Your 2nd Grade Teacher's Thoughts

The last two weeks of reading, and research has solidified a few key concepts in my mind going forward. Foremost, we are all consumers of different sources many times of day however, we do not always innately step back and evaluate the quality of the information we are consuming and the effectiveness of our research techniques. Whether we are watching the news or scrolling through an Instagram shared post it is essential to really think about a few key concepts. One of the most helpful concepts I have found is to simply ask: what is the purpose of this source? All authors have a motivation in mind when creating content and that motivation can drastically affect the content and the delivery of that content. If we do not clearly identify that purpose, we might miss possible biases or potential usefulness the source holds.  Another helpful concept I’ve begun using is to try to always identify the overall credibility of a source. This could mean many things, from if the information is up t

From the past two weeks' readings and discussions, I have begun to understand the value of critical thinking and how to foster critical thinking in a classroom. All the authors from our source materials said, in different ways, that as humans we need to begin thinking critically to solve “today's pressing problems” (Sir Ken Robinson 2016 pg 1). Our world is changing so fast and there are many insurmountable problems we face as a society. Therefore, the readings this week have made me begin to question: W hat role do I have in helping solve these problems as an educator? I do believe I have a responsibility as an educator to inform my students of these problems and create a quality questioning classroom to help my students think critically about them. However, I think it also takes a LOT of preparation and energy to think about every lesson and assess if they provide ample quality questions and teach students to think critically. It also can be challenging with content standard