Introduction
Businesses,
industries, colleges and politicans all are asking that schools and school leaders work harder at helping students increase
their capacity to think rationally, to think critically and to think creatively, to problem solve, invent, construct
support, conduct scientific investigations and the list goes on.........this is not a new quest but it is an essential
one.
What will it take to make promoting thinking skills an integral component of today's
schools? Inquiry Based Instruction, Thinking Skills, HOTS, Rigor,
Conceptual Understanding, Procedural Fluency, Problem Based Instruction, Fussin', Search for Meaning/Grapple With, Think
& Search, Author and Me, Reading Comprehension, Project Based Learning; are all 'labels' being
used in our schools today? What do they all have in common?
They all advance the idea that learning is more than
mere recall and that if we are to be truly successful in educating today's youth for tomorrow's challenges, the skills
that underpin these labels must be modeled, must be taught, must have guided practice with feedback, all done in
a culture/climate of trust and respect.
And, the system and individuals in the system must have an expectation that we're
not 'done' until students want to be and are self-directed,
self-reliant and self-monitoring in their application of the skills represented by these labels.
This web quest is provided
for you to do some 'thinking' about thinking... enjoy the venture...
