Identifying Thinking Skills

451 is a number that all firefighters know by heart in Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451. That number is the temperature that book paper catches on fire. 451 is on a shoulder badge of the firemen and is on the main character Guy Montag shoulder. Montag is a fireman who is pain to burn books that are reported in households. While in today's society, firemen help prevent fires from causing more damage to houses; that is not the case in Fahrenheit 451. The setting of the story is sometime in the future when reading and owning books is illegal. Montag interacts with different characters through the book that sparks an interest to understand the meaning behind the books. He observes people dying because of their desire for books and begins to

A Bad Case of Stripes, by David Shannon, is a story about a young girl named Camilla Cream, who loves lima beans. She keeps this hidden from her classmates out of fear of what others might think of her. On the first day of school, Camilla wakes up and discovers she is completely covered in rainbow stripes. Throughout the story, Camilla’s skin begins to take on the appearance of everything people says she has. For example, someone says “checkerboards” and her skin develops a checkerboard patten. No one can seem to figure out what is causing the stripes and Camilla is become more and more worried. Finally, a little old woman persuades her to eat some lima beans. Camilla is worried at first but then agrees to eat the lima beans. To her surprise, the lima beans successfully transform her back into a normal being. At the end of the story, Camilla finds joy in being different and is no

There are numerous misconceptions of gifted learners and also teaching gifted learners. After completion of the Distinguishing Myth quiz and scoring a 62 percent, I realized that I could distinguish the difference between a myth and a truth about a gifted student.

Gifted learners are a distinct group of students with special needs from the general population students. Gifted learners from migrant populations are no different. Migrant learners face continuous challenges that may interfere with academic success.

One of the effects of the increased number and heightened stakes of standardized tests is that the roles played by teachers have changed. Specifically, teachers’ institutional tasks have increased because they are expected to take up work related to testing in addition to their regular teaching duties. Institutional tasks include: • collecting, organizing, and analyzing data associated with tests • grouping and regrouping students according to test performance • developing vertical articulation of the curriculum to align with tests • coordinating students’ assignments, based on test scores, to remedial programs As a result of spending more time on institutional tasks like these, teachers have less time for instruction in their own classrooms. One study found Research shows, for example, that GED recipients perform about as well as high school graduates on standardized tests but have much worse life outcomes because they often lack important qualities such as curiosity, conscientiousness, perseverance, and sociability. ELA teachers could help more students develop these so-called “soft skills” or non-cognitive abilities if they didn’t have to focus on drills for tests. Instead, ELA teachers have to, for instance, cut back on large-scale projects that require perseverance, reduce the number of literary texts that engender the empathy necessary to sociability, and limit opportunities for developing student curiosity. Student learning that could lead in positive directions is diminished when tests prevent teachers from helping students develop the noncognitive abilities that support better life outcomes. Another limitation on student learning results from the negative perceptions standardized tests can give to students about themselves and their own abilities.

Dr. Derek Cabrera’s thought on metacognition, human and education is absorbing. He shares perspectives on four universal thinking skills: Distinctions; “Systems; Relationships; and Perspectives (DSRP)” that should be taught in learning institutions. Dr. Cabrera states, “Thinking is simply a process of structuring information and doing something meaningful with it.” Dr. Cabrera also argues that people lack critical analytical thinking, great at school work, but not real life situation.

In fact, because of the internet and social networking system, many people nowadays live in a world where an enormous amount of information are being exchanged. Therefore, each individual has the responsibility to evaluate the information carefully. In other words, critical thinking abilities seem to becoming important even in daily life. According to a survey conducted by Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), 93% of the employers answered that they expect their job candidates to have the abilities to think critically (Liberal Arts 2). This data suggest that having critical thinking abilities will be valued as useful not only in college but also in society. For example, since critical thinking is a way of questioning or challenging social assumptions, one can make a difference in politics by carefully observing each candidate’s election pledge. Even Albert Einstein, a German theoretical physicist who won Nobel Prize, once said that the essential point of liberal arts education is not that students have opportunities to learn countless facts from textbooks, but that they have chances to cultivate critical thinking abilities that textbooks can not teach (“Liberal Arts”). Liberal arts education prepares students to become independent and outstanding citizens who can critically think social decisions and make

This exercise helped me to become more aware of the types and levels of questions that I ask my students as a teacher. It is easy to ask low level knowledge questions but those do not get student actively involved in critical thinking. The higher level divergent questions allow students to show creativity and to pull from their own base of knowledge and experiences. Divergent questions are good for getting students engaged because there is no one right answer. A good discussion will utilize questions from all levels of Blooms Taxonomy. This will help me as the teacher to evaluate if students have mastered the topic I am teaching.

Thematic instruction is based on the idea that people acquire knowledge best when learning in the context of a coherent “whole,” and when they can connect what they’re learning to the real world. Thematic instruction seeks to put the teaching of cognitive skills such as reading, mathematics, science, and writing in the context of a real-world subject that is both specific enough to be practical and broad enough to allow creative

As I reflect on the past 15 months of attending CCU. I recall the excitement, and the overwhelming stress of having to work full time and attend online college. I was not sure that I could complete my degree at fifty years old. Because of being out of school for over 30 years. I was somewhat reluctant to give it a try. With many prayers and asking God for his favor, grace, along with the focus and tenacity to understand all that was ahead of me. However, after researching several universities, I felt strongly God was leading me to enroll at CCU. This verse comes to mind in writing this paper, “Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say” (Exodus 4:12 NIV).

Since the spread of formal schooling and education in human societies, fostering cognitive abilities, such as understanding, reasoning, critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving and judgment has been highlighted [1]. Problem-solving is an essential skill in today’s life [2]. Problem-solving is a goal-directed thinking [3]. It is a mental process, some logical, orderly, intellectual thinking that helps cope with problems, search several solutions and choose the best solution [4]. According to Moshirabadi, problem-solving is a systematic process and a problem-focused situation analysis that indicates the ability of individuals to overcome obstacles and to achieve goals. Problem-solving consists of three components of problem-solving

5 space indent. Gifted Learner are often underrepresented. Being deemed high performers; gifted children are capable of intellectual, creative, artistic, leadership, and other specific academic fields, and may require extenuating resources other than services offered by their school. The characteristics of high achievers and gifted students are also often misconstrued. High achievers are very similar to that of a gifted student as it relates to the cognitive aspect of learning. While they exhibit less interest for certain topics than other students, they seem to master concepts at a faster pace than others and sometimes at a higher percentile. Gifted students may appear to be self -directed in the sense that they take initiative to complete task with their peers. This can sometimes have a positive influence on other students due to the overly complex/abstract thoughts of the gifted child. The curiosity and self-motivation sets the gifted learner apart from high achievers.

According to Wagner, humanistic approach is primarily a reaction to the two major views of humanity which are the Freudian perspective and the behavioral perspective thus humanitaristic approach is the “third force”.

Some topics that will be discussed in this paper will be how an individual can apply the top three critical thinking skills at work, school, and throughout everyday life. Likewise, the other items that will be clarified is the meaning of each of these critical thinking skills. The top three critical thinking skills are to analyze, synthesize, and to evaluate. These skills are a central facet of everyday life and to know how to properly use them will help in the long run. Each of these skills build off each other and it would be good to know what these skills mean in their entirety. The top three critical thinking skills will be explained and examples will be provided about how one can use these at work, school, and throughout life.

Job postings often state that the successful applicant must have "superior critical thinking and problem solving skills." Employers tell college administrators that graduates, both from undergraduate and graduate programs, often lack these skills.