Day 2 Reflection: Stay Puft

1) Charlesʻ encouraged us to find "one or two new things you can do really well for your teaching," during Bootcamp. One or two things. Oh Golly. Today, I saw TOO many things Iʻd like to practice. So share one or two or more new things you will be trying come Fall and why you think it will really help your teaching.

I've actually had the chance to play with some of the activities shared today, so as far as the new ones go (and I should limit myself to just two)... For the accelerated courses, I'd like to incorporate some of the short clips shown in many of your activities. The use of visual media and provocative 5-10min clips might keep students engaged in class, and hopefully keep them coming to class. I don't have the fancy high tech toys yet, but if I craft a PowerPoint really well with embedded links I think I can pull off a low tech version of the "Who Wants to be a Thousandaire". I'm still thinking if I might use the format for grammar and mechanics lessons.

2) Donʻt forget to share the best/promising/mind-blowing practice/assignment you shared today.

Flash Debates --- based on the game Argue.
Here's a link to buy it on Amazon (any compulsive buyers???)
http://www.amazon.com/University-Games-1070-Argue/dp/B000F6RWTG

RULES & FORMAT: Turn-based debate game. Topics decided by instructor. Judging criteria based on rhetorical concepts (Ethos, Pathos, Logos, Syllogisms, Fallacies, etc.)

Round 1: Students pair up (5 seconds). They choose which side to argue for (5 seconds). They get one minute to draft and brainstorm. One minute each to present their argument. They decide who was more persuasive (winner).

Round 2- x: Winners pair up and losers become judges. Judges decide who was more persuasive and explain to the participants their rationale.

Final Round: Finalists get two minutes to draft. I usually have the judges make a scoring card or rubric during this time as well. The finalists get one minute to present, and 30sec to rebuttal (I always have to explain what the word rebuttal means). We then discuss as a class, who was more persuasive, why, and reflect on observations made during the activity. Key points I make sure to discuss are:
1) Defining ambiguous terms, stakes, values
2) Organization of argument
3) Types of evidences used to support arguments (personal experiences, online research, hypothetical examples).
4) Argue vs. Persuade (what's the difference?)
5) Inductive logic vs. Deductive Logic (I usually make this the last point to discuss which becomes our starting point for the next class).

3) Remember that "exquisite corpse" exercise we managed to complete? Remember I asked you to choose one that really speaks to you? Write about that too.

"Moving in the classroom! How obsurd! I [love] it. Anything to get my students moving I like. Let's work on argument prompts!"

Hmm... OK ^_^
Please see my blog post titled "Flash Debate Prompts"