W01 journal

• From your history and personal experiences, before you view the video below, how would you define thinking?

Thinking is the act of using one's brain to process information that is newly acquired. It is about connecting old information to new information and deciding upon a final thought on that topic. It could be a conclusion one comes up with, a connection one makes or a decision one makes. 

• What is your reaction to Dr. Cabrera's ideas about thinking skills and teaching thinking skills?

Dr. Cabrera has good ideas about thinking and describes the act and process of thinking very well. I think he makes an impact when he discusses that thinking is something innate that we are born with, but formal schooling is quashing that innate ability. It is a striking statement because school is supposed to enhance thinking and make us more rounded and prepares individuals. I think that his discussion is very powerful and encouraging to both parents and teachers in helping kids become thinkers. I really enjoyed his discussion and would hope many more people get a change to hear it.

• How do your experiences with formal schooling compare with his description?

My experiences with formal schooling compare to his description two ways. As a student, I found that I did have a lot of information to memorize and a lot of tests to take. It did make it hard to "think". At the same time I had classes in which I was encouraged to think, maybe given a projects that had actually - not a lot of instructions. I even remember being frustrated at the fact! It was those types of projects or assignments though that really do encourage thinking and I am glad I had them. I definitely had a "wake-up" call when I started college. I really struggled my first couple of semesters and then began to do better once I fully adapted - Dr. Cabrera's talk makes me believe that I may have been better prepared had I been encouraged to think more.

As a teacher I find that is is hard to continually incorporate assignments that lead to a lot of thinking when we are asked to cover so much material. Dr. Cabrera mentions this in his video. Trying to essentially force more information into our students makes it difficult to have time to allow for the sort of activities that encourage thinking. I try to incorporate them often, but a lot of times feel I need to move on so I can cover everything.

• What implications can you envision if we were to apply his ideas broadly to formal schooling?

If we apply his ideas broadly to formal schooling, I think that, at first, we may experience some chaos and certainly an adjustment period. In the end however, I think we would be seeing great benefits because our students will be truly growing. I have often heard that students are simply not ready for college. Being a math teacher this comes up a lot - students are getting into college and have to take one or more remedial math courses because they were not able to pass it in high school. I think the root of this problem is that we are trying to cram too much information every year and not encouraging students to think about it, just memorize it and regurgitate it. What ends up happening is that students remember it for the test and then forget it. I think one big impact would be the amount of information in our yearly curriculums will be reduced, but since the students will be truly thinking, they will understand and remember the information and be better prepared for their next courses and their future.