Helping Students Explore How They THINK

Thinking critically about personal and academic challenges is an advanced skill that enables students to work through problems and find the solutions that suit them best. The more we can encourage the skill of critical thinking, the more students will be able to generalize this skill and apply it when they are under stress.

There are a few strategies that can help students practice the skill of critical thinking across the school year (beyond running the Open Parachute lessons, which also teach this skill):

Some of these strategies will likely sound familiar to you, while some might provide a new tool for you to use in your classroom.

For example, if a student is being disruptive, you can ask them to reflect on how their actions might be affecting the people around them. You can also ask them to reflect on their ideal outcome and whether this action is helping them achieve that.

For example, if a student is acting out and their peers are responding with judgment (e.g., “Why is he being so weird?”), you can encourage them to think critically about why this student might be acting the way they do. Remind them that all actions come from somewhere, and if they can put themselves in another person’s shoes to understand the 'why' behind their behavior, this will help them understand and connect with everyone more deeply.

For example, if you are doing something challenging (in class or in your life outside of class), share your experience with your students, letting them know that you are finding this challenging and reminding yourself that “I can do it even though it’s hard.”

For more suggestions on how to scaffold the learning from Open Parachute lessons across the school year, see our Help Article Scaffolding Opportunities.

We also offer training on Creating Resilient Classrooms, which provides an overview of the Being Well Model (Feel, Pause, Think, and Act) and how it can be embedded into every classroom.