Episode Three: Comments and reflections

[Daniel Pier]

Hello colleagues, 

I see a few of you have already posted about episode three on the main comment. That's great; no need to re-post here.

A few questions on episode three: How familiar were you already with Bloom's taxonomy? Do you find it useful for planning classes and thinking about how to make sure your pupils are going beyond rote memorization? Thinking over your teaching in the past, how frequently would you say you have encouraged your pupils to use the thinking skills at the higher end of Bloom's taxonomy? Let us know in this string!

The next episodes will explore several ways to encourage students to do that kind of thinking. 

Warm regards, 

Dan 

 

[Irvin Smith]

Bloom's Taxonomy is familiar to me. I do however have to make a deliberate effort to actually plan my questions and activities to ensure that I transition to the higher order levels as smoothly as I should. Challenging my students to extend their ideas and think deeply is something I aspire to do but upon reflection I am beginning to hope my progression is on point. That much I will be paying more attention to. 

I liked the activity chosen by Ms. Dominguez as it allows the students to collaborate and practice their communication skills. The time taken to plan is well worth it as the activity is very interesting and covers higher level thinking. At first I thought they were going to pretend to be immigration officers. Also the use of a graph to get students to create was a great way to integrate mathematics. I was thinking an interview form in the beginning.

Some nice ideas and reminders for me to take away :).

[Gale Mohammed-Oxley]

Daniel,

I have been very familiar with Bloom's taxonomy since training college in 1983 as I complete Psychology elective and this is one of the psychologists I studied then. Since then there have been development in the taxonomy as other psychologists have been exploring but for the purpose of this activity I will say that I have been using the movement from lower to higher skills when teaching. This is helpful in the teaching of mathematics especially in the primary school as the application to the topic is at the secondary level. The movement from lower to higher may be the skill to be reinforced as critical thinking skills is dependent on lower skills being reinforced before application for independent learning.

I will like to hear the thoughts of the others in the forum as we go into the sessions.

Gale

[Gale Mohammed-Oxley]

Thank you Irvin for your honesty as I believe the transition to the higher skills is the main challenge for us. I can share with you that when planning your lesson you need to look at the end then return to the beginning so that you have an idea of where you want to take the student's thinking. Having a sound idea of the curriculum is important as higher skills depend on the lower skills to reinforce them (scaffolding). Hope this helps.
Irvin Smith said:

Bloom's Taxonomy is familiar to me. I do however have to make a deliberate effort to actually plan my questions and activities to ensure that I transition to the higher order levels as smoothly as I should. Challenging my students to extend their ideas and think deeply is something I aspire to do but upon reflection I am beginning to hope my progression is on point. That much I will be paying more attention to. 

I liked the activity chosen by Ms. Dominguez as it allows the students to collaborate and practice their communication skills. The time taken to plan is well worth it as the activity is very interesting and covers higher level thinking. At first I thought they were going to pretend to be immigration officers. Also the use of a graph to get students to create was a great way to integrate mathematics. I was thinking an interview form in the beginning.

Some nice ideas and reminders for me to take away :).

[Irvin Smith]

Gale Mohammed-Oxley said:

 Since then there have been development in the taxonomy as other psychologists have been exploring but for the purpose of this activity I will say that I have been using the movement from lower to higher skills when teaching. 

I can share with you that when planning your lesson you need to look at the end then return to the beginning so that you have an idea of where you want to take the student's thinking. Having a sound idea of the curriculum is important as higher skills depend on the lower skills to reinforce them (scaffolding). Hope this helps.

Quite a bit of experience under your belt Ms. Oxley - 1983. Thanks for the tips. Makes sense to know where you want to end up when planning the route. 

Yes, the taxonomy is evolving but for the most part those covered here are still reflected. I recently did the Collaboration in the Digital classroom, also with ITEN in collaboration with OAS I think, and was introduced to the Bloom's digital taxonomy. Cannot go wrong with Bloom :).

[Michelet Guerrier]

Hi all!

I have certainly heard of Bloom's Taxonomy before and I have even used part of it, but not very consciously, I admit. Now that I have made the connection between the shallow questions and the first 3 levels (remembering, understanding, applying) and the probing questions with the last 3 levels (analysis, evaluation, creation), it will become easier for me to use Bloom's Taxonomy in designing questions for my students. 

One key learning from episodes 2 and 3 is that writing SMART learning objectives for my students is an important condition to cultivate critical thinking in the classroom. And I am happy to have discovered the importance of scaffolding techniques which can be applied to giving instructions, choice of activity sequence, and types of questions use during a session. 

Another important learning is what I call the alignment between the learning objectives, use of questions, and classroom activities. To me, all three need to be thought of as interdependent to really get the best possible outcomes.

Thanks,

Michelet

[Daniel Pier]

Thank you, all. My favorite part of reading the comments is learning how all of you are using the ideas in your classroom, as I will admit I have been away from the classroom for far too long. Gale, it's a good point about the taxonomy and its revisions. When developing the program, we discussed which version to reference, and we decided on the one we thought to be most commonly used and referenced among teachers. The others, of course, can be very useful, as can accompanying lists of verbs and/or prompts that help teachers build activities with the goal of encouraging higher order thinking.

Cheers,
Dan

[Gale Mohammed-Oxley]

You are welcome.

Gale
Gale Mohammed-Oxley said:

Thank you Irvin for your honesty as I believe the transition to the higher skills is the main challenge for us. I can share with you that when planning your lesson you need to look at the end then return to the beginning so that you have an idea of where you want to take the student's thinking. Having a sound idea of the curriculum is important as higher skills depend on the lower skills to reinforce them (scaffolding). Hope this helps.
Irvin Smith said:

Bloom's Taxonomy is familiar to me. I do however have to make a deliberate effort to actually plan my questions and activities to ensure that I transition to the higher order levels as smoothly as I should. Challenging my students to extend their ideas and think deeply is something I aspire to do but upon reflection I am beginning to hope my progression is on point. That much I will be paying more attention to. 

I liked the activity chosen by Ms. Dominguez as it allows the students to collaborate and practice their communication skills. The time taken to plan is well worth it as the activity is very interesting and covers higher level thinking. At first I thought they were going to pretend to be immigration officers. Also the use of a graph to get students to create was a great way to integrate mathematics. I was thinking an interview form in the beginning.

Some nice ideas and reminders for me to take away :).

[Macian Moreen Lloyd]

Like many others here, Bloom's Taxonomy is familiar to me as it was taught to me during my Teacher Training days! I utilize Bloom's Taxonomy but sometimes pressed for time the highest level of creating is not developed in student learning. This is one area I would love to focus on more during and after this program.

The use of the poem to develop thought provoking questions has inspired me to try the same in my classrooms and spark healthy discussion and of course stimulate and encourage Critical Thinking in the classroom.

[Shonella Morgan]

"Episode 3. This episode allow me to think of ways I can use various activities to promote students critical thinking skills as I utilize the latter three levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. Questioning in all levels are important, however these questions must allow for students to carefully and rationally analyse their ideas. Follow-up questions or scaffolding is what I need to focus a bit more on and not just the initial questions. 

[Irvin Smith]

Macian Moreen Lloyd said:

I utilize Bloom's Taxonomy but sometimes pressed for time the highest level of creating is not developed in student learning. 

....The use of the poem to develop thought provoking questions has inspired me to try the same in my classrooms and spark healthy discussion and of course stimulate and encourage Critical Thinking in the classroom.

I try to get my students to create, ICT does lend itself to that level of the taxonomy, however they must reasonably comfortable with the lower order skills or be ready to pull your hair out. :)

I agree with receiving inspiration from the material. My engine is revving too. I really do hope I transfer the enthusiasm to my colleagues. 

[Shonella Morgan]

Hi Michelet Guerrier, 

 I like you did the same, I usually used the taxonomy, but I focused more on the lower levels, one of my main reason is that I thought that remembering the facts are important and once that is done with time students can move to the next level. However, I have learned that questioning at the various levels do make a significant difference.

Additionally, I like the triangle effect to the critical thinking process. The Objectives, questions and activities all connect and assist learners to develop their critical thinking skills. Important too is that they are now able to make informed decisions to real-life situatiions. 
Michelet Guerrier said:

Hi all!

I have certainly heard of Bloom's Taxonomy before and I have even used part of it, but not very consciously, I admit. Now that I have made the connection between the shallow questions and the first 3 levels (remembering, understanding, applying) and the probing questions with the last 3 levels (analysis, evaluation, creation), it will become easier for me to use Bloom's Taxonomy in designing questions for my students. 

One key learning from episodes 2 and 3 is that writing SMART learning objectives for my students is an important condition to cultivate critical thinking in the classroom. And I am happy to have discovered the importance of scaffolding techniques which can be applied to giving instructions, choice of activity sequence, and types of questions use during a session. 

Another important learning is what I call the alignment between the learning objectives, use of questions, and classroom activities. To me, all three need to be thought of as interdependent to really get the best possible outcomes.

Thanks,

Michelet

[Irvin Smith]

Shonella Morgan said:

Additionally, I like the triangle effect to the critical thinking process. The Objectives, questions and activities all connect and assist learners to develop their critical thinking skills. Important too is that they are now able to make informed decisions to real-life situatiions. 

Michelet Guerrier said:

Another important learning is what I call the alignment between the learning objectives, use of questions, and classroom activities. To me, all three need to be thought of as interdependent to really get the best possible outcomes.

I echo the sentiments from you two. After hearing the material and responding to the questions as well as completing the activities, I am seeing the challenge with connecting the parts and getting them to flow. 

I am sure to iron it out by the end as I go through the episodes though.  I hope we can share our lesson plans and give as well as get feedback. 

It all sounds very exciting!