Getting caught outside when a sudden brainstorm hits is the most wonderful place to be
for a critical thinker. I strongly suggest you read this slowly more than once. Truly read it closely and carefully. Read it critically if you will.

You may have realized from your initial blog interaction that critical thinking is more than just accepting things as they are. It is looking under the surface.

Thinking for a critical thinker begins with actively paying attention to exactly where you are when you are there; it begins by living in the moment. The critical thinker begins by recognizing what is real.

Life gains depth for a critical thinker when s/he looks beyond what is evident. The critical thinker asks questions; any and all questions that arise. Critical thinking is allowing new ideas and new perspectives to occur and counting them as valuable.

You are an individual and as a critical thinker your personal perspective is very important. For critical thinking, however, you must be willing to accept that your perspective, your view of the world, can and should change. In fact, critical thinking requires change as often as it can happen. For a critical thinker change equals growth – most of the time.

You must be willing to grow, and growth requires that you be openminded: Openminded to share your thoughts, openminded to accept others’ thoughts, and openminded to change your own when the opportunity presents itself.

While watching the movie excerpt, a critical thinker did not just watch. Here are questions & thoughts that occured for me while I watched the film excerpt, and where those thoguhts went after I began to include them in this blog:
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I asked questions and those questions prompted more and I recorded my thoughts while viewing, and they led to whereever I would allow them to lead:

Gandolfini – the Sopranos – I don’t watch it. Too violent for my taste and too superficial.
What’s an ornithopter? Huh? Sounds like something I’d hear on Stargate – makes me think of space travel and the theory of black holes. . . I remember seeing the Disney movie “The Black Hole” when I was very young. They only thought that black holes could possibly exist back then, now they have evidence of them. My! How the world changes (why would I think that I should not change if the world changes so frequently?)

What did Kevin mean when he asked, “What’s the matter? Never seen a robot before?” Robots are real things – when i was young though they weren’t.
Why does Kevin, “Freak”, value the legend of King Arthur so much?

—-NOT ALL OF MY QUESTIONS NEED TO BE ANSWERED NOW. I CAN LEAVE THEM SOME OPEN AND BEGGING FOR ANSWERS TOO. I CAN GET ANSWERS OR EXPLORE QUESTIONS AS I SEE FIT. IN SELECTING WAHT QUESTIONS I WANT TO EXPLORE, I MAKE THE PROCESS OF CRITICAL THINKING PERSONAL AND SELF-DISCIPLINED. I GROW IN THE DIRECTION I WILL ALLOW MYSELF TO GROW IN, AND IN DOING THAT I BECOME TRULY AN INDIVIDUAL.—-

What is Max keeping bottled up inside?
Where is Max’s dad, and how did he get wherever he is?
Where is Max’s mom, and how did she get wherever she is?
Where is Kevin’s dad?

—-AS A CRITICAL THINKER I CAME UP WITH IDEAS – SOMETIMES IDEAS THAT ULTIMATELY HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE BOOK/FILM.—-

seeing eye dog – are they allowed in schools?
LD – learning disabled – Max said, “reading for dummies” – Is Max right about this? Are “LD” kids actually “dummies” like Max said, or is there more to it than that? I think there must more to it…and so I think about this…What can I do to find out more about this?

a knife!!!!- how could I defend myself, I could run, I could disarm the kid. I could try to avoid situations like this. Since I’ve been teaching I have caught three kids with weapons. and I know of ten instances of weapons being found on campus. what should be done about kids who bring weapons to school? Is there an appropriate time to use a weapon? Not for me. But that is just for me. I could go on and on with this topic.

—-THE CRITICAL THINKER SEARCHES AND SEARCHES FOR MORE AND MORE INFORMATION . . . . AND THEN MORE!- QUESTION, FIND ANSWERS AND THEN FORM NEW QUESTIONS. REPEAT THIS PROCESS AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE. THAT’S CRITICAL THINKING.—-

AND THAT IS THE END OF MY EXAMPLE
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So the critical thinker wonders, “How do I take the stuff I simply read in a book, see in a film, and use it to grow? What do I think about the world? And why? Yes why? HOW HAVE I BECOME WHO I AM?

-Now, take out the sheet of paper you used in class while viewing the first part of “The
Mighty“.

-Look at what you wrote down.
-Remember, do not read other’s comments until you have posted your own. This is very important if you are to grow in your own direction.
-Open the comments and begin to enter your comment.

  • Name: Enter your First Name and Period #- DO NOT ENTER YOUR FULL NAME!!!
  • E-mail Address: Enter an alternate e-mail address – DO NOT ENTER YOUR MAIN ONE.
  • COMMENTS: Begin by typing in what you have on your page from class today.
    Then go in and extend your ideas. Let the thoughts grow and let your ideas
    find a direction for anything you feel like writing further on. Explore things you have written down. You don’t have to extend every idea, only the ones you want to extend.

AFTER you have posted your own comments you may go ahead and respond/discuss with others their thoughts.

You are welcome to comment on my own example.

Remember to be polite and respectful.

Do not think of yourself as better than anybody.

You are not the spell checker (I am).

Share your thoughts.

Do not judge one another!

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