Chapter 4 of Joy Egbert's text focuses on critical thinking. The critical thinking process is discussed on page 105. The critical thinking process can be broken down into four steps: review, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate. My school is constantly insisting that teacher's increase the rigor of assignments in the classroom. However, prior to reading this chapter I didn't have a strong understanding of how to teach critical thinking skills. I think it would be safe to say that many teachers, including myself, are guilty of not challenging their students beyond the review/clarify stage of thinking. Teaching content standards makes a teacher very motivated to review information and seek for basic understanding. The need to teach students how to think critical is not always put at the forefront of education. Using the four step process with students will not only increase the rigor of the lesson being taught but it will also teach the students to learn how to think.
Egbert, Joy. (2009). Supporting learning with technology: Essentials of Classroom Practice. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
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15 years ago
"Rigor" is a word that is consistently used at my school as well. Thanks for pointing out page 105. I got out my book and re-read that.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your self-critique when you look back and evaluate your "challenging" of your students. I know I find self-reflection very difficult. I guess I think it can't be my fault, I am teaching perfectly :-)
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