I was presented an opportunity at my school to take on something that is brand new. The head of our school had a vision to create a class that allowed students to be creative, use their critical thinking skills, along with developing teamwork and problem-solving skills. She envisioned this class, which she named the "Think Tank," to be modeled to some degree, after the educational program called "Odyssey of the Mind." This would be a class that would be taken by all of our students, from Kindergarten - 5th grade. She told me she needed an "out of the box" teacher to take this on, and that I was her choice. I was honored and humbled by her choice, but also somewhat apprehensive about this new opportunity, as it was something completely new, not tried in other schools (that we knew of), and without a specific curriculum that I could use as a reference. I began planning what to do for this new class, which would begin in the next school year (Fall 2013), and I would continue to teach Chinese until the end of the current school year, (through Spring 2013).
To develop a curriculum, I started at the beginning, learning all I could about Odyssey of the Mind and about Critical Thinking. I also compiled a set of Critical Thinking Standards (pulled from the comprehensive Critical Thinking Competency Standards that were written by the founders of the Foundation for Critical Thinking) that we would be using in the new school year as a way to assess the students in Think Tank.
I'll post more about these standards and the various activities and adventures I've experienced in future posts. Suffice it to say, it's been an interesting, but very fun and challenging ride since the last time I blogged! I'm looking forward to sharing my adventures with you! Happy 2014! May your new year be filled with inspiration and blessings!