One of the challenges of getting lessons to "stick" is finding a way to hook students' attention. If they're interested in a topic, they're going to be more invested and you're going to feel more comfortable facilitating the discussion.

That's why I think this month's One Lesson at a Time lesson, "Oh Meme! Oh My!" from Oklahoma high school librarian Molly Dettmann, is such a powerful one. Students love memes, which Molly uses to her advantage, harnessing them as her central learning material to drive media literacy instruction.

Having positive reflexes when encountering information online is a valuable student skill. Visual literacy and textual literacy, and the interplay between the two, are important reflexes to practice. Molly's lesson exercises these skills in a fun and effective way by encouraging students to stop and analyze memes, rather than just laugh and pass them on.

Our conversation made me think that this type of media literacy is not just for our students—I can easily see this lesson being part of a presentation to school staff, and an entry point for the staff to engage students via a channel that isn't typically considered part of the curriculum. I hope as you listen and consider how you can employ this lesson with your staff and students, you find the ideas as inspiring and engaging as I did!

Here is a breakdown of our conversation:

Revisit our guests from One Lesson at a Time: Season One and our current season here!