Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Original thought

Do you hear that
Crickets
The horrible sound of crickets right after students realized they have to come up with something
Original
They have not been asked to summarize
Or answer a question found within the text
Or explain why a character did something
They had to develop their own original thought

Thanks to common core students will be given more opportunities to develop their own thinking as well as use critical thinking skills. Which is completely foreign to some students that have grown up taking standardized states tests.
Original thought is hard to come by now a days especially in the land of ESE
I call this phenomena original thought syndrome
Possible signs that students could be suffering from OTS
Blank stares
Looks of confusion
Asking questions you have already answered
Deer in the head lights 
Playing with their hair until it stands up
Tapping their pencil repeatedly on their desk

OTS can be overcomed, but it will take time and hard work both from the teacher and student.




2 comments:

  1. I feel exactly the same way!!! I have been working like crazy this year to have my students overcome OTS, especially in math when I ask them to problem solve and discuss possible strategies...CRICKETS. Yikes!!

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