A Ted Talk I found quite effective...

 

I came across this Ted Talk video where Brian Oshiro talks about the importance of questioning when it comes to Critical Thinking.

Brian Oshiro's breakdown of the 'what, why, and how' of questioning is brilliant! It's a powerful reminder of how crucial it is to challenge students' minds for meaning learning. What questions gives content, Why questions gives the idea about origin of content and how questions talks about the ways we can use that content.

This ted talk gives insight to why teaching our learners to be critical thinkers helps encourage creative thinking. Schools need to teach students more than just the 'What', but the 'How' and 'Whys'. Let's ask questions about the consequences of a topic, ask questions with more than one correct answer to engage creativity. 

This was an encouraging video because it emphasised the importance of questioning and the importance of teaching Critical Thinking to our young leaners. It also mentioned how this is beneficial for the learners in terms of cognitive development and confidence in creativity.

Shadow our Y9 mentor day

 One of our final sessions for our Kau Taki intervention was the 'shadow your Y9 mentor' day. The purpose of it was to give the Y8 learners a day to experience what a typical day in High School felt like. 

The year 8 learners followed their mentors to class, did the work they were doing and engaged in conversation about it.

When I picked up the Y8 learners at the end of the day, they were so excited to share how their day went. Student A: "Miss I am so excited for College"

Student Sp: "Miss to be honest, I was a little anxious this morning but now that I've been through it, I think i'll be allgood come Day 1 next year"

Student B: It was fun Miss, a whole lot of independence. I guess who just have to make sure you're doing the work and you'll be fine in college

All x6 students shared the experience was positive and were grateful for it.