Chapter 2a and 3

Chapter 2a:

In the first section of the chapter, the book talks about decision-making phases of instruction. There are four phases of decision-making and thought-processing phases: the planning or preactive phase, the teaching or interactive phase, the analyzing and evaluating or reflective phase, and the application or projective phase. The phase I thought that was the most important was the analyzing and evaluating phase. Middle school students should be able to analyze and reflect on what they learned. Reflecting is an important tool in a student's toolbox.

Chapter 3:

In this chapter, the book talks about teaching thinking for intelligent behavior. In middle school, the students' minds are immature, and they need to be exposed to role models who exhibit intelligent thinking. Characteristics of intelligent thinking include drawing on knowledge and applying it to new situations, finding humor, and listening with understanding and empathy. Middle school students like to impress their peers by telling jokes; therefore, when teachers model intelligent humor in their classrooms, they will feel more inclined to do the same. In addition to intelligent thinking, students will learn how to ask specific questions. Some of the categories of questions are: analytic, clarifying, convergent-thinking, and cueing. Teachers will be able to help guide their students to an intelligent thinking process.