JoAnn and creative thinking

Chapter 6 discusses the assessment of creativity and creative thinking. How do you promote creative thinking in the classroom? Do you feel that you can grade this type of creativity? Do you feel that you should grade creative assignments?  And finally, what skills do you feel students should have in order to be creative thinkers?

Donna and Alexis and Problem Types

           In Chapter 5 Brookhart states that there are different kinds of "problems" we can have students answer, namely:    structured,  unstructured and goal free problems. Generally speaking, which types of problems do you feel you rely on mostly in your classroom? Do you use any of the other two problem types OR would you like to be able to use any of other problem types but feel that you cannot do so?  If so, why?    Have you incorporated any of these problem types into your yearlong curriculum?   Which ones?   In your estimation, does any one specific problem type give you a better insight into what students have learned?  Share your thoughts with us.    

Assessing Student Judgment_Jennifer, Greg and Dr. Ries

        In Chapter 4 of her text, Assessing  Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Your Classroom, Brookhart discusses ways in which a teacher can assess student judgment……always a difficult task!!!!   In order to do that, we, of course, need to give students the opportunity to “make some sort of critical judgment.”    Brookhart suggests that we consider giving students the following types of tasks: 1) the opportunity to evaluate the credibility of a source of information; 2) the opportunity to identify assumptions implicit in that information, and 3) the opportunity to identify rhetorical and persuasive methods.  Consider just one of these tasks.    You are a teacher who is anxious to know how your students go about making logical judgments, what would be your assignment in order to measure their thinking?    How would you assess the student judgment in that particular assignment?    You may wish to link this with the yearlong curriculum assessment that you are now creating.