Rated E for Educational Teacher Learning Network

Thanks for listening to Rated E. We’re locking ourselves away in a dark rooms with surround sound for the summer. Here’s a message about what’s coming next year.

When an disillusioned computer programmer stumbles onto a conspiracy that has enslaved the world he goes down the rabbit hole to find the answers he seeks. Thomas Anderson undergoes his awakening to become the chosen one. Assuming his new identity as Neo, his hacker name, he learns what the Matrix is, learns how to free his mind and fights the machines that have enslaved the human race. Despite having a severely compromised learning plan and receiving, at best, poor mentoring, and at worst being thrown to his demise woefully unprepared Neo will start to believe in himself. Will Neo single-handedly win the war against the machines? Will Amy get bored by Daniel getting too philosophical? How many times will Keanu Reeves say “Whoa”? Join Daniel Cohen and Amy Cotton as they plug into The Matrix.

When a pretty white woman takes a substitute teaching role at a school with students in precarious situations she learns quickly that no textbook on teaching is going to help her. Swapping her dowdy rags for a leather coat and some attitude, Michael Pfieffer gives all of the students an A, which surprises the back chat out of them. Slowly but surely, with a lot of missteps, she learns how to teach in a very tough environment with little mentoring support and a frowny-faced education system. It’s the episode where Daniel and Amy get very serious for a while because this film depicts something that is real – students whose hope at breaking the link between poverty and disadvantage is education. It’s the episode where we defend a film that has been maligned through the decades as a Hollywood trope of white lady saving black kids (which is still true, but there’s a lot more going on in this film). Hosts: Daniel Cohen and Amy Cotton

What do you do when you’re a twenty-something orphan who just blew up a prototype space station? Head to Dagobah! The ultimate spring break destination where the humidity makes your skin glow. As an optional extra you can be taught by a 900 year old swamp resident in the ways of the Force, a mystical energy field that does some pretty cool stuff. But will you be a good student despite having to get a dead ex-teacher’s recommendation? Nope, you’re going to argue with the greatest teacher the Force has ever known and you’re going to land your X-Wing right in the middle of a pond, despite being known as one of the best pilots in the galaxy.  It’s the episode where Daniel shows he knows embarrassingly little about the Star Wars universe and Amy demonstrates waaaaaay too much detailed interest. Will Amy be persuaded by the dark side that their teaching techniques are better? Find out now! Hosts: Daniel Cohen and Amy Cotton.

When a home-schooled pop-singer decides she’s going to go straight and attend high school, she’s in for a big surprise. High school is hard, and people are harder! Lindsay Lohan faces bullying, popularity contests, maths quizzes, romance and lots of metaphors in this kick-arse film that changed the slang a whole generation uses. Watch teachers walking on their hind legs, students walking on all fours, and a principal with no control over anything. It’s the episode where hosts Daniel Cohen and Amy Cotton fail to be funnier than the original material.

When an out-of-work, no-hoper rocker runs out of luck, he decides to engage in identify theft and misrepresent himself as a substitute teacher. What follows is a series of shenanigans not recommended in any teaching textbook, including unapproved excursions, inadvisable lesson structures and upsetting the parent body of a prestigious independent school. Slowly the hero’s heart is warmed by the students he teaches as he uses them to achieve his own musical goals, but will he win over the parent community, challenge the bedrock of pedagogical theory and win the rock competition? Our hosts Daniel Cohen and Amy Cotton find out in this episode.