Monday, October 26, 2009
Week 10 Post
Teaching and enhancing critical thinking is one of the more difficult things to do as a teacher. In our world of standarized testing (a.k.a multiple choice!!) and accountability, we are so fact based driven that it's tough to have time to spend on critical thinking. We concentrate on teaching the regurgitation of facts or things that are easily assessed using scantron rather than actually teaching how to reason logically! Some of things I like to do in my class that enhance critical thinking is ask the students "why" and let them explain in their own words how they reached the answer. I often tell them that the answer isn't the only thing that's important, it's how they got there. Also, even if it's incorrect, if they explain their reasoning I can really show how to fix their mistakes, and they seem to learn better that way anyways. It took me a while to really figure out how to use questioning techniques in the classroom to enhance the learning. It's not really something I was taught in college or during student teaching. Once I got into my own classroom and really saw how the students react over the year (or two or three), that is when I really started to learn the right questions to ask.
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You're right- good questioning can really enhance critical thinking. And that seems to be a pretty simple way to reach those higher-order thinking skills!
ReplyDeleteAnd we hit on the same point- standardized testing really gets in the way of critical thinking. Teachers are so stressed about making sure students can answer those low-order thinking skills that'll be on the test that they often overlook a true understanding of the material. It's sad that we've gotten to be that way!! So many problems with NCLB...
I think you make a great point, Lance. We get so caught up as teachers about getting the facts across for the standardized tests that we forget that our students aren't learning how to actually think for themselves. Learning how to "reword" questions is a great skill to have. I'm learning it as a substitue teacher as I go along.
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice if we could find a good balance between preparing our students for the standardized tests they'll take while at the same time teaching them how to think deeply and logically!