Debate Moderator

So, CCSS requires that we "debate an issue from either side" - something that I always struggle with, because debating is hard! You have to think on your feet, have lots of research, and be brave enough to speak in class. Many students don't end up doing it, or doing it very well, because they need time to think; oh, and assessment is a NIGHTMARE! Donna Rasmussen and I co-teach this class, and we discovered a debate platform createdebate.com that has made it easier for us to have the debate in class. For our first try at this, we created some debate topics on current issues, and the students can choose to debate about these issues in a digital space, giving them time to think through their responses (and secretly practice their writing skills) and provide research to respond to one another. Here are the rules that we put forth -- would love input on them!

Debate Requirements:

1.  Must post a minimum of seven times during this week: April 21--April 28th at midnight.

2.  Posts must include (and cite)research as a way to support the opinion being expressed.

3.  Research must come from a minimum of five different sources.

4.  No fact, statistic, or quote may be used more than one time in support of an argument.

5.  Posts may be all for one debate, or divided among a maximum of four debates.

6.  Each post must be constructed in proper paragraph form, using mature sentence and paragraph structure. It is encouraged that students edit and proof read contributions prior to posting.  It might be wise to draft paragraphs in a google doc--or something similar--prior to posting.

7.  Students must turn in a "Works Cited" page with all sources for research listed in the correct format.

8.  Students misusing the debate platform will have their comments deleted and will be banned from further contribution by an administrator.

9.  This assignment will be worth 70 points--that is more than a test score, please write and contribute accordingly.

I think that in the future I would give them an option to start a debate of their own, but we weren't really prepared for how that would look, or how we would manage that from an assessment standpoint. Feedback is our friend! Let us know if there is something that you can notice that you might do differently that would make this assignment better! The community that we created is: americanlit.createdebate.com - we think that this is a semi-private community that will have mostly our students commenting. While I know it is valuable to have people outside of our walls connect with our students and share their opinions too...I wasn't sure how to manage that either...suggestions are always good! Or, join in!

What an adventure!

Summer Reading List

Ok- so, I have to admit, I don't have time to read all of the really great ideas that come to me through Twitter everyday. I want to transform my teaching and thinking, but I don't have TIME to read everything that I need to in order to make the transformation! Yikes! I guess that is my soap-box for "flipped" PD -- I could sure get a lot of reading and thinking done in that time! Anyway, thought I would share my summer reading list (that continues to grow) - maybe someone else will get an idea from this list and share it with me so I can "knock it off the list"!

By the way - this is not your typical high school English teacher's reading list...this is all articles and ideas that I want to learn more about, and maybe try in my my classes in the coming school year. Sorry, I am not Wonder Woman - I don't have time to think properly about them now to implement them this year yet!

Enjoy!

RANDOM!

If you ever need to pick a random name/names for a prize, or to get someone to answer in class -- this is a very useful website!

Assessment

I have been having trouble with making the transition to digital feedback on papers -- I feel like I am not able to do as much with the computer as I can with the pen -- I have looked at EssayTagger as a solution to this problem. I am wondering if there is anything else like it -- I tried Doctopus - but felt it did NOT meet my needs. Maybe EssayTagger is the best solution -- would like to know of someone else who has used it to know if it is worth the $20 per month investment before I dive in though!

Discussion - the way the natives like it!

Backchannel discussions are ways to communicate with students the way they like to communicate - in 140 characters or less, real time, on the keyboard.

Here is an article that highlights five platforms for doing this in the classroom. The only one that I have experience with is Today's Meet - but these others look interesting as well! Give it a try some day in the near future!

Thanks to Kurt Brown for the tutorial on Today's Meet!

#i11i 2014

Several teachers and I went to the Iowa 1:1 Conference in Des Moines yesterday. Wow! Our heads are spinning with information! There was so much to learn, see, and evaluate. It solidified for me that I still have a LONG way to go before I am running a classroom that is using the technology effectively as a tool for learning. I think that is kind of the point of conferences like that, to let you get in touch with the "reflective practitioner" within.

Anyway, I thought I would include the link to the wiki page that was created for the conference, and the schedule for the conference. That way you can see what the sessions were, then go to the wiki for the room that presentation was in, and see the resources that were presented during the session!

Here is the link for the schedule.

Here is the link for the wiki with all of the presentation resources.

There is so much information available here! Please take some time and do a "self-paced" professional development and try and learn something new!