Today, I was given an assignment from PBLU to consider how I'd assess 21st Century skills, specifically critical thinking. At first glance, I thought, 'easy' but when it came to actually getting it down in black and white I realised that I had a glaring omission in my assessment toolset. While I talk about critical thinking skills with my learners (a lot!), I couldn't recall a time when I'd included it in the assessment criteria of a rubric or given written feedback to even one learner using that actual term. I mean, of course I've asked them to expand on a point in their learning blog, evaluate a process they've been through and make their thinking 'visible' but why on earth would they be doing this as a matter of practice when I don't explicitly assess it (or at least not since our 'Thinking Together' program 2 years ago which new learners never experienced)? And here's me after a year of focusing on 'Clarity in the Classroom'. Appalling!
Recovering from the immobility of shame, I watched the recommended video below to get started. I realise that I am going to need resources to focus on critical thinking more explicitly and, as mentioned by a colleague in a discussion yesterday, it's time for us to make audio & video recordings a regular feature of classroom activity. In this way, we'll be able to make thinking an aspect for reflection as with any other skill. Below the video are some resources that I've read through but I'm sure there are lots more out there to be discovered, and I'll be looking out for resources to use with learners in particular.
This assignment really made me think too. This surely is at the heart of what we want to teach.
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