec 6 2010, 08:46 PM)

QUOTE (Jean Simmons @ Dec 6 2010, 05:18 PM) QUOTE (Good @ bad,andrush,Dec 6 2010, 02:06 PM) And my mother's friend, another Rush fan, teaches Red Sector A for poetry analysis before they read the novel "Night." He also teaches Subdivisions just for poetry analysis Is that poetry analysis for dummies? Or to show how poetry has nothing to do with Rock lyrics?   When I was a young slip of a lass in the Lower VI, I read "The Trees" in the Senior verse speaking competition as my chosen piece to go with the set piece. I got nowhere, and the Eng. Lit. teacher was most dismissive and scornful of it. That was also the first time in my Grammar school life I hadn't made it to the finals of the verse speaking competition. Go Figure. Rush lyrics are better poetry than poetry...in fact, a lot of Rock lyrics in general go deeper and have more scope than any shit-ass "poet" in whatever century could hope to. Um........no. Not in the slightest.

[CMWriter]

QUOTE (Astromancer @ Dec 6 2010, 07:46 PM)

QUOTE (Jean Simmons @ Dec 6 2010, 05:18 PM) QUOTE (Good @ bad,andrush,Dec 6 2010, 02:06 PM) And my mother's friend, another Rush fan, teaches Red Sector A for poetry analysis before they read the novel "Night." He also teaches Subdivisions just for poetry analysis Is that poetry analysis for dummies? Or to show how poetry has nothing to do with Rock lyrics?   When I was a young slip of a lass in the Lower VI, I read "The Trees" in the Senior verse speaking competition as my chosen piece to go with the set piece. I got nowhere, and the Eng. Lit. teacher was most dismissive and scornful of it. That was also the first time in my Grammar school life I hadn't made it to the finals of the verse speaking competition. Go Figure. Rush lyrics are better poetry than poetry...in fact, a lot of Rock lyrics in general go deeper and have more scope than any shit-ass "poet" in whatever century could hope to. Erm... As much as I love Pratt, I gotta disagree with you there. ^^; There are a LOT of really good, really talented poets out there. They each have their own unique style and bring what they can to the "table", per se. I can't name any off the top of my head (got Shakespeare on the brain.. ugh Hamlet) but they're certainly out there.   Neil's a fantastic writer, but he's not my numero uno favourite. At the same time, though, I can't think of any rock lyricists that do as fantastic a job with imagery and symbolism as he does. He makes you think about it. I dig that. And I'd certainly classify him as a poet.

[Gilbertk]

Best. School. Ever

[H. P. L.]

So Rush are teachers' pets. So much for rock 'n' roll being rebellious and anti-establishment and whatever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FoxxiStarr]

 

I teach performing arts and my kids are working on the lyrics from "Everyday Glory" for their practical acting exam. I used "The Pass" before too

[CMWriter]

QUOTE (H. P. L. @ Dec 7 2010, 10:17 AM)

So Rush are teachers' pets. So much for rock 'n' roll being rebellious and anti-establishment and whatever.

High school English teachers, especially the AP ones, love conflict. They feed off of it like vampires. They will purposely put a controversial topic/paper in front of their students and watch the sparks fly while they kick back in their chairs and send e-mails to the parents of their distraught freshmen students. They enjoy getting their students into debates with each other and pulling out the claws and...

Oh, oh wait, that was just my evil teacher.

But seriously, people get into it because debating is epic. I mean, look at us. We debate over the meanings of songs and our interpretations. It's like English class all over again.

[micgtr71]

QUOTE (CMWriter @ Dec 7 2010, 05:25 PM)

QUOTE (H. P. L. @ Dec 7 2010, 10:17 AM) So Rush are teachers' pets. So much for rock 'n' roll being rebellious and anti-establishment and whatever.                 High school English teachers, especially the AP ones, love conflict. They feed off of it like vampires. They will purposely put a controversial topic/paper in front of their students and watch the sparks fly while they kick back in their chairs and send e-mails to the parents of their distraught freshmen students. They enjoy getting their students into debates with each other and pulling out the claws and... Oh, oh wait, that was just my evil teacher. But seriously, people get into it because debating is epic. I mean, look at us. We debate over the meanings of songs and our interpretations. It's like English class all over again. Agreed that we love conflict, but in the medium of the classroom. I certainly enjoy having my students discuss things that they feel passionate about, but I avoid emailing parents at all costs. Parents can be the biggest stress whether they are the over-achiever types or the I could care less type.

[micgtr71]

Also, very few of my students know who Rush is...

[CMWriter]

QUOTE (micgtr71 @ Dec 7 2010, 06:12 PM)

QUOTE (CMWriter @ Dec 7 2010, 05:25 PM) High school English teachers, especially the AP ones, love conflict. They feed off of it like vampires. They will purposely put a controversial topic/paper in front of their students and watch the sparks fly while they kick back in their chairs and send e-mails to the parents of their distraught freshmen students. They enjoy getting their students into debates with each other and pulling out the claws and... Oh, oh wait, that was just my evil teacher. But seriously, people get into it because debating is epic. I mean, look at us. We debate over the meanings of songs and our interpretations. It's like English class all over again. Agreed that we love conflict, but in the medium of the classroom. I certainly enjoy having my students discuss things that they feel passionate about, but I avoid emailing parents at all costs. Parents can be the biggest stress whether they are the over-achiever types or the I could care less type. Haha, I was kinda kidding about that last part. I'm not sure what she did back in her corner while we would debate; probably looking up pictures of Kiefer Sutherland to add to her wall (not really kidding there ) and sending grade updates out. Everyone once in a while if people's voices were rising too much she'd speak up and go, "Okay, everyone, let's retract the claws and take a seat." (By that point about three girls would be out of their seats pointing viciously at each other, speaking louder and louder.. I was usually one of 'em.) Discussion really is vital in an English class, though. Too many of my fellow classmates never speak up, so it's like the same five people in every discussion. Even if it's not a debate per se, even just discussing individual interpretations of a story or poem can be quite enlightening.

[micgtr71]

QUOTE (CMWriter @ Dec 7 2010, 09:46 PM)

QUOTE (micgtr71 @ Dec 7 2010, 06:12 PM) QUOTE (CMWriter @ Dec 7 2010, 05:25 PM) High school English teachers, especially the AP ones, love conflict. They feed off of it like vampires. They will purposely put a controversial topic/paper in front of their students and watch the sparks fly while they kick back in their chairs and send e-mails to the parents of their distraught freshmen students. They enjoy getting their students into debates with each other and pulling out the claws and... Oh, oh wait, that was just my evil teacher. But seriously, people get into it because debating is epic. I mean, look at us. We debate over the meanings of songs and our interpretations. It's like English class all over again. Agreed that we love conflict, but in the medium of the classroom. I certainly enjoy having my students discuss things that they feel passionate about, but I avoid emailing parents at all costs. Parents can be the biggest stress whether they are the over-achiever types or the I could care less type. Haha, I was kinda kidding about that last part. I'm not sure what she did back in her corner while we would debate; probably looking up pictures of Kiefer Sutherland to add to her wall (not really kidding there ) and sending grade updates out. Everyone once in a while if people's voices were rising too much she'd speak up and go, "Okay, everyone, let's retract the claws and take a seat." (By that point about three girls would be out of their seats pointing viciously at each other, speaking louder and louder.. I was usually one of 'em.) Discussion really is vital in an English class, though. Too many of my fellow classmates never speak up, so it's like the same five people in every discussion. Even if it's not a debate per se, even just discussing individual interpretations of a story or poem can be quite enlightening. Unfortunately, I find that it is usually the same people in debate. I was kidding as well, but not really. I do not like to communicate with the parents. I still feel like a kid under scrutiny when talking to them and I am older than some of them.

[H. P. L.]

Very nice answers, mates, really, but my point (with more than a hint of irony, let's say it out loud), was that, back in my day, rock and metal were scoffed and HATED by the teachers. I went up to my english lit. teacher telling her: hey, Iron Maiden have this cool song about Coleridge we are reading now, and she replied: what, heavy f***ing metal? Sod off!

THAT was rock'n'roll rebellion in the eyes of a 17-year old in the 80s.

Now, I've read many times, even here, of people actually listening in class to the bloody song when studying the Rime.

It's great that the song gets "official" recognition, but where is the REBELLION in that???

[rushlady23]

When I was in high school, also in the 80s, we analyzed Jethro Tull's Aqualung in English class

[Finding IT]

QUOTE (rushlady23 @ Dec 9 2010, 12:08 PM)

When I was in high school, also in the 80s, we analyzed Jethro Tull's Aqualung in English class

I always thought that was a very brave song to write and perform.

[CMWriter]

QUOTE (H. P. L. @ Dec 9 2010, 02:57 AM)

Very nice answers, mates, really, but my point (with more than a hint of irony, let's say it out loud), was that, back in my day, rock and metal were scoffed and HATED by the teachers. I went up to my english lit. teacher telling her: hey, Iron Maiden have this cool song about Coleridge we are reading now, and she replied: what, heavy f***ing metal? Sod off! THAT was rock'n'roll rebellion in the eyes of a 17-year old in the 80s. Now, I've read many times, even here, of people actually listening in class to the bloody song when studying the Rime. It's great that the song gets "official" recognition, but where is the REBELLION in that???

I think part of the shift is that we're starting to see classes like "The History of Rock and Roll" pop up in schools (like my friend's... /ENVY) and all those people who were into/grew up with rock and such in the '80's and '70's are professionals and teachers nowadays. Besides, if you can relate something back to a student's life, chances are they'll learn it better. Legitimately good writing is good no matter what the background music is, and people recognize that.

It's not about rebellion. (Okay, maybe it kind of still is -- but that's not what I've seen.) But AP classes and college courses will probably all stay the same.