Make an Argument Not a Slam

In the world of teachers not practicing what they preach comes the inability to make an argument. This is prevalent now in the mindless bashing of the president. For the record, I am not defending him but rather defending a basic tenet of teaching. Many teachers fail to make an argument like an adult and support it. In order to prove my point, and support it, here are a few tweets which I will analyze. The name calling and childish comments express the writer’s opinion quite well. However, it begs the question why do you feel this way. I have a strong suspicion they’d have trouble articulating that without devolving back into insults. As a teacher imagine this scenario. A student is asked to write a persuasive essay, paragraph, sentence, etc. about why they think homework should be banned. They turn in, “Homework is dumb and should be banned. Teachers who give homework suck.” Could you honestly assess that student as having made a persuasive argument? I understand that vent via social media and writing an assignment are drastically different. They do both affect the perception of the writer, however. Imagine if a parent, admin, prospective employer, sees you losing your shit in multiple insane rants online. It doesn’t matter if the parties agree or not, looking unhinged is a red flag. Contrast that with some cogent Trump bashing without the childish names. Just something to ponder the next time you want to tear someone a new one in a public forum.
Check out this topic's accompanying episode of The Free Thinking Teacher Podcast.

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