Critical thinking is deeper level thinking that involves analyzing and evaluating information in order to come to a conclusion about something. Typically I think of solving a problem when I'm critical thinking.
Some activities that require me to think critically involve building lesson plans, solving behavior issues in my classroom, planning an assembly or a party, etc. I think we use critical thinking all of the time as we're just going throughout our lives and jobs.
Critical thinking is important because we do need it so often. We have to be able to solve the problems in our lives. Sitting there and saying that I don't know how to fix this and asking someone else all the time isn't going to work. We have to be able to analyze a situation, come up with solutions and then work to solve the problem or we're just stuck.
I think critical thinking is something that we take for granted. I feel there is a big push for it in teaching right now, but somehow we learned these things. If we can reflect on the practices that taught us these skills, then we can help our students to get there. I remember being a part of a really cool 5th grade pod that was like a city. We role played and pretended to be banks, writers, police, etc and had to solve issues in our town. It was such a fun way to practice the skills of critical thinking. Creating more real life type of issues and teaching through project based learning was really effective when I was a kid and it's come full circle and that's where we are at now. Back to project based learning.
I commit to increase and improve my critical thinking as a teacher by planning more hands on activities within English Language Arts.
