VIEWS ON VASSAR:

 

WAPPINGERS CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
VASSAR ROAD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
174 VASSAR ROAD
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY 12603 - 5451 Home of the
TEL. (845) 463 - 7860 "Leopards"
FAX. (845) 463 - 7859

VIEWS ON VASSAR

March 20, 2008

Spring has sprung! You'd never know it with this blustery, cold weather. It won't be long though before flowers bloom and summer vacation beckons us all!

Please make a note about some important dates coming up:

Friday April 25th Movie Night (last one this school year)
Thursday May 1st Open House (6:00 p.m. A to L; 6:45 p.m. M to Z)
Wednesday June 4th Community Picnic (5:00-7:00 p.m., rain date June 5th)

The academic curriculum in the Wappingers Central School District continues to evolve. New emphasis has been placed on critical thinking and its use in the classroom. I would like to devote my article to a brief discussion on critical thinking.

Critical thinkers find and study information to make decisions. Students who are critical thinkers learn what to believe and what to do with information because they understand what they have read or heard about a topic. Such students can take their new knowledge to seek different answers, positions, and conclusions. They become better informed and can consider points of view other than their own.

The teaching of critical thinking skills is not a curriculum. It is a process of providing students with opportunities to:

" Use ideas or problem-solving techniques and apply them to new situations
" Answer questions about the main ideas of material heard, seen, or read
" Interpret or summarize main ideas in the students' own words
" Put together parts into a whole using creative thinking or problem solving
" Combine concepts to build new ideas or situations
" Use problem solving techniques independently and give detailed feedback
" Break down ideas and concepts into basic parts
" Choose problem solving techniques and share if they worked or not
" Make judgments based on criteria
" Judge, critique, or interpret information using standards and criteria


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Even though it is crucial for students to memorize information, this approach is just part of the learning process. All students have to memorize facts and do well on tests to meet with success. Yet, once the tests are completed, the students will have learned exactly what they were supposed to have learned.

Critical thinking teaches students to master the details of new concepts and build upon newly-learned knowledge. Students come to realize that their knowledge should keep growing, that their teachers are encouraging them to become productive, independent thinkers.

At Vassar Road School, our students are participating in a variety of school-wide 'Critical Critters' activities, such as brain teasers, puzzles, riddles, analogies, using logic and creative thinking, etc. Even though teachers here and everywhere else devote much time and energy to make critical thinking a vital part of their instructional program, our activities are meant to supplement what is done in the classroom. We hope that our students will enjoy the challenge!

I wish you all well as we enter the last part of the school year. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to call.

Sincerely yours,

Frank K. Annis

 

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