Group items tagged

"Critical thinking is when the brain is active, making connections to the material and applying original thought to the concept. It's the difference between struggling to remember ("ugh!") and struggling to solve ("yeah!")." Whilst all kids think, not all activities trigger critical thinking. There are some ideas here that use targeted approaches and strategies to cause those young brains to work.

"Fortunately, when students are educated about information-gathering techniques and critical thinking, they have the tools necessary to see through spin and make decisions based on fact, rather than myth or propaganda. Regardless of your subject, critical thinking is one of the most important skills you can teach."

An interesting article that looks at teaching critical thinking but in a way that shifts the ownership for the questioning to the students. The ap[proach empowers them to think at higher levels but at the same time there is support provided with the question stems

Storify "Redesigning Thinking in Libraries with Hamish Curry At this workshop hosted by School Library Assoc of Victoria, Hamish Curry of NoTosh guided library staff through a design thinking approach to exploring the future possibilities for their individual school libraries."

Interesting reflection on how we use Google and what thinking goes woth that.

A thought provoking video about critical and creative thinking from John Seely Brown

"What makers this process unique is that it offers a thematic approach to planning and creating a makerspace.  After deciding upon the themes you want to advance in your makerspace, and procuring the necessary equipment, materials and supplies to support each theme, attention can be given then to designing the physical aspects of your makerspace.  A good place to start this process is to think about your school's mission statement and vision and then think through how your makerspace can be seen as a physical representation of that strategy.  "

Video from AITSL site. (Ravenswood Schools for Girls, Sydney) Teachers discussing and showing how they go about encouraging student to develop a specific research skills ie framing the "Right" sort of question. Having the skill to develop good inquiry questions is important to self-learning and critical thinking. The audio is not great but a useful example nonetheless.

Video from AITSL site.

A short video that address the issue of your onine persona "Published on 7 Aug 2014. Think before you post! This unit teaches students about digital citizenship. We offer the top ten to think about before you post to social media platforms. See the full lyrics and lesson plan at http://www.flocabulary.com/oversharing/"

A discussion about how the setup in a classroom can impact on how students think. The gist of it is - If you design learning with physical space and interaction in mind, it absolutely can have a positive impact.

The home page for MediaSmarts. This is a Canadian not-for-profit charitable organization for digital and media literacy. Their vision is that children and youth have the critical thinking skills to engage with media as active and informed digital citizens. "What We Do: MediaSmarts has been developing digital and media literacy programs and resources for Canadian homes, schools and communities since 1996. Through our work we support adults with information and tools so they can help children and teens develop the critical thinking skills they need for interacting with the media they love."

"The biggest responsibility of any teacher is to equip students with the tools that they can use in everyday life. The content is important, but with information so easily accessible, it is ultimately more helpful to them if they have critical thinking, analytic ability, and research skills. You can best serve your students by engaging them in active debate, fun and absorbing problem-solving activities, and relevant research assignments. High-school students are among the hardest to engage, so you have to approach them in a way they understand. Traditional is out, online is in. Giving them the opportunity to use the tools they are most comfortable with can help them in ways that no amount of lecturing can accomplish. You can make your students better researchers, and thinkers, with the 10 online tools listed in this post"

"The 7th edition of the Scholastic Kids and Family Reading Report was released last month. Scholastic presents the results of a survey, managed by YouGov, of 2758 adults and children. This biannual report is, I think, one of the best windows into what families are doing and thinking when it comes to kids' reading. I'm in the process of going through the material and there are certainly causes for optimism overall. However, one of the major  findings hit me hard: The Decline by Nine". Author discusses some results and how she intends to overcome them

If you like the idea but don't know where to start here are "some ideas to keep in mind,  tips for thinking about it and ideas for how to start using it in your teaching and student's learning"

HyperDocs are perfect opportunities to grow teacher librarian/ classroom teacher partnerships. A true extension of what TLs do or should be doing in a hyperlinked information landscape, HyperDocs are all about curation and collaboration, instruction based on engaged inquiry, as well as our mission to inspire learning communities to think, create, share and grow.

HyperDocs are perfect opportunities to grow teacher librarian/ classroom teacher partnerships. A true extension of what TLs do or should be doing in a hyperlinked information landscape, HyperDocs are all about curation and collaboration, instruction based on engaged inquiry, as well as our mission to inspire learning communities to think, create, share and grow.

This revised edition includes five new studies (Colorado 2012, Kansas 2012, New Jersey 2011, New York 2012, and Pennsylvania 2012). However, the Delaware, New Jersey, and New York studies are continuations of research cited in the first edition. Using smaller samplings of surveys or focus groups, these studies drill down into particular aspects of school library programs, such as what quality programs look like, what effective school librarians do and their dispositions. They also seek to learn what stakeholders-teachers, school administrators, librarians, students, and parents-value and think about the relationship between school library programs and student academic success.

"Podcasts are a great way to help strengthen student listening skills. Podcasts are audio (and sometimes video) recordings similar to a radio program or television episode. A wide range of organizations and individuals host podcasts and share their thinking around a topic through this medium. There are a wide range of podcasts to choose from. If you are teaching a specific subject area, you can search for a related podcast to find a clip to share with your students. Teachers can use podcasts to help students build listening skills. By listening to a narrator tell a story or an expert discuss a topic, podcasts can help students strengthen their ability to gather information through multimedia." The author also links to another post where she shares some of her favourite kid-friendly podcasts.

Good discussion about sharing family images online

A reflection about one school library faculty's goal of creating a positive learning environment with space that would help students and teachers develop real-world connections and the approach they took to creating it. The ideas for the space included housing the collection, helping students and teachers collaborate, being a hub for learning with a flexible floor plan and supporting newly developing areas in educational technology. The school decided to create a learning commons to move beyond traditional thinking about libraries and respond to what the kids and teachers really needed. The faculty envisioned their environment to be developmentally appropriate for their young students, as well as to foster a sense of creativity, inspiration, and encourage dialogue and a sense of community. The new learning commons library offered more space for stacks, added conference rooms and a lounge area, but the learning commons concept informed more than the library. These design changes increase opportunities to be inspired by student work and performances and create stronger interpersonal connections among students and faculty.