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"TeachWithMovies offers access to more than 350 lesson plans and learning guides for movies and films. I’ve long been a big fan of reading and studying movies. I’ve been a fan of this site’s rich curricular materials for many years. I just discovered that I do not need to re-subscribe. The site is now available for free (though it will now host unobtrusive advertising and encourage voluntary donations)."
Beth Dichter's insight:
This site is new to me but it looks like a great resource and Joyce Valenza has an in-depth post that shares many great features. It is easy to search for movies - alphabetically, age, subject and more. The learning guides include "Learning guides include a description, rationale for using the film, student learning objectives, potential problems for using the film, discussion questions, and assignment and assessment ideas, social-emotional learning discussion questions, bridges to reading, web links, selected awards, cast and director information, and bibliographies." Do you use movies in your clasroom or are you interested in using them? If so check out this post. 
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We're thrilled to launch our next series of animations: This Thing Called Science. This series follows on from Critical Thinking, showing the way we think scientifically by considering skepticism, ...
Beth Dichter's insight:
This is a fabulous series that explore science. Six animated videos are available that show "the way we think scientifically by considering skepticism, testing, blinding, uncertainty ethics and citizen science." By title they are: * This Thing Called Science Part 1: Call me skeptical * This Thing Called Science Part 2: Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3 * This Thing Called Science Part 3: Blinded by Science * This Thing Called Science Part 4: Confidently Uncertain * This Thing Called Science Part 5: Do the Right Thing * This Thing Called Science Part 6: Citizen Science These videos were created by Bridge8, who also put out a great series of videos on Critical Thinking. You can find that series at http://bridge8.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/critical-thinking-animations/ There are also 2 guides available for the Critical Thinking series, a postcard size one and an extended one. I found these on YouTube when I accessed the video Critical Thinking Part 1: A Valuable Argument uploaded by techNyouvids.
mtmeme's curator insight,
September 13, 2013 9:09 AM
Great series for introduction to scientific concepts and research methods. When we are aware of sources of bias we can devise ways to test for it or eliminate it. 
Hanis's curator insight,
July 22, 2014 3:50 PM
Learn more about Science by first understanding the Scientific Process. These videos above make it much more easier to understand the topic.
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In 2008, Fran Simmons, an English teacher at NewDorpHigh School in New York—at that time one of the lowest-performing secondary institutions in the nation— devised a simple test for her students in an effort to keep district officials from pulling the plug. First, she asked her freshman class to read Of Mice and Men. Then, using information from the novel, she asked them to answer the following prompt in a single sentence: “Although George …” She was looking for a sentence like: Although George worked very hard, he could not attain the American Dream. What Simmons received was alarming in the truest sense of the word. Some students wrote passable sentences, but many could not manage to finish the line. More than a few wrote the following: “Although George and Lenny were friends.”
Beth Dichter's insight:
This in-depth post explores the issue of language impacts our ability to think. After an introduction the post is split into three sections. The first section explores "the psycholingusitic case for writing education." It is noted that the Common Core states that students in grades 6-12 "should demonstrate increasing sophistication in all aspects of language use, from vocabulary and syntax to the development and organization of ideas, and they should address increasingly demanding content and sources.” What follows is a look at language, where we see that the language we learn impacts us in many ways, that some cultures have many words for a word like snow while others do not, that cultures whom have language that have "gendered objects" impacts how people view the objects. The second section explores "Can you teach better math and science be teaching writing?" Information is provided about New Dorp High School (in New York). The school implemented a program that included "writing-to-learn" across the curriculum (except for math) and discovered that major gains in writing were apparent by the second year. The third section "highlights ten features of writing education that can be used to enhance student learning across all subject areas, ultimately resulting in higher academic performance." The first two suggestions are below (all are quoted from the post). 1. Vocabulary Across The Disciplines: Emphasize that the concept of a word may change depending on the context in which it is used.
Ann Kenady's curator insight,
February 5, 2014 11:23 PM
This article gives compelling evidence that the ability to write effectively is closely linked to the ability to think coherently. The author writes, "Students’ inability to write was contributing to their inability to think, severely impeding intellectual growth across many subjects."
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"As educators, we constantly strive to prepare our students for the ‘real world’ that exists around them. We teach them how to read, write, and calculate. Then, of course, there are the less tangible skills we teach; such as how to work in a team, think critically, and be curious about the things they encounter each day. We want to prepare them to lead productive and successful lives once they leave us and enter into the realm of adulthood. But what lies ahead for our students in the future? Did educators of twenty years ago know that so much of our world would be based on computers and technology now? Could they have known what skills would be needed in the job market today?"
Beth Dichter's insight:
This post focuses on work published by Tony Wagner back in 2010 but the information is still relevant. Wagner interviewed CEOs of 100 major businesses and was able to come up with seven essential skills students should have for the 21st century (and yes, we are in this century). The skills are listed below and more information may be found in this post, which lists the skill and then discusses how to prepare students to meet this skill. * Critical Thinking and Problem Solving * Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by Influence * Agility and Adaptability * Initiative and Entrepreneurship * Effective Oral and Written Communication * Accessing and Analyzing Information * Curiosity and Imagination
Mohini Lata's curator insight,
May 20, 2013 8:34 AM
As technology is becoming powerful and life changing how can we prepare students for the 21st century survival. The seven survival skills purposefully apply in a classroom. This links with Using Mathematical Higher order thinking - Critical Thinking and problem solving prepares students to see problems from different angles and formulate their own solutions. Collaboration encourages students to take on different roles. Agility and Adaptability – be willing to adapt to the changes around them.Initative and Entrepreneurship - always try. Effective Oral and written communication - how to speak confidently and clearly. Accessing and Analyzing Information- learn the difference between factual information and factual-sounding opinions. Curiosity and Imagination - teach them how to apply them creatively and purposefully. Technology has become an essential and important tool for education, helping teachers with their work and most importantly supporting the students. This also links with brief design technology and the digital technologies strand of the National Technologies Curriculum as students are taught how to use the technologies available to them.
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Beth Dichter's insight:
This is a great interactive model of critical thinking. One circle has 8 elements of thought: * Question at issue * Information * Interpretation and influence * Concepts * Assumptions * Implications and Consequences * Point of View As you role over and selelct an element of thought you are hown additional information about the element. For example, if you were to select Point of View you would be prompted to understand your point of view and provided with questions to further your thinking. In addition there are also prompts for intellectual standards to consider. The intellectual standards include: clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, logic, significance, and fairness. In each of these area there is a brief definition as well a three additional questions to consider. There is also one choice (more) that provides you with additional standards you might want to consider and suggests that you think of your own.
Alistair Parker's curator insight,
January 30, 2013 3:57 AM
Beth Dichter's insight: This is a great interactive model of critical thinking. One circle has 8 elements of thought: * Question at issue * Information * Interpretation and influence * Concepts * Assumptions * Implications and Consequences * Point of View As you role over and selelct an element of thought you are hown additional information about the element. For example, if you were to select Point of View you would be prompted to understand your point of view and provided with questions to further your thinking. In addition there are also prompts for intellectual standards to consider. The intellectual standards include: clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, logic, significance, and fairness. In each of these area there is a brief definition as well a three additional questions to consider. There is also one choice (more) that provides you with additional standards you might want to consider and suggests that you think of your own. 
R Hollingsworth's curator insight,
January 30, 2013 9:33 AM
I'm thinking this is a pretty complicated model given that many of our very best critical thinking is done within the space of a blink! However, it's useful to be able to break it down and explain it for undergraduates for whom universities have great expectations in criticial thinking but don't really explain how they know what it is when they see it. And, sadly, in introductory courses too often professors don't expect critical thinking of their students - sticking too close to recall or lower levels of application thinking for their expectations of student performance.
R Hollingsworth's comment,
January 30, 2013 9:34 AM
terrific toy for educators to play with and use - would work great in a group discussion with a faculty scholarly community...
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"So the iPad, then. Pop culture’s plaything and #edtech’s darling. It’s an app library, a media consumption device, and a mobile learning tool that makes yesterday’s graphing calculators, smartboards, and laptops look like abacuses. So we buy them then—by the truckloads, in fact. We stamp them as district-owned, give teachers a few PDs that show them some tools and advise them on “district policy,” and then expect miracles. It is unclear exactly how and where we expect those miracles to show up. Student satisfaction surveys? Learner engagement? Test scores?"
Beth Dichter's insight:
This post goes on to explore how to "maximize the impact of the iPad as a learning tool" and states that first we must determine the impact we are looking for. The 10 secrets includes: * Learning has not changed - we still have iPads but we must continue to teach critical thinking, backwards planning, transfer and more. * Find the overlap - The iPad goes beyond the textbook, not only can the iPad access content but it can also access peers and a larger community. * Insist on transfer - and with the Common Core this is a crtical component to consider. Click through to the post to read seven additional suggestions on how to unlock the iPad as a learning tool.
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"The student’s eyes drift to the classroom window and the teacher’s voice fades from consciousness. The daydream begins. It’s a familiar scene, one we have likely both experienced as students and struggled against in our students as teachers. But daydreaming is not what it might seem. Recent research in both psychology and neuroscience makes clear that daydreaming is an essential part of mental processing, reasoning and, yes, even learning."
Beth Dichter's insight:
If you have wondered if daydreaming makes students better learners then this article will provide 15 reasons as well as many resources. A few of the reasons listed are (all are quotes): * Daydreaming is the mind's natural state * Daydreaming helps with critical thinking and problem solving * Daydreaming...greatly increases the mind’s ability to smoothly shift in the face of unanticipated events and situations. An additional 12 items are listed.
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This post begins "The common understanding is that if students work hard in school they earn "A’s." For many however, there is a much straighter route to that "A." Some of the most creative learners are able to figure out what the course expectations are and do the minimum to meet them, and get the grade they want." What happens to students that are bored with the curriculum? What would happen if we moved away from grades, and replaced them with badges? It turns out that there is evidence from a July 2012 report called "Do Schools Challenge Our Students?" This report states "Many schools are not challenging students and large percentages of students report that their work is 'too easy.'" The post also provides some statistical information. The final portion looks at badges vs grades. It notes that switching from "traditional letter grades or percentage grades to badges signifying achievement could open up many possibilities for a more fine-grained tracking of student progress, address some of the criticisms regarding schools not teaching concrete skills, and motivate students to learn" (with additional information also included).
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The Library of Congress (LOC) "has made its already fabulous teaching resources–designed to inspire analysis, critical thinking, and the value of working with primary sources–more findable for teachers by aligning them to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)." This post, by Joyce Valenza, provides a great in-depth look at how to Search by Standards and also suggests some of the other tools available at the LOC.
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Are students today digital natives? And if they are, what does that mean? "Unlike the teachers and parents who have watched technology slowly phased into modern culture over the past three decades, today’s students have beten immersed in the digital era since birth." But does this mean thaty they have mastered all things digital? Will they approach 'all things digital' with enthusiasm? "In our experience, if students are not able to find answers to an Internet search in the first few results pages, they say “I can’t find it,” instead of adjusting their search, or reexamining the results in depth." This post explores this issue and provides some interesting perspectives on how to approach tools that may be new to them. A worthwhile read if you work with students and have noticed that they may become frustrated with tools that do not "instantaneously" gratify them.
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Despite being immersed in college classes that demand reading and writing about required topical material, students are often ill equipped to tackle higher cognitive thinking about their courses. This article reviews how to define critical thinking; reviews connections between critical thinking and Bloom's Taxonomy; and also a Forbes article that discusses critical thinking related to business. Additional references are provided that address critical thinking in college classes, but many of these references are also appropriate for secondary education. This post will help you learn more about how to develop critical thinking skills.
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Once an advocate for using social media applications and cell phones in class, this English teacher has changed his stance on the kinds of technology teachers should incorporate into their instruction. Are you using technology to promote critical thinking skills? Are the tools you are using ones that provide competence in necessary skills? Do they promote academic rigor? This article looks at many of these issues, and may have you re-consider how you are using technology in your classroom.
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"As a child, I grew up in a world that was dominated by left-brained thinking. Both my parents were in professions that required in-depth analytical thinking. The “rule” in my house was: “If you break something, try to fix it. Only THEN come ask Dad for help.” Read on for an example of teaching critical thinking with a first grade class as well as a look at 3 underlying components to critical thinking.
Valeria Ríos Bedoya's curator insight,
August 26, 2017 6:33 PM
Teaching to teach critically is a big challenge for us, as teachers, nowadays due to the important impact technology has had in our daily lives; therefore, the topic of this article is very relevant since we need to change the way we teach. We need to adapt our curriculums in order to stop teaching a lot of content that our students can easily find on line, and start teaching how to analyze, interpret and approach appropriately all the information that our students receive through the constant use of technological devices.
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There is a new digital divide on the horizon. It is not based around who has devices and who does not, but instead the new digital divide will be based around students who know how to effectively find and curate information and those who do not.
Beth Dichter's insight:
Learning to search effectively is not easy. This post provides a look at four types of searchers and some crucial teaching skills to teach your students. Do your students know: * How and when to use dashes (or minus signs)? * When to use two periods? * How to do a site search? * How to use country codes? * What a filter bubble is? You will also find a link to Eli Pariser's TedTalk on filter bubbles as well as a short video on finding primary sources.
Pamela Perry King's curator insight,
October 21, 2013 12:09 PM
The Big Six taught me a lot on how we assume kids can skim and scan. We need to take more time to show them how to search. 
johanna krijnsen's curator insight,
December 4, 2013 2:07 PM
do your students know how to search, find and curate information? 
Cindy Gerken Butler's curator insight,
November 11, 2014 2:34 PM
We are a 1:1 school and we have several students who could learn a lot in regards to searching for content on the internet.
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"As we venture into the 21st century, we as a society, are faced with more innovation and challenge than ever before. We now live in an interconnected world, where the Internet and global communications are simultaneously uniting and isolating us as a society. How do we raise critical thinkers to best face the challenges that face our modern society?"
Beth Dichter's insight:
This infographic provides a look at how we may develop 21st century critical thinkers. Using an image of a brain with eight areas that look at skills we need to know how to use,and that correspond with 21st century skills found in the Common Core and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. In addition there are six that we as teachers should be doing within our classrooms including: * Integrate critical thinking skills within and across all content areas * Establish safe, intellectually risk-free learning environments * Allow time to develop critical thinking skills. There is also a section called "Your Students' Path to Critical Thinking" that includes 25 recommendations. The infographic is also available as a pdf file that you may download in an 11" x 17" version at the website.
Undwear Entrepreneur's curator insight,
November 12, 2013 5:06 PM
Adapt, improve your knowledge & skill sets, or become obsolete!
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"What exactly is critical thinking? You hear about it all the time as a valuable 21st Century skillthat everyone should have, and one that a good education will help you develop. If it is so important, why aren’t there specific courses, seminars, self-help videos, or even whole schools focused on helping students develop it?"
Beth Dichter's insight:
This is the first of two posts that explore critical thinking. Although geared to higher education many points are applicable to primary and secondary education as we begin the process of teaching our students critical thinking skills. The post provides an overview on "what is critical thinking" noting that it was not "formally defined until the late 20th century." A summary of the definition is provided as well as the fact that critical thinking involves two components: * Gathering information * Making sense of the information The post then goes on to provide "tips for conducting critical research" (quoted below): * Cast a wide net/conduct primary research * Refine your questions * Track back other sources For more information on the tips above and on critical thinking click through to the post.
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"Welcome to a continuing series of posts based on the eight essential elements (BIE) that make up Project Based learning. In this post I would like to focus on "significant content. I have ten ideas..."
Beth Dichter's insight:
Gorman begins this post by providing a definition of Project Based Learning that looks at the final project as the "desert." He states "In true Project Based Learning the project uncovers and facilitates the learning of significant content. In PBL there is a balancing of learning that occurs through out the project duration." He discussed PBL in relation to the four C's (Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking, and Creativity) noting that often PBL becomes too focused on the four C's. There is also the need to make sure that there is sufficient scaffolding for the learners. To assist in learning how to plan there is list of ten ideas that may be considered in the planning process and the first three are listed below (quoted from the post): * The entry event should show a relationship to the Driving Question promoting a “need to know” of significant content. * The Driving Question should allow students to uncover the curriculum in a student friendly and understandable manner. * The PBL planning sheet for students should line up with significant content in the curricular area being studied and assessed. Gorman has also provided a link to a PBL Planning Reflection Sheet.
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Beth Dichter's insight:
Check out this concept map about critical thinking...and consider sharing it with students to help them better understand the processes involved.
Tracy Shaw's curator insight,
January 24, 2013 1:46 PM
Thinking maps can be such a great resource when you're designing lessons - visual reinforcements!
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"I believe that creativity is necessary in today’s classroom. In fact, creativity is one of the important 4 C’s (Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, Creativity) that make up part of the foundation of a 21st century education. The remaining foundation is of course another C (Significant Content). I believe that when you put all of these C’s together you get two more C’s which make up the 'Common Core'."
Beth Dichter's insight:
This post is the first in series and discusses free resources that may be stored on a local computer or a network. The list includes Scratch, Sketc-Up, Gimp, 3 free office suites, Alice, a variety of tools that will help you make movies and more. Most are described in some detail and there are links to additional resources to help you learn the tool. Additional posts will discuss Web 2.0 apps that may be used on the Internet (and across platforms), web apps and sites that promote literacy and student publication and web sites that promote student creativity.
Randy D. Nichols's curator insight,
January 15, 2013 9:30 AM
A good list to help you start (or continue) bulding a "digital toolbox" for multimodal compositions. (I will steal some of these ideas for my delicious links!)
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In this age of information how do we teach our students (or children) to be critical thinkers, to be able to look at the information available to them and filter out the good from the bad. This post explores ways to work with students in the curation process.
It looks at curating with friends (through social networks, curating resources, curating images, and curating links and content.
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A suggested but not exhaustive list of possible applications that may help foster 21st Century Skills in today's language learners. Although geared to language learners the applications suggested work well in any course. The skills listed (with applications to go with them) are: communication, collaboration, critical thinking and problem solving, creativity and innovation, information literacy, media literacy, technology literacy, flexibility and adaptability, iniative and self-direction, social and corss-cultural skills, productivity and accountability, and leadership and responsibility.
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How do we prepare students for 21st century learning? The Common Core Standards call for "more rigor, complex reasoning, problem solving, and critical thinking than traditional learning." How do we teach so that students meet these new standards? What professional development will need to be done so that teachers may provides their students with the necessary skills? As the titleof the article states, "How do we prepare students for compelex futures?" The post looks at a variety of materials that discuss skills and strategies that one might consider. In 2008 Tony Wagner suggested 7 areas that were critical for students to learn: * Problem-solving and critical thinking * Collaboration across networks and leading by influence * Agility and adaptability * Initiative and entrepreneurship * Effective written and oral communication * Accessing and analyzing information * Curiosity and imagination Materials from David Conley regarding "key cognitive strategies", Costa and Kallick and habits of mind, and other dispositions are also discussed. The last section of the post looks at "a new paradigm: on-going, formative, self-assessment."
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Here is an idea of one way to use infographics in your classroom. The specific infographic shown looks at Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and levels of English speaking citizens in a country. It appears that the higher levels of English speaking citizens, the better the GDP. Using infographics is a great way to helpe students raise questions that lead to deeper understandings. To see questions that might be raised with this specific infographic click through to the post.
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"Failure is such an uncomfortable topic in education. We are very failure adverse and consequently risk adverse. It is often seen as unacceptable for students to fail and this avoidance of failure is not mirrored in the real world beyond the safe environments of the school. I believe that we must use failure or getting stuff wrong as a tool for learning, that we must accept it as a part of the learning process, that we must use it to progress and develop. We should and must strive to succeed, but we need to allow opportunities for students to learn from their mistakes and in fact to provide opportunities for them to make mistakes."
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"Throughout the Twentieth Century, critical thinking instruction was part of the mission of our educational system at all levels--to varying degrees at various times. But towards the end of the century, around 1980, interest in critical thinking suddenly increased exponentially. Now, virtually all educational institutions claim to teach critical thinking. This website is focused on critical thinking. As well as the two questions above it will help answer: * Why teach it?
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This is good news!! Movies are a great way to engage the current generation and having this resource free is fantastic.