Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is an issue I think a lot about in my classroom. Since I am recently graduated for UGA undergrad, I still have the resounding sounds of "higher order thinking" in my head. I am constantly bombarded with the thoughts of critical thinking in my classroom, because I refuse to be a worksheet teacher.

I am troubled by critical thinking, however, because my students are so against it. I teach 8th grade language arts, and I know for a fact that most middle schoolers hate to think! :) It's like pulling teeth to get my students to think critically, but they are getting better and better.

Introducing technology into the picture usually piques their interest, and critical thinking is much more accessible for that vantage point. I am very interested to find more and more technology resources that provide critical thinking facets, because my students tend to gravitate toward the technology based projects.

The thing I love most about critical thinking is seeing my students really revel in the outcome. They are always surprised that they can think in that manner, and they are also surprised that they can come up with some of the ideas and solutions to problems that they do. I love the "light bulb" effect!