Greg here.
As a kid, competitive swimming helped shape a lot of the routines and philosophies I have about hardwork, focus, and teamwork. Honestly, I was never a great swimmer - but my passion for the sport fueled my interest. Swimming gave me the opportunity to coach for 10 years in a wide variety of settings, from summer league to USA club swimming to high school. One thing I prided myself on as a coach was the ability to analyze the technical components of a stroke and help swimmers better understand how to improve their technique. As many educators know, teaching requires much of the same.
As a kid, competitive swimming helped shape a lot of the routines and philosophies I have about hardwork, focus, and teamwork. Honestly, I was never a great swimmer - but my passion for the sport fueled my interest. Swimming gave me the opportunity to coach for 10 years in a wide variety of settings, from summer league to USA club swimming to high school. One thing I prided myself on as a coach was the ability to analyze the technical components of a stroke and help swimmers better understand how to improve their technique. As many educators know, teaching requires much of the same.
My classroom, much like the pool deck, is a very social atmosphere where learning and collaboration are at the core of the work. My swimmers performed better when everyone was committed to team goals and were able to talk with one another about their performances - both in meets and practice. In class, I promote learning through a lot of small group discussions and collaborations in hopes of learning together.
This year, I've dedicated a lot of time to "thinking activities". They range from simple warm-ups to highly engaging questions that take 15 - 25 minutes to develop. The activities, however, are much like the drill sets I devised for my swimmers. As a coach I asked the question: "How can we isolate specific skills, develop them, and then align them with other moving components to make their performance smooth(er)?" I fear that too often we take this for granted in the classroom. Students - even at the Honors & AP level - need their thinking broken down, strengthened, and pieced with other skills to improve their thinking. (Even the fastest swimmers had things they constantly worked on).
One thing I found out about the thinking activities is that you can't substitute skills with content. In social studies, there are many teachers - including me - that often push "stuff" before thinking. We need to let the skills be the driver. For example, I worked with students on an activity this week explaining the connections between the Rwandan genocide and the unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo - its neighbor to the West. I simply could have asked them to do just that, but I want them to understand the roots and results of the problem. I presented the idea and form I wanted them to emulate:
Purposely incorrect.
We talked about how to analyze the text, build the connections, and take a look at the end result. I was pleased by some of the results.
Is this the answer? No. But I'm beginning to find that students at the high school level need help building their ideas and contextualizing their conclusions. Too often we ask students to focus on the content. Why don't we first think about how their coming to their conclusions? By creating learning activities for them to "walk-though" the process, hopefully, they become stronger thinkers.
So, the question is - what skills do students need to think on a deeper level? And, how do we improve them?
-Greg
So, the question is - what skills do students need to think on a deeper level? And, how do we improve them?
-Greg
