hi hello, welcome to the final blog post. at last!
i feel like this has been a long journey, but lbr, a lot of us are posting these frantically to hit that 4 post 10 comment minimum requirement!!! don’t be ashamed, it was bound to happen from the start, no matter how much prompting was given for us to start earlier. we made it.
anyway, here’s a funny video that is vaguely about critical thinking without being very serious or accurate, it’s just plain entertaining, and it’ll have you going “MEEEEE” at multiple points, so that’s fun.
so…what did we learn? not from the video, but like, the other blog posts in general. and even better, how can we apply this into our teaching practice? here i have some fun, quick, and easy steps to start teaching critical thinking.
- use think-alouds and questioning in your teaching
- just like the previous post with the woman reading aloud to her class, make short stops at different intervals to remind students to be thinking about the story in a critical way—in this case, by making questions. even prompting questions or deeper thinking by asking those through provoking questions aloud while you’re reading can help get the gears in motion. the more questioning we encourage, the more critical thinking skills are accessible.
- get creative with your check for understanding
- my sponsor teacher does this funny thing where he randomly (but purposely) says the wrong thing—like substituting apple for orange—in a repeated instruction. that’s his quick and easy way of checking for understanding. lots of kids are super quick and responsive to things like this, the sillier the better. of course, this might not work in a really young class or a much older group, but i think the sweet spot sits between grades 2-5. it’s fun and easy and allows students who aren’t catching those changes to start to watch out for them, thus engaging them in listening. alternatively, it inadvertently forces kids to do that quick “wait…does that make sense?” check in their own heads. this leads to questions or, for more advanced critical thinkers, coming to a solution in a logical order.
- use guided inquiry to challenge students perceptions
- things like mystery doug/mystery science are great examples of guided inquiry lessons that scaffold and engage students while also presenting them with inquiry-based learning that can challenge common perceptions kids may subscribe to. presenting students with commonly believed myths or ideas and then providing them with the evidence and tools to disprove this can help students naturally end up at these conclusions themselves. instead of telling students that light travels in a linear path, have them explore that idea and come to that conclusion themselves. it’s far more engaging and far more interesting.
- in the vice versa of the previous, present students with the challenge of disproving perceptions
- one example of this is having students work in pairs or groups to make a project for why recess shouldn’t be banned in schools, or doing an “adults for the day” exercise where students are tasked with planning out their ideal day as an adult and then play a “LIFE”-esque game where students are presented with challenges and circumstances that get in the way of doing whatever they want. these types of activities force students to think critically about what they value and what they already know, as well as encouraging students to search outside of their lived experience and consider the perspective or circumstance of others. these activities are just some examples of what are, basically, endless possibilities!!!
- start early!!!!
- honestly, this one seems pretty self-explanatory. start early! kids as young as three can start thinking critically, obviously in a different capacity to that of a thirteen year old but hey! still valid. critical thinking skills are learned, nurtured, and need time to develop properly. we can’t expect to start teaching critical thinking one day and have it stick from then on. just like reading, writing, math, etcetera, it! needs! time!!
so, there. we have come to the end. hopefully this has been helpful or interesting or something. i’ve learned a lot, mostly that four blog posts is a lot more than i think it is.
thanks for tuning in amigos. auf wiedersehen!