Group items tagged

What should our goal for student thinking be? How do we scaffold student thinking in ways that are meaningful while developing autonomy and encouraging students to think effectively when we are not there? What would success with thinking strategies look like? These were the challenging questions that Mark Church presented to teachers at the most recent 'Cultures of Thinking Teach Meet' hosted by Masada College.

An online art project developed by Google, this site is a place for digital storytelling through pictures, not words. Students can work collaboratively to create a short animated story, with each animation building off the previous branches. Students can create their own seeds & invite others to grow a tree with them. Before students can create their own seeds, they do have to contribute to an already existing tree. If a student does not feel they can express their words with an animation, think about having the students pair up. Have one student become an author & write an outline of the story, while the other student draws the animation of the story.

Students are always seeking to get accurate information about admission in college and universities. A lot of factors are involved from shortlisting universities to finally getting into one. Crucial factors like deadline, ranking, scholarships, exams, and application procedure plays a key role in students and parents mind. Here is a list of top 5 educational websites of India which provides a plethora of information about Indian and Overseas institutions. 1) www.entrance-exam.net -The sole purpose of this site is to provide accurate and comprehensive information about all the activities under educational domain in India. The site has a lot of readers since 2009 and is doing a great job. 2) www.admissiontimes.com - Admission Times is an educational portal which was successfully launched a year back and has become the preferred website for the students as it's a leading source for education news, university information, and educational resources from across the globe . Here you can find rankings, scholarships, application deadline, sop & lor formalities, exam dates, entrance results , Delhi University cut off and procedure to apply and a lot more. 3) www.indiastudychannel.com - ISC provides a discussion forum where students can ask about any topic covering from entrance examination, educational institutions, previous year question papers and much more . 4) www.shiksha.com - Ask a query from shiksha expert and a student can be assured of useful advice although recently they are following a monetized model that's what we think of .The education sector is so unorganized in India but shiksha has played a key role in transforming all the information into one place. 5) www.meritnation.com - MeritNation is the first site which has transformed the learning needs of all the students of classes I to XII of all the educational boards into a unique style of learning where each student according to his learning style and interests can pace their learn

Despite this being a 'thinking' conference, despite us all being advocates for structured and scaffolded models of thinking, not one group had applied any thinking routines, utilised a collaborative planning protocol or talked about applying an inquiry model or design thinking cycle. It wasn't that we didn't know about them. It wasn't that we don't know how to use them. It wasn't that we don't value them. We had all the knowledge we could desire on the how to and the why of a broad set of thinking tools and anyone of these would have enhanced the process, but we did not use any of them. Why was this the case and what does this reveal about our teaching of these methods to our students?

A common challenge for students and teachers is how to develop a great idea for a piece of writing. Too often students struggle with the process of finding inspiration for their writing. They have a vague idea for the story they hope to tell, but all too quickly it transforms into a list of events with little or no detail. The goal here is to provide our students with a process to use during the planning process. The hope is that by identifying the type of thinking required during the early phases of ideation and to focus their attention on details, that the stories our students subsequently compose will be more enjoyable to read. Hopefully, this process helps.

One of the thinking moves that we hope our students will confidently engage with is centred around the disposition of uncovering complexity. As we endeavour to shift our students towards a deeper understanding, the capacity to uncover complexity is a vital step. However, the ability to uncover complexity is itself complex and an excellent example of a skill that is best achieved when considered as a disposition. 

The shift away from teaching for the rote memorisation of prescribed methods requires teachers to rethink their approach to the discipline. With this new pedagogy comes a need to understand the processes of mathematical thinking in ways not previously required. When we require our students to be able to reason and problem-solve through unique challenges we also require our teachers to have an understanding of the mathematical moves that their learners are likely to call upon.

At the heart of mathematics are a set of connected thinking dispositions. The mathematician uses these dispositions as the cognitive tools of their trade. While the traditional imagining of mathematics might be all about the accurate application of well-rehearsed algorithms and processes, in the real world of mathematics, it is all about the thinking. As we consider what our students need from their mathematical education, we should not overlook the importance of these dispositions. 

Nice post. I think many of us are wanting to push past the cool and trivial and use Web 2.0 to do meaningful, authentic things (imagine how students feel.) I think a more important question is that "Are students bored with worksheets?" Authentic and network building experiences and learning should become part of what they do. They don't want the trivial any more than we do.

Why might it be that our students struggle with independence? Maybe it comes from the language moves we make. As with the language of thinking, being deliberate with our choices can help us to create a classroom culture where students demonstrate independence and initiative.

Number Talks are a wonderful way to see where our students are with their mathematical thinking. As a part of a daily routine, a Number Talk promotes number sense and mathematical reasoning. In this post, I revisit what a Number Talk can reveal about our students' understanding of mathematics, and how they might be used to promote a fresh perspective. In addition, I examine a success criteria for Number Talks that is more expansive and recognises their true power.

"Zoom In is a free web-based platform that helps students build literacy and historical thinking skills through "deep dives" into primary and secondary sources. Choose from 18 content-rich US history units designed to supplement your regular instruction and help students practice skills required by the new, higher standards: reading documents closely and critically, identifying point of view and purpose, engaging in text-based discussions, and writing explanatory and argumentative essays grounded in evidence."

Traditional methods of teaching maths have more in common with how we programme a computer that what we might do if we wanted to engage our students in mathematical thinking. We shouldn't be overly surprised then when our students consider mathematics to be all about learning a set of rules that they need to apply in the right order so as to output the correct response. But is there a better way?

In our busy and highly connected lives it can be difficult to find time to slow down, to deliberately and mindfully engage in reflective contemplation. Taking the time to do so can be significant for success, creativity, mental well-being and learning and yet we seem to struggle to commit time to this valuable practice. Schools, in particular seem to offer little time for students to slow down and think, and with the busy lives students lead such time is often entirely absent.

"EasyBib, an information literacy platform that provides citation, note taking, and research tools have created this helpful infographic on plagiarism. "Plagiarism, source attribution and critical thinking are among some of the real problems that our educators and students face. We put together this infographic to shed light on the matter, to underscore why librarians are needed more than ever, and to show what EasyBib is doing about it.""

Good infographic ! Perfect text: "Plagiarism, source attribution and critical thinking are among some of the real problems that our educators and students face" no mas 900

The bushfire crisis that is currently impacting Australia is beyond devastating. The scale of these fires defies the imagination. For so long now we have lived with skies laden with smoke as a constant and inescapable reminder that this is not an ordinary summer. This is weather and drought at its most extreme. Our only salvation will be rain but this is not the season for that and the long term forecasts are not promising. Our young people, in particular, will be affected and will need special care in the weeks and months to come. What might this mean for schools and for student agency?

Think back to how you felt after the last day you spent at a conference or course. If things went well you probably came out feeling enthused by new ideas but also exhausted and fatigued in ways that you don't after a regular day at work. If the presenters have done their job well and you choose your workshops wisely, the day should have been full of learning that resulted from you having to think. Days like this should work our brains hard and it should be no surprise when we are fatigued by such an experience. - So how might our students be coping?

Recently I have been thinking about the role I play in encouraging my students to think and to trust in themselves as capable learners. This is largely due to the topic of our Term Four Unit of Inquiry.

The teaching of thinking is a critical endeavour for teachers and one that brings enhanced learning opportunities for students. Unfortunately thinking is not something that we naturally do well and as a consequence it is a skill we need to learn.