Collaborative Learning

Critical thinking is a skill that young minds will undeniably need and use well beyond their school years.  Educational leaders agree that in keeping up with the ever-changing technological advances, students will need to obtain, understand, and analyze information on a much more efficient scale.

It is our job to equip our students with the strategies and skills they need to think critically in order to cope with these tech problems and obstacles they face elsewhere.

Traditionally, teachers have prepared templates, samples, art models, or step-by-step instructions for student projects art lessons, and other tasks that lend themselves to creative problem solving. 

It has been suggested that not having everything prepped in advance is a good thing. Give students all of the supplies needed to create and let them do it on their own. This will allow students to become critical thinkers because they will have to tinker and use their problem solving skills to create.

As we continue to lead our students and model innovative thinking, I encourage us to consider the following:

Think About How You Help

It’s too easy to always find a solution for a student who needs your help.  Consider asking some thinking questions like, “How would you start to solve the problem?” or “What do you thin the best starting point is?”  Then, you can assist the student in figuring out the best possible solutions.

Brainstorm

Brainstorming is a great way to get students ready for exploring solutions and strategies.  Regardless of subject, have students think about what they’ll be doing, creating, building, learning, or reading, before starting.  This gives students time to activate prior knowledge and reflect on other learning experiences that required critical thinking.  Students will begin to identify successes in their critical thinking history.

Classify and Categorize or Compare and Contrast

As students learn and explore through problem solving, Maker Space, navigation of technology, creating, building, etc.  They begin to see patterns or rules for related problems or concepts.  Students will also be able to compare and contrast learning experiences or new learning over time.  These abilities to categorize, classify, compare and contrast will help students retrieve new understandings and learning in future problem solving situations.

Make Connections

As students problem solve, encourage connections to a real-life situations.  Help students look for these connections, and invite them to look at the world’s problems as issues they hold the solutions for.

Collaborative Learning

Cooperative and collaborative groups are a perfect way to get students thinking.  When classmates are working together, they are exposed to the thought processes of their peers. They learn how to understand how other people think and that there is more than one way to approach and solve a problem.

Critical thinking is a valuable skill that students need to develop during their educational career.  As students become skilled critical thinkers, they will become resilient and persevere when presented with difficult problems.
I am excited about the prospect of helping students obtain critical thinking skills that will support their growth mindset and innovative thinking!  Let’s team up and create some technology rich, critical thinking experiences for your students soon!

Reflections on Learning

Wow!  What an awesome collaborative learning opportunity!  I left our professional development day exhausted, thankful, and energized all at the same time!  I appreciate the energy George Couros brought to his two days with us!

Both Thursday and Friday were affirmation that relationships, collaborative teams, putting learners first, and giving learners voice, choice, and opportunities to lead will be a WIN - every single time!

I saw so many smiles, tears and laughter as we learned and shared together Friday.  There was a vibe to the day that could be felt – an energy and excitement about what we can do for learners.  Learners embracing choice, voice and innovator's mindset.

Please know, that when I say learners I mean the children and the adults that work together every single day.  Everyone is important!  Everyone is a learner!  Everyone is a teacher!  Everyone should be given the opportunity to learn in ways that work best for them and have some voice and choice in their learning.

I was humbled, (to tears), by my former students as they taught teachers about Mystery Skype and Genius Hour.  They spoke so well, shared their knowledge, passions, and growth, and said more than I could ever say about the power of learning experiences that give them voice, choice, collaborative experiences and the freedom to have some fun.  Simply said, they ROCKED it!

Amazing!  I am privileged to work with children that will change our world, colleagues that are eager to assist them in this pursuit, and a team and learning partners above no other. 

As a final reflection, I have revisited my dusty blog.  It has had a facelift, been given a new name, and I will be posting again!  I look forward to building more collaborative relationships and supporting teachers and students as they learn and teach each other.

Together we can!  Change is contagious, a little unnerving, and so energizing!  Let's be the change we want to see in our world!