Knowing a kid’s name is almost a prerequisite for genuine connection. Unfortunately, it’s not simple getting 100+ names down at the start of a semester. So, rather than relying on the latest app or some other means of over-complication, here’s how I quiz myself to get 100+ names memorized within a few days. (Also, for what it’s worth, […]
Instruction
There’s No Such Thing as Critical Thinking Apart from Knowledge
Without knowledge, critical thinking — or critical reading, or critical writing, or critical speaking, or critical listening — probably isn’t all that critical or all that good. Consider: Without geographic knowledge — the regions of the world, the world’s major physical features and political borders — and chronological knowledge — basic periodization schemes and accompanying dates […]
Fulkersonian Argument: The Mixture of Debate and Discussion toward which Pop-Up Debates Strive
In the introduction to Teaching the Argument in Writing (1996), there’s this spot where author Richard Fulkerson beautifully depicts the argumentative culture I hope to build my classes on each year: “…I want students to see argument in a larger, less militant, and more comprehensive context — one in which the goal is not victory but a good […]
An Expectancy-Value Pop-Up Debate
This is a simple pop-up debate activity meant to: support the development of expectancy-value academic mindsets reinvigorate pop-up debates if/when they become stale deepen students’ understanding of Fulkersonian argument (i.e., collaborative, argumentative discussion) give students a chance to practice Palmer’s PVLEGS Also, it doesn’t need to take long (doable in 20 minutes for a 30-student class), as there is […]
Purposeful & Active “Reading to Learn”
I can’t get the image of the nursing professor out of my head. I was at Davenport University in a panel session for professors there, and I was representing high school education. During the Q & A, this professor in the nursing program stood up and asked the following questions: “Why can’t students teach themselves […]