By Mark

It is a rare day when watching FoxNews inspires me to be a better teacher.

Obama's recent tete-a-tete with Bret Baier on FoxNews certainly wasn't the first nor will it be the last evidence that our country has lost its capacity for reasoned discourse, whether the home court is labeled conservative or liberal. Neither side is free of culpability. Why is it that we cannot speak to one another, civilly disagree, offer substantive evidence to support our own positions–rather than treat a conversation as a battle to be waged, where ad hominem attacks or unsubstantiated accusations rule the rhetoric? It is great for when I teach rhetorical fallacies, but as a citizen I'm sick of it.

So FoxNews has helped me revise instructional goals from here forward: in every unit I plan to include opportunities to teach students how to disagree with civility and reason. Whether it's a discussion about a bona fide controversial topic like healthcare or the Iraq War or stem cell research, which all come up during our unit on research and persuasion…or whether we think Romeo or Juliet was more to blame for their mutual tragedy… I pledge to encourage dissent amongst my ranks; I pledge to challenge every student to defend their position with rational grace (regardless of my personal convictions on the issue); and in the process TEACH my students that it is okay to disagree but for crying out loud it isn't okay to interrupt.

Sheesh. How many of our problems would be solved if we would just listen to each other and use our silence to consider other perspectives rather than to ready our next offense.