Critical Thinkning

Education is not the learning of facts, 

but the training of the mind to think.    

 –Albert Einstein

The students came into class and saw boxes out on the desks and were immediately curious about them and the multiple locks attached to them.  After an introduction to the Menacing Math Mobster game, students jumped in and worked to solve the clues that would allow them to unlock the box and retrieve the loot.    

It was clear that these students were working on thinking critically.

Critical thinking happens when students analyze and evaluate evidence to draw conclusions.  By looking at the evidence in the case file, students were able to solve problems and use evidence to unlock locks and “breakout”.  Of course, they collaborated and communicated with each other as they solved problems… all the time having fun!

Breakout Edu games are a great way to encourage critical thinking.  In what other ways do teachers foster critical thinking skills?

The first is Collaboration.  Student-centered learning environments need to provide varied and flexible in order to provide ongoing opportunities to build a collaborative community.  When students collaborate, they learn how to communicate with others effectively, work as a team, practice self-discipline, and improve social and interpersonal skills. 

A second way to foster critical thinking is through Inquiry.  Use of inquiry can foster deep learning through the focus of an essential question.  As students investigate, they background knowledge, develop questioning skills, improve their ability to search for new information, synthesize information, demonstrate an understanding and share their new learning with others.

Third, Questioning plays a critical role in cultivating critical thinking skills and deep learning. When teachers use open-ended questions they encourage discussion and active learning in the classroom.  Teachers can model questioning and listening skills in the classroom to enhance thinking in the classroom.

Finally Problem Solving allows students to use inquiry, questioning and collaboration skills to develop solutions to the problems they face.  This skill allows students think for themselves and apply the critical thinking strategies.  As students use critical thinking in the classroom, they prepare for future application of these skills.

Critical thinking is a key skill that our students need to have in order to become life-long learners and self-advocates for themselves.  It is a skill that will serve them well in school, the work place and in daily life.

Voice and Choice

As a classroom teacher, I highly valued and saw importance in student voice and choice in the learning environment. Now, as a Curriculum-Technology Partner,  I hope to work with teachers to design projects with a level of voice and choice for students, while addressing content goals and standards.

Each classroom and teacher is different, making it safe to say that there is no one-size-fits-all method to inviting voice and choice in the classroom.  Many factors play into the culture and climate of a school and classroom, and this affects the classroom community, the teacher, and students’ experiences.  One way to allow students to express voice and choice; is giving choice in product to show learning.  In this week’s blog post, we will consider the five “Ws” as opportunities to create engagement and student-centered learning.

The first “W” is "Who"

Who are you going to work with?

Who is the best person for you to work with on this assignment?

Who do you need to help?

Who can help you?

Who is your audience?

Who are you presenting to?

Who are you trying to inform, persuade or entertain?

Students should have some choice in who they work with.  However, we hope they become more reflective and critical in selecting who they work best with.  Prompts like those above can help students make intentional decisions in the learning partners they choose. In addition, many times students create work for a variety of audiences.  It is important to remember “who” you are presenting to and hope to reach.

Next, we need to ask “What?”

Allow choice in how students show us what they have learned   about the content is common.  Have we considered how to offer more choice in the content?  We need to think creatively about our standards and determine what topics fit under their broad umbrella. Consider that we might have more flexibility than we think in the content that students learn. 

How can we allow students voice and choice in “What” they learn while still meeting our content area standards?  On area that comes to mind as a teacher, is reading.  Allowing students to choose “what” they read with out confining them to reading levels or Lexile scores, can free students to read more and be more engaged in what they read.  We all know that the more we practice reading, the more fluent we become and better our skills become.  As Penny Kittle reminds us, choice and voice in “what” we read increases motivation as “Teenagers want to read - if we let them.” 

Considering "When"

When we personalizing student learning, we need to become flexible about when students are creating work, when they are learning certain concepts, and even when they might turn work in. Teachers can guide students as they select tasks for learning, encourage them to practice skills in a way that students want, and help them plan effective deadlines for work. By allowing to have students control over when they learn, we can create an environment where time is no longer the most important variable, and instead learning becomes the driving force.

Allowing voice and choice of "Where"

Do students always have to learn in the same place?  Are they always at desks?  Can they sit on the floor?  Do you use the hallway?  Can they learn at home?  Are they using learning space in the library?  How about outside, in the commons, or in another classroom?  Consider experimenting with your space.  Try creating and incorporating quiet corners, sitting and standing desks, conference-style areas, Maker Space and more.

We can offer more voice and choice to students by allowing them to decide “where” they want to learn. In offering choice of “where” we support student tsocial-emotional needs, foster engagement in learning, and create a space where learning is physically dynamic.

"Why" and Purpose

We know that students need to have a learning goal and know “why” they are learning.  As teachers, we state learning goals at the beginning of a lesson for our students.  Consider asking students to identify the "why." Ask them why they want to learn this material, or help them brainstorm ideas and then let them decide why they want to learn something.

Students can also become the driving force in the purpose of their learning: "I will learn this in order to _______" is a great sentence starter to give them more of a voice in the "why" of learning.  We can also incorporate Genius Hour or Passion Project time in our week given students the power to choose “what” they learn and “why” they want to learn it.

Not only can voice and choice create more engagement in learning, it allows them to be more self-directed learners. Voice and choice can allow students to explore their passions and interests, building energy and passion to the classroom community.

How might you provide more voice and choice to your students?