DeVeLoPiNG CRiTiCaL THiNKiNG

One of the most important life skills that is not taught in school is critical thinking. This is a very essential skill in life. Critical thinking is a daily habit where we adopt to train our mind to think objectively and intelligently. It is a disciplined form of thinking that trains the mind and the soul to think and act through various situations intelligently, even if we are in the most difficult or challenging situations.

For instance, in the real business situations one should possess critical thinking to find real solution to various problems that we may have never encountered when we were in school. That is the reason why we should not stop learning after school. What we learn in school is some basic skill on how to think through simple problem. But in a real life situation, this basic thinking is not sufficient to help us to solve problems. We need critical thinking to solve real problems in real life.

The ultimate goal of critical thinking is to make us figure things out. In small businesses, the skill of critical thinking is very essential for start-up entrepreneurs. Considering the business to be relatively small, the organizational structure can be simple and most decisions rely largely on the business owner. Nonetheless, a business owner needs to develop critical thinking in order to effectively apply it in various business situations.

How To Develop Your Critical Thinking Skill:

Here are some tips you can use to develop and hone your critical thinking skill.

Learn How To Identify Assumptions:

Assumptions can ruin your life and your business. The only way to avoid using assumptions as an ultimate solution is to learn how to identify them. When you know how to identify assumptions, you will not use them as final solution, you will use them as a base to identify for facts and evidence.

Asking Critical Thinking Questions

If you are faced with difficult decisions and you are surrounded by various assumptions, start asking critical questions to challenge the assumptions. When you do that, you will be able to identify facts and evidence from assumptions. You can only solve problems effectively if you can identify facts and evidence and use them to solve problems.

Identifying Facts from Fiction

A sufficient amount of information gathered from asking questions must lead to being able to single out facts about a given situation. These facts are necessary in finding practical solutions for a problem.

Always Confirm the Source and Check for Accuracy

Whether it is a fact or fictional information, there is always a source. Always verify with where the information is coming from. Accurate and truthful information contribute to the success of problem solving.

Develop critical thinking and make it part of your habit. If you do that, you will be able to look at problems in life objectively. You are not going to make assumptions and use them to solve important problems. Instead, you use assumptions to uncover facts and truthful evidence. With this skill, you will be able to provide solid solution to any problem both in life and studies.

Some experts say...

TiMe MaNaGeMeNT

Students in general have very busy and stressful lives because they are attending classes, completing assignments and studying for exams. In addition they have their own daily routines and lifestyles that is necessary for creating balance between academics and extra curricular activities. However, finding time to do everything at once can be challenging and overwhelming. This is where good time management skills come into practice. 

This is a skill that students need to learn. They must take the necessary approaches and apply these strategies in order to be effective and more productive. Having these skills gives students the ability to plan ahead and prioritize upcoming assignments and events. This is an important factor in keeping students organized and avoiding procrastination, which ultimately leads to academic success.

Time management can be very useful in a student's hectic schedule. It ensures that students are well prepared, organized and focused to mange their daily lives and complete academic assignments on time. It can lead to improved success, however, this is a skill that students have to learn and practice. Students must change their habits in order to have good time management skills. This can only happen if students take the first steps in identifying their problems. Good time management skills stems from the issue of prioritizing one's time effectively.

This can be done by setting new personal goals and striving to accomplish them with a new and improved attitude in mind. Another bad habit that students need to change is procrastination. Students should learn how to work smart by not working too hard and not retaining anything. Sometimes students need to study for a couple of hours and take a break to clear their minds. It is a good idea to take breaks when feelings of frustration come on. Too much information leads to an information overload that the brain can't deal with at one time. If students are motivated and disciplined, their time management skills will improve with practice.

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TaLKaTiVe - GooD oR BaD...???

Shouting is unhealthy. Children must learn the value of soft, gentle, talk. Soft and gentle way of talking is soothing to the listener. It has an therapeutic effect. Here are some ways by which you can teach your child the importance of talking sweetly. 

Make your child realize the impact of silence.

The father of one-year old Manju once worried and brooded over his daughter's inability to speak in full sentences. A year later the man was seen annoyed over his daughter's constant and meaningless chatter. After three years, he was desperately finding ways to inculcate the habit of maintaining silence. 

Very often, we hear children talking nineteen-to-a-dozen. Each trying to speak louder and make one heard over the din. Screaming and shouting is a very normal way to attract attention, not just for children for adults too. Teachers scream themselves hoarse to a keep a class in order. Housewives nag their children while getting the homework done. Collegians shout at each other as a matter of fashion. Therefore, every individual creates excessive noise to be heard and registered.
 

The practice of shouting is indeed unhealthy. Children need to be told the importance of keeping quiet and talking at a low-decibel volume. Otherwise, these highly talkative children grow into garrulous adults, which certainly do not make a civilized society.
 

How it starts?

It starts at the very beginning. Parents expose their children to an environment constantly bombarded by words and sounds. Even before children understand or speak a language, they are encouraged to baby talk. Or worse still, children are left alone before a blaring television set, from where they internalize noise and din. Therefore, children tend to give excessive importance to the spoken word at a very early age. They don't ever realize the power of silence, the language of the unspoken word.
 

Start them young

1. When your baby is just born, play some quiet soothing music in the background while feeding. Don't keep the television or music system blaring. 
2. Talk to your little one in a very soft, gentle and soothing manner. Do not allow anyone in your house to talk very loudly, or to argue in the presence of your child. 
3. Both parents should never incessantly talk gibberish to the child. Talking sweetly to the child does not necessarily mean loud babbling. 
4. Whenever you entrust the child with a maidservant or a watchman, try to check their language, intonation and volume. If possible, try to control their speech visa vis the child. 
5. As your child grows older, do not set a bad example by talking incessantly on the phone or talking aloud in a public place. 

Tips for an older child

1. Get Mahatma Gandhiji's three monkeys as a decoration piece for your child's bedroom. This will be a constant reminder of SEE NO EVIL, HEAR NO EVIL, and SPEAK NO EVIL. It is a value to be inculcated from the initial years.
2. Teach your child to speak only when spoken to in public. Let the child express feelings freely at home, but change the rules for public places. 
3. Tell your child to speak only when it is TRUE, KIND AND NECESSARY.
4. Show the ways to conserve energy by focusing on reading or the creative arts that help in shaping a human being. 
5. Stress outdoor activities during evening time. Let the child take interest in Nature, not television or video games etc. A fieldtrip into the wilderness can teach the child to appreciate the magic of silence and the sounds of Nature. 
6. Whenever a child achieves a small goal or assignment or target, do not encourage the habit of bragging. Children who constantly talk about themselves do not make good company in the future.
7. Introduce the child to a course on yoga and meditation to move towards a fulfilling life. It will also help in removing distractions and increasing the concentration level. The child will grow up to be a more focused, composed and less stressed adult.

CoNDuCiVe CLaSSRooM WiTH iCT

Why do we use ICT to create conducive classroom? There are many reasons why ICT is important in everyday life, since computers and associated technologies are increasingly necessary in al business and commercial concerns.

The communication aspects and the ways in which a constructivist theory of education can be supported through ICT as well. The skills which children gain by being able to control the applications used in ICT. The confidence children gain by communicating through and controlling their environment. The needs for communication skills in the students’ future careers, both school and in the workplace as they have the access to information on the World Wide Web. The creative power of ICT, especially in the making of web pages, using text and graphics, as well as more advanced facilities. Communication technologies such as audio and video conferencing, enabling children to communicate their ideas across national and local boundaries. 

It is important to consider the welfare of those in the classroom in order to optimize motivation – for you and the pupils. This means considering a variety of factors. The motivation of your pupils is very important if they are to do well. Child (1997) describes motivation as being of two kinds, intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation stems from a sense of achievement at having solved a difficult problem, perhaps developing a model based on spreadsheet, while extrinsic motivation stems from external considerations, for example praise from the teacher or the need to complete some coursework by a given deadline. 

However, before pupils can become motivated they must have been provided with what Maslow (1970) describes as lover-level needs. At the very basic level, these are listed as physiological needs like food and warmth, and then physical needs such as safe and comfortable working environment. Maslow suggests that, without these, pupils will not reach the higher levels of his motivational hierarchy.This means that before your pupils can work effectively you must do your best to provide them with a comfortable and safe environment. 

With the increasing use of the internet in education most schools will have devised an internet policy. As a minimum, schools will include a ban on accessing unsuitable sites for children, including those of a pornographic, violent, or racist nature. However there will be many other kinds of site which the school may deem to be unsuitable. 

The use of the internet has a close bearing on the use of the school’s network in general and so the policy is likely to include guidelines and rules on the use of those systems too. Having devised their policy, the school may well require both parents and pupils to sign a form in which they agree to abide by the policy. Passwords might not be issued until this has been done, and network access might be suspended for any breach. 

The school and ICT department should also have policies and promote good practice on such things as the use of games, the loan of software and copyright issues. You must know these policies and follow them. A factor which is particular significant for ICT is that lessons can be subject to regular disturbances, which you will have to deal with. For example, other teachers send pupils to your classroom to ask if they can use a spare machine, staff may want to use a machine, if you have the network printer in your room people come to collect printouts, if staff or pupils have a problem with ICT they interrupt to ask for help. As a new teacher this can be very distracting, but you will get used to it. The pupils seem to accept it quite readily. 

As a conclusion, we have only begun to experience the radical changes that computers will make on society, as we know it. Computer fraud and abuse take many forms. Teachers face new challenges in the new technology based education. They must strive to provide equal access to computers to all students. They must promote computer ethics in their classroom. Educator and parents are concerned about student’s privacy and access to inappropriate sites. Plagiarism concerns about student’s assignment utilizing the World Wide Web are becoming a major concern. Technology provides opportunities but also provides concerns to teachers and parents. In the end, all must work together to take advantage of this powerful tool. 

Let's see what they have to say...

   
 References: 

• Leask, M. & Meadows, J. (2000). Teaching and Learning with ICT in the Primary School. Routlegde Falmer: New York.

• Kennewell, S., Connell, A., Edwards, A., Hammond, M. & Wickens, C. (20027). A Practical Guide to Teaching ICT in the Secondary School.Routledge Falmer: New York.

• Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Teaching and Learning with Technology. Pearson: USA.

• Bitter, G. & Peirson, M. (2005). Using Technology in the Classroom. Pearson: USA.

THe iMPoRTaNCe oF ReaDiNG

Reading is important especially when you are university students. You should at least read newspaper once a day, so that you would get updated with the world’s current issues such as the latest outbreak that has spread throughout the whole world, Influenza A(H1N1).

As a university student, you have to read with the proper way. When you read an article, you should be able to understand the whole article as you must have read the article thoroughly. Nowadays, people are lack of interest in reading. In my humble opinion, the material itself is not interesting enough to attract the attention of the readers. Of course by reading you will gain more and more of knowledge, but I think the writer has to do some critical thinking as well and think about the topic of material that would attract the readers to read their material with interest. The writer would have to think about the age range of reader that they are targeting. For example, a writer that wanted teenagers to read his article must add up some teen elements in his article.

Parents can also encourage their children to read more books since in the early age. They can start by showing good example to their children which is by reading as well. You cannot expect a child to be interested in reading when his parents are not into reading as well. The parents are playing an important role in encouraging their children to have reading as a hobby. They can give their children various kinds of book for starters. Soon enough, the child itself would slowly grow a tendency to choose a genre of book only such as science fiction book like Harry Potter series. Some children might like to read book that contains facts.

Reading is a really good habit to practice. But it takes two to tango, the interest of reading must come from the individual itself so that the information would really stick to the readers mind, instead of forgetting the stuffs that they read 5 minutes after they read them.