I was going over evidence needing to be accurate, adequate and appropriate and they were having a difficult time with the whole concept. So, here is the example I gave:
Assertion: Kobe Bryant is the greatest basketball player in history.
Evidence: He is tall. He lives in Los Angeles. He plays for the Lakers.
The first response I heard was: "He's not tall!"
Seriously, that was the response. Then they went on to say he's not the greatest, blah blah blah.
So, it didn't exactly work. The worst part is I thought I could make it work and tried the same example in all 5 classes. I am a dork! I did try to improve my set up for the example to them, but I heard in all 5 classes: "He's not tall!" "Kobe don't have no game!" "Who Kobe Bryant?"
I've been thinking about it for a few days an the tall thing keeps coming back to me. I had to look it up. Kobe Bryant is 6'6" tall. How is that not tall? Why do they think he isn't tall? I guess because when they see him on TV they see him next to people who are taller than him. They don't see him next to people their height. THen I think why haven't most of them been to a game? It is only 5 or 6 stops off the blue line from where they live.
Then I think, "my students need real life experiences!" I need to add some in to next semester for them. That may be the most important thing I expose them to in my class.
Any ideas, let me know.
