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Critical Thinkers

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The intellectual purpose of education is “to develop knowledgeable and informed critical thinkers” (POE). The information presented will build the cognitive foundations for the students to work with. To develop as critical thinkers, students need to be shown how to take the ‘literacy and numeracy’ information presented and use it to perform higher order thinking. Higher order thinking includes, but is not limited to: divergent thinking, problem-solving, decision-making, and synthesis. In addition to this knowledge, students need help to develop the skills (knows how) and dispositions (such as enthusiasm and promptness) needed to help them be successful throughout life. Additionally, students need to be empowered “to be informed and active …show more content…

Teachers use these standards to develop lesson plans and assessments for their classes. Sadly, however, the curriculums developed often include only what is necessary to pass the standardized tests. This is not good, “just because doing x raises standardized test scores doesn’t mean x should be done” (AK-TOT). The methods vary and should appeal to a variety of senses, which, in turn, should accommodate the different learning styles of each student. One method would be to give students projects that will enable them to discover things on their own or in groups. For example, in a geometry class, a teacher could pass out triangles and have the students measure the sides and angles and then tell the teacher what they discovered or noticed about the congruency which will develop the theorems and properties the students need to learn according to the standards. Regardless of which methods are used, they should include the basics and guide the students in building on the basics by applying critical thinking to achieve higher order learning such as analysis and synthesis. Teaching methods should also include ways for the students to develop good dispositions (e.g. promptness) that will help them throughout their lives. In the end, the developed curriculum and teaching methods should enable …show more content…

The classroom should be set up in such a way that makes students want to be there and encourages students to learn. There should not be too much decor as this could cause the students to become distracted, instead, a few items that will keep students on track and/or serve as reminders such as a poster of class rules or a balancing scale to remind students to keep their equations balanced. The classroom should be arranged in such a way that encourages interaction and participation like putting desks facing each other in small groups which will also help with group projects and encourage students to help each other. Class rules should be clear and concise so that control of the classroom is not lost and the teachers should let the students know when it is time to interact with the teacher (during lectures) and interact with each other (group projects or exercises). Keeping students busy by asking them questions, giving them projects, participating in solving problems should go a long way in maintaining control of the classroom. Every classroom should have enough resources and materials

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