Make no mistake, I enjoy writing this blog. It's a cathartic attempt at tracking what I do in a way that will be helpful to me in the future. At the same time, I wouldn't do this if I didn't think it was helpful to students. This is a two-way street, though, folks. In attempting to create a dialogue, I feel like I'm shouting at nothing, screaming into a void where sound is never returned my way.
If someone feels uncomfortable speaking in class, this should be the avenue to make your voice heard. A few people have made some jokes in class that I'm desperate for blog attention, but that's only partially true; ideally, I would like to see some activity on here that hasn't come as a result of bonus point bribes from yours truly. And then...THEN! I didn't even get one person making a single attempt at tackling a 15 point bonus opportunity despite having the window open for almost a week.
The blog will continue so ignore my existential online crisis. Getting more than the four people who have already made their voices heard to speak up would be ideal, though.
Frosh
Wednesday, you took a quiz on The Most Dangerous Game, worked on your map for the story of the same name and then took some notes on the Elements of Character.
Thursday, we continued taking notes on the Elements of Character. I need to revisit some of these notes and streamline them because some of the slides are very redundant. Your focus should be on knowing the difference between three pairs of ideas: direct and indirect characterization; static and dynamic characters; and flat and round characters. If you can demonstrate the difference between those three pairs of ideas, then we'll be cool.
Friday, we moved forward.
Today, we're going to finish the character notes and begin reading the Cask of Amontillado. You'll be using an inference chart that you'll create on a sheet of paper to characterize Montresor. The chart has five categories: Appearance, What Fortunato says, What Montresor says, Montresor's actions, and Montresor's thoughts. You'll find a quote for each of these categories and then make an inference about the character based on the quote. Finally, you'll state whether the quote qualifies as direct or indirect characterization in parenthesis after your inference.
Seniors
Discussing the fallacies seems to have gone well, and many people seemed to have a grasp on them by the time we finished our lesson on Wednesday. We read one of the letters to the editor together as a class, at which point you then began working on finding the fallacies in their reasoning, as well as ethos, pathos and logos arguments.
Thursday was your first writing day for the lit project. You'll take that Timed Writing home and revise it into the most perfect piece of writing you possibly can and turn it in Tuesday, September 28. You also turned in your books for the first annotation check and gave me your first Article Selection assignment.
Friday, you received more time to work on the Op-Ed piece assignment and received a copy of my comment key. Sixth period had a few more questions about the comment key, so they received the weekend to finish off the Op-Ed assignment. Fifth period turned it in at the end of the class.
Today, we'll be watching a documentary presentation of Naomi Klein's book, No Logo. You will be finding one example each of Naomi Klein using a(n) ethos, pathos, and logos argument in attempting to make her point. You'll also find one use of a corporation using a logical fallacy to further its agenda. Explain the fallacy, who uses it and how it's used.
Showing posts with label logical fallacies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label logical fallacies. Show all posts
27 September 2010
22 September 2010
A Night of Progress
First off, check this out: The Brave and the Bold: Mr. T
Alta Loma High School implemented Report Card Night three (or so) years ago in an attempt for parents to conference with teachers about a student's progress in the class up to that point. I can't say I'm all that big a fan of the process. While I enjoy meeting parents, the night feels a bit contentious, since the parents most interested in meeting are the folks who think their student is doing poorly. That's not to say that I didn't meet some fine people who just wanted to introduce themselves, but for the most part, meeting someone who is upset with their student or the student's grade makes for an awkward first meeting.
Having now experienced both, I much prefer the Back to School Night format. It allows me to explain my philosophies about grading and teaching so that parents have an idea going into the year while also capturing the initial excitement of the school year when students, teachers and parents haven't been bogged down with all that life has to throw at them. There's also more urgency for all parents to attend Back to School Night, since the prevailing attitude of parents wanting an explanation from the teacher about a poor grade doesn't exist, so all parents feel a need to attend. Plus, I have never felt that the first six weeks of school is in any way an accurate reflection of a student's performance in a class, especially if the administration is still balancing the schedule up to four weeks into the semester.
Still, despite the sweltering heat in the small gym compared to the relative coolness outside, I enjoyed meeting each and every one of the parents from Report Card Night. It's always nice to put parents to students and faces to names.
Frosh
Monday, we came to a consensus about the climax of The Most Dangerous Game, deciding, despite many different guesses by some, that Rainsford's dive into the water to avoid General Zaroff was the moment filled with the most tension and the ultimate turning point of the story. You then received your mapping assignment where you need to create a map of Ship-Trap Island, noting a minimum of four landmarks supported by quotes from the story and noting Rainsford's journey around the island. This is due Thursday, September 23. Remember that students who would like to earn an A will need to go above and beyond the minimum by including more than four landmarks with accompanying quotes. The map should include color and should follow the plot of the story.
Tuesday was a minimum day due to the aforementioned Report Card Night, and you continued working on the mapping assignment.
My goal is to go over Elements of Character today after you take a brief quiz on the story.
Seniors
We began discussing argumentation terms and common logical fallacies Monday and Tuesday. The goal here is that I want you to be able to argue better and not fall into the usual traps that many people assume are valid when trying to make a point. Even better, if you can identify the use of the fallacies in someone else's argument (even mine), then you'll have a way to shut down your opponent. Who doesn't like being able to do that?
Today, the plan is to finish going over the rest of the fallacies and then read some Op-Ed (opinion/editorial) pieces that commit every fallacy under the sun.
Also, seniors need to be aware that Thursday is a bighugegiganticimportantsuperexcitingcrazy day. Your first Article Selection is due and you need to have the first 20% of your book read and annotated. That day will also have the first timed writing which you'll revise, type and return the following Tuesday.
SENIOR Bonus Time (15 points): We went over identifying logical fallacies in writing today in class. So my challenge to you is to find logical fallacies on the Internet, specifically in news stories. Yahoo, CNN, Huffington Post, Fox News and many local news sources allow readers to leave comments on specific stories. Find a comment that utilizes a fallacy and fill out the following in a comment with your name and period:
Alta Loma High School implemented Report Card Night three (or so) years ago in an attempt for parents to conference with teachers about a student's progress in the class up to that point. I can't say I'm all that big a fan of the process. While I enjoy meeting parents, the night feels a bit contentious, since the parents most interested in meeting are the folks who think their student is doing poorly. That's not to say that I didn't meet some fine people who just wanted to introduce themselves, but for the most part, meeting someone who is upset with their student or the student's grade makes for an awkward first meeting.
Having now experienced both, I much prefer the Back to School Night format. It allows me to explain my philosophies about grading and teaching so that parents have an idea going into the year while also capturing the initial excitement of the school year when students, teachers and parents haven't been bogged down with all that life has to throw at them. There's also more urgency for all parents to attend Back to School Night, since the prevailing attitude of parents wanting an explanation from the teacher about a poor grade doesn't exist, so all parents feel a need to attend. Plus, I have never felt that the first six weeks of school is in any way an accurate reflection of a student's performance in a class, especially if the administration is still balancing the schedule up to four weeks into the semester.
Still, despite the sweltering heat in the small gym compared to the relative coolness outside, I enjoyed meeting each and every one of the parents from Report Card Night. It's always nice to put parents to students and faces to names.
Frosh
Monday, we came to a consensus about the climax of The Most Dangerous Game, deciding, despite many different guesses by some, that Rainsford's dive into the water to avoid General Zaroff was the moment filled with the most tension and the ultimate turning point of the story. You then received your mapping assignment where you need to create a map of Ship-Trap Island, noting a minimum of four landmarks supported by quotes from the story and noting Rainsford's journey around the island. This is due Thursday, September 23. Remember that students who would like to earn an A will need to go above and beyond the minimum by including more than four landmarks with accompanying quotes. The map should include color and should follow the plot of the story.
Tuesday was a minimum day due to the aforementioned Report Card Night, and you continued working on the mapping assignment.
My goal is to go over Elements of Character today after you take a brief quiz on the story.
Seniors
We began discussing argumentation terms and common logical fallacies Monday and Tuesday. The goal here is that I want you to be able to argue better and not fall into the usual traps that many people assume are valid when trying to make a point. Even better, if you can identify the use of the fallacies in someone else's argument (even mine), then you'll have a way to shut down your opponent. Who doesn't like being able to do that?
Today, the plan is to finish going over the rest of the fallacies and then read some Op-Ed (opinion/editorial) pieces that commit every fallacy under the sun.
Also, seniors need to be aware that Thursday is a bighugegiganticimportantsuperexcitingcrazy day. Your first Article Selection is due and you need to have the first 20% of your book read and annotated. That day will also have the first timed writing which you'll revise, type and return the following Tuesday.
SENIOR Bonus Time (15 points): We went over identifying logical fallacies in writing today in class. So my challenge to you is to find logical fallacies on the Internet, specifically in news stories. Yahoo, CNN, Huffington Post, Fox News and many local news sources allow readers to leave comments on specific stories. Find a comment that utilizes a fallacy and fill out the following in a comment with your name and period:
- Headline of the story:
- Brief (1 to 2 sentences) synopsis of the article:
- Comment (copy and paste the whole thing):
- Logical fallacy employed:
- Explanation of how the comment qualifies as a logical fallacy (2 sentences minimum, more would be preferable):
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