A Critical Case Study of Teacher Education Student Created Memes

Sarah Swafford
Gary Padgett*

University of North Alabama

Abstract

From Facebook to Twitter, social media has introduced the world to memes. Memes are an
innovative way to express an opinion or show true feelings without feeling pressured to answer
in a certain way. The methodology related to using internet memes has been around for almost
20 years (Downes, S., 1999; Heylighen, F., 1996; Knobel, M., & Lankshear, C., 2007), but no
one has yet combined it with the field of education research. Colleges of Education are already
reaching out to students via Twitter and Instagram, so using memes to gather information from
students is a logical next step. This article demonstrates how this has been done to improve
teacher education programs.

Introduction

The state of public education in the United States has been a growing concern since A Nation at
Risk (1983) was published. Since then, research has been conducted on students, teachers, and
even the layout of classrooms. In over 30 years of research, and the application of multiple
programs, the state of public education is still a concern.

The research has tended to focus on students, teachers, and the interaction between these two
groups. Teacher education programs have not escaped scrutiny, and new educator preparation
programs have been proposed and implemented at some institutions. Rarely, however, has the
research analyzed the perspectives of the pre-service teachers in the educator preparation
programs.

This article examines the perspective of pre-service teachers at a southern regional university.
This study was guided by the research question:

How do southern pre-service teachers view the field of education?

To explore this research question, the use of memes was employed to gather responses from pre-
service teachers. From Facebook to Twitter, social media has introduced the world to memes. In
the past, memes were relegated to street art and were seen as part of a subculture. Today,
everyone has access to making and viewing memes. Memes are an innovative way to express an
opinion or show true feelings without feeling pressured to answer in a certain way. Using memes
to gather qualitative data is an innovative and creative way to showcase the participants’
perspectives. The methodology related to using internet memes has been around for almost 20
years (Downes, S., 1999; Heylighen, F., 1996; Knobel, M., & Lankshear, C., 2007), but no one
has combined this with the field of education research.
Over the last 25 years, technology has become an organic part of everyday life that should be
utilized in education research. The next 25 years will be an exciting time to be a researcher
making use of this growth in technology. Colleges of Education are already reaching out to
students via Twitter and Instagram, so using memes to gather information from students is a
logical next step. This article demonstrates how this has been done to improve teacher education
programs and how this methodology will change and grow in the future.

Research Design

The research design for this study is a critical case study. As such, this critical case study will be
based on A Critical Case Study of Selected U.S. History Textbooks from a Tribal Critical Race
Theory Perspective (Padgett, 2015). In that case study, the questions of who, why, how, and
where are addressed. According to Janesick (2004) these are critical questions to answer before
conducting a case study. This critical case study analyzed teacher education students and their
perception of the teaching field. To analyze the qualitative content, this study relied on Rubin &
Rubin (2005) to break the content analysis into five steps. While their research is on interviewing
techniques, the basic principles are equally applicable to a critical case study. These five steps, as
identified by Rubin & Rubin (2005) and illustrated in Table 1, capture our approach:

Table 1: Rubin & Rubin Steps Toward Data Analysis

Step Action Purpose

1 Recognize Find the concepts, themes, events, and topical markers in the interviews.

2 Examine Clarify what is meant by specific concepts and themes and synthesize
different events in order to put together my understanding of the overall
narrative. This leads to elaboration.

3 Code Figure out a brief label to designate each concept/ theme and mark the text
where they are found. This allows for the easy retrieval and examination of
the data units.

4 Sort Group all of the data units with the same label together. Then, look for how
the concept was seen overall and examine for nuances.

5 Synthesize Put the concepts and themes together and show how they answer my
research questions and produce broader implications.

(Rubin & Rubin, 2005, p. 206-208).

Critical Case Study

Who

According to Janesick (2004), the first question to answer is, who? The population for this study
was comprised of students wishing to enter the teacher education program in the spring semester.
This population consisted of male and female, traditional and nontraditional, and secondary and
elementary education major students. The broad cross-section of students was selected because
the course they were taking at the time was a required course and allowed for a comprehensive
sampling of potential teacher education students.
This allowed us to gather data regarding how pre-service teachers wishing to enter the Teacher
Education Program viewed their selected career field. As students from a regionally significant
university known for its teacher education program, this population can serve as a representation
of this region’s pre-service teachers.

Why

Case studies are usually selected “because they are highly effective, not effective, representative,
typical, or of special interest” (Neale, Thapa, Boyce, 2006). The first quality of an exemplary
critical case is that it is of significance to the researcher (Janesick, 2004). As both researchers are
educators, a critical case study of pre-service teachers’ perceptions of the teaching field is
personally significant. Both researchers also identify as being from the south, so it is also
significant to teachers and scholars in that it reflects the southern region’s perceptions; a
viewpoint that is often overlooked in educational research.

As teacher education programs work to professionalize the teaching field, the perceptions of the
general public have to be taken into account as recruitment efforts, curriculums, and instructional
strategies are being planned. To do this effectively, it is important to take into consideration the
perceptions of those most effected – the students in teacher education programs. Collecting data
from this population will provide insight into the needed data.

How

Janesick (2004) and Mukhongo (2010) describe the importance of conducting research with a
clear set of questions to guide the research. Janesick (2004) states the questions should be open
ended with answers that are able to be interpreted. The research questions developed by the
research team allowed us to ask those open-ended questions as the critical case study was
conducted.

Where

This study was conducted in Lauderdale County, Alabama, the geographic location of this study.
Conducting the study in Lauderdale County, Alabama aided in the collection of data and allowed
us easier access to southern pre-service teachers. As part of the south, regardless of which
definition is used, conducting the research in and with southerners provided the research with an
authentic voice.

Analysis

In this study we made use of Rubin & Rubin’s (2005) five steps to analyze the data. The first
step was to recognize, so we looked at each meme and identified the central message. Once the
themes were identified, we moved to the second step; examine. To do this, we had to clarify
what is meant by specific concepts and themes and identify key overarching themes. In this step
we used triangulation to examine the memes. The first and second reviewer examined the memes
and then came together to examine the memes jointly. After analyzing all the memes, we agreed
upon five categories, including outliers. This allowed us to move on to step three; coding. The
results of our coding are found in Table 2 below:
Table 2: Coding and Synthesis of Memes

Category Number of Memes

The Passionate Teacher 17

The Blaming Teacher 18

The Lazy Teacher 14

The Struggling Teacher 34

Outliers 23

After coding all of the memes, we conducted step four; sorting. Each meme was analyzed for its
content and placed in one of the five categories. The results of this step can also be seen above in
Table 2. After completing the first four steps, step five allowed us to synthesize the results by
putting the concepts and themes together to show how they answered our research question. The
results of our synthesis are explored below.

Synthesis

The passionate teacher is made up of 17 memes that bring a positive image to teachers. These
teachers are open to new possibilities, excited about learning and teaching students, and want
their students to succeed beyond the classroom. They truly care about their students and believe
that they are role models for them. The passionate teacher loves the “ah ha” moment. When a
student who is struggling with their work and all of a sudden it just clicks, he or she understands
and has an “ah ha” moment. That moment is something that passionate teachers cherish and it
makes their job important.

The blaming teacher is comprised of 18 memes that showcase how teachers blame others instead
of evaluating themselves as teachers. Some of the trends we saw included blaming the student
for being disengaged, blaming the student for not following directions/listening, and blaming the
student for an easy way out.

The lazy teacher is made up of 14 memes and is our smallest category. We noticed that there are
many memes where the teacher is waiting for the holidays. They are excited that school is out
and are not looking forward to going back to see their students. This category also shows that the
teacher is showing up to work, but is not actually teaching.

The struggling teacher is our largest category, comprised of 34 memes. Classroom management
is a big trend in this category. The memes showcase issues about discipline problems. The
struggling teacher is unmotivated by the end of the semester. The educator feels there is not
enough time due to a number of factors including snow days, grading, grading, and more
grading. They feel like they are being pulled in too many directions. Although the struggling
teacher doesn’t push the blame on the students, he or she still feels student engagement is a
problem. One meme showed a teacher holding up money as if to bribe the students to pay
attention. The teacher feels overwhelmed because he or she gets no support, has parent issues,
and feels that common core is a struggle.
Conclusion

Every educator has his or her own perspective of education. Culture plays a vital role in how
every student learns and how they should be taught. The role of a teacher education program is to
prepare pre-service teachers for their careers. Without knowing how southern pre-service
teachers view the field of education, how can professors and universities know what areas to
focus on?

This case study shows that there are three negative categories and only one positive. This is
discouraging to find, and we would like to see all the negative connotations eliminated in the
future. Teachers should view themselves as the passionate teacher and strive to become that.
There were only a handful of memes from the passionate teacher category.

The largest category is that of the struggling teacher. As we can see, pre-service teachers value
themselves as underappreciated and feel they will have little to no support. The teacher education
program at the regional university where this study was conducted is currently restructuring their
program to include more authentic methods of teaching and assessment. By rallying community
support to to encourage more involvement with public school activities, we hope to deter the
negative aspects that pre-service teachers see.

References

Downes, S. (1999). Hacking memes. First Monday, 4(10).Heylighen, F., 1996.

Gardner, D. P. (1983). A nation at risk. Washington, DC: The National Commission on

Excellence in Education, US Department of Education.

Janesick, V. (2004). Stretching exercises for qualitative researchers. (2nd ed.). Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Knobel, M., & Lankshear, C. (2007). Online memes, affinities, and cultural production. A
new literacies sampler, 199-227.

Mukhongo, A. (2010). Citizenship education in Kenya: A content analysis of state sponsored

social studies instructional material.

Neale, P., Thapa, S., & Boyce, C. (2006). Preparing a case study: A guide for designing and
conducting a case study for evaluation input. Pathfinder International.

Padgett, G. (2015). A Critical Case Study of Selected U.S. History Textbooks from a Tribal
Critical Race Theory Perspective. The Qualitative Report, 20(3), 153-171.

Rubin, H., & Rubin, I. (2005). Qualitative interviewing: The art of hearing data. (2nd ed.).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications
 RESOURCES:

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www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-with-technology-articles/memes-and-gifs-as-powerful-
classroom-tools/

Memes and GIFs as Powerful Classroom

Tools
By: Marc Reyes, Kristi Kaeppel, and Emma Bjorngard-Basayne

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It comes as no surprise that the way we consume information is changing. Increasingly,
we are moving from text-based forms of information to visual ones, as evidenced by the
popularity of visual social media sites such as Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest. Not
all of these visual forms are vacuous as we might be inclined to think. Memes and GIFs,
for example, are more than just a way to pass the time while we wait in line—they often
offer sharp political and social commentary that functions as a coping mechanism for
living in absurd modern times. Rather than see these forms of visual media as leisure-
time pleasures, we believe they hold potential to engage students in class and provide
another vehicle by which to demonstrate concepts and communicate with each other.
Memes and GIFs are Icebreakers and Check-Ins
One of the ways we’ve successfully used visual media is as an alternative to the awkward
first day of class introductions that can be so nerve-wracking for some that they may feel
as if they’re hyperventilating.
Emma has her students find a GIF /meme online that they feel shows their personality
or current mood and has them copy and paste it into a Google Slide or Doc before the
initial class meeting. Then on the first day, she projects the images and students get into
small groups to discuss why they picked those particular GIFs/memes. Not only do
students seem to connect with each other faster with this technique, the humor of the
GIFs/memes appear to reduce anxiety and create a lighthearted, comfortable classroom
environment. Some students remarked that seeing the GIFs/memes before the first day
of class made them feel excited to meet their classmates.

A student felt this GIF demonstrated how he felt about taking classes during summer
session.
GIFs can also be used to convey how students are feeling about new material in a way
that may be more honest than a verbal response. Ask students to find a photo, GIF, or
meme that describes their feeling about a new course concept. If the majority of
students are using memes that show confused or overwhelmed faces, it may be time to
review.
Memes and Gifs As Ways to Explore Society and Culture
The old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words might be an understatement for
memes and GIFs that have an uncanny way of encapsulating social controversies. As a
way to begin to explore the cultural commentary around a topic, have students find
instances of memes, GIFs, or other images that deal with the subject and analyze the
underlying subtext of each. In our experience, this leads to a rich discussion and
connects course content to current events.
For example, the use of black people in popular GIFs also provides an entry point into
serious discussion of the appropriation of black culture by white people, a concept
known as digital blackface (Stark, 2018). Is the control of black individuals’ words,
actions, and body a cyberspace version of a minstrel show? Are reaction GIFs of black
people supposed to generate serious dialogue or are they being used solely for laughs?
In these instances, a gif allows deeper conversations around race, culture, media
representations, and the work produced by non-white bodies.

To Demonstrate Course Concepts

Moving up Bloom’s taxonomy from analyze to create, students can make their own GIFs
and memes to demonstrate understanding of a course concept. This activity can be used
in class as an informal and fun assessment technique. For example, the meme featured
here has the character of Dawson Leery from the 90s show Dawson’s

Creek crying.
A student could choose such an image to demonstrate their understanding of the
meaning of toxic masculinity in which showing emotion is thought to be unmanly. Much
like the art of summarizing, encapsulating a meme into an image with a pithy comment
is a challenging, creative task. Meme and gif generating websites
like makeameme.com make this process easy. Students can choose from a variety of
existing photos or upload their own.
We believe that GIFs and memes foster connections to students and signal that we are
willing to value the ways they regularly communicate. We clearly see a value in them as
we use them daily when texting and tweeting, so why not leverage their popularity in
class? For students anxious about classes, a familiar meme or gif can put them at ease,
make them smile, and even affirm their identities and create a sense of belonging by
referencing a piece of media they can relate to.
We encourage instructors to try using GIFs and memes in just one activity. If it goes
well, consider using them more frequently, such as a way for students to get to know
each other, explore societal issues and the surrounding commentary, and to
demonstrate course concepts. You have a potentially powerful new teaching tool literally
at your fingertips, so put it to use! We would love to hear what you tried, how it worked,
and share ideas about digital pedagogy.
About the authors
Marc Reyes is a doctoral candidate in the department of history at the University of
Connecticut. He also served as a graduate instructor in the university’s digital media &
design department. Marc is working on his dissertation and will spend most of 2019 in
India as a Fulbright-Nehru Fellow. Follow on Twitter @Marcus5F9
Emma Björngard-Basayne recently received her doctoral degree in Philosophy at
UConn, and together with Kristi Kaeppel she is doing research on the role of women’s
friendship in navigating male-dominated work environments. She works as an
Academic Advisor and Program Coordinator in the UConn School of Business. Follow
on Instagram @emmabjorngardbasayne
Kristi Kaeppel is a PhD candidate at the University of Connecticut and an instructor at
Holyoke Community College. Her research interests include teaching critical thinking,
de-biasing education, and women’s navigation and resistance of patriarchal work
environments. Follow on Twitter @Kaeppel or @UConnGCCI
References
Stark, Luke, “Facial Recognition, Emotion and Race in Animated Social Media,” First
Monday 23(9), 3 September 2018
Hess, Amanda and Shane O’Neill, “The White Internet’s Love Affair With Digital
Blackface,” New York Times video, Nov 28,
2017, https://www.nytimes.com/video/arts/100000005615988/the-white-internets-
love-affair-with-digital-blackface.html?playlistId=100000005552828
https://ischool.syr.edu/infospace/2012/03/30/all-of-the-memes-internet-memes-come-to-college-
campuses/

All of the Memes: Internet Memes Come to

College Campuses
By Ben Romy | March 30, 2012
There’s a new phenomenon that’s invading college campuses across the country. It is
capturing the minds and study time of the college population. The Internet Meme has
finally come to campus.
If you’re a current student at Syracuse University, you’ve more than likely stumbled
upon the SU Memes Facebook page by now. It’s a collection of commonly used and
original memes making funny observations about student life at SU. But checking my
Facebook feed, I quickly realized SU wasn’t the only school with a meme page. There
have been college meme pages set up for SUNY Binghamton, Baruch College,
Stanford, NYU, Ohio State, McGill, Oxford and countless others across the country and
actually, the world. Breaking news, images with funny captions on them are now really,
really popular.

How Do You Pronounce That?

“Meme” (rhymes with “dream”, also with “theme” and “cream”, just don’t say “meh-meh”)
is the scientific term for a unit of information that virally spreads cultural ideas within a
group of people. The term was coined by biologist Richard Dawkins back in 1976, in
discussing the evolution of culture. You can think of memes as a way to replicate and
spread an idea across a population, much like biological genes replicate and spread
genetics across a population. Memes are the cultural equivalent of genes. Because they
spread thoughts, not genetics, memes are not necessarily physical, and can be spread
through text, speech, video, or in the case of our college meme pages, funny captioned
images on the Internet.
The Internet meme takes this meme concept into the information age, spreading cultural
material at a ferocious pace never seen before. It is much easier for ideas to “go viral”
and become one with the collective cultural consciousness of society. You’ve probably
been affected by memes before; LOLcats, getting rickrolled, and Chuck Norris jokes
have all turned into commonplace cultural experiences that a good amount of the
Internet browsing population has internalized and become familiar with in their daily
lives. This is the cultural power of the meme.
College Memes

An important aspect of memes lies in their ability to evolve. This is how memes have
been able to easily integrate and adapt to the campus environment. Many Internet
memes consist simply of an image with some superimposed text, used to convey a
(usually humorous) concept. These images are then reused and re-captioned by others,
propagating the original idea of the meme but remixing it with a new flavor.
College students around the country have been picking up on these memes and
superimposing their own campus-specific humor on them. You’ll find plenty of user-
generated content on questionable dining hall food, sports rivalries, eccentric
professors, high tuition rates, social interactions, the lack of parking space, and many
other college experiences that the student body shares. Some content will be very
campus specific while some will be more relevant to college in general.

Joining the Meme Team

The explosion of college meme pages has been aided in part by the fact that students
can now quickly create their own memes using tools on the Internet. There are plenty of
resources out there that let everyday users create their own images based on popular
memes, such as quickmeme and Meme Generator. When creating your own, be sure
that you understand the meme’s original concept correctly, or else you might receive
some backlash from the community’s more experienced contributors. You can
use Know Your Meme to check up on what idea an Internet meme is spreading and
understand how it is used.
Internet memes, once more tightly relegated to sites like 4chan and Reddit, have now
become commonplace to college students. They’re now an enjoyable, hilarious, and
time wasting experience for the student masses, not just the savvy internet nerds. So
enjoy clicking through your college meme page and possibly even create your own
content. Just remember to enjoy memes responsibly. Y U No finish assignment?!
All images are from the SU Memes page on Facebook.

1. BOOKWIDGETS TEACHER BLOG

How memes can make lessons interesting

by Ethan Miller — Sep 13, 2017

Being a teacher is easy. All they have to do is manage a bunch of active kids
in the classroom, educate them, create lessons plans for the academic year
in advance, attend staff meetings, attend parent teacher meetings, grade
test papers, assign homework while taking care of their professional
development and a thousand other things. EASY. Yep, that sounds about
right!

On a serious note, I guess most teachers will agree with me when I say that
they have their hands full. And then there is the added pressure of making
lessons interesting to attract the attention of Gen Z students. While some
teachers go to great lengths to make lectures fun and engaging for students,
a lot of us struggle to find the zing factor that can make a boring lesson
interesting. Ever thought that the internet memes, the ones that rule social
media, can be just the tool you are looking to add some spice to your boring
lecture?

Memes, which are just funny images accompanied by witty one liners, are
really popular among kids as they often depict things that are highly
relatable in real life with a sarcastic spin to it. Here are a few ways to
incorporate memes into your lessons:

4 Ways to use memes in your classroom

1. Memes as icebreakers
Since memes are funny and relatable, they can act as great icebreakers
between students and teachers. One good meme is enough to brighten up
the mood of the classroom; they quickly and easily catch the attention of
students who were initially dreading what they thought would be a ‘boring’
lecture. Here are a few examples of how memes can be used as icebreakers:
 If you are a new teacher handling a set of students for the first time
 If you are a substitute teacher
  If you are the new Math teacher in school

These memes help students realize that their teacher isn’t an alien from
outer space who eats Maths formulas for lunch or who dreams of chemical
equations while sleeping. When memes are used correctly as an icebreaking
tool, it helps students to see their teacher in a different light and actually
appreciate their sense of humor. It makes it easier for students to bond with
their teachers.

2. Memes for classroom rules

Every teacher likes to define a set of rules for students to follow in the
classroom. And depending upon how the teacher introduces these rules,
students get to know a thing or two about the teacher. According to me, the
coolest way to lay out the classroom rules is through memes that reflect
your personality as a teacher. Here are few examples of how memes can
make classroom rules cool as well as let students know what kind of teacher
are you:

 The strict teacher

 The sarcastic teacher
  The nice teacher

3. Memes for introducing a concept

One of the biggest challenges that a teacher faces is to make students
excited about a new topic that he/she is going to teach. It all boils down to
coming up with a great intro for the topic that will get the students hooked.
Introducing a topic with the help of memes is an effective way to grab the
attention of your class.
If I am about to teach one of Shakespeare’s sonnets to my students for the
first time, I would introduce the topic by showcasing the sheer brilliance of
Shakespeare through memes.

Here are few more examples of using memes as an introduction tool:

 Introducing Algebra

 Introducing the concept of gravity

 Introducing Newton’s Laws of motion
The main aim of using memes as concept introductory tools is to help
students see the funny side of things and put them in a good mood so that
they are attentive and eager to learn in class. It’s important to keep the
meme simple so that it’s easier for the kids to understand without any
explanation. Avoid using complex examples in concept introductory memes
as it will fail to grab the students’ attention.

For example: If you are introducing trigonometry to your math class with the
meme mentioned below, you can be rest assured that your attempt to get
students interested has failed as they can’t understand the pun in the meme
since they have no idea trigonometry calculations require a degree to radian
conversion and vice versa.

4. Memes as tool for analysis

For years, homework has been used as a tool for students to summarize
their analysis of a topic and for teachers to assess the level of understanding
of each student. You don’t have to be Einstein to realize how kids dread
homework and feel uninspired to give their best on homework assignments.
Thankfully, I found that memes can make homework fun and interesting for
kids. Memes allow kids to project what they have learnt in a creative and
imaginative way.

Here are a few examples of how you can use memes for analysis:

 Memes summarizing Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet & Hamlet

By giving a few examples of how memes can be created out of a lesson,

teachers give wings to students’ imaginations and encourage them to have
fun with the topic. Keep in mind that memes are supposed to be used as a
simple tool to creatively put forth one’s understanding of a topic and it is
not meant for in-depth analysis or research. The internet is filled with plenty
of STEM and history-related memes that can act as a source of inspiration
for students to come up with their own cool memes on any given topic.

How to create memes?

While memes do sound like a fun way to make a lesson interesting for kids,
a lot of us might wonder - how does one create a meme of their own?
Thanks to the internet, there are a plethora of online meme-making
websites like Quick Meme, Meme Generator, ImgFlip etc., that have tons of
ready-made meme templates making it very easy to create your own meme.
All you have to do is add text!
3 Things to keep in mind while creating
memes
Social media is flooded with memes and it does seem like a good time to
introduce memes into classrooms as well. But there are a few things one has
to keep in mind before creating memes and encouraging students to use
them too.

Here are a few Do’s and Don’ts of teaching through memes:

 Avoid memes that promote foul language and cuss words. There are
plenty of memes online that provide clean humor without using
offensive images and abusive words. While selecting online memes as
examples for your lesson, be careful that they do not contain any
objectionable image or text in them. Even while encouraging kids to
create their own memes, lay down the rules to them and make it clear
that cuss words and foul language will not be tolerated in memes.
 The objective of the memes is to have fun but one should know where
to draw the line. Ensure that the memes that you use in the classroom
are not derogatory towards any race, culture, gender or community.
Encourage your students to create memes with an aim of having fun
with the lesson and not to offend anyone in the process.
 While making memes, please make sure that the image and the text
that you use have some sort of correlation. The image and text when
seen together should imply something funny or sarcastic.

In a time where teachers are constantly looking for resources to make their
lessons engaging, memes might just be the tool that you need to make your
students interested in classroom learning. I have mentioned a few ways on
how memes can be used in a classroom. If you have any other ideas on how
memes can improve student engagement in the classroom, then please let
me know in the comments below.

Author bio
Ethan Miller is an online ESL tutor. Apart from his passion for teaching, he
loves to write and holds a degree in creative writing. When he is not
teaching or working on his book, Miller loves to blog and is a huge fan of
educational technology. You can follow Ethan on Twitter and Wordpress.
Ethan Miller

https://www.bookwidgets.com/blog/2017/09/how-memes-can-make-lessons-interesting

Use Humor to Improve Student Learning

Generate excitement in your classroom, spark creativity and help your students improve
their critical thinking skills. How? Use memes! Memes — funny images or videos
containing text that are often copied and altered while spreading rapidly through social
media — can be a beneficial tool in the classroom.

Memes are very popular with students, making them a very relatable and engaging
medium. And since memes are fun, students may not even realize they are learning.
Students use both creative and critical-thinking skills while creating memes. Memes can
also spark complex conversations since they often deal with current events or social
issues. Plus, students gain technology skills in the process.

So how can you use memes in your classroom? Here are some ideas!

Communicate class rules and expectations

 Source: Teacher Memes

Use memes as a fun and different way to inform students of your rules and
expectations. You can even have them create their own meme to demonstrate their
understanding of those rules and expectations or to show what they think the rules and
expectations should be.

Reinforce what you are teaching

Post memes around the classroom or within your online unit that reflect current lessons.
This will not only reinforce your curriculum but generate excitement about what is being
taught. You can also have students create memes related to what they are learning. For
example, have students create a meme related to a reading assignment. This can help
them demonstrate their understanding of the material.

Increase vocabulary

Students can create memes to define or use new vocabulary. Have them put the word
at the top of the image and then a sentence using the word below.
Introduce new topics

Create excitement about new topics by using memes to introduce them. The memes will
also help you grab the attention of your students.

Break the ice

Get to know your students by having them create a meme about themselves. This is
also a great way for them to get to know you. Why not create a meme as a way of
introducing yourself to the class?

There are many tools QM members use to help their students create memes. Here’s a
look at some of the most recommended ones:

 Meme Generator: This popular and easy-to-use site allows users to create and
share memes. They can select an existing image or upload their own. Then, add
text and share.
 Imgur: This is one of the largest free image platforms on the internet and includes
its own meme generator tool. Users can upload a new background or select an
existing, popular meme to alter. The text can then be edited and the meme
instantly shared.
 Quickmeme: On this site, users can “Upload a Funny” to create their own meme
from scratch or “Caption a Meme” to select a popular image to personalize.
 Make a Meme: Make a Meme makes it super easy for users to create their own
memes. Browse through the thumbnails for the meme background image that
you want. Then click on the thumbnail to display a pop-up builder where you can
customize your text. Then, preview the image before finalizing it.
 iMeme: Looking for something a little different? Then iMeme might be right for
you. iMeme is actually an app for Mac OS X and Windows. It comes with over
100 templates, an image uploader, share options and several options that allow
users to customize their memes.

Please be aware, though, that most meme generators allow users to browse existing
memes. Not all content may be appropriate for students.

Have you used memes in your class? If so, we’d love to hear more including what tool
you use to create memes. Share it on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. Be sure to tag us
at @QMProgram so we can pass your resource along!
 Date Published
Mon, 01/22/2018 - 10:00

https://www.qualitymatters.org/qa-resources/resource-center/articles-resources/use-memes-for-
learning

5 ways to use memes with

students
 Log in or register to post comments

Sharon Serano
February 20, 2018

I love memes and enjoy sharing them on Facebook, Twitter or even emailing them to friends
and coworkers. But until recently, it never occurred to me to use a meme generator, a fun
communication tool, in the classroom.

For those who aren’t familiar with them, memes (pronounced meemz) are a cultural element
or system of behavior that is passed from one individual to another. They are often
represented by an image with a brief bold caption overlaid and shared on social media to
capture attention or elicit a quick laugh.
 One night while working hard on my lesson plans, my 14-year-old son decided to poke fun at
me by sending me a text with the following meme that he created:

I had to laugh because it was so true. And in that moment, I had an epiphany. What if I asked
my students to create math-themed memes? The next day I set out the criteria for The Math
Meme Project:

 The memes had to be their own creations.

 They could be about any algebra topic or about my class in general.
 Students could submit up to three.
 They could submit their creations to my school email.
 They had three weeks to turn them in.

Creating memes

I told them to use one of the many meme-creation tools available to make their original
meme. To get the ball rolling, I gave my students a handout with a few examples of math
memes that had been published on the internet. Other than that, I didn't give them much
direction because I wanted them to figure it out on their own.

Most students already had meme-making apps on their phones, but some students found a
few websites online to create their submissions. The students were able to create these
memes without any guidance from me.

If your students are younger, you may need to guide them through the process. The task of
creating memes is simple once you find the right tool. Meme-creation apps are easy to find
for laptops, tablets or smartphones. Search “meme-creation program” in the Apple App
Store, Google Play or on your laptop, and many options will come up, including Meme
Creator, Meme Generator and Quick Meme.

Warnings
It’s important to preview any meme program before assigning it to the students to avoid fees
or inappropriate content. Most meme-creation programs are free but some charge a small fee
for an ad-free version.

Also, some meme-creation programs show other users’ creations, some of which may be
intended for a mature audience. Review the meme-creation homepage before inviting the
students to the site. It might be best to avoid the webpage all together and just download the
app onto devices before the lesson.
Surprising results
By the time the due date arrived, I was delighted to find 38 students had turned in more than
100 memes! And I was struck with a revelation: Memes are a great educational device for
teachers and students alike to promote clarity, pedagogy and humor.

I was so proud of my students’ creations that I handpicked the best of them and included
them — along with my son’s and a few of my own — in a video that I posted on my YouTube
channel and shared it with my students.

The Math Meme Project 2016 video became a hit and has been viewed thousands of times by
people all over the world, including the U.S., Philippines, Hong Kong, South Africa, Malaysia,
Australia, Austria, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Mexico, Canada, India, Honduras, Tunisia,
Brazil, Germany, Turkey, Czech Republic, Philippines, Finland, Spain, Qatar, Romania,
Begium and Indonesia.

I used the same project the following year as an extra credit opportunity with my math
students. To introduce the project, I showed my classes the video from the previous year and
encouraged them to create their own memes. As a result, I received almost twice the
submissions as the year before. However, I ran into new problems with Math Meme Project
2017 video, namely having to be more selective to keep the video from being too long and to
remove those that had political leanings.

This project has inspired other teachers to replicate this project with their classes.
Bernadette Bogacki, a math teacher at Washington Township High School in Sewell, New
Jersey, tried it with her Algebra 2 and Pre-Calculus students. She said the students enjoyed
being able to think about math in a fun and imaginative way. “It helped to make the concepts
more accessible in their minds — less stressful in a way. They really enjoyed collaborating
with each other, sharing ideas and laughing in the process.”

Using memes as a tool

Here are some ways you can use memes in your classroom.

Create class rules. Make a meme for each rule and post them in the classroom. As an
alternative ice-breaking activity on the first day of school, ask students to create their
own memes based on the rules and share the best ones with the class or post on the
bulletin board.
Learn new vocabulary. Students can create memes to define or use new vocabulary.
Display the word at the top, and place the definition or a sentence using the word below.

Identify the novel. Students can use memes to dramatize a point from a novel or short
story they are studying. Teachers can break the class into groups and have each group
create a meme from assigned chapters in a class novel.

Emphasize a historical event. Teachers and/or students can import an image into a
meme-creation program and make their own meme with a witty subtitle.
 Use as an ice breaker for the lesson. Teachers can create memes as a simple way to start
the lesson with a laugh or ask the class to analyze the message. Students can also create
memes as a way to review the material.

Aside from being a fun and novel way to get student engaged in content, these assignments
can address the Creative Communicator standard, part of the ISTE Standards for Students,
which expects students to communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a
variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate
to their goals.

This is an updated version of an article published on the ISTE Blog on Dec. 2, 2016.

Sharon Serano is a math teacher at Washington Township High School in Sewell, New
Jersey. Follow her on Twitter @MrsSerano and check out her YouTube
channel www.youtube.com/c/SharonSerano.

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Debunking Education Memes, Part One

If there’s one thing the Internet likes to do, it’s criticize. “Memes” are the medium du jour, and our
modern education system by no means escapes their ceaseless heckling. Sometimes these
arguments are rational and based on solid reasoning; sometimes they are meant to appeal to the
basest of human nature. And so, in our modern-day online obsession with outrage, we must often
ask ourselves if we are actively engaging in thoughtful discussion that explores holistic truths or are
we hastily processing our gut reactions through a simple self-satisfying postworthy rant? Today,
Education World looks at some of social media’s most-shared memes that critique our education
system, explores both the truths and misunderstandings leading to their viral nature, and
recommends ways for educators to actively disrupt their messaging in their classrooms and greater
communities.
The suggestion: Standardized testing is ruining education.

The problem with the meme:

It is easy to see the polarities here. Teachers are asked to differentiate their curriculum to meet the
needs of individual students, and yet the state and national tests measure them against a standard.
In defiance to this idea, perhaps, there is a huge push right now for schools to embrace a “growth
mindset” in the classroom: that we measure our students not against a set standard, but in our ability
to “meet them where they are” and assuring only that they are making adequate growth in the
classroom. To this end, sure, Billy might not meet the grade-level expectations, but he will grow as a
learner each year.

The problem here, however, is that what we commonly refer to as the “real world” isn’t always
particularly differentiated the same way. That world demands a product: a standard expectation of
success. If you can’t climb the tree, you won’t be hired for the tree job. And if your student is
determined for that academic and professional track, well then as educators we spent absurd
amounts of time teaching elephants and penguins to get as far up that tree as possible, if only to
show them that they can reach further and higher than they could ever dream. In a very real sense,
the cartoon goes against the mantra of nearly every educator: “all students can learn”. We see the
paths to success, despite the odds.

We also use the data from standardized tests to help students decide if the tree is even their path to
their personal definition of success. Working with the fish, we might discover the ocean is where
their true passions and talents meet. The cartoon implies that a standardized test might be the only
way we as educators define our students, which is simply inaccurate. All data-driven curricula
triangulates standardized data with in-house-created assessments, behavioral data, in-class
strengths, personal and social data…All of these things are considered and compared to develop a
learning plan and realistic goal-setting to make a student’s academic and professional dreams a
potential reality.

Recommendations for undermining the meme:

 When reviewing data with students and parents, review multiple sets of data (including
observations) to create a more holistic understanding of your student.
 Make sure both students and parents know that their standardized test scores do not define them
as a learner. Instead, use the data as a discussion point. Make sure they realize that they can
make progress with these skills, as well as identifying other strengths they have as a learner
(including how valuable they are).
 Stress that the diversity of learners in our world is what makes it magnificent. There are many
paths to student success and you will be working with them over the years to discover their full
potential.
The suggestion: I’m never going to use this.

The problem with the meme:

This is a favorite, and has been since the dawn of public education. It’s funny, too, that the content
areas that get hit the hardest are those not utilized by the speaker. Business owners and engineers
complain about learning Shakespeare; journalists and therapists might rally against their Calculus
class. So be it. And on and on it goes. Sometimes, we have to remember that the entirety of the
school system you graduated from was not in existence just for you: it was created for all of us.
Think of it as a survey of life that you had the rare opportunity to sample before making your
choices…Not the worst thing in the world. What felt meaningless to you might have ignited a passion
in a classmate.

And if we’re being quite honest, very few of us knew for certain which skills we were going to need
past high school. It is a complaint that can only be made retroactively. How quickly we transition
from “rock star” to “veterinarian” to “chef” to “paraprofessional” as we explore the working world as a
young adult. The public education system is designed with the goal of making sure that students
receive a well-rounded education that prepares them for whatever our ever-changing world might
demand of its workforce. The truth is, you don’t know what you’ll need and not need, and our
education system is accommodating that. You might not use it all, but we want you to be able to
have it if you need to access it. We want a student’s life to be filled with options, not limitations.

Even past recognition of the unknown, one can make the argument that the habits of mind you learn
in the process of succeeding in a content area is more important than the content area itself. You
might not ever write a formal argumentative essay, but if you haven’t developed the habit of using
evidence to support tour conclusions, you will in all likelihood struggle with making sense of the
world you live in. The benefits of your trigonometry course might not be the content directly, but did
you learn key skills for tackling and overcoming challenges that feel impossible? Did you learn how
you learn? Unfortunately, it’s often difficult to see the correlation between our learning practices and
who we later become, yet those soft skills often find root in some of the more challenging aspects of
the learning process.

Recommendations for undermining the meme:

 Speak to students directly about how drastically the prioritized skills of the work world change
over time. This variability puts emphasis both on a more holistic education and learning more
general “habits of mind and work”.
 Talk very explicitly about how working on a complicated math problem or organizing an essay is
not just about completing the task or product. Talk about all the transferable skills students
acquire in the process.
 Do some career research with students. They are often surprised by how much math a graphic
artist has to use. Or how much a lawyer or doctor has to write. The more you can connect this
review with the interests of your particular students, the better.
The suggestion: Schools don’t teach the “real stuff”.

The problem with the meme:

This is another popular complaint against general public education, yet might not be fully
acknowledging the drives of modern pedagogy. Whether your local school system is embracing
these changes is a different story. However, the push for applicable, relevant, and authentic learning
can be found in nearly every published educational document in the past decade.

The widely-adopted Common Core State Standards, history students are asked to “compare the
point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which
details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts,” including “where the text leaves
matter uncertain,” which asks that educators expand how different accounts of history have shaped
our perception of that history, as well as recognizing where things are up for interpretation. In the
Standards for Mathematical Practice, educators are asked to get their students to “apply the
mathematics they know to solve problems arising in everyday life, society, and the workplace.”
Keeping in mind the unknown of tomorrow’s work world, English/Language Arts even asks educators
to create “a new urgency for students to be adaptable in response to change.” In short, the
education occurring in modern classrooms are already tasked with being relevant, contemporary,
and directly applicable to the world well beyond the formal school system. If the content and skills
being taught are not meeting the needs of your community, it might be time to revamp your local
school system’s curriculum.

Recommendations for undermining the meme:

 Make sure your essential questions and daily objective are connected to life after public
education. Adding a “why is this important” section to all such documents helps student to
understand that relevance matter to you, as well.
 Do a curricular audit to check the relevancy of your content. Is there anywhere you can make the
content more authentic without sacrificing your alignment to standards?
 Small adjustments to your lessons—from creating a simple word problem about shopping for
groceries to debating a current local issue—can do wonders for helping students see the
connection between your classroom and the world they live in.

Written by Keith Lambert, Education World Associate Contributing Editor

Lambert is an English / Language Arts teacher in Connecticut.

https://www.educationworld.com/teachers/debunking-education-memes-part-one