Why Walking Is Great For Your Creativity Let’s face it, sometimes those brilliant ideas just don’t come easily. Whether we’re writing a paper, a book, or just trying to come up with an original birthday gift, we’ve all been stuck waiting for inspiration to find us. Finding a solution to these creative blocks is no easy task, but a group of researchers at Standford University set out to do just that. To figure out how to get our creative juices flowing, researchers first considered data showing that exercise prevents cognitive decline. Next, they focused on more short-term mental improvement, and the long-held idea that walking increases creativity. Their experiments are fascinating, and may be exceedingly practical in application. To start, the scientists tested creativity before and after walking on a treadmill. To see if these effects decreased with subsequent walking, they tested people who walked multiple times. Next, the researchers wanted to see if walking outside was more powerful than indoors. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
24 Questions to Enhance Students Reflective and Critical Thinking Skills August 31, 2014 Reflection is a fundamental skill from which is branched out all other thinking skills. Reflection is a form of meta-thinking, a process of deep contemplation and pondering. It is also the basis of critical thinking for we can not raise critical thinkers if we do not have good 'reflectors'. When students are taught the art of reflecting, they become independent learners who are engaged in a constant process of assessment and re-assessment of their learning needs and strategies. Reflection is all about questioning. To cultivate a reflective culture within your class, students need to be encouraged to pose challenging questions as to the way they learn and think. Check the full graphic from this page.
Terrific Mini Guide to Help Stude... December 26, 2014 Questioning is the key to critical thinking and through questions students get to explore the deep layers of meanings that would otherwise go unnoticed. Of course not all questions have this analytical ability. For instance, closed questions tend to limit the thinking choices available for students. The same with questions that promote factual recalling. In today's post, I am sharing with you this mini guide created by Foundation of Critical Thinking which you can use with your students to help them better comprehend and apply critical thinking in their learning. I learned about this great resource from a post shared by Education to Save The World. Image credit: Foundation of Critical Thinking
Smart Strategies That Help Students Learn How to Learn Teaching Strategies Bruce Guenter What’s the key to effective learning? One intriguing body of research suggests a rather riddle-like answer: It’s not just what you know. It’s what you know about what you know. To put it in more straightforward terms, anytime a student learns, he or she has to bring in two kinds of prior knowledge: knowledge about the subject at hand (say, mathematics or history) and knowledge about how learning works. In our schools, “the emphasis is on what students need to learn, whereas little emphasis—if any—is placed on training students how they should go about learning the content and what skills will promote efficient studying to support robust learning,” writes John Dunlosky, professor of psychology at Kent State University in Ohio, in an article just published in American Educator. “Teaching students how to learn is as important as teaching them content.” [RELATED: What Students Should Know About Their Own Brains] • What is the topic for today’s lesson? Related
Why "20% Time" is Good for Schools Have you ever met an adult who doesn't really love what they do, but just goes through the motions in their job and everyday life? Have you spoken with men and women who constantly complain, showing no visible passion for anything in the world? I'm sure that, like me, you have met those people. I've also seen the making of these adults in schools across our country: students who are consistently being "prepared" for the next test, assessment, or grade level . . . only to find out after graduation that they don't really know what they are passionate about. These are the same students who are never allowed to learn what they want in school. Enter 20% time. What 20% time allows students to do is pick their own project and learning outcomes, while still hitting all the standards and skills for their grade level. With 20% time, we can solve one society’s biggest problems by giving students a purpose for learning and a conduit for their passions and interests. Students Teachers Parents