Did I Get It Wrong?

Over the summer, I was working on some multiplication with my son.  Cole is a very competitive young man whether it is with baseball in the backyard, a game of cards, or on his math facts.  At times this competitiveness can be a good thing; however, sometimes it creates issues for Cole.  While giving an answer to math problem, he incorrectly answered the problem.  He quickly tried to "change" his answer once he discovered his answer was wrong.  After this, he was very worried whether he was wrong or right since he "changed" his answer.

I explained that his initial thinking was wrong, but that by making this mistake, he learned from it.  This was not good enough for a 6-year-old child focused solely on "being right."  Even at a young age, Cole was focused on the correct answer...that is what mattered to him.

At CW, we have seen this in many of our students!  Often times, students are so preoccupied with "being right."  They want to tell you that 2+2=4 because that is the "right" answer.  They were conditioned to raise their hand first to give the "right" answer.  Sometimes, we would see students even give up because the "right" answer did not come quick enough.

We believe there is a better way at CW.  We are now entering our 3rd year in creating a culture of thinking.  At CW, we focus on teaching for understanding, rather than for the sake of memorizing and repeating, so that knowledge can be applied to scenarios outside of the classroom. We expect students to dive deeper into their thinking of specific concepts. Our teachers model strategies to promote deep thinking, as well as share their own thinking with their students.

By utilizing thinking strategies in our instruction, we have discovered students are able to go beyond the knowledge level and push for application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation in their thinking. Moving beyond simply asking students to recall information; we have successfully found there are more opportunities for deep thinking to occur along with intellectual engagement permitting students to clarify their thinking. 

As both a Principal and a Dad, I will continue to push our students and my own children to become thinkers...celebrating the growth of their thinking along the way!