USING ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS AND DEVELOPING CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS IN THE CLASSROOM Presented by: Sabrina Symons

A Look at Essential Questions: Remember what people think about things depends on where they are sitting. During your Practicum B… How have your beliefs and ideas around teaching and learning changed or remained the same? How have your beliefs and ideas around students, teachers, and schools changed or remained the same? Take a moment to write down your thoughts. Share these thoughts with a partner.

A Look at Essential Questions: Now take a moment to reflect on why you’ve been asked these questions this morning? Why might these questions be considered “essential” or “powerful”? What characteristics do these questions have?

What are Essential Questions? Essential Questions are: Compelling (transcending cultural and age boundaries) Sometimes universal or specific to the person/situation Never fully answerable; cannot be answered by a simple “yes” or “no” Often unexpected Subject to multiple perspectives and interpretations Lead to the realization that knowledge is an ongoing search -- Becoming a Better Teacher, Eight Innovations that Work, 2000.

Why Use Essential Questions? To engage students with the curriculum To tackle the curriculum while treating it as something to be discovered To remind us that learning is a journey To raise the level of discourse -- to discuss, debate, evaluate To launch an inquiry-based unit -- Becoming a Better Teacher, Eight Innovations that Work, 2000.

What do Essential Questions Look Like? What is progress? Does history really repeat itself? What is worth teaching? What is worth learning? Is education essential for success? To be effective as a teacher is it necessary to continually change? -- Becoming a Better Teacher, Eight Innovations that Work, 2000.

How can Essential Questions be Used In Assessment? As a diagnostic tool (to check for prior knowledge or understanding) To determine growth (asking the same question at the beginning and end of the unit) To promote critical thinking of subject matter -- Becoming a Better Teacher, Eight Innovations that Work, 2000.

Teaching with Essential Questons How Easy Is It?

When are Essential Questions Appropriate? Teachers should be comfortable with not answering the question Everyone should relate to the question The question should be congruent with the unit content The question should elicit multiple perspectives The question should generate as many questions as it answers -- Becoming a Better Teacher, Eight Innovations that Work, 2000.

What Is Critical Thinking? “A reasoned, purposive, and introspective approach to solving problems or addressing questions with incomplete evidence and information and for which an incontrovertible solution is unlikely.” -- Rudd & Baker, 1999

Linking Essential Questions to Critical Thinking: “All education consists of transmitting to students two different things: the subject matter or discipline content of the course (“what to think”) the correct way to understand and evaluate this subject matter (“how to think”) “We do an excellent job of transmitting the content of our respective disciplines, but we often fail to teach students how to think effectively about this subject matter, that is, how to properly understand and evaluate it. This second ability is termed critical thinking” --- Schafersman, 1991

Why is Critical Thinking so Vital Today More Than Ever Before?

Examples of Non-Critical Thinking? “I never heard of that before so it must not be true.” “I don’t believe it, therefore it isn’t true.” “That’s not my opinion, so it can’t be right.” -- Becoming a Better Teacher, Eight Innovations that Work, 2000.

Why is Critical Thinking so Vital Today More Than Ever Before? Today’s youth can view live images from every corner of the world and talk with or exchange video images with other young people who live many time zones away, instantly. Students have more technology in their classrooms (and in many cases, in their backpacks) than existed in the workplaces of their parents 20 years ago.

Why is Critical Thinking so Vital Today More Than Ever Before? Students will study subjects that were unknown when their teachers and parents were students, and they may well enter careers that do not exist today. More of today's young people will routinely come into contact with other people of diverse backgrounds and experiences. They will grow up to interact, collaborate, and compete with others around the globe.

How Do We Teach Critical Thinking? 5 Types of intellectual Tools Needed for Critical Thinking Include: Background Knowledge Criteria for Judgment Critical Thinking Vocabulary (e.g. correlation vs. cause; conclusion vs. premise) Thinking Strategies (e.g. organizing methods, algorithms, models) Habits of Mind (e.g. being fair minded, open to ideas, tolerant of ambiguity, self reflective, attentive to detail) -Bringing Critical Thinking to the Main Stage, 2005.

How Do We Teach Critical Thinking? Model critical thinking skills and dispositions Create a culture of inquiry Diversify contexts of judgment Reward and challenge Guide reflection on the thinking process Engage students in thinking

Benefits of Thinking Critically Students are able to raise vital questions and problems, as well as formulate and present them clearly Students can gather and assess information and interpret it effectively Students can reach well-reasoned conclusions and solutions to problems while testing them against relevant criteria and standards Students can be open-minded Students can clearly communicate ideas, positions, and solutions to others

A Critical Thinking Exercise Is homework an important part of learning and development? Blue Papers = YES Pink Papers = NO