Last week, I introduced the 7 Cs of education. Essentially, they are seven ways that students learn and process information that is taught to them. Since kids all learn in their own unique ways, each of these 7 Cs are equally important. Today we’ll start with the first on the list: Critical Thinking.
Thinking critically has many benefits, including increased problem solving ability, improved decision making, and increased curiosity. As students learn to be critical thinkers, they begin to think outside the box. This leads to more diverse, unique solutions and answers. Students start to think creatively as they expand their thinking beyond the obvious. They are able to analyze and evaluate a problem on a deeper level, which lends itself to making informed inferences, and eventually, unique solutions.
Critical thinking is a skill that is used long after students have completed formal education. Because of this, it’s important that students are taught how to think critically so that it becomes second nature. When they are faced with a problem or situation in adulthood, they will already have the tools they need to process possible solutions because of what they had been taught when they were younger. As adults, we know that problems will arise in the workplace, at home, and elsewhere. Knowing how to tackle problems and find solutions becomes an immeasurable skill as we encounter various situations.
There are many different ways that students can be taught to think critically. Allowing students to work in groups to solve problems can be a very effective way for students to combine their brain power to come up with creative, well thought out solutions. Activities like escape rooms, debates, role playing, case studies, scavenger hunts, and sequencing can encourage critical thinking.
As kids are given opportunities to think deeper, they begin to train their brains to look at problems and solutions through a different lens, and soon enough, critical thinking becomes second nature!
I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “Two things are certain in life: death and taxes.” And while that’s true, I would add a third certainty: stress. Everyone will, at one point or another, experience stress in their lives. The level of severity might differ, but the existence of stressors is a given.
I wish I could say that stress only happens once you’re an adult, but that’s just not the case. Kids and teens are experiencing stress early on. As adults, we have had more time to figure out how to handle the various kinds of stresses that come into our lives. But for teens and kids, managing stress can be overwhelming when they don’t have knowledge of or access to proper stress management techniques. Teachers have a unique opportunity to be able to incorporate those kinds of skills and techniques into their curriculum, thus providing the rising generation with the tools they will need to manage the stress they encounter.
You may have a few techniques that you know work, but there are always more to learn and try. Below are some stress management techniques you might consider teaching your students.
Teach students to organize and prioritize their time. Show them how to use a planner or digital task tracker. When you feel more organized, tasks feel easier to take on.
Help students to learn and practice various breathing techniques for high stress moments.
Practice mindfulness as a class, then teach them to practice it individually.
Belly breathing– this helps to redirect their focus and calm their nervous systems.
Physical activity– movement does amazing things for the brain, and is a great way to release emotional energy.
Journaling- doing a brain dump is a great way for kids to get everything out that is stressing them so they feel like they can move forward.
Art- creating art is a great stress reliever! It’s a really good creative outlet that can help students refocus.
Encourage students to get a good night’s sleep. Solid sleep has amazing benefits in so many areas.
Teach students to use the 5-4-3-2-1 method: identify 5 things they can see, 4 things they can touch, 3 things they can hear, 2 things they can smell, and 1 thing they can taste. You can practice this together as a class and have students write their answers down, then as they get comfortable with the process, they can do it on their own.
Teach your class how to do progressive muscle relaxation as a way to calm down in stressful situations.
Do regular brain breaks during class time as a way to break up the time, get students moving, and to give their minds a break from the rigors of learning.
Kids of all ages can benefit from these stress management techniques. Providing kids with proper tools can help them tremendously, and can help them turn to healthy ways to manage stress rather than unhealthy ways.
You finish teaching a lesson and give instructions for the assignment. As usual, you ask if anyone has any questions, and you are met with radio silence. But because you’re a teacher, you know better than to believe that everyone in the class knows exactly what to do. You’ve learned that there are always questions– sometimes it’s because a student is too shy to ask in front of the whole class, and sometimes (or maybe most often), it’s because a student was not listening. They might have heard you talking, but they weren’t really truly paying attention. Repeating instructions 32 times gets exhausting!
Students often think that hearing is the same thing as listening, when in reality, they are two different things. We hear a lot of things throughout our day. We hear people talking, noisy halls, bells ringing, music playing, and so on. But until we actively hear, we generally don’t truly register what our ears are taking in. Actively hearing – or listening – requires our minds to focus on what is being said or heard so that our brain can make sense of it and understand it. We make a conscious choice to take in the noises and turn it into something more concrete.
In our classrooms, we can implement different strategies to help our students learn to listen rather than just hear.
After giving instructions, pick 2-3 students in the room, and call on each one individually and have them tell the class what the instructions were. Knowing they might be called on encourages them to listen more intently so that they can give an accurate answer.
Before students begin to work, ask them to turn to a neighbor and retell what the instructions were. They can help each other remember what is to be done. This also encourages students to effectively communicate with each other.
Write instructions on the board or display them through the projector– then if they weren’t listening, you don’t have to answer the same question several times, as they will have the instructions right in front of them.
As you give instructions, have them write down the instructions on their own paper. Writing things down helps to create a connection between what is written and remembered.
While it can be frustrating to have students not listen, it can be a great teaching opportunity, and there are strategies that can help students retrain their minds to be more active listeners. Not only is it a valuable skill to have within the classroom, students can learn that being an active listener is an excellent life skill to have in all areas of life– work, relationships, school, recreational time, and so on. Hearing is good, but listening is great.
Sharing can be a difficult skill to learn, especially for kids in younger grades. Preschoolers and kindergarteners in particular often have a natural tendency to not want to share. Sometimes it can be hard for them to see that they aren’t giving up a toy or other object, but instead are just letting someone else have a turn. As teachers, we can model this for our students and can do our best to teach it in our classrooms.
Since kids love picture books, I found a few children’s books that teach about sharing. These can even be read to older grades if needed.
Not Enough Lollipops by Megan Maynor and illustrated by Micah Player
Alice and her friends are at an assembly when the principal announced that the last raffle prize would be a huge bucket of lollipops. Alice was the lucky winner! But she soon found that everyone else wanted a lollipop too. The other students began to try to persuade Alice to give them one or convince her that some students didn’t deserve one for various reasons. Alice found herself getting flustered. She finally took control of the situation and declared that everyone deserved a lollipop. She had the students get into a line, and she handed out lollipops one at a time until everyone who wanted one had one. The students who had tried to persuade Alice into giving out the lollipops felt bad for the things they had said. They realized that there was enough for everyone, and that it was nice to share with everyone.
Mine! written and illustrated by Sue Heap
Amy had a blankie, bear, bunny, and bird that she loved very much. She was very happy when it was just her and her blankie and stuffies. Her twin brothers came in and wanted to play. They took bear and bunny without asking permission, and didn’t stop when Amy asked them to. Baby Joe even wanted to play. She grabbed the toys from her brothers’ hands and not so nicely told them the toys were not theirs. Her brothers were sad. Amy realized that she needed to share. She handed a toy to each brother and they all four played together. Amy learned that by sharing, everyone got to have fun!
That’s (Not) Mine written by Anna Kang and illustrated by Christopher Weyant
Two bears are fighting over a chair. The brown bear claims it is his because the blue bear got up and moved from the seat. The blue bear explains that he had sat there first, therefore it was his chair. The brown bear wouldn’t move. Blue bear brings in a rolling office chair. Brown bear is interested in it and wants to try it. After asking several times, the blue bear allows the brown bear to take the chair for a spin, only to end up crashing. Meanwhile, the blue bear has taken back the big chair. A fight ensues and they both end up crashing to the ground. Realizing they were silly to be fighting over a chair, they apologize and go play outside.
The New Small Person written and illustrated by Lauren Child
Elmore Green was an only child. He loved having everything to himself– toys, candy, his parents, and more. But one day, his parents bring home a new small person, and suddenly Elmer’s world is turned upside down. He is no longer the only one his parents have to attend to, and he doesn’t get to choose everything like he is used to doing. He doesn’t like this new small person and wants it to go back to wherever it came from, but the new person stayed and continued to grow. He didn’t like this small person following him everywhere. That changed one night when Elmer had a scary dream. This new small person hopped into Elmer’s bed to comfort him. Soon, Elmer realized that it was okay to have a brother, and that doing things together was more fun than doing things alone.
The Hare Who Wouldn’t Share written and illustrated by Steve Small
Hare liked to be by himself and most definitely didn’t like to share. He had a whole patch of turnips that he had grown, and wanted them all for himself. When a family of rabbits moved in just down the way from Hare, they stopped to say hello and admire Hare’s turnips. Hare was grumpy and told them to go away and that he did not want to share. One day Hare noticed the rabbits had a lovely patch of carrots growing by their burrow. The rabbits made soup with the carrots and invited neighbors to join them for a party. He could not figure out why the rabbits would want to share something they had worked so hard for. One night, Hare came across a big boar in the woods. The boar was greedy and mean and snatched Hare’s turnips right out of his hands. Hare knew the boar would head to the rabbits’ carrot patch next. He quickly ran home to gather some turnips to make a trail for the boar to follow. This bought him enough time to warn the rabbits and help them harvest all of their carrots. When the boar came, there weren’t any carrots or rabbits to be found, as they were all safe in the burrow. While Hare was helping the rabbits, the boar ate every last turnip in Hare’s patch. The rabbits come to the rescue and offer Hare a place to stay for the winter. Hare learns the importance of sharing and being kind.
Pig the Pug written and illustrated by Aaron Blabey
The Pig the Pug series is one of my favorite children’s book series. Told in a rhyme format, they all teach great lessons in a fun way. In this book, Pig is a very selfish pug. He lives in a house with another dog named Trevor. Trevor always wants to play with Pig and his toys, but Pig won’t have it. Afraid Trevor will steal all of his toys, Pig gathers the toys and makes a big pile so that Trevor can’t take them. Pig stands on top of the pile to protect it, and soon finds himself in trouble, as the pile is not stable. He takes a big tumble and, much to his dismay, is soon forced to share his toys with Trevor while he is recovering from his fall.
Teaching students the importance of sharing can be fun, and these cute books can help! After all, sharing is caring!
Yesterday I went to the gym for the first time in, well, I don’t know how long. My friend invited me to go with her, and I figured it would be more motivating to follow through if I had someone to push me. I walked in feeling pretty good, and walked, errr, I mean, waddled out, with my muscles screaming at me. It’s not like we even did anything too wild and crazy… we walked on the track for a bit, then did some sets on some weight machines. I didn’t want to push too hard and injure myself, but I also didn’t want to go too easy and not really benefit from my workout.
My friend was kind enough to show me how to use some of the machines I wasn’t sure about, and gave me little bits of encouragement as we went along. At first, I felt kind of silly for not knowing how to do some of the exercises, and felt a little wimpy for not being able to lift as much weight as others around me. And then I reminded myself that it has literally been years since I last went to the gym, and I wasn’t going to be able to jump right back in and lift as much as I could have in the past. In order to avoid injury and frustration, I needed to start slow, knowing that I would be able to do more as I made the necessary progress. I had to remind myself that it was okay if I made mistakes and asked for help. Doing so would only help me to get better.
As I’ve thought about this over the past day, I’ve been thinking about how we, as teachers, have the responsibility and honor to teach our students that starting slow is okay, and that mistakes happen as we learn and figure things out. It’s simply part of the learning process.
It’s common, and even natural, for our students to feel a little silly or unsure about something when they first start learning about it. Lack of confidence can feel overwhelming to students, but as teachers, we can view it as a chance to help students grow and to gain confidence. It’s important that we take their lack of confidence and use it as a tool to push and encourage our students. We ought to be extra careful to not use that uncertainty against our students– doing so would discourage students from trying, and would eventually lead to slower progress and even more uncertainty.
I see it like this– had my friend brushed me off and not given me encouragement, I might not have pushed myself to try new things at the gym. I would have probably stuck to the “easy” machines and maybe even avoided the machines all together. But because I had someone cheering me on and being patient with me, I felt compelled to keep going and to keep trying, even when I felt silly and unsure.
Similarly, if we brush off our students and if we don’t give them encouragement, they aren’t going to feel comfortable making mistakes and aren’t going to want to take any risks. Progress would be halted, and confidence would stay stagnant. As we cheer our students on, they get more comfortable with the learning process and all of its parts– even the not so fun parts of the process, like making mistakes and not knowing the answers.
So like me, with my sore muscles and slow start, our students must know that it’s okay to start slow, and it’s okay to experience growing pains and sore muscles. Once they get comfortable with being uncomfortable, magic starts to happen. And as a teacher, sitting next to them as they grow, stretch, and learn is a true gift!
Recently, my seven year old has started (loudly) expressing his disgust with me every time I remind him to do his assigned chore, pick up his room, help fold his laundry, etc. He is not interested in anything other than having fun, and honestly, sometimes I don’t blame him. In the midst of one of his defiant moments, he (again, loudly) said, “Mom! Why do you always have to boss me around and tell me to do things like clean my room?!”
What I saw as a simple request for him to pick up his toys, he saw as me being mean and bossy. He saw it as a threat to his ability to choose for himself. And while that couldn’t be father from the truth, I can see why he might have thought that. As the adult, I can see the bigger picture at play here, and can see that teaching him basic skills when he is young will help him greatly as he gets older. As the kid, he only sees play time being taken away.
As his mom, part of my job is to teach foundational skills that will be built upon and that are necessary for successful adulthood. I wouldn’t expect him to plan, prepare, serve, and clean up an entire meal by himself– it would be a recipe for disaster! But, I can involve him in and teach him step by step. I can have him set the table, get ingredients out, or have him unload the dishwasher. Those are all skills he is capable of and can safely do. Learning a little here and a little there paves the way for bigger tasks later.
Teachers have a similar role with their students. We start at the bottom and work our way up. No one would expect a kindergartner to solve a three digit multiplication problem, nor would you expect a fifth grader to solve a complex equation designed for a high school senior. Doing so would just lead to frustration on all sides. Similarly, one wouldn’t expect a first grader to be able to write a detailed multi-paragraph research paper with properly cited sources, simply because they lack the necessary skills to do so.
Providing students with the skills and knowledge they need to successfully move forward is a crucial part of being a teacher. In order for teachers to know where to start, they need to know where their students are. This is why assessments are so important in the classroom. Teachers don’t have to give a big, formal test to see where their students are, though those do have their place. Informal assessments that are done along the way can be absolutely crucial to how a teacher moves forward with what they are teaching.
As teachers gather formal and informal data, they are able to pivot and make any needed changes to how or what they are teaching so that they are able to help students succeed. It’s similar to when you are driving a car. Your mind is constantly making observations about surroundings, then telling you to make any needed corrections to keep your car where it needs to be. Paying attention early on and throughout the process can save you from going the totally wrong direction or worse, crashing.
It’s also important that we help students see why we are teaching the things that we are teaching. Like my son not fully seeing why I was asking him to clean up his room and do his chore, students also often miss the why behind what they are being taught. As we teach them and guide them into new material, we can remind them of what they’ve already learned that will make this new content more accessible, and we can also help them see that what they are going to learn will help them in the future as they build upon their knowledge.
Teaching can be overwhelming at times, sure. But so can learning, and it’s important that we keep that in mind as we prepare lessons and teach our students. We must meet them where they are, sometimes even back tracking a little if needed, to make the progress that we know they can make. When we do this, magic happens, and things begin to click in students’ minds. And that, my friends, is when the real progress is made.
Cooking with kids— you either love it or you don’t. The spilled ingredients, eggshells in the bowl, and general chaos in the kitchen mixed with family bonding time and making memories can make for a grand adventure. Memorable, yes. Potentially stressful, also yes. But mixed in with all the heartwarming memory making and chaos, there are teaching and learning opportunities a plenty.
How can cooking with kids provide learning moments, you might ask? Well, first, there’s math involved with all the measuring, and if you are sizing up or down a recipe, there’s the math needed to recalculate how much of each ingredient you will need. This is when you’ll need to pull up the “fractions” file that’s been stored in your mind since 8th grade algebra— you know, the one you didn’t think you’d have to use much? Cooking and baking provide ample opportunities to dust off your fraction knowledge and put it to work!
Second, cooking and baking can teach real life, hard skills. Everyone is going to need to know how to cook and bake at some point in their lives, so why not start as a child? Keeping tasks within your child’s capabilities and keeping things age appropriate is always a good idea to keep the experience safe for everyone. I’ll be forever thankful for parents who let me help in the kitchen from a young age. Now as a mom with my own children, I can do the same for my kids in hopes that they will have at least a fundamental understanding of basic cooking skills by the time they are living on their own.
As kids get older, they also become able to read and follow a recipe. This skill can transfer over to many other areas, as a recipe is basically an “instruction manual” of sorts. Learning how to read and follow step by step instructions will help them as they grow up and become adults. They will learn the importance of following the order of instructions to achieve a desired result.
Cooking and baking also open the door for discussions of what to do if something doesn’t go as planned. Was the gravy too runny or too lumpy? Talk about why and what can cause those problems to happen. Were your cookies flat as a pancake and crispy rather than soft and fluffy? Together, research and talk about the circumstances that might create flat cookies. Beyond that, it becomes an excellent problem solving opportunity as you work together to figure out how to solve the issue and create the desired result.
Lastly, but certainly not least, cooking and baking together provides parents and children opportunities to bond by working together and making memories together. This helps create a sense of love and support that gives children confidence. Children also feel a sense of accomplishment and pride as they see (and taste!) the result of their hard work. This confidence and sense of pride can carry over into other areas of their life, such as school, sports, music, and even social interactions.
So while baking and cooking together might not seem like an opportunity filled with moments of learning, it really is. This helps to confirm what I already believe to be true— there are opportunities for learning and growth in everything we do, no matter how mundane and simple the task. Learning doesn’t just happen in the classroom; it happens all around us, often in the most unexpected places.
