BUILDING RESILIENT STUDENTS THROUGH CRITICAL THINKING

Ms. Ann Scott HanksOcee Elementary SchoolSeptember 23, 2014

WHAT IS THE LESSON OF THIS POEM?

“Come to the edge,” he said.“It is too high,” they said.“Come to the edge,” he said.THEY DID.And he pushed them, And they flew.

AN EDUCATED PERSONPast: know lots of factsPresent: problem-solve for the future

Why? access to information via the internet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY

VERMONT BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE#1 Communication • listens to others and discusses what is heard • investigates and examines the facts of what is read, heard, or

watched • writes clearly for a variety of purposes

#2 Reasoning and Problem-Solving • asks meaningful questions • gets the information needed to solve problems • thinks in new ways about problems • looks at problems from other points of view

#3 Personal Development • has a sense of individual worth and personal competence • makes healthy and safe choices for self and others • makes thoughtful decisions based on personal beliefs • brings a positive attitude to work, family, and community

#4 Social Responsibility • learns from serving and helping others • is willing and able to get along with people different from one’s

self •understands the importance of work to one’s self and one’s

community

THE MARSHMALLOW TOWER DESIGN CHALLENGE:THE MARSHMALLOW HAS TO BE ON TOP.HTTP://MARSHMALLOWCHALLENGE.COM/TED_TALK.HTML

LESSON 1: PROTOTYPING MATTERS Among the worst are recent graduates of business

school. Among the better teams are recent graduates of

kindergarten. Not only do they consistently produce taller structures, theirs look like trees, and elephants and spiders.

But why? None of the kids spend their time trying to be CEO of spaghetti Inc. But there's another reason.

Business students are trained to create a single right plan, then execute on it. When they put a marshmallow on top and the structure topples over, there's no time to fix it and that creates a crisis!

Kindergartners work differently. They build a little structure, add the marshmallow. They play around and add some more spaghetti stick. Again and again, they build prototypes each step of the way.

LESSON 2: PROCESS MATTERS

If an executive administrator works with the CEO team, that team almost always wins. It seems that the admin's skills of facilitation makes a big difference. Any team member who pays close attention the process of work - encouraging timing, improving communication, cross pollinating ideas - increases the teams performance significantly.

LESSON 3: MINDSET MATTERS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWv1VdDeoRY

WHAT IS LEARNING?

“a cognitive development process in which individuals actively construct systems of meaning and understanding of reality through their interactions and experiences with their environments” (LT Schoen, 2008)

ACADEMICALLY CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT promote thinking that goes beyond

recalling information and performing procedures

create learning experiences that require students to create their own meaning

integrate knowledge and skills to solve real-world problems

even when the “correct” answer is unclear.

“resilience” is “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness”

So, why do resilience and critical thinking go hand in hand?Teaching students how to learn is

the best way to show them how to challenge themselves and to feel personally rewarded by success.

RIGOR THINK TANK

The process of learning is as important as the content. Students learn from successes and lack of successes during the course of the learning.

Students ask the questions. Students evaluate their own work. Learning is more important than grade. Quality of thinking (not quantity of thinking).

Teachers is part of the “team”—not the “evaluator”. Classroom is “student-centered” not “teacher-centered”. Responsibility for learning is on the students (not the teacher).

TEACH STUDENTS TO IDENTIFY“LEARN TO LEARN SKILLS”

Observation Watching someone else do it Practicing Discussing ideas with others Asking questions Thinking how to apply it Answering the question: What do I

do about unclear ideas? Researching for information

(difference between information-gathering and research)

TEACH STUDENTS TO IDENTIFY“SCHOLARLY BEHAVIORS”

goal-setting risk-taking pondering perseverance thirst for knowledge curiosity

MATCHING

Can you match the thinking skill with its corresponding quote?

Notice who said each quote.

Rotate to four different stations Name different critical thinking skills. Why is direct and explicit teaching of critical thinking

skills as important as teaching facts? Identify a time in your own life you were challenged

and had to use critical thinking skills. Re-write these questions to encourage more critical

thinking.

CAROUSEL BRAINSTORMING

4 types of questions were used: Remembering (facts, knowledge) Reasoning (synthesis, analysis, evaluation) Relating (to yourself, compare/contrast) Reorganizing (creating, improving)

Which types of questions should be used most frequently?

PROMPTS FOR DEPTH AND COMPLEXITYMINDS-ON EXAMPLE:

POPCORN Rotate to six different stations. Relate popcorn to:

Ethics Trends Rules Details Multiple Perspectives Change over Time

TRY IT WITH POPCORN DE-BRIEF

While popcorn may be plain… discussing the ethical issues of popcorn creates a

fascinating debate… looking at the trends of popcorn price at movie

theaters reveals economic insights… examining the rules of popcorn popping becomes a

science lesson… studying the details of what separates popcorn from

other corn broadens thinking… sharing multiple perspectives about popcorn

flavoring opens minds to other cultures… analyzing how popcorn has changed over time

reveals new information about our changing society…

CREATING PROJECTS

What is the best way to exemplify what I have learned?

Products should be like the information being portrayed and authentic (like the expert does).

End activities with “And what else would you like to learn about this? How could you find that out?”

"It's what you learn after you know it all that counts." John Wooden, NBA Hall of Fame basketball

coach

SO, PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER:

What content did you learn?AND

What Scholarly Behavior did you show?

ANDWhat Learn to Learn skill did you

do?

Because: Students who are most successful are also those who know how to learn. There is a correlation between achievement and learning to learn.

The discovery of neuroplasticity, that our thoughts can change the structure and function of our brains, even into old age, is the most important breakthrough in our understanding of the brain in four hundred years.

WHERE DO YOU START? WHAT WILL MAKE THE BIGGEST IMPACT QUICKLY?

Wait time Why?...Because…

“Miss Hanks’ favorite word is BECAUSE.” Each response should include EVIDENCE (what the response is BASED ON.) (And her second favorite word is “WHY”.) (it’s the second part of a student’s response that is important)

SHOULD THE ADULT BE THE…?

Guide on the sideor

Sage on the stage

IS THE ACTIVITY…?

Hands-Onor

Minds-On

TO TRY AT HOMEhttp://oceetag.weebly.com/

Learner’s Log (to write or discuss)Habits of Mind (for background

info)Instruction (3 tabs: for background info)Enrichment (5 tabs: for activities)Enrichment/Summer Opportunities (for programs outside of school)