A 51-year-old teacher from Effingham High School in Illinois named Joe Fatheree has begun experimenting with different teaching styles to approach his students better. He eventually modernized his teaching by using hip-hop music and modern technologies to catch his student's attention.
Fatheree is an American high school teacher for more than 25 years. He soon found that some of his students are not responding well to his teachings. Lately, he discovered new methods to catch their attention, according to The Straits Times.
"I am constantly searching for new ways to connect the curriculum to the real world in order to engage my students in the learning process," he said. "I saw the rise of hip-hop as a way of doing just that. Early hip hop artists were master poets and storytellers who spoke out on a wide array of different social issues," he added.
According to Fatheree, many of his students saw little value in their education, who only endure school instead of embrace it. Fatheree has been nominated as one of the 10 finalists of Global Teacher Prize 2016.
According to Global Teacher Prize, Fatheree's students are now producing books, music and even short films to cover some diverse topics like bullying and poverty. He encourages them to use drones and Minecraft to enhance their building techniques. He even let them join some contests and won several awards worldwide.
Fatheree teaches media production. He combines project-based learning, work industries and local business. He even developed a program that encourages graduate students to develop start-ups that have been implemented 30 cities.
He also received an NEA Member Benefits Award for Teaching Excellence in 2009 and Illinois Teacher of the Year award in 2007. Fatheree led several projects that have been implemented to educational policies and practices at several national levels.
