1. Storyboarding an Essay Draft

2. Who was my worst high school teacher? Why? The Bad Teacher Game!

3. Claim: Mrs. Holly was a very bad teacher. For Intro?: 12 th -grade English teacher. Something about intense atmosphere of the class. The focus on testing… Maybe some of the cool books we read? Jude the Obscure Crime and Punishment Etc.

4. Reason 1: She was mean to her students. Evidence: She insulted us. Evidence: she played favorites and created pointless competition between us. Evidence: One time, when I stayed after school to ask her some questions about a grade on an essay test, she accused me of having hubris. Evidence: She also said: people who think more slowly aren’t as smart. She was talking about me!  Warrant: mean teachers are bad teachers. Can I assume everyone will share this warrant / belief? Not sure… how would I argue for this idea?

5. Reason 2: She did not provide constructive feedback. Evidence: no comments on our essays and exams. Evidence: When I asked her a question about what I did wrong in my essay on a book (Far from the Madding Crowd), she didn’t seem to offer advice for how to do better. Warrant: ???

6. Reason 4: Hmmmmmm…? Info I might be able to use????? She was a smoker. We often gossiped about her. She was very small. She had very short hair—pixie cut? She seemed a little arrogant. She had a daughter. She never smiled! Other times she seemed more modest. I remember one time she said something like: “Whenever I read something I find myself thinking that way…”

7. Reason 4: She did not create opportunities for students to build knowledge for themselves. Evidence: Every class consisted of a long lecture summarizing the day’s reading, as when she spent a full week retelling the plot of Moby Dick without any opportunities for class discussion. Evidence: [need to think of something else!] Warrant: I can call Mrs. Holly a bad teacher because of this belief: I believe / assume that students learn best in situations where they must construct their knowledge for themselves. I like putting this reason at the end—I want to end with my strongest reason.

8. Counterargument/Response 1 Counterargument: It’s true that she was an expert in the literature we read in class. Response: Nevertheless, in retrospect, I see that she did not use her expertise to invite and provoke rigorous thinking about literature in her students.

9. Counterargument/Response 2 Counterargument: She could be friendly sometimes. Evidence: she once praised a comment I made about Dostoyevsky—and that made me feel really good. Evidence: she publically praised my work when I wrote essays that received an A. Response: This praise may have felt good, but it simply reinforced the tensions in the classroom. Evidence:

10. Conclusion Not sure what goes here yet!