MWP Summer institute 2006

Hi Everybody,

This is my second shot rewriting my entire entry. The blog is neat when it doesn't gobble up a person's work. I'm ready to pull my hair out. Aughhhh!

On another happier note, I am really enjoying the book Reality Checks. I continue to be pleased by the simple ways I can apply some of the theory he mentions in his book. One part of the book that I have really enjoyed is the piece about fact and opinion and helping our students seek out deeper understanding and developing critical thinking skills so that our students are better prepared for the myriad of advertising and the art of persuasion that occurs everyday in so many places. This is something critical for students to understand. It will help them in their daily lives.

One powerful piece I liked was the chart showing how easily students were persuaded from one side of an issue to another. When we have discussions after reading TFK and I have the students take a stand on what they believe I have seen how easily they are persuaded by opinions, not facts that the other students present. They just naturally believe them.

I feel that using some of his ideas for fact and opinion while looking at persuasive writing will be invaluable. What I read validated and extended the discussions and construction of knowledge I have already done with my students. I always thought it was a great step when they noticed how closely tied fact and opinion can be. If they believe it than it is a fact, automatically. I think the tools Tony Stead presented in the book will really help me facillitate when we reach the point where we talk about persuasive essays and fact and opinion. This will aid them when they write and when they read. The two are interconnected.

-Karla Harding