This guide, “Ten Strategies for Creating a Classroom Climate for Creative Thinking,” provides primary teachers with evidence-based, practical strategies to foster a creative and dynamic learning environment.
Key Points of Value:
Comprehensive and Practical: Includes ten actionable strategies, such as encouraging idea generation, group brainstorming, learning from mistakes, and using creative thinking frameworks.
Supportive Learning Environment: Focuses on creating a classroom atmosphere that nurtures creativity through collaboration, acceptance of mistakes, and constructive feedback.
Diverse and Flexible Approaches: Emphasizes activities like mind mapping, visualization, and “what if” questions to stimulate varied thinking.
Explicit Skill Development: Highlights the importance of teaching students the aspects of creative thinking directly, fostering self-reflection and metacognition.
Structured Process: Guides teachers through methods for generating, evaluating, and refining student ideas, ensuring productive and focused creative work.
The Ten Strategies Covered Include:
Encouraging ideas
Brainstorming as a group
Allowing for mistakes
Teaching creative techniques
Maintaining a relaxed approach
Promoting a creative environment
Supporting collaboration
Implementing creative frameworks
Teaching creative aspects explicitly
Encouraging creative flow
These strategies empower teachers to enrich their practices and cultivate a classroom culture that values creativity and innovation.
Teachers will find clear explanations, strategies, and examples that make it easier to integrate creative thinking practices into their teaching. This guide equips teachers with the tools to develop students’ problem-solving skills, adaptability, and innovative mindsets, making it a valuable resource for fostering essential 21st-century competencies.
This guide is divided into two main sections, providing a well-rounded approach to understanding and applying creative thinking concepts.
Key Highlights:
Comprehensive Definitions: Clear explanations of creative thinking and how it differs from general creativity, helping teachers grasp its unique role in education.
Evidence-Based Insights: A review of research-backed reasons why creative thinking is critical for today’s learners, enhancing your ability to justify its importance in your teaching practice.
Attributes of Creative Thinkers: Detailed coverage of the key attributes that define creative thinkers, such as goal orientation, imagination, and self-regulation, offering you practical markers for student assessment.
Practical Applications: Techniques and ideas to integrate creative thinking into your lessons, encouraging students to approach problems with fresh perspectives and innovative solutions.
Support for Problem Solving: Insights on how creative thinking contributes to developing problem-solving skills, enabling students to adapt and respond effectively to new challenges.
This guide is ideal for primary teachers who aim to enrich their teaching methods and promote higher-level thinking. It provides a blend of theory and actionable advice to make creative thinking a cornerstone of classroom success.
This resource, Why Critical Thinking is Crucial Today, is an evidence-based guide tailored for primary teachers. It is divided into two main sections: Part 1 is a practical teacher’s guide to understanding and fostering critical thinking in the classroom, while Part 2 provides research-backed evidence demonstrating the importance of these skills. The document offers definitions, key principles, and strategies for developing critical thinking, emphasising how it encourages pupils to question, analyse, and make informed judgments.
Primary teachers will find value in this guide as it equips them with actionable approaches to cultivate critical thinking, benefiting pupils’ academic performance and lifelong learning capabilities. If fostering independent, reflective thinkers aligns with your teaching goals, this guide is an invaluable resource.
Key highlights for primary teachers include:
Definition and Importance: Critical thinking is defined as questioning information and analysing it logically to form judgments. This is essential for helping pupils make decisions, solve problems, and distinguish between facts and opinions.
Practical Benefits: The guide explains that teaching critical thinking enhances curiosity, promotes deeper understanding, and helps pupils navigate complex information—an increasingly vital skill in today’s digital age.
Classroom Strategies: The resource suggests methods such as posing reflective questions (“Why did you write that?”) and promoting group discussions to build pupils’ critical thinking skills.
Real-World Relevance: It underlines the significance of critical thinking for recognizing biases and identifying fake news, skills that only 2% of UK children currently possess, according to research.
This evidence-based Teacher Guide, titled “Ten Strategies for Creating a Classroom Climate for Critical Thinking,” offers practical and research-supported techniques for fostering critical thinking in pupils.
This guide is particularly useful for busy teachers who want to enhance their classroom practices to promote higher-order thinking skills. By integrating these strategies, teachers can create a classroom environment that supports thoughtful inquiry, deeper understanding, and the development of critical thinking abilities in their pupils.
The guide is divided into two main parts:
Introduction to Critical Thinking: It emphasises the importance of critical thinking as an essential skill for academic success and future careers, highlighting its role in effective communication, problem-solving, and navigating modern challenges like misinformation and biased information.
Ten Strategies for Cultivating Critical Thinking: The guide provides actionable strategies for teachers to implement in their classrooms, such as encouraging collaboration, developing metacognition, promoting decision-making, and using reflective practices. These strategies are designed to help students analyse, evaluate, and construct new ideas based on reason and evidence.
A Teacher’s Guide to Problem Solving: An evidence-based time-saving, high-impact tool for essential skill development
This resource is a concise, 20-minute evidence-based guide designed to help classroom teachers effectively teach problem-solving skills, emphasising their importance for 21st-century learners.
It includes:
Introduction to Problem Solving: Outlines the significance of problem-solving as a key skill for the future, particularly in adapting to challenges posed by rapid social and technological changes.
Definitions and Features of Problem Solving: Provides clear definitions and discusses essential components, such as goals and barriers, associated with solving complex problems.
Polya’s Four Steps to Problem Solving: Introduces George Polya’s structured method for problem-solving, which includes understanding the problem, devising a plan, implementing the plan, and reflecting on the solution. This approach helps pupils systematically tackle both mathematical and real-life challenges.
Teacher Approaches to Problem Solving at KS2: Features practical strategies from educators, showing how Polya’s method has been used to build problem-solving confidence and adaptability among pupils.
This guide supports teachers in preparing pupils to face modern-day problems, encouraging them to apply critical and creative thinking skills to non-routine tasks.
Complete Lesson: The Three Types of Myth
This ready-to-use lesson is designed for Key Stage 2, focusing on three primary types of myths: those that teach a lesson, explain a phenomenon, or set characters on a challenging quest. It uses engaging activities to develop essential skills in collaboration, self-assessment, and peer assessment, aligning with Evidence-Based Learning (EBL) principles.
Lesson Highlights:
Structured Learning of Myth Features - Students explore the characteristics of each myth type through examples like King Midas, making abstract ideas accessible and memorable.
Collaborative Activities - Paired tasks develop teamwork and help students refine their understanding through shared insights. These exercises also include guided report writing, enabling students to practise factual writing while applying what they’ve learned.
Self and Peer Assessment - The lesson includes structured opportunities for self-reflection and peer feedback, enhancing learning retention and encouraging positive reinforcement among students.
Teacher Support - A quick CPD section offers insights into fostering a classroom environment supportive of self and peer assessment, with actionable reflection questions to ensure best practices.
This lesson, complete with a report-writing scaffold, assessment templates, and CPD guidance, is an excellent choice for any teacher looking to build key thinking skills while introducing myths in an engaging and interesting manner.
Less Marking, More Feedback: A Post-It Note Guide
This practical guide is designed for busy teachers who want to reduce marking time while enhancing the quality of their feedback. Rooted in evidence, it introduces strategies to shift focus from traditional written feedback to more immediate, impactful oral feedback, allowing pupils to improve in real-time.
With straightforward explanations and actionable tips, this guide is an ideal companion for creating a classroom where feedback truly drives learning.
Professional development activities are also included to help you reflect on and refine your approach, making it a valuable tool for teachers aiming to optimise both their workload and learning outcomes.
A Dog’s Guide to Eleven Key Thinking and Learning Skills
Price: £3 (Whole School Use)
This resource, A Dog’s Guide to All Eleven Key Thinking and Learning Skills, is an engaging, one-page guide designed for busy teachers. It covers eight evidence-based thinking and learning skills, such as self-assessment, and metacognition, as well as three essential 21st-century skills: creative thinking, critical thinking, and problem-solving. Each skill is supported by research, ensuring that teachers can integrate proven strategies into their classroom with ease.
The resource is fun, quick to read, making it ideal for teachers who want to make a real impact on their students’ learning without investing too much time. The playful theme involving dogs is intended to make the resource appealing. It’s designed to introduce critical learning skills that students will use throughout their academic journeys and beyond.
What’s Included:
One-page guide for each skill: 8 key thinking and learning skills + 3 crucial 21st-century skills.
Engaging and creative format (A Dog’s Guide) that makes it easy to understand.
Key Skills Covered:
Collaborative Learning: How to effectively group students to maximise learning outcomes.
Thinking Skills: Based on Bloom’s taxonomy, helping students move from basic remembering to creative thinking.
Peer Teaching: Encouraging students to teach one another for deeper understanding.
Peer Assessment: Developing students’ abilities to provide and act on feedback.
Self-Assessment: Supporting students in evaluating their own progress and goals.
Metacognition: Helping students think about their thinking, boosting problem-solving skills.
Self-Regulation: Teaching students how to manage their own learning process.
Independent Learning: Encouraging self-directed learning and decision-making.
Problem Solving: Building skills to tackle tasks they don’t yet know how to solve.
Creative Thinking: Helping students think outside the box and develop innovative solutions.
Critical Thinking: Teaching students to analyse information and make evidence-based decisions.
Why Buy It?
Affordable: At just £3, this resource provides high-value insights for teachers and their whole school.
Evidence-Based: Each skill is supported by research, ensuring your teaching strategies are rooted in proven methods.
Adaptable: The guide is designed to apply to different subjects and age groups, making it a versatile addition to your teaching toolkit.
Time-Saving: The guide is simple, quick to read, and easy to apply in the classroom, perfect for busy teachers looking to make an impact.
For just £3, this guide offers an accessible, research-backed way to enhance the learning environment in your school. Perfect for whole school use and applicable to all subjects, it’s a resource that teachers can use repeatedly to build essential skills in students.
This 15-minute guide serves as both a theoretical foundation and a practical toolkit for teachers looking to develop collaborative learning in their classrooms. It provides a solid understanding of the concept and offers actionable strategies to implement it effectively.
Definition of Collaborative Learning:
An active learning method where two or more learners work together towards a common goal.
Focuses on learner exploration and application of the curriculum rather than teacher presentation.
Benefits of Collaborative Learning:
Improved communication skills
Increased motivation and engagement
Enhanced problem-solving abilities
Better metacognitive abilities
Greater social and emotional skills
Increased exposure to diverse perspectives
Support for self-regulation
Enhanced critical thinking skills
Importance of Collaboration:
Collaboration is a highly sought-after skill in education and the workplace.
Explicit teaching of collaboration is necessary; simply putting students in groups is not enough.
Skills Developed Through Collaborative Work:
Includes listening, peer learning, peer teaching, assessment skills, metacognition, problem-solving, communication, inclusivity, and more.
Research-Based Evidence:
Collaboration develops self-regulation skills
Enables students to extend their repertoire of learning skills
Develops complex thinking
Provides opportunities for students to present and defend ideas
Develops soft skills crucial for effective communication
21st Century Learning Context:
Collaborative skills are essential for success in complex societies and globalised economies.
Goes beyond traditional academic subjects to include critical thinking, effective communication, and problem-solving.
Practical Implementation:
Establish ground rules and group norms
Discuss and develop necessary skills like listening
Encourage mindfulness of actions associated with effective collaboration
Overall Impact:
Enhances motivation, engagement, and academic achievement
Develops crucial life skills beyond the classroom
Builds self-esteem and leads to more robust social skills and emotional well-being
This guide provides teachers with an overview of the importance of collaborative learning, its benefits, research-based evidence, and practical considerations for implementation in the classroom.
This 15-minute guide serves as both a theoretical foundation and a practical toolkit for teachers looking to develop thinking skills in their classrooms. It provides a solid understanding of the concept and offers actionable strategies to implement it effectively.
Introduction to Thinking Skills
Thinking skills are mental activities used to process information, make connections, decisions, and create new ideas.
They are essential for learning, problem-solving, and decision-making.
Impact on Attainment
Developing pupils’ thinking skills can lead to better learning and increased attainment.
Activities that make pupils’ minds work are highly effective in raising attainment.
Bloom’s Taxonomy Overview
Created by Benjamin Bloom in 1956, organising teacher questions into six categories based on required thinking skills.
Provides a hierarchy of thinking skills, from simpler to more complex.
Original Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956)
Used nouns to name thinking skills: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, Evaluation.
Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy (2001)
Anderson and Krathwohl revised the taxonomy using verbs instead of nouns.
New order: Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating, Creating.
“Creating” replaced “Synthesis” and moved to the top level.
This 15-minute guide serves as both a theoretical foundation and a practical toolkit for teachers looking to develop peer assessment in their classrooms. It provides a solid understanding of the concept and offers actionable strategies to implement it effectively.
Definition of Peer Assessment
Involves learners evaluating and making judgments about the work of their peers
Usually a formative assessment strategy (occurs during the learning process)
K
ey Benefits
a. Improves learners’ understanding of success criteria
b. Increases engagement in learning
c. Develops interpersonal and critical thinking skills
d. Potentially reduces teacher workload
e. Provides more immediate and voluminous feedback than teacher assessment alone
f. Helps learners self-evaluate their own work more effectively
Implementing Peer Assessment
a. Use it for works in progress, not just final products
b. Provide opportunities for learners to use feedback to revise their work
c. Scaffold the process, especially for younger learners (e.g., using the T-A-G method)
d. Ensure feedback is task-involving and focuses on key elements of success criteria
This 15-minute guide serves as both a theoretical foundation and a practical toolkit for teachers looking to develop peer teaching in their classrooms. It provides a solid understanding of the concept and offers actionable strategies to implement it effectively.
Introduction
This guide introduces peer teaching as a key Evidence-Based Learning (EBL) skill, highlighting its benefits and research support for classroom implementation.
What is Peer Teaching?
Defined as learners teaching other learners by design
Traced back to Aristotle’s use of learner leaders
Formally organised as a theory by Andrew Bell in 1795
Benefits of Peer Teaching
Increases motivation, engagement, and understanding of material
Develops critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills
Creates a supportive and collaborative learning environment
Improves academic achievement for both peer teachers and learners
Fosters diversity and depth in knowledge and opinions
Enhances social skills, teamwork, and cooperation
Helps learners recognise gaps in their knowledge
Builds social bonds and friendships
Key Points for Teachers
Peer teaching allows for explanation in language students naturally use
It creates opportunities for active learning and immediate feedback
Students often gain deeper understanding by teaching others
It can lead to improved grades and greater confidence in learning
Peer teachers may explain concepts more effectively, having just learned them
It offers multiple perspectives and nuances to a student’s knowledge
Implementation Tips
Use peer teaching for one-on-one tutoring or small group instruction
Encourage students to modify and explain concepts in their own words
Create a structured environment for peer teaching activities
Use it as a way to reinforce recently learned concepts
Monitor interactions to ensure accuracy of information shared
Potential Challenges
Ensure accuracy of information being shared between peers
Manage classroom dynamics to maintain a productive learning environment
Balance peer teaching with other teaching methods
Conclusion
Peer teaching is a valuable tool that can significantly enhance the learning experience, improve academic outcomes, and develop important 21st-century skills in students. By incorporating peer teaching strategies, teachers can create a more dynamic, engaging, and effective classroom environment.
This 15-minute guide serves as both a theoretical foundation and a practical toolkit for teachers looking to develop self-assessment in their classrooms. It provides a solid understanding of the concept and offers actionable strategies to implement it effectively.
Purpose and Context:
This is a 15-minute teacher guide focusing on Self-Assessment, which is one of eight key Evidence-Based Learning (EBL) skills.
It’s designed to help teachers understand and implement self-assessment strategies in their classrooms.
Benefits of Self-Assessment:
Increases student motivation and engagement
Improves understanding of material
Develops metacognitive skills
Promotes lifelong learning
Reduces teacher workload by sharing feedback responsibilities
Enhances students’ ability to become independent learners
Key Components of Self-Assessment:
Students monitor and evaluate their own thinking and learning
Students identify strategies to improve their understanding and skills
Involves reflective activities
Helps students develop criteria for evaluating their work
Implementation Strategies:
Teach students to ask key questions about their learning (e.g., “Where am I now?”, “Where am I trying to go?”)
Use rubrics to provide clear criteria for self-assessment
Create a classroom culture where mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities
Implement self-assessment during the learning process, not just at the end
Combine self-assessment with peer assessment for better results
Connection to Other Skills:
Self-assessment is closely linked to metacognition and self-regulation
It’s a stepping stone towards developing 21st-century skills like creative thinking, critical thinking, and problem-solving
Research Support:
The guide includes numerous research-based quotes and findings to support the use of self-assessment
This research could be used for teacher professional development
Practical Considerations:
Self-assessment requires practice and guidance from teachers
It should be implemented gradually, with clear instructions and opportunities for students to apply and refine their self-assessment skills
By incorporating these self-assessment strategies, teachers can help their students become more self-aware, motivated, and effective learners. This guide provides a solid foundation for understanding the importance of self-assessment and offers practical ways to integrate it into classroom practice.
This 15-minute guide serves as both a theoretical foundation and a practical toolkit for teachers looking to develop independent learning in their classrooms. It provides a solid understanding of the concept and offers actionable strategies to implement it effectively.
Here’s a summary of its key features:
Definition and importance: It provides clear definitions of independent learning and independent learners, emphasising why these skills are essential for 21st-century education.
Evidence-based approach: The guide is based on a review of over 200 educational research papers, giving teachers confidence in its recommendations.
Key skills overview: It outlines eight key thinking and learning skills, including independent learning, and how they contribute to developing critical thinking, creative thinking, and problem-solving abilities.
Characteristics of independent learners: The resource details the traits of independent learners, helping teachers identify and nurture these qualities in their students.
Comparison with dependent learners: By contrasting independent and dependent learners, teachers can better understand the spectrum of learner autonomy and how to move students along this continuum.
Implementation strategies: The guide offers practical suggestions for promoting independent learning in the classroom, including alternatives to extended teacher talk and ways to gradually transfer responsibility to students.
Benefits of independent learning: It lists the advantages of developing independent learning skills, such as improved academic performance and increased motivation.
Teacher’s role: The resource emphasises that independent learning doesn’t mean leaving students to work alone, but rather supporting them in developing self-regulation skills and taking responsibility for their learning.
Scaffolding techniques: It explains how teachers can use scaffolding to gradually build students’ independent learning skills.
Evidence-based quotes: The guide includes research-backed quotes that teachers can use for their own professional development or to support their teaching practices.
This resource is a 15-minute teacher guide focused on metacognition, which is described as one of eight key Evidence-Based Learning (EBL) skills. Here’s a summary of its contents:
It provides an introduction to metacognition in the context of learning and teaching.
The guide explains what metacognition is, defining it as “thinking about one’s own thinking” and distinguishing it from cognition.
It describes the two key components of metacognition: metacognitive knowledge and metacognitive regulation.
The resource places metacognition in the context of other thinking skills, showing where it fits in relation to Bloom’s Taxonomy and other 21st century skills.
It includes examples of metacognitive questions that students might ask before, during, and after a learning task.
The guide provides several research-based quotes on the importance and benefits of metacognition in learning.
It explains how metacognition relates to self-regulation and successful learning.
This guide that can be used across multiple classrooms and can potentially inform school-wide approaches to developing students’ metacognitive skills since it research-based evidence and practical examples.
This is a 15-minute teacher guide on self-regulation - one of eight key Evidence-Based Learning (EBL) skills. This comprehensive, and evidence-based, guide to self-regulation can be used across multiple classrooms and potentially inform school-wide approaches to developing students’ self-regulation skills.
Content includes:
An introduction to self-regulation in the context of learning and teaching.
An explanation of what self-regulation is, defining it as the degree to which students can control aspects of their thinking, motivation, and behaviours during learning.
A description of the characteristics of self-regulated learners, including their ability to set goals, use strategies, and manage distractions.
An outline of the key components needed for self-regulation, including both cognitive skills (like lower and higher order thinking, self-assessment, and metacognition) and non-cognitive skills (like motivation, volition, and other attitudes and behaviours).
Research-based information on the importance of self-regulation in learning, supported by quotes from the research.
Placing self-regulation in the context of other thinking skills, showing where it fits in relation to Bloom’s Taxonomy and other 21st century skills.
An appendix briefly introduces the concept of Socially-Shared Self-Regulation.
Student-Friendly Collaborative Learning Whiteboard Prompts - Any Subject - Any Topic
This whiteboard resource titled “Collaboration in action” provides a comprehensive guide for students on how to effectively collaborate and work together with a partner. From a teacher’s perspective, this resource can be incredibly useful in promoting collaborative learning in the classroom.
The resource begins by highlighting the benefits of working with a partner, such as discussing the task, improving thinking skills, and understanding more of the learning. It then provides practical tips and guidelines for students to follow before, during, and after a collaborative task.
Before a task, the resource emphasises the importance of equal contribution, staying focused, active listening, supporting each other, clarifying doubts, sharing knowledge, and establishing ground rules for effective collaboration (e.g., avoiding interruptions, staying engaged, and respecting each other’s ideas).
During a task, the resource offers valuable advice on how to collaborate effectively, such as giving partners time to think, maintaining eye contact, avoiding interruptions, showing interest, carefully considering each other’s perspectives, asking clarifying questions, building on each other’s ideas, justifying opinions, making suggestions, and answering questions.
After a task, the resource prompts students to reflect on their collaborative experience and consider whether they learned more working with a partner compared to working alone, and whether they would prefer to do another task with a partner or individually.
Additionally, the resource provides helpful examples of phrases students could use to express their thoughts, disagree respectfully, ask questions, and give feedback to their partners.
For a teacher looking to incorporate collaborative learning in their classroom, this resource can be incredibly valuable. It provides a structured framework for students to understand the principles and practices of effective collaboration, which can be applied to various group activities, projects, or discussions. By referring to this resource, teachers can help students develop essential collaboration skills, such as communication, active listening, perspective-taking, conflict resolution, and teamwork, which are critical for their academic and future professional success.
Overall, this whiteboard resource offers a comprehensive and practical guide to collaborative learning, making it a valuable tool for teachers seeking to promote productive and meaningful group work in their classrooms.
Student-Friendly Peer Assessment Whiteboard Prompts - Any Subject - Any Topic
This whiteboard resource is a guide on how to effectively implement peer assessment in the classroom. It offers a clear explanation of what peer assessment entails and highlights its benefits for student learning.
The resource presents a series of 15 prompts or statements that can be used by students when assessing their peers’ work. These prompts cover various aspects of peer assessment, including:
Identifying strengths and positive aspects of the work being assessed.
Providing constructive feedback on areas that need improvement.
Encouraging critical thinking by asking questions about the reasoning behind certain choices or approaches.
Evaluating the quality of responses, examples, and ideas presented.
Assessing whether the work meets the task’s goals or requirements.
Offering suggestions for improvement or alternative approaches.
Commenting on the clarity and understanding of the presented ideas.
Checking for and providing feedback on simple mistakes or errors.
From a teacher’s perspective, this resource can be highly useful when introducing and implementing peer assessment in the classroom. It provides a structured framework and specific language that students can use to give meaningful feedback to their peers. The prompts cover a wide range of aspects, from identifying strengths to offering constructive criticism and suggestions for improvement.
Teachers can use this resource to model the peer assessment process and guide students through the practice of providing effective feedback. The prompts can be displayed or distributed to students as a reference during peer assessment activities, ensuring that students have a clear understanding of the type of feedback expected and the areas to focus on.
Overall, this whiteboard resource is a valuable tool for teachers looking to incorporate peer assessment into their classroom. It promotes active learning, critical thinking, and the development of evaluation and feedback skills among students, ultimately enhancing their learning experience and understanding of the subject matter.
Student-Friendly Self-Assessment Whiteboard Prompts - Any Subject - Any Topic
This whiteboard resource is a visual guide on self-assessment for students. It breaks down the self-assessment process into different stages and provides prompting questions for students to reflect on their learning experience at each stage.
The resource covers the following stages:
Before starting a task (goal setting, understanding expectations, planning approach)
During the task (monitoring progress, evaluating performance, reflecting on quality)
After completing the task (identifying strengths, areas for improvement, next steps, reflecting on challenges, successes, and overall learning)
Reflecting on the learning process (motivation, confidence, dealing with distractions, productive strategies, effort, areas for improvement)
The prompting questions are designed to encourage students to think critically about their learning strategies, progress, and areas for growth. The resource aims to promote self-awareness, self-evaluation, and metacognition, which are essential skills for effective learning.
From a teacher’s perspective, this whiteboard resource can be highly useful for implementing self-assessment practices in the classroom. It provides a structured framework for students to engage in self-assessment, which can be challenging for many learners. The resource can be used as a visual aid during classroom discussions or as a handout for students to refer to during their self-assessment process.
Teachers can use this resource to:
Introduce the concept of self-assessment and its importance in learning.
Guide students through the self-assessment process using the prompting questions.
Encourage students to reflect on their learning experiences and identify areas for improvement.
Foster a culture of self-awareness and self-regulation in the classroom.
Adapt the prompting questions to suit specific learning tasks or subject areas.
Overall, this whiteboard resource is a practical and student-friendly tool for teachers looking to incorporate self-assessment practices in their classrooms. It can help students develop essential metacognitive skills, take ownership of their learning, and ultimately become more effective and independent learners.
A set of classic thinking skills prompts for use in every classroom (24pp)
This whiteboard resource titled “Thinking Skills in Action” provides an excellent overview of different types of thinking skills and how they can be applied in the classroom. As a teacher, I find this resource quite useful for the following reasons:
Comprehensive coverage: The resource covers six essential thinking skills: remembering, understanding, applying, analysing, evaluating, and creating. These skills align with the cognitive domains of Bloom’s Taxonomy, a widely recognized framework for promoting higher-order thinking.
Question prompts: For each thinking skill, the resource provides sample questions that teachers can use to encourage students to engage in that particular type of thinking. These question prompts are practical examples that teachers can readily adapt to their lesson plans and classroom activities.
21st-century thinking skills: The resource recognises the importance of developing 21st-century thinking skills, such as creative thinking, critical thinking, and problem-solving, which are crucial for students to navigate the information-rich world and address complex issues.
Visual representation: The information is presented in a visually appealing and organised manner, making it easy for teachers to understand and refer to during lesson planning or classroom instruction.
Versatility: This resource can be used across various subject areas and grade levels. The thinking skills and question prompts are applicable to a wide range of topics and disciplines, making it a valuable tool for teachers in different subject areas.
Overall, this whiteboard resource serves as a concise yet comprehensive guide for teachers looking to incorporate thinking skills into their classroom practices. By promoting different types of thinking skills and providing practical examples, this resource can help teachers design engaging and challenging learning experiences that foster critical thinking, problem-solving, and higher-order cognitive skills in students.