Lesson 10: Wondering About Problem Solving

15 Wonderments

1. I wonder if research tells us to focus on process, not product (Mayer, pg. 410), why do so many teachers grade so heavily on tests, sometimes disregarding daily work entirely, or taking only a completion grade? Isn't the daily work the process...

2. I wonder if our brains are geared to a certain intelligence, why are students still expected to learn via a single learning style...

3. I wonder how do you teach a child to have patience enough to break down a problem into smaller problems? Students want answers now...

4. I wonder if the D.A.R.E. program was modeled after the Productive Thinking Program. I don't know much about the current D.A.R.E. program, but it used to use a lot of cartoon drawings in which children must make important, life-changing, decisions...

5. I wonder....Scooby Doo demonstrates children thinking through problems (or in this case, crimes)...Can it model problem-solving skills and deductive reasoning to students...

6. I wonder, in regards to Instructional Experience, if the program is done three-five hours each week, what about the lessons he or she is missing from the regular class? Will he or she end up behind in other areas. I mean, I run into this in the Resource setting, but what is done in the resource setting supplements and/or replaces what is going on in the regular classroom. Are students doing the program instead of some regular ed. courses, or what?...

7. I wonder if Saxon, with its scripts and almost-rigid guidelines is somewhat based on the Odyssey...

8. I wonder why there hasn't been more research on the "cognitive consequences of thinking skills courses" (Mayer, pg. 424)...

9. I wonder why we keep expecting children to learning things a such early ages when "research shows that students who receive experience in Head Start score higher on intelligence tests than matched control students immediately after instruction, but the IQ advantage fades away after one or two years" (Mayer, pg. 426) -- I don't mean that young children should not be stimulated academically or educated, but it sometimes seems that too much is expected of them...

10. I wonder if taking notes should be added as a separate step to Polya's 4-step problem-solving procedures (Mayer, pg. 404). I try to have my LD students do this and it seems to help them with organizing the information as well as getting rid of unnecessary information...

11. I wonder if role-playing activities/simulations would be a good way to teach problem-solving life skills...

12. I wonder how the Instructional Enrichment program, with its connect-the-dots approach, could be adapted for use with students with visual impairments...

13. I wonder if the assessment of Head Start shouldn't include specific thinking skills instead of just IQ gains...

14. I wonder why prospective teachers are not taught how to teach problem-solving...

15. I wonder if there is one true method to teaching problem-solving skills...

 

 

Public School Teaching Experience. K-8 Resource LD classroom. Cowden-Herrick Schools. Herrick Grade School. Herrick, Illinois. 2001-Present.