Pass Or Else!

“I think the big mistake in schools is trying to teach children anything, and by using fear as the basic motivation. Fear of getting failing grades, fear of not staying with your class, etc. Interest can produce learning on a scale compared to fear as a nuclear explosion to a firecracker.”  -Stanley Kubrick 

Fear of failing or answering to parents is not merely enough anymore to keep kids in line these days.  As a child my parents instilled the fear of DEATH, emphatically, if I did not do well in school.  The fact that my mother is a teacher and that my father had to farm to put her through college, is all the justification they needed to slap me straight.  I would get in trouble for coming home with "Bs" on my report cards.  I would be stripped of my leisurely activities and spanked.  It is for this reason that I am where I am today.  Students are no longer scared of their parents because of the fact that they know their rights.  I noted on the first week of my teaching career that interest is a better motivator then fear.  This is my reasoning for incorporating as much pop culture as I possibly can into my lessons.