The Plus, Minus and Interesting of the Thinkers Keys
Plus
-The thinkers keys are adaptable to the whole curriculum as in every area thinking deeper is essential
-Early finishers or to extend students they can go to a station with the thinkers keys and solve a key question within a topic the teacher has chosen
-There are 10 creative and 10 critical thinking keys, adding a different perspectives to the learning
-If students have a mind blank they can use the keys to get back on track
-They help with students from a range of levels as some keys are more suited for a certain level
-They are fun and engaging and challenge students to explain their thinking and reasoning
-They get you thinking in a different way inside of the who what where when why
-The thinkers keys are adaptable to the whole curriculum as in every area thinking deeper is essential
-Early finishers or to extend students they can go to a station with the thinkers keys and solve a key question within a topic the teacher has chosen
-There are 10 creative and 10 critical thinking keys, adding a different perspectives to the learning
-If students have a mind blank they can use the keys to get back on track
-They help with students from a range of levels as some keys are more suited for a certain level
-They are fun and engaging and challenge students to explain their thinking and reasoning
-They get you thinking in a different way inside of the who what where when why
Minus
-You need to have an overall topic to use the keys instead of starting with the keys
-There are too many to remember
-It is very difficult to teach more than one at a time as they are very activity based however using more than one in a unit is a way to encourage deeper thinking in more than one way
-With younger kids you may need more scaffolding for some of the keys or potentially wait till until they are older to grasp the concepts
-Some won't extend older students thinking as much as others for example the alphabet key
-You need to have an overall topic to use the keys instead of starting with the keys
-There are too many to remember
-It is very difficult to teach more than one at a time as they are very activity based however using more than one in a unit is a way to encourage deeper thinking in more than one way
-With younger kids you may need more scaffolding for some of the keys or potentially wait till until they are older to grasp the concepts
-Some won't extend older students thinking as much as others for example the alphabet key
Interesting
- Half the keys are creative thinking and the other half are critical thinking
-Because there are so many keys people will not use all of them
-The order of using the keys is adaptable but there are suggestions on the Thinkers Keys App
-Some keys are more suitable for lower levels of the curriculum and some higher
-Tony Ryan is very helpful if you email him for support or advise
- Half the keys are creative thinking and the other half are critical thinking
-Because there are so many keys people will not use all of them
-The order of using the keys is adaptable but there are suggestions on the Thinkers Keys App
-Some keys are more suitable for lower levels of the curriculum and some higher
-Tony Ryan is very helpful if you email him for support or advise