Critical Thinking Skill Development: Embed THINK Skills into Lesson Plans
Education is not the learning of facts. It’s rather the training of the mind to think.
– Albert Einstein
INTRO
THINK skills and behaviors are often grounded in critical thinking and inquiry. Examples include: ideation, creativity, innovation, and design thinking. Ultimately, THINK is about approaching situations and ideas with versatile and intentional thinking patterns.
OBJECTIVES
- Embed THINK skills or behaviors in lesson planning
- Observe and evaluate student outcomes and changes within the community
ACTIVITY
- Teachers in a specific grade, subject area, or PLC focus on embedding THINK skills or behaviors in their lesson planning for the next 6 months to a year.
- Review the provided PDF resource for ideas to choose from/get you started
- Focus on consistently embedding 2-3 of the ideas at a time across the group for more effective monitoring and outcome evaluation
- Share what changed with the community
- Add, adjust, etc. plans as needed moving forward
TIPS
- Key Moves are efforts that require a bit of planning, but can be implemented within the next 3-6 months.
- Remember, this is not a quick fix: You’re establishing schoolwide changes that should better serve all students for years to come
Responses