Critical Thinking in the Classroom

* What does critical thinking look like in your classroom?

Well, to employ critical thinking is often times a difficult task to accomplish with my population of students; high school students who have emotional disturbances.  They don’t like to think things through and often draw quick conclusions.  Many of my students want the here and now and do not have the patience to make connections that do not seem obvious or set forth.  Many have difficulty remembering basic facts about a topic, so at times it is virtually impossible to have them thinking critically.  However, when my students are on point and willing to cooperate they can prove themselves to be quite receptive and reflective.  Although their deductive reasoning is sometimes askew, they will put their minds to the test and think critically if asked to do so. It is my job however, to determine if they are in the proper mindset to go about such a task, otherwise, forget it.  But critical thinking in my class is a brainstorming sessions.  I like to ask the students to expand on a thought, by asking them the hows and whys that pertain to what they are explaining.  This way they are thinking critically but do not necessarily know that’s what they are doing.  If a topic is of particular interest I could ride this out for a long period of time and turn the brainstorming into whole group discussions.  My classes are very small so we are able to do this activites often.  To think critically, I have found that my students respond better verbally.  This way I am able to guide their thinking and help them discover their thoughts.  THinking critically on paper is often times not very critical at all.

* How does technology play a role in getting your students to look critically at their own learning?

My students love to use the computer, especially the Internet. When they explore the Internet for a research project, they have to think critcally.  They must ask themselves what they are searching for, determine how to find an appropriate site, decide what information they want to include for their research and so on.  This navigation is theirs and they must think critcally to reach their final destination…research project.  THis process requires them to continuously assess themselves and self-monitor….which is a good thing becuase many of my students have extreme difficult self-monitoring and correcting.  Searching the Internet, exploring webquests, responding to discussions via blogs etc. are fun, active ways for our students to use their brains in another way so they are thinking critically.  Integrating technology in the classroom helps to support the learning process in generally and should be a complementary part of lesson.

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