Gotta Stay Fresh

Hip-hop education helps teachers engage and connect with all learners

By infusing lessons with content that is relevant to students' lives, inspires their curiosity, and fires up their intellect, teachers can use hip-hop education to help students better take in information and think critically about concepts, inside and outside the classroom.

This must-have resource:

• Presents the what, why, and how of using hip-hop education in every classroom
• Lays out five elements of hip-hop and maps them to instructional approaches and learning objectives, such as synthesizing new information, social emotional learning, cultural and linguistically responsive teaching, and arts education)
• Suggests an approach to lesson planning using the structure of a hip-hop song: use cultural references to inspire curiosity (Intro); engage students with core content through interactive experiences, exploratory activities, and games (Verse); ensure that students comprehend the information and can demonstrate their knowledge (Coda); and provide differentiation options (Remix)

Fondly known as the Fresh Professor, James Miles uses classroom anecdotes, personal storytelling, and easy-to-grasp ideas to engage and inspire teachers to integrate hip-hop concepts and ideas into their classrooms, even if they aren't familiar with the approach (or the music), so students feel like they belong and their voice matters, and so they're successful in school and beyond.Hip-hop education helps teachers engage and connect with all learners.

Fondly known as the Fresh Professor, James Miles worked as an artist and educator in New York City for 20 years prior to moving to Seattle in 2016. Before joining the faculty of Seattle University as Assistant Professor, James served as the Chief Executive Officer of MENTOR Washington and the Executive Director of Arts Corps, prior to that. Originally from Chicago, Miles has worked internationally as an artist and educator, who was inspired to foment change after seeing so many children that looked like him get disregarded and treated like criminals by our educational systems.

In New York City, he was the Director of Education at Urban Arts Partnership, where he created the Fresh Education program that used original hip hop music and theatre to boost academic success in middle school ELA and Social Studies classrooms. The arts-infused and standards-aligned Curriculum Guide that he designed has been used around the world, and has inspired many educators and adults to shift how they teach, work with, and speak to youth of all ages.

James has facilitated workshops and designed curriculum for the New Victory Theater, Roundabout Theatre, Disney Theatrical Group, Village Theatre, Arts Impact, Denver Center, Impact Schools, and others. Previously a professor at NYU, James taught a myriad of classes, ranging from acting and directing to edtech and special education. A graduate of Morehouse College and Brandeis University, James has provided professional development to teachers across the world, and has presented at SXSW EDU, NYU's IMPACT Festival, New York Creative Tech Week, EdTechXEurope, Google Educator Bootcamp, and more. His work has been featured in media including Pie News, New Profit, Complex Magazine, Seattle Times, NPR, CBS, NBC, US Department of Education, and ASCD.

“James Miles seamlessly combines his personal experiences, pedagogical perspective, and deep knowledge of hip-hop into a vibrant take on the modern classroom. I promise you’ll be fully immersed in not only the trajectory of Miles’s life and how it shaped his approach to education, but also how your own trajectory can shift to make a more meaningful impact in the classroom. Gotta Stay Fresh is a necessary and timely staple for your teaching library—a remarkable force for change!”“With his trademark wit and passion, the Fresh Professor uses stories, case studies, and neuroscience to reveal a hip-hop framework teachers can use to transform classrooms into student-centered spaces. Accessible and compelling, Gotta Stay Fresh is an essential (and superfly!) manual that belongs in every educator’s library.”“Yes! It is past time for the classic American art form of hip-hop to come to more classrooms, and James Miles can show you how in this fun and empathetic book.”“Step into the dynamic realms of hip-hop education with Gotta Stay Fresh, the groundbreaking new book by James Miles, affectionately known as the Fresh Professor. As a longtime student, colleague, and fellow educator, I have witnessed firsthand over the past decade the transformative power of the Fresh Professor’s innovative teaching approaches. Through the seamless combination of classroom anecdotes, storytelling, process drama, relevant easy-to-grasp ideas, and more, the Fresh Professor skillfully engages and inspires educators from all backgrounds to embrace hip-hop concepts in their classrooms. Even for educators who aren’t familiar with hip-hop music and culture, Gotta Stay Fresh equips them with the tools and confidence they need to create inclusive environments where students feel a strong sense of belonging and know their voices matter. Gotta Stay Fresh is not just a book—it’s a paradigm shift that will leave an indelible mark on the world of education, fostering a generation of empowered and inspired educators.”“James Miles is the personification of who hip-hop is as a professor—a fresh professor, I must add. The future of hip-hop education needs direction, and his book provides the literary GPS for where it’s going. Gotta Stay Fresh exemplifies the mindset of growing up in hip-hop, exhibiting integrity in looking good, sounding good, and having your own style and perspective that’s respected.”“Fresh Professor’s book reinforces the need for bringing the CULTURE of hip-hop into the classroom. With ease, he brings the reader into the world of hip-hop culture and then makes an impenetrable case for why the future of education MUST include a hip-hop aesthetic.”