Throughout the year, I have occasionally talked to them about books or articles I read. Sometimes these relate to adolescent social behavior or teaching techniques that support critical literacy.
Recently, my students have been reading up on a topic of their choosing and planning to develop a written argument which will form the backbone of an essay... and later a digital text of some kind.
Having completed their initial background reading, they are beginning to articulate their vision for their essays. One of the first steps was to use this sentence frame to craft what I called a "Main Argument Sentence": Considering (topic), I believe (Who?) should/must (action) so/because /in order to (justification/intended outcome).
I wrote this argument sentence and created a sample screencast to illustrate a subsequent step in the writing process, which is to use their written outline to verbally rehearse their full essay.
Considering new technologies and their impact on the 21st century workplace, I believe educators must reexamine industrial-age pedagogy in order to prepare young people for active citizenship in the information age.
As I asked them to watch the screencast below and we talked for a few minutes afterward, I realized some of them are quite eager to think about these changing times in education. Taking the time to explain the rationale behind my lesson plans and teaching style may help them to see the method in the madness. Some might also be inclined to paddle in the same direction.
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