Critical thinking skills are, well, critical! That is, if we want society to function at all. For instance, police officers need to be able to examine evidence. Fire fighters need to reason out how to put out fires, and what started them. Voters need to be able to think through what politicians say. Parents need to think through how to protect and teach their kids. Which all starts with teachers teaching the most basic of all skills, thinking. Not WHAT to think, but HOW to think. How to examine evidence, and weigh pros and cons. How to sort through evidence and figure out what it means. This critical life skill is what 8th graders in Mrs. Christopher’s Language Arts class were recently thinking about.
