Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Education Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Teacher Education and Professional Development

Series

2009

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Education

Bringing Community College Students And Employers Together: A Guide For Employers And Career Centers In An Economic Decline, Jeffrey Craig May 2009

Bringing Community College Students And Employers Together: A Guide For Employers And Career Centers In An Economic Decline, Jeffrey Craig

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

This paper emerges from my work as Coordinator of Job Placement at Bristol Community College over the last 19 months, in which I have had the opportunity to try new approaches to problem-solving and pursue professional growth as I serve students in higher education. The recent economic crisis has left millions of Americans out of work across most sectors. Displaced workers are flocking to community colleges to upgrade and learn new skills with the goal of becoming more marketable to potential employers. Enrollments have soared, while costs have risen and budgets cut. These conditions place an undue burden on these …


Social Action Teaching: Engaging Middle School Students In Knowing And Doing In The Social Studies Classroom, Alyssa Hinkell May 2009

Social Action Teaching: Engaging Middle School Students In Knowing And Doing In The Social Studies Classroom, Alyssa Hinkell

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

For the past three years I have had countless opportunities to engage in rich thinking around teaching and learning. As a member of the Critical and Creative Thinking Program (CCT) at the University of Massachusetts, Boston I have been able to reflect on these experiences in the context of my own teaching, applying what I have learned to enrich my own craft. Over the past eight months I have devoted this thinking to a teaching method I call Social Action Teaching. This method has helped to engage and motivate my seventh grade students and I believe, if applied elsewhere, can …


Incorporating Service-Learning Into The Esl Curriculum: What Aspiring Practitioners Need To Know, Andres R. Reyes May 2009

Incorporating Service-Learning Into The Esl Curriculum: What Aspiring Practitioners Need To Know, Andres R. Reyes

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

As an ESL teacher at a community college, my constant goal is to synergize teaching approaches and strategies so that in addition to maximizing students' language learning, their critical thinking skills, cultural competence, and reflectivity - as members of an increasingly growing multicultural society - are heightened. Most recently, I have been pursuing service-learning as a philosophy, pedagogy, and practice that can help students connect their classroom learning to concrete, exciting, and challenging learning situations beyond the classroom. This paper is an attempt to highlight service-learning as a powerful tool that can make a difference in students' lives as they …


Children's Story: Per-Se-Vere, Virginia De La Garza May 2009

Children's Story: Per-Se-Vere, Virginia De La Garza

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

We constantly come across problems or challenges that have no predetermined answer or solution. Perseverance is a very important disposition that makes us persist in the search of something we have started. I believe that people who want to persevere not only need to be motivated but, more importantly, they need to understand what it takes to persevere or, in other words, know how to persevere. Developing strategies to face and overcome confusion, obstacles, and frustrations is needed for learning. The teaching of Intellectual Perseverance is frequently taken for granted or not taught appropriately. Attitudes, dispositions, and habits of mind …


Exploring The Teaching Mind: Extending Participation In Lifelong Learning Through Engagement With A Supportive Community, Jeremy Szteiter May 2009

Exploring The Teaching Mind: Extending Participation In Lifelong Learning Through Engagement With A Supportive Community, Jeremy Szteiter

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

This paper extends the notion of lifelong learning beyond gaining knowledge over a lifetime to preparing oneself to teach what has been learned to others. The "Teaching Mind," as I define the idea, involves thinking about what has been learned and what one knows by reconsidering that knowledge through the eyes of self as a teacher. The Teaching Mind assumes a broad notion of teaching that relates to informal and community learning across all areas of life and culture, beyond professional teaching in formal schools. The pursuit of the Teaching Mind is highly accessible to all those who wish to …