Giving is Caring

Always remember:

The value of time, the success of perseverance, the worth of character, the power of kindness, the influence of example, and the obligation of duty.



Wednesday 10 October 2012

1st Pearson Annual Summit. October 6th, 2012

 

  Think again! Developing Competences for a new Language Learning Landscape

 by Jose Luis Morales

 
The talk started with the definition of thinking skills : learn, create, programme, adopt, adapt, relate positively to whoever people meet. I believe this is an interesting way to begin providing the basis for what we, teachers, need to help students to acquire.
 
Mr. Morales mentioned some important competences that were related to developing thinking skills which were all developed through inquiry. This is, to ask questions to ourselves and/or to our students to prompt them into looking for an answer that goes beyond a simple Yes-No answer.
 
Some of the competences that need to be developed, according to Mr. Morales are:

  1. Logical reasoning: the ability to connect ideas and draw conclusions
  2. Research skills: with the additional ability of assessing the reliability of the sources
  3. Problem Solving skills: related to the above when looking for information to solve a problem
  4. Understanding: organizing ideas using Venn diagrams, mind maps, etc.
  5. Thinking Creatively: related to problem solving skills and leading to..
  6. Thinking outside the box: to explore unusual points of view and strategies
  7. Understanding your emotion: developing interpersonal skills and
  8. Making and Testing Hypotheses: Using all of the above to understand and explain a situation.

Since questions are needed to prompt students to develop thinking skills, Mr.Morales finished his presentation with the features of good questions.
 
Good Questions should:
  • invite reflections
  • be short
  • be focused
  • be contextualized
  • be riddle-like
  • challenge
  • provide scaffolding
  • be open-ended
  • be personalized
  • provide language opportunities
  • provide content opportunities
  • invite creativity

 
 
 

No comments:

Post a Comment