Thoughts from Egbert

As I was reading our selected readings for this week, a few things really jumped out at me. A focus at my elementary school for the last few years has been higher-order thinking skills (HOTS). I am fortunate to be able to teach in a fairly affluent area where my students, for the most part, come ready to learn. We have a high percentage of students that exceed standards on the CRCT, but at the same time, many of our students are unable to really think. They shut down in the face of a challenge instead of meeting it head-on. I tell my students that it is okay to struggle sometimes; the best learning comes out of a little struggle. However, our typical student wants the "right answer" and a quick fix to a problem. According to Egbert, students reap many benefits from beings exposed to HOTS like academic independence and a willingness to stick with a task until completion. We as teachers have the obligation to not always lead our students to the right answer. If we want to encourage independent thinking, they need to be able to lead themselves down the path of discovery.